adults. Chips and salsa were served as appetizers, along with an open candy bar for the sweet tooth. Lunch was a taco bar accompanied with traditional Mexican cuisine. The event nicely united simplicity and elegance, as well as wholesome fun and joyful celebration. The cou-ple spent their honeymoon on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Ashley is the daughter of RE Bob and Shannon Shogren. She joined FPC on Dec, 5th, 2004, upon profession of faith in Christ. Bryan and Ashley met while working at Wall-Mart in Cambridge, MN, where they are both currently employed. They are looking to establish their residence in Cambridge.

On Saturday, September 2nd, Ashley Shogren and Bryan Breezee exchanged vows of marriage. With the words, “I do promise and covenant—before God and these witnesses—to be your loving and faithful husband/wife—in sickness and in health—in plenty and in

want—in joy and in sorrow—as long as we both shall live,” Bryan and Ashley be-came husband and wife. The happy occasion was wit-nessed by a church full of family and friends who responded with exuberance when Pastor

Kevin introduced Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Breezee.

The reception in honor of Bryan and Ashley was hosted by the Shogren fam-ily in the church’s fellow-ship hall immediately fol-lowing the wedding cere-mony. Outdoor lawn games were available for youth and

SHOGREN-BREEZEE UNITED IN MARRIAGE AT FPC

FALL YOUTH M INISTRIES BEGIN IN OCTOBER Our children and youth ministries begin their 2017-2018 school year season on Wednesday, October 4, and will continue each Wednes-day that school is in session. Release Time will be led this year by Lorraine Rimer, Jill Richardson, and Wayne Golly. It meets during

school hours from about 1:30-2:00 PM.

Covenant Kids for grade school children and Youth Fellowship for teens will meet each Wednesday from 6:30-7:30 PM. Pastor Kevin and Kathy will be primary leaders, although

Chaplain Ross Haverhals and Kathy Kendall will cover for the first couple weeks. Dinner-for-a-Dollar begins at 6 PM and will be hosted by different indi-viduals. We would love to have you sign up for an eve-ning or two.

F IRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (PCA)

OCTOBER 2017 VOLUME 39, ISSUE 9

F IRST PRESS

SPECIAL POINTS OF

INTEREST:

• Dr. Stanley Toussaint, profes-sor of biblical studies at Dallas Theological Seminary for many years, went home to be with the Lord in early Septem-ber. Dr. Toussaint originally hailed from Hinckley, MN and grew up here at First Presbyterian Church. Dale Gray, Sr. remembers Stanley as a lifelong friend.

• The Trustees have scheduled a church work day for Sept. 30, @ 8:00 AM. There are several projects that will require men with shovels and wheel barrels. We need young people and women with gloves help in the flower beds. Many hands make light work!

• FPC will be hosting the Grind-stone Lake Bible Camp’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Oct., 24, at 7:00 PM.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

OCTOBER CALENDAR 2

BIBLICAL WISDOM: GOSPEL INVITATION

2

FPC PARKING LOT REPAVED

3

DON SIKKINK TURNS EIGHTY

3

CHRISTIANITY IN THREE WORDS

4

PRESBYTERY REPORT 5

SUNDAY WITH THE MCAFEES

5

voice returns saying:

Does not wisdom call? Does not understand-ing raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she crises aloud: “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the chil-dren of man. O simple one, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right” (Pro. 8:1-6).

Here is that woman who offers good news, a wisdom that is more valuable than silver and gold. Accordingly, it “is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her” (Pro. 8:10-11). What’s more, this divine wisdom was voiced at the very begin-ning of time because it embodied the very eternal word of God itself:

The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old….When he established the heavens, I was there….When he marked out the founda-tions of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight (cf. Pro. 8:22-31).

It is not a stretch to see Jesus himself here in the woman’s voice. For he was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Scripture regards Jesus as “God’s mystery...in whom are hid-den all the treasures of wisdom and knowl-edge” (Col. 2:3). The voice of woman wis-dom is an inviting voice urging all in her hearing to trust in him who is Wisdom in-

The Book of Proverbs can be seen as having two parts: 1) the counsels on wisdom in chap-ters 1-9, and 2) the catalogue of wisdom in chapters 10-31. The latter is arranged by authorship and contains the collections of short wise sayings from Solomon, Agur, and Lemuel. It concludes with the remarkable description of the woman of noble charac-ter—wisdom embodied in flesh and blood.

The former is a series of eight counsels as from a father to a son (1:8, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1, 6:1, 6:20, 7:1). It touches on such mat-ters as choice of friends, respect for parents, the life of faith, avoidance of debt, virtue of industry, and moral purity. This first part concludes with an invitation and warning—a choice between wisdom and folly. Each voice is personified as the voice of a woman.

