Skyview Presbyterian Church: About Us |
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Skyview is committed to a very high goal: to
expound knowledge of the God who is, through
the revelation of holy Scripture. The more we
know about God, the bigger He appears, and
the smaller we become. This knowledge of the
living and true God consumes our thoughts,
changes our desires, and impacts our lives;
initiating admiration, praise, devotion, and
worship. The deeper we understand the
holiness of God, the more we desire
reformation—continual reformation of our
individual lives, of our church, of our
community, and of our world; to the glory of
Christ, our Savior, Lord, and Passion.
expound knowledge of the God who is, through
the revelation of holy Scripture. The more we
know about God, the bigger He appears, and
the smaller we become. This knowledge of the
living and true God consumes our thoughts,
changes our desires, and impacts our lives;
initiating admiration, praise, devotion, and
worship. The deeper we understand the
holiness of God, the more we desire
reformation—continual reformation of our
individual lives, of our church, of our
community, and of our world; to the glory of
Christ, our Savior, Lord, and Passion.
Theology:
Hymns:
LET ALL MORTAL FLESH KEEP SILENCE
We, as fallen mortals, are in speechless terror in the presence of the holy God.
Our only hope of salvation from the wrath of God, due to us for sin, is Christ
alone, who descended from glory to live a perfect life of obedience, and offer his
body and blood in sacrifice for the elect.
We, as fallen mortals, are in speechless terror in the presence of the holy God.
Our only hope of salvation from the wrath of God, due to us for sin, is Christ
alone, who descended from glory to live a perfect life of obedience, and offer his
body and blood in sacrifice for the elect.
’TIS MIDNIGