Last Sunday, my son and I visited a nearby Orthodox Presbyterian Church. As a Baptist, I don’t quite fit in there, but then I don’t quite fit in at a lot of Baptist churches either!
I’d visited this church before, some years ago, but my son had never worshiped with Presbyterians. So for him it was an educational field trip, and for me it was a chance to catch up a bit with some friends and former students—and worship together.
The way this congregation worships is always a blessing to me. Call to worship; lots of Scripture reading; psalms and old, old hymns; time for repentance and confession. A place for everything and everything in its place—which could probably work as a tagline for Reformed Theology in general. That orderliness and tidiness can be of great comfort in rapidly changing, chaotic times.
There’s much more I could say in appreciation for this little church, but there’s some reflection and confession I want to get to because of the sermon that morning.
The text was 2 Peter 3:8-13. I reproduce it in full here, because it’s such a joy and such good medicine. If you read it slowly and let it soak in, you might, like me, feel your thinking pop back into proper place like a dislocated joint (that you had somehow not noticed!).