The voice of woman wisdom is the gospel. That is, she voices an invitation for the sim-ple to repent of sin, to turn from foolishness, and embrace the way of wisdom found in God. As part one begins, she says:

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the mar-kets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you (Pro. 1:20-23).

At the end of part one, woman wisdom’s

carnate. She cries among the ca-cophony of worldly noises. She speaks in the still small voice. She shouts from the mountain tops. She has built her house and hewn her seven pillars (Psa. 9:1) and invites all to dwell with her in safety. She cries:

Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight….The fear of the LORD is the begin-ning of wisdom, and the knowl-edge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be mul-tiplied, and years will be added to your life” (Psa. 9:5-6, 11).

Jesus simply said, “I am the bread of life; whoever come to me shall not hunger” (John :35).

B IBLICAL W ISDOM : THE GOSPEL INVITATION

PAGE 2 F IRST PRESS

SCHEDULE OF

EVENTS

• 1—Communion Sunday

• 3—WIC Bible Study, 4 PM, Theresa Aaby hosting

• 4—Release Time, 1:30 PM; Dinner-for-a-Dollar, 6 PM; Covenant Kids and Youth Fellowship, 6:30 PM

• 8—Guest Speaker, Rev. Ross Haver-hals; Trustee Meeting, 11:15 AM

• 11—Release Time, 1:30 PM; Dinner-for-a-Dollar, 6 PM; Covenant Kids and Youth Fellowship, 6:30 PM

• 15—Guest Speaker, Rev. Bill Carr

• 18—Release Time, 1:30 PM; Dinner-for-a-Dollar, 6 PM; Covenant Kids and Youth Fellowship, 6:30 PM

• 24—GLBC Annual Meeting @ at FPC, 7 PM

• 25—Release Time, 1:30 PM; Dinner-for-a-Dollar, 6 PM; Covenant Kids and Youth Fellowship, 6:30 PM

• 29—Reformation Sunday; 5th Sunday Pot-blessing Dinner

OCTOBER 2017

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

In the aftermath of a long decision process, FPC now has a completely resurfaced parking lot. The project, re-searched and presented by the Trustees, was approved for $62,000 at a called congrega-tional meeting held on July

30, 2017. The job was held off until September 11 so as not to conflict with some key summer dates.

Prefer Paving from Rush City completed the job in one day. When Pastor Kevin arrived at

the office on Monday morn-ing, he noted a dozen vehicles of various sizes and some 15 workers attacking the job. “No one was slacking; no one was leaning on a shovel; they meant business.”

One new feature of note is that the parking lot and side-walks are not on the same level—nothing to trip on. This will also help with snow removal in the winter. Park-ing lot striping will occur at a later day.

Bible conference entitled, Small Churches, Big Problems: Identifying, Confronting, and Healing from Destructive Church Conflict, at the Life Spring Church in Crosby, MN.

Pastor Kevin will be opening the conference with his ser-mon: Eyes Straight Ahead: Stay-ing the Course in Troubled

Common Slaves (CL) is a network of pastors and church leaders who embrace Confessional Protestantism—i. e. the doctrines of grace—and desire to promote strong gospel preaching churches. On Friday, Oct. 27, from 8:30 AM to 4:15 PM, the CL network will be sponsoring a

Times. Other presenters will include Dr. Ivan Fiske from Quamba Baptist, Pastor Paul Walker (brother-in-law to Ginnie Rootkie) from Grand Junction, CO, and Pastor Randy Reed from Escanaba, MI. The conference cost is $12.00 and is open to anyone who would like to attend.

FPC PARKING LOT RECEIVES A TOP COAT

PASTOR TO SPEAK AT CONFERENCE IN CROSBY

FPC WELCOMES A NEW OCTOGENARIAN

join Don’s family and friends for the open house lunch served in the church’s fellow-ship hall.

Don is a third generation farmer in the Hinckley area, working the land his grandfa-ther purchased after the Hinckley Fire. After serving in the Air National Guard, Don milked cows for years and now continues to raise cattle and plant corn. He has served on FPC’s session and holds the title Ruling Elder

Emeritus. He has also served as a Trustee. His quiet unas-suming manner brings a steadiness to those who around him. Don is married to the former Janet Rypkema of Hinckley, who is also FPC’s lead organist. As a leg-acy to their home, all four of their children are serving the Lord in some capacity—Christian school teacher, overseas missions, university professor, and Children Evan-gelism Fellowship.

After church on Sunday, Sep-tember 3rd, the children and family of Donald Sikkink hosted an 80th birthday cele-bration in his honor. The FPC congregation was invited to

A THANK YOU FROM

THE JON AND NAOMI

KOENIG:

“THANK YOU SO MUCH

FOR THE CONTINUED

SUPPORT AND FINANCIAL

HELP . WE ARE SO BLESSED

TO HAVE F IRST PRES .

