Heidelcast 82: The Holy Law Of God (6)—The Fourth Commandment

Heidelcast

on January 19, 2015

That there is a Sabbath is evident in the first chapter in God’s Word. According to Scripture, Almighty God “worked” for six days, six mornings and evenings, and rested the seventh. Have you ever stopped to wonder why Scripture says that God “rested”? Was . . . Continue reading →

Audio: The Sabbath Also Grounded In Redemption

R. Scott Clark

on January 23, 2015

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. On it you shall not do any . . . Continue reading →

A Lonely Citadel Against The 24/7-Culture

R. Scott Clark

on February 9, 2015 | 2 Comments

If you’re old enough to remember when blue laws were common, Bergen on a Sunday is a nostalgia trip. Kids play road hockey, skateboarders practice kickflips on open swaths of pavement, and you may suddenly notice the cawing of blue jays. The . . . Continue reading →

The Hungarian Reformed Sanctified The Sabbath

R. Scott Clark

on May 7, 2015

We perform divine service publicly according to the sanctification of the Sabbath as follows: by teaching, listening, administering the sacraments, assembling together. On these days, we forbid work that hinders the public sanctification of the Sabbath, As did Christ and the apostles. . . . Continue reading →

Heidelberg 103: The Christian Sabbath (2)

R. Scott Clark

on July 29, 2015 | 6 Comments

There are three parts to the Christian faith: theology, piety, and practice. Theology is what we confess and teach the Scriptures to reveal. Piety is our relation to God and practice is the practical outworking of those things. There is a Reformed . . . Continue reading →

The Lord’s Day In Eclipse

R. Scott Clark

on August 25, 2015

The earliest reason given for celebrating Sunday is that it is the day of the resurrection (Ep. of Barnabas, 15.9), but in the Jewish understanding of the week the first day commemorated creation and this idea was taken over even by Gentile . . . Continue reading →

We Need Sunday Christians

R. Scott Clark

on January 22, 2017 | 2 Comments

Some people say, “Our problem in Christianity is ‘Sunday only’ Christians who fail to live the life every day of the week.” But that’s a false dilemma. Show me a true Sunday Christian who comes to the Lord’s house, worshiping in joy, . . . Continue reading →

With Presbycast On The Christian Sabbath And Intinction

R. Scott Clark

on May 3, 2017 | 3 Comments

Walter Sobchak is a memorable character in the brilliant Coen Brothers’ film, The Big Lebowski. For all that he is not (e.g., careful about his use of certain a Anglo-Saxon profanity), Walter is faithful to his commitment to Shabbos (the Yiddish term . . . Continue reading →

A “Rest” To Be Resisted: Resting From The Sabbath

R. Scott Clark

on August 27, 2017 | 5 Comments

Passion City, an evangelical congregation in Atlanta founded in 2009 by Louie Giglio (whom the reader may remember from the inauguration controversy), announced this week that the congregation will be taking a Sabbath from the Sabbath this Lord’s Day and the next. . . . Continue reading →

What Passion City Gets Right And Wrong About The Sabbath

R. Scott Clark

on August 28, 2018 | 1 Comment

The last time we saw Atlanta Pastor Louie Giglio it was January 2013 and he was embroiled in controversy because he had been invited by President Obama to participate in his second inauguration. It had been discovered that Giglio held the biblical . . . Continue reading →

New: Cocceius’s Federal Theology Of The Sabbath

R. Scott Clark

on December 7, 2018

For good reason the name of J0hannes Cocceius (1603–69) appears regularly in surveys of the history of Reformed theology. His covenant theology, The Doctrine of the Covenant and Testaments of God is one of the most important texts in the history of . . . Continue reading →

Growing Beyond Bi-Polar Spirituality Or Why You Should Be In A Confessional P&R Church

R. Scott Clark

on December 31, 2018 | 2 Comments

The Reformed faith, the Reformed confession, is more than five points on salvation (Dort). It is more than a set of doctrines. It is also a piety, a way of relating to God, and a set of churchly practices that grow out . . . Continue reading →

It Is A Super Lord’s Day Not A Super Bowl Day

R. Scott Clark

on February 2, 2019 | 4 Comments

In 2018 an estimated 111 million people watched the Super Bowl. That is about 1/3 of all Americans. In our media-fragmented age, in our cord-cutting age, in our on-demand age, rarely do that many people watch the same thing at the same . . . Continue reading →

Cancelling The Lord’s Day After Christmas?

R. Scott Clark

on December 27, 2019 | 27 Comments

There are reports (documented in the comments below) that various ostensibly evangelical congregations are cancelling worship services this Lord’s Day. This has become something of a pattern in recent years. It seems that people, including the congregants, pastors, and church staff are . . . Continue reading →

Recovering The Lost Treasure Of The Second Service

Heidelblog

on January 16, 2021 | 1 Comment

Unfortunately, these days the heart attitude of this dear elderly woman is almost as rare as the evening service itself. Indeed, over the past twenty years the evening service (in a variety of Christian traditions) has either been turned into a kind . . . Continue reading →

Why Your Congregation Should Have An Evening Service

R. Scott Clark

on February 19, 2021 | 3 Comments

For a long time, it was assumed that Reformed churches would hold a service both on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Although still practiced in many congregations, this pattern is no longer necessarily the expectation or assumption concerning how the Lord’s Day . . . Continue reading →

What To Do About Halloween On The Sabbath?

R. Scott Clark

on September 15, 2021 | 3 Comments

There are three major questions here: Halloween, the Sabbath, and how Christians ought to relate their faith in Christ to their life in the broader culture. Continue reading →

Video: With Chris Coleman On The Grounds, Reason, And Fruit Of The Second Service On The Lord’s Day

R. Scott Clark

on September 15, 2021 | 2 Comments

A video discussion with Pastor Chris Coleman on the biblical and historical grounds for and the fruit of the second service on the Lord’s Day. Continue reading →

Is Missing Church A Sin?

R. Scott Clark

on September 22, 2021 | 10 Comments

Joe writes, “Is missing church a sin? Like if my child has a game, if I’m on vacation, or have to work?” Over the years many people have asked me some version of this question. It is an important question, one faced by the New Testament church and by the church in the twenty-first century. Continue reading →

Psalms, Sabbath, And Iconoclasm Are Not Quirks But Acts Of Confession

Heidelblog

on April 2, 2022

Within wider Christianity, Presbyterians are often labeled—and sometimes dismissed—as traditionalists. This label may seem to explain some aspects of Presbyterian piety, but not all. When Christians outside of Reformed circles learn about the Presbyterian passion for singing Psalms, keeping Sabbath, and rejecting . . . Continue reading →