Read
Core Values: Being Gospel-Centered Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Core Values: Being Church-Oriented Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Our Third Core Value
Disciple-making: We believe that it is essential for every Christian to be engaged in discipleship. Teaching the truth in Christ Jesus is the first task of the Church. We believe the Nicene Creed encapsulates in a succinct way the primary truths that all Christians should know. We believe the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) encapsulate in a succinct way the virtues that all Christians should seek to nurture in their hearts. And we believe the Timeless Practices found in Matthew 6 and Isaiah 58 (giving, prayer, fasting, serving the poor, and Sabbath) are the means of grace that all Christians should practice as worshipers of God under the Gospel.
Flaws In American Education
In the his little book “Christianity & Culture,” T. S. Elliot puts his finger on a major problem with American education. He said the issue is that in America there has never been any agreement on what makes up a good education. In the English education tradition there was a consensus. They all read the same books for instance. C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as all the other “Inklings,” and Englishmen broadly shared a literary tradition.
T. S. Elliot said that because there was no concensus on what a good education is, practically no one in America had one. Agreement on what it is to have a good education, he believed, was the primary question to answer before a system of education should be built. Why? Because answering that question determined what the curriculum should be. Without answering the first question and getting a handle on first principles, you would get various random curriculi all working to different, undeclared ends.
He was right too–waaay back in the 1940s. Classroom by classroom in the same grade, even in the same school, teachers in America use different books with very different moral dimensions to shape the minds of their pupils. A good education is whatever the teacher thinks a good education is. Thus you get ideologues and activist teachers attempting to instill their own moral vision into students. There is a vaccuum, no unified moral vision, no agreement on “the good.” That vaccuum was waiting to be filled. These elements along with social pressures contrary to Christian morality are why some us chose to homeschool our children.
What Kind of Citizen?
What kind of citizenry would this approach produce? Can people with wildly different value systems come together to solve their problems? What if one taught that political violence was necessary to produce social change while the other taught that differences should be adjudicated in the God ordained institutions of civil government? Can those two diametrically opposed ways of thinking come together to sing kumbya around the campfire? No. Instead of producing a cultured people able to enage in solving their common problems together you would produce something along the lines of a slow moving riot. How prescient was T. S. Elliot?
Flaws In American Disciple-making
Now, before we shake our fingers in the faces of the civil government about all the problems they have in their education system–don’t you think it would be prudent to first ask, “Do these same problems exist in the American Church?” Is their an agreement in evangelical Christianity about what constitutes Christian Discipleship? How many curriculae have been produced among evangelicals in the last 100 years through Christian publishing houses on the subject of discipleship? I myself have read several. Some twice. No, there is certainly no agreement on what it means to be a Christian Disciple. It is whatever every pastor says it is You see, it is when the Church sneezes the world catches a cold. It is not the other way around. Long before America ceased to have a unified education tradition, the American Church ceased to have a unified discipleship tradition.
What Are We Protesting?
America has a thirst for novelty and individualism because the evangelical Church in America has a thirst for them. We are Protestants that have forgotten what it is we are protesting. In the first reformation we were fighting against the forced uniformity of Rome. In the second reformation in England we were fighting against the forced uniformity of Anglicans. Particularly we were resisting the forced use of the English Prayer Book. On Bartholomew’s Day (Anglican Calendar) August 24, 1662 approximately 2,000 Puritan ministers were ejected from the Church of England under the Act of Uniformity for refusing to conform to the Book of Common Prayer. It was thereafter known as the “Great Ejection” or “Black Bartholomew’s Day” among the reformed.
Reformed Church Is For Uniformity, Just Not Enforced Uniformity
However, what they objected to was not uniformity of practice, but a uniformity of practice enforced by the sword of the State. That is a huge distinction to make. A voluntary uniformity–a voluntary submission to the truth out of love is what the Church seeks. The author of Hebrews says
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you (Hebrews 13:17).
Thus all the reformers wrote catechisms, approved of the ancient creeds, and built intricate systems of practice to bring unity of thought to their disciples and to create faithful institutions capable adjudicating difficult problems without disintegrating. The Westminster Assembly for instance produced a British Covenant, a Confession of Faith, Larger & Shorter Catechisms, Form of Government, and a Form of Worship, all thoroughly biblically sourced. The Scottish Church before them, out of early necessity, created the First and Second Books of Discipline.
Unity In Faith & Practie Is a Reformed Principle
My point? The reformers believed that unity in faith and practice were important and they attempted to introduce a uniformity of faith and practice to the disciples under their care. So did the Apostles.