HELPING US TO RAISE

THREE CHILDREN UP THE

WAY THEY SHOULD GO! ”

F IRST PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTED OVER

$3200 TOWARD JACK ,

MERCY , AND BRIAN

FOORE ’S TUITION AT

THE HARVEST CHRISTIAN

SCHOOL IN THE WAKE

OF THEIR MOTHER ’S

DEATH . THE KEONIG ’S

ARE NOW THE FOORE ’S

LEGAL GUARDIANS .

PAGE 3 VOLUME 39, ISSUE 9

FPC will be hosting the annual association meeting of the Grind-stone Lake Bible Camp on Tuesday, October 24th at 7:00 PM. FPC’s delegates are Ben Wiener and Robert Sikkink. Deb Wiener serves as camp bookkeeper and Ben Wiener is on the Board of Directors. The meeting is open to any interested party. Only delegates can vote.

Christianity in Three Words

The sum and substance of biblical Christi-anity can be expressed in three words—faith, hope, and love. For the next year or so, I will be using this column in the news-letter to unpack these words and explore their importance for our thinking. Word-lists in Scripture are intended to be un-packed. For example, there are lists con-taining works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Cor. 6:9-10), deadly sins (Pro. 6:16-19), spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-23), spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6-7; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 27-31), redeeming graces (Rom. 8:28-30; 1 Cor. 1:30; 6:11), divine attributes (1 Tim. 1:17), qualities for church officers (1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9), and the like. Words have meaning that arise out of the womb from which they are born. To change the metaphor, the soil from which faith, hope and love grow is the Bible. They are among the three most important words in our Christian vocabulary.

The Apostle Paul introduces this trilogy of graces in the so-called Great Love Chap-ter. In dealing with spiritual gifts, he keys in on love as “the more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). He recognizes that this side of glory, we will all see religious truth imperfectly in some measure. Christians rather await heaven for a more complete and comprehensive understanding of things. Paul says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12). He then concludes his discussion on spiritual gifts with this summary state-ment: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Furthermore, faith, hope, and love are used by Paul as a template to help discern the state and health of a congregation. For example, to the Colossians he expresses gratitude to God “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:4-5). Here these virtues serve as a measure of spiritual vitality and maturity. In the same way, he writes to believers in Thes-

salonica, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:2-3). Interestingly, Paul uses these virtues a little differently in each case. To the Co-lossians he speaks of their faith in Christ; to the Thessalonians their “work of faith.” To the former, their love for each other; to the latter, their labor of love. To the one, all virtues are born of hope; to the other, it is the source of steadfastness. These difference may not be all that sig-nificant, but they do broaden our under-standing of each individual virtue. More about that later. One other text is He-brews 10:19-25, which may or may not have been written by Paul. Here the church is encouraged along three lines: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,...Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,…And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” To put it succinctly, the church exists to promote faith, hope, and love among its members.

We must also recognize that even though these virtues are dissimilar, with love even given priority, none of them can flourish without the other. Like the Holy Trinity, these virtues are distinct in identity but in reality one in essence. They all belong together. If one is lacking, the others suf-fer. Paul suggests as much in his second letter to the Thessalonians who, after the writing of his first epistle, appeared to have become confused over the return of Christ (2 Thess. 2:1-2). He delights in what he sees of their faith and love, but their hope appears to be missing. “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is in-creasing” (2 Thess. 1:3). Although thank-ful for what appears as vitality in their faith and love, Paul is doubtless concerned that this will not last should they continue to be “shaken” regarding their future hope. Augustine of Hippo, aka St. Augustine, is regarded as one of the great doctors of the

church. One of his many works was a sim-ple handbook on the Christian faith enti-tled Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love (Enchiridion is Latin for handbook or man-ual containing essential information; like a church membership manual). In it, Augustine says, “Wherefore there is no love without hope, no hope without love, and neither love or hope without faith.” Thus as we consider these three virtues, we must always keep in mind their unity and mutual dependence.

Thinking about biblical Christianity as summarized in these great virtues will be a very helpful exercise. In one sense, they could be regarded as the sum of all sound doctrine. Good theology addresses life’s basic and gnawing questions. For example, we have all entertained at one time or another questions like: Where did I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? You may pour coffee in a restaurant or teach in a university. It doesn’t matter! We all think about these things and have formed some opinions about them—some better than others. However, as Christians we want to have good and sound opinions which are grounded in truth and reality. Considering faith, hope, and love will send us in the right direction. Faith, for example, explores God’s actions of the past answering the first question. Hope explores God’s promises bearing on a glo-rious future answering the second ques-tion. Love considers God’s call upon our lives in the present answering the third question. What’s more, faith, hope, and love each address an important human need. We all need a place to stand that is rock solid—something in which to be-lieve. We all need a sense of a bright to-morrow. We cannot survive the gloom of life without the confidence that something better lies ahead. We all need a reason for living—a reason that takes us beyond our-selves and redirects our interest to others (Phil. 2:1-5). These virtues are not only good theology; they are sound psychology. The Scriptures teach: “So now faith, hope, and love abide.” For this very reason, they deserve our full consideration.

