We are now made new. We are a free people. We are a people who have received a great surgery, making us new. We are a people who are now good news people. God has made us to be like the living one. God has brought us to fullness. We now know our purpose, and so we live. We live for the first time.

Christ is the one who is preeminent. He is the firstborn in terms of inheritance rights. Everything is due to him. In the inheritance of the universe, Christ's name is the beneficiary of all things. He has inherited and owns all things. Indeed, all things were created by him and for him. Verse 16 starts with that concept and ends with that concept.

Who you are, according to the Bible, really boils down to two things. You are either someone who is in need of rescue from the dominion of darkness, or you are someone who has been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. You are either someone who is in need of reconciliation with God, or you are someone who has received reconciliation from God. You are either someone who is ignorant and unaware of your life purpose, or you have received God’s revelation about His saving work in and through Jesus Christ and know now that your life is not your own, but instead your whole life is a thanksgiving offering to God

Genesis, as it begins to come to a close, has much wisdom and instruction for us to learn from for our daily living. Perhaps the biggest instruction is for us to live sacrificially. Jesus said in Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”.

We're interested in passing on the Catechism because we believe it summarily and accurately brings out the truth of God's Word. It demonstrates and exposes and brings to light in an instructive question and answer format doctrines that are plain as day throughout the Scriptures.

This isn't just a story, but for the believer, this is our story. How we were miserable in our sin, how we've been delivered by the grace of God and Jesus Christ, and now how the rest of life is an expression of gratitude unto God for the grace that we have received.

Genesis often uses genealogies to summarize previous generations stories, and provide a preview teasing where the story of the book would next focus attention. Often these transitions are introduced with phrases like “this is the account” (Genesis 2:4, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 36:9, 37:2) to signal the conclusion of one focus, and the introduction of a new focus for the narrative

What is the Catechism? When did it take place? What's the story? What's the history? What's the backdrop? All these questions should be answered for us to better understand d the Catechism. Upon doing research for his topic, I came across this piece written by Dr. Lyle Bierma, who is a professor of church history at Calvin. He does such a wonderful job of giving us a history of the Heidelberg Catechism that I am going to share his piece with you today.

This week we have a particularly apt set of chapters to consider and hear God's voice loud and clear on a number of topics. Highlights and lowlights. As we read the Bible, and as we live life, it is essential to ask good questions. Good questions help reveal our needs, open up opportunities for next steps, create bridges for shared relationships, expose malicious evil, and provide a foundation for ongoing relationships.

This brings us back to the beginning of our discussion and the question: what does it mean to be reformed. For us here at Redeeming Family, the definition that we use means to be reformed in a theological sense, having particularly defined distinctives regarding what the Bible says about who God is, what He's done, and why that matters.

Join us as we read through Genesis

Join us as we study through Genesis.

Join us as we read through the Bible. We hope these questions and thoughts will help you with your study of His Word.

Homemaking is a term with a lot of weight attached. Depending on who you ask you will receive different answers as to what homemaking is, and whose job it is to do the homemaking. Homemaking is simply taking care of one's home through cooking, cleaning, teaching, etc. There is an uprising of memes in social media embracing the image of a frantic, stressed, mother. These memes embrace moms that are constantly making excuses for a dirty house, being unorganized, stressed, and being a "hot mess mom." 

Join us as we read through the Bible. We hope these questions and thoughts will help you with your study of His Word.

It is a common thing to hear complaints about how bad the world is getting. Whether it is the latest tragic headline, personal experiences, or just a general sense of wickedness, it is easy to observe how the world is filled with evil. The Bible tells us this is the common history of humanity: human beings proliferate (multiply) wickedness. Has there ever been a time when things have been so grievous as to make God regret making mankind?

Books usually start by introducing their main theme, main character(s), main antagonist, or main plot point. The Bible does all of this within the first few chapters of Genesis. We learn in these chapters the beginning of all things - that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. This sets a context for our reading of the Bible - that the Bible deals with real things in our universe.

The quote is the words of Martin Luther from the Diet of Worms trial that was held to judge him as a heretic if he didn’t recant his teachings. His answer, simple yet profound, has been in the historical records ever since. “Since your most serene majesty and your lordships require of me a simple, clear and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures and by clear reason (for I do not trust in the pope or councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”

With the fall, every area of our life as humans has been affected by sin in such a way that we’re all inclined to evil; there are no innocent human beings. That means that our reason, our emotions, our desires, etc., are inclined to evil, not that they are as evil as they can be all the time, but we’re not by nature good since the fall. Human nature has gone astray; we’re now selfish people who look for our own good and our own benefit above anyone else. That also means that every good gift given to us by God has also been stained by sin, including our consciences.

“The old woman is of no consequence,” he thought, hotly and incoherently. “The old woman was a mistake perhaps, but she is not what matters! The old woman was only an illness. . . . I was in a hurry to overstep. . . . I didn’t kill a human being, but a principle! I killed the principle, but I didn’t overstep, I stopped on this side. . . . I was only capable of killing. And it seems I wasn’t even capable of that . . . Principle? ... And what shows that I am utterly a louse,” he added, grinding his teeth, “is that I am perhaps viler and more loathsome than the louse I killed, and I felt beforehand that I should tell myself so after killing her. Can anything be compared with the horror of that? The vulgarity! The abjectness!”