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).”
Orthodox Faith, Holy Character, Faithful Practice
The desire to do our own thing, when it comes to discipleship (Faith & Practice), comes from the radical reformation, a group called the Anabaptists. They believed each individual should follow their own understanding of Scriptures, whether qualified or not. Consistent with the Reformed tradition, Solomon’s Porch Christian Church teaches that new Christians should receive instruction in the primary aspects of faith. We want to answer three basic questions for every Christian, helping them to form a foundation of discipleship for the rest of their lives:
- What are the truths that must be believed in order to call ourselves Christians? We believe the Nicene Creed encapsulates in a succinct way the primary truths that all Christians should know. The Westminster Confession is the minimum for an elder, but cannot be the floor for a new Christian.
- What characteristics should we seek to develop that we may be conformed to the image of Christ? We believe the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) encapsulate in a succinct way the virtues that all Christians should seek to nurture in their hearts. While we desire doctrinal development, growth in Christian virtue is the real test to see if our theology beats in our hearts or throbs in our mind.
- What are the basic practices that Jesus expects to see active in the lives of Christians? We believe the Timeless Practices found in Matthew 6 and Isaiah 58 (giving, prayer, fasting, serving the poor, and Sabbath) are the means of grace that all Christians should practice as worshipers of God under the Gospel.
We want our disciples to be orthodox in Faith, holy in character, and faithful in practice so we provide tools as well to help create an environment where we walk together in truth, character, and practice.
Up Next
In Disciple-Making Part 2, we will turn our attention to using the Nicene Creed, our minimum standard for what must be believed to call ourselves Christian, beginning to explore its basic tenets. See y’all next week!
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!
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Ascending Mt. Zion
For the upcoming Lord’s Day October 12th, 2025
Sermon
We will continue in our Acts Series this week! Acts 28:17-30
Memory & Meditation
M & M Verses for the Lord’s Day October 12th, 2025 are
Colossians 1:17-18
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
SPCC Prayer Book: The Reformation: Focus on Christ & the Church
Completed Essay Series’ in 2025
Celebrating the Ascension
The Coronation of the Son of Man based on Daniel 7:13-14
The Indwelling Advocate: Christ’s Gift of the Holy Spirit Part 1 based on John 14:15-17
The Indwelling Advocate: Christ’s Gift of the Holy Spirit Part 2 based on John 14:18-21 (Available soon with Part 3 as well.)
Putting On Immortality Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 based on 1 Corinthians 15:35-49
Forsaken For Us All Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 based on Psalm 22:1-15
Christ, His Church, & Marriage Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 based on Ephesians 5:22-33.
Catechism Questions
Westminster Shorter Catechism for August 2025: Questions 41-45
Remember that you can present Questions 36-40, our WSC Catechism Questions from last month, to any member of the Consistory during lunch starting this week.
Lord’s Day Meal
Yes
Psalms & Hymns of Worship
Psalm 85:8-13 Tune: Ostend Hymn- Hymn for the Martyrs
Psalm 84:1-5 Tune: Louise Hymn- The Church’s One Foundation
Midweek Worship & Consistory Meeting
Yes. We are at the Senior Center. Pizza arrives @ 6:15ish pm, Opus Dei @ 7 pm with Catechism Lesson & Intercessory Prayer to follow.
Consistory Assignment
The first hour 7:30-8:30 pm is dedicated additional learning and is open for all Heads-of-Households and young men to attend via Zoom. For the meeting on October 18th, 2025 we are discussing Federal Vision this month. Here are some essays to read in preparation for our discussion.
Trinity Review: Peter Leithardt and the PCA’s Failure To Deal With Federal Vision
The Auburn Avenue Theology: A Biblical Critique by Brian Schwertley
We will start Calvin’s Institutes in November. Anytime is a great time to jump in.
Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3: 1 that “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” Men, if you desire to one day enter the Consistory as a deacon or elder, then attendance to this hour will be important for your development and for the Consistory to gauge your aspirations, gifts, and calling in the Lord.
Join Us for Worship
Finally, come and worship with us on the Lord’s Day. We also meet on three Wednesday evenings a month for Catechism Lesson & Prayer. Another Visit our Homepage or What We Believe for more information. Find us on Google Maps or watch our sermons on Youtube.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!
Pastor Jeremy
“The Creation is quite like a spacious and splendid house, provided and filled with the most exquisite, and at the same time, the most abundant furnishings. Everything in it tells of God.” – John Calvin
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