PAGE 4 F IRST PRESS

The Presbytery of the Sioux-lands met on Thursday and Friday, September 28-29, at the Grace PCA in Duluth. FPC’s delegates were RE’s Wayne Golly and Robert Shogren along with Pastor Kevin.

Two ministers announced their resignations. Pat Mor-gan, also Siouxland’s Stated Clerk, will be leaving Ger-mantown PCA in Chancellor, SD, to accept a call to an OPC congregation in Janes-ville, WI. Brian Carpenter has

stepped down as pastor of the Foothills Community PCA in Sturgis, SD, to assume a counseling ministry and per-haps pursuit further graduate studies. He will be moving with his family to Rapid City, SD, and attending Blackhills PCA.

Pastor Kevin’s Candidates and Credentials Committee examined Mike Johnson for licensure and presented him to Presbytery. Also, Brennan McCafferty of the Twin Cit-ies, graduate from the Re-

formed Presbyterian Theo-logical Seminary (RPCNA) in Pittsburg, PA, was received under care. FPC’s session minutes were reviewed and received.

Thursday morning devotion was led by Pastor Jason Dal-ton from Spearfish, SD. Wor-ship on Thursday evening was lead by Pastor Nathan Lee, with Chaplain Morgan bring-ing the message. Pastor Kevin led the communion service.

sionaries when they return from the field. As musicians by training, Ross led worship songs from the piano and Jane played for other aspects of the worship service including communion.

Ross is pictured with his wife Jane carrying an earth globe and sporting his trademark map-o-the-world jacket. They have served OM since

On Sunday, September 3rd, Ross and Jane McAfee, with Operation Mobilization (OM), joined us for the Sun-day school hour and morning worship. During Sunday school, Ross and Jane brought us up to date on their work in the home office of OM where Ross supervises a staff of nearly 100 and Jane debriefs and counsels overseas mis-

1986. FPC has been part of their ministry from the very beginning. Pastor Kevin and Kathy enjoyed having break-fast with them during the week previous. The McAfees rejoice that their son, daugh-ter, and grandchildren are all within 10 minutes of their home near Atlanta, GA. Their daughter, Jill, works at a PCA church in downtown Atlanta.

GRACE DULUTH HOSTS S IOUXLANDS PRESBYTERY

OM M ISSIONARIES REPORT AT FPC

GUESS WHO ’S HANDS !

mary, will be featured on the front of the Minnesota Cooks 2018 calendar, as well as in-side for the month of Octo-ber. Joel and Megan are owner operators of Abraham’s Table, a small organic farm located on the Grindstone Lake Road in Del Grove Twp.

Abraham’s Table supplies eggs and various vegetables to its share holders, as well as to

restaurants whose healthy menus support local organic farmers. Joel is originally from the State of Virginia. Megan calls MN her home. Both grew up in PCA churches. Several years ago they moved to the Sandstone area from Poolsville, MD.

To the right, Joel is pictured sowing a field in a traditional way. Toddling behind is his daughter Rosemary.

Joel Baar, who attends FPC with his wife Megan and two daughters, Una and Rose-

DON ’T FORGET !

SUNDAY ,

OCTOBER 29TH ,

IS NOT ONLY

REFORMATION

SUNDAY , IT IS

ALSO OUR 5TH

SUNDAY POT-

BLESSING D INNER

AS WELL . BE SURE

TO BRING A DISH

TO SHARE .

PAGE 5 VOLUME 39, ISSUE 9

Pastor Kevin pictured with two of Grace’s elders: Jeff Toonstra and Dr. Edgar Saldãna.

NON-PROFIT ORG.

PERMIT #30

HINCKLEY, MN 55037

ADDRESS SERVICES REQUESTED

Phone:: 320-384-6440 Pastor’s Email: kevincarr157@gmail.com

Church’s Email: firstpreshinckley@gmail.com October 2017

F IRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

(PCA)

“TRUE TO THE SCRIPTURES, THE REFORMED FAITH, AND THE GREAT

First Presbyterian Church is a member congregation of the

Presbyterian Church in America

WE ’RE ON THE WEB :

WWW .FIRSTPRESHINCKLEY .ORG

P, O. Box 157 Hinckley, MN 55037