Walking in Love & Unity
Life in any church has several common characteristics. This page provides information on several vital aspects of our fellowship. Scroll down, or look to the right, for useful information about our pulpit, our Sunday school classes, our nurseries, our music, our regular/special events, and several other important features of church life
at our church, the Reformed Baptist Church of Holland, Michigan.
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"The state of the pulpit may always be taken as an index of that of the church. Whenever the pulpit is evangelical, the piety of the people is in some degree healthy; a perversion of the pulpit is surely followed by spiritual apostasy in the church."
- Robert Dabney -
"Our ministry must be emphatic, or it will never affect these thoughtless times; and to this end our hearts must be habitually fervent, and our whole nature must be fired with an all-consuming passion for the glory of God and the good of men."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon -
"Would ministers preach for eternity! They would then act the part of true Christian orators, and not only calmly and cooly inform the understanding, but, by persuasive, pathetic address, endeavour to move the affections and warm the heart."
- George Whitfield -
"The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not, 'What a lovely sermon!' but 'I will do something.'"
- Billy Graham -
"The majesty of God is...indissolubly connected with the public preaching of his truth . . . If his word is not allowed to have authority, it is the same as though its despisers attempted to thrust God from heaven."
- John Calvin -
". . . to me the work of preaching is the highest and greatest most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.' The most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also."
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones -
"This is the sum of the matter: Let everything be done so that the Word may have free course instead of the prattling and rattling that has been the rule up to now. We can spare everything except the Word. Again, we profit by nothing as much as the Word...One thing is needful."
- Martin Luther -
"'Preach the word' means 'exult in the word.' That is, announce it and revel in it. Speak it as amazing news. Speak it from a heart that is moved by it."
- John Piper -
"So preaching is not just explaining or teaching. Preaching is heralding. Preaching is what a town crier does when there is a message from the king."
- John Piper -
"The great reason why we have so little good preaching is that we have so little piety. To be eloquent one must be in earnest; he must not only act as if he were in earnest, or try to be in earnest, but be in earnest."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon -
"The purpose of preaching is not to inform the congregation of the minister's homiletical gifts; it is to bring the congregation face to face with the living God."
- Warren W. Wiersbe
Church Life at Reformed Baptist Church
The word "pulpit" refers to our church's key focus of ministry: the proclamation of the Word of God. Our pastors, and the guest preachers that we invite, seek to preach the Gospel with Christian affection and holy passion. Sermons are both evangelical and practical. Click here to hear audio examples of our Church's ministry of the Word.
We offer Sunday School classes at 9:30 am on each Sunday, year round. Youth classes from ages 4 through 13 meet in rooms in the North section (rear) of our building. Lessons are drawn from the major stories of the Bible and major doctrinal themes. The younger children learn from a very simple child's catechism (e.g., "Who made you? God made you!). As children become older, catechetical instruction shifts to a Baptist version of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
The adult class meets in our main sanctuary. Although lessons offered by our adult instructors may vary in style by presenter, most classes are designed to involve audience participation. Lessons also vary from week to week. Sometimes we teach single lessons on important topics. Occasionally, our instructors will focus on a multi-week series of lessons.
We have separate nurseries for infants (new born to about 1 year old) and toddlers (about 1 year old to about 3 years old). These are located on the lower level, not far from the canopy entrance. Nursery care is provided by adult church members, sometimes accompanied by their own older children.
When it comes to music, we are not a church that embraces what some refer to as "7-11 hymns" (i.e., seven words sung eleven times). Although we respect the usefulness of such songs in other contexts, we believe that music designed for congregational worship should possess instructive lyrics and reverent melodies. The best use of hymns for congregational worship will include selections from all eras of the Christian church, including songs spanning across the ages, authored by Early Church, Reformation and Contemporary writer/composers. Selections will also vary from more personal, testimonial hymns (e.g., Fanny Crosby) to more doctrinal, experiential hymns (e.g., Charles Wesley).
Once per month, usually on the third Sunday of the month, we gather after the Morning Worship for a congregational potluck. We call this our "Fellowship Dinner." All guests are welcome to join us. We are very glad to share God's bounty to us, so visitors are not expected to bring their own dish, entre' or dessert. This meal begins about 30 minutes after worship. We gather in the downstairs fellowship hall (main room).
Our confession of faith is the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. This 400+ year old confession was founded upon the Westminster Confession of Faith. Our confession is Reformed, Calvinistic and Baptistic.
Our members are not strictly uniform in their understanding of this confession, since our membership includes people from a wide strata of cultural and theological backgrounds, along with a wide strata of ages and levels of personal maturity. Nevertheless, we believe that this old confession capably testifies to the central and prominent themes of Christian truth and practice, and it serves as a "form of unity" that helps bind us together as a congregation. Here is a link to an online version of our Confession: London Baptist Confession of Faith.
Every week in the Holland Sentinel, Pastor Mark Chanski provides keen insights from God's Word for our friends and neighbors in Holland. The "articles" are included in the advertisements for our church. Click here for a listing of samples for you to view.
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"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
John 3:16 -
"I will extol Thee, my God, O King; And I will bless Thy name forever and ever."
Psalm 145:1 -
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Romans 8:1 -
"Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant. . . . Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4,8a -
"For I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; . . ."
Galatians 2:20a -
"Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man His thoughts."
Isaiah 55:6,7a -
"And let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
Isaiah 55:7b,c -
"How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For its profit is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine gold."
Proverbs 3:13,14 -
"Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men."
Psalm 12:1 -
"Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly."
Psalm 111:1
Searching the web for a place to worship? Trying to find a place with Biblical instruction and Christian warmth? Please come check us out. If you have questions, here are our phone numbers:
Just before, during or immediately after worship hours: 616-355-6449
At all other times: 616-875-2181 or 616-399-3828
