Welcome to Northminster
We are a biblically-based Presbyterian church seeking to experience and share God’s love to transform our homes, community and the world. We hope you will join us.
Join us this Sunday!
We have Sunday school for all ages at 9:00, and the worship service is at 10:30am. We look forward to seeing you!
The Latest from our blogs…
New Member Class
Pastor David is planning a New Member Class to begin mid-summer. If you are interested in knowing more about the EPC and more specifically about Northminster Evangelical Presbyterian Church, please contact Pastor David: dgarrison@npcmh.com.
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01
Jul '19
Pastor’s Corner – July 2019
01
Jul '19
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” (James 2:14)
One of the central truths of our faith is that we are saved by grace alone, that there is nothing we can do to earn or merit our salvation. It is the free gift of God through Jesus Christ. This is the hallmark of the Reformation and essential to what we believe as Reformed, protestant, Presbyterian Christians. It is also the doctrine that separates Christianity from all other religions on earth. Every other religion involves humanity having to earn their salvation. What they do determines whether they are saved.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22–23)
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have to do anything with our faith. In fact, the things we do become even more important. We don’t seek to do acts of love, mercy, kindness and justice so that we can be saved; rather, because of the salvation we’ve been given, we serve God and others. Just as the health of a tree is shown in the fruit it bears, our acts of love and service are the fruit of our salvation.
“But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (James 2:18–19)
Over the first 400 years or so, the Christian faith grew through a radical and counter-cultural love for others and service to “the least of these.” It wasn’t “radical” in the sense of being offensive, but a kind of loving others that was so profoundly different from what anyone expected. The early Christians sought out the loveless, the rejected, the despised, the hopeless and offered them love, relationship, presence, identity, hope – in short, they offered them Jesus Christ. Those acts of love transformed their communities and the world. Their works, their deeds, proved the real change that salvation by faith through Jesus Christ brought about in their lives. We might grieve the loss of cultural influence we’re experiencing in our time, but it is also an opportunity to get back to the roots of our faith and do something to love others in Jesus’ name in order to share the hope and life that can only be found through Him.
As we head through the ‘dog days of summer,’ look for opportunities to love and serve others. It doesn’t always have to be something big. Sometimes the greatest act of love we can do for someone else is to give them a glass of cold water on a hot summer day.
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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01
Jun '19
Pastor’s Corner – June 2019
01
Jun '19
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. — James 1:22“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” ― Brennan Manning
If one thing jumps out at us from the story of the man born blind in John 9, it’s how his life was immediately and powerfully changed after his encounter with Jesus Christ. An inward change (the healing of his eyes) led to an outward witness and confession of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord. He might not have known much, but he knew enough: “I once was blind, but now I see.” His life was changed in very real and practical ways forever.
That’s the essence of the reality for every Christian as well. To believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior isn’t a mere mental exercise, along the lines of, “I believe in the Easter Bunny.” Ok, that’s great, but that belief doesn’t have an impact on your every day life. However, when we confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and place our faith and trust in Him as our Savior we are declaring an entirely different way of being and doing. But, as the quote from Brennan Manning above says, many Christians have forgotten that to be a Christian is not just about what we believe but also about how we live. We’re really good at listening to the Word of God, but struggle with doing what it says.
Take heart, though! This isn’t a new problem! James wrote his letter barely 10 years after Jesus was crucified. Hardly a decade had passed, and the new Christians were already struggling with living out their faith. It isn’t easy, and it never has been. Fortunately, James’ letter is loaded with practical advice, encouragement and exhortation to live our faith and do what the Word of God says. Join us this summer as we work through this fascinating letter that pushes us to “Do Something” with our faith.
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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02
May '19
Good News from Hard Places – A Missions Seminar, Saturday, May 18, 2019
02
May '19
Elon Evangelical and Northminster Evangelical Presbyterian Churches Present
Good News from Hard Places
Saturday, May 18, 2019
9:30 – 11:15 am
Northminster Evangelical Presbyterian Church
106 Clearview Drive, Madison Heights VA 24572
Join us at 9:30 am for coffee and pastry – the seminar begins at 9:45 am
Please RSVP to Office@npcmh.com
106 Clearview Drive, Madison Heights VA 24572
Join us at 9:30 am for coffee and pastry – the seminar begins at 9:45 am
Please RSVP to Office@npcmh.com
Come learn why the Church in difficult places has much to teach us about both the cost of discipleship, as well as its fruits!
Marilyn Borst shares first-hand experience behind global headlines as she sheds light upon the work and witness of the Presbyterian Church in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt (all of which Marilyn has visited in the past 6 months) and invites us to come alongside that work through our prayer and presence.
This is the Church which Paul describes: “we rejoice in our suffering because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us….”
Marilyn Borst is Associate Director for Partnership Development of The Outreach Foundation, a Presbyterian mission agency which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. She works with churches around the United States to help them discern God’s call to global engagement while connecting them to that work alongside the Global Church in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East—a particular area of specialty for her. She travels extensively, nurturing relationships with church leaders, assessing ministry initiatives and leading short-term vision teams especially to Cuba, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Israel/Palestine. Her heart for the Church in difficult places has also brought her to Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. Prior to joining The Outreach Foundation staff, Marilyn served for over 6 years as Director of Global Ministry at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta where she oversaw the international partnerships of this 8,000-member congregation in over 33 countries. Marilyn holds a B.A. in Classical Studies from Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI), an M.A. in Art History from Michigan State University, and an M.A. in Theology from St. Thomas University (Houston). She has participated in four archeological digs in Jordan and Egypt and taught as adjunct faculty at the University of Houston for 20 years. She is ordained as an elder and has been married to Mark Borst for 40 years. The Borsts reside in Atlanta.
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22
Apr '19
Now I See – A Spring 2019 Sermon Series
22
Apr '19
Throughout his Gospel, John is constantly bringing forward a contrast between light and darkness, belief and unbelief, and sight and blindness. Sometimes John talks about these themes individually (such as John 1:5). Often, these three contrasts are brought together (take, for example, John 3:16-21). In John 9, he weaves these contrasting themes together into one of the most compelling stories in in his Gospel and in Scripture.
Over the course of the season of Easter (which runs from Easter Sunday through Pentecost), we’ll be exploring the richness of the story of the man born blind. In this story, John contrasts a man who was born physically blind yet could see better than anyone else with people who could physically see but were actually blind. Along the way, we’ll explore why bad things happen, how to find healing in Jesus, the power of a changed life, the importance of the sabbath, family matters, how to defend your faith, and what it really means to believe and see.
The story is only one chapter in John’s Gospel, yet could almost be a book unto itself. We invite you to join us as we discover that, because of Jesus, we once were blind, but now we see. We look forward to seeing you in worship, Sundays at 11am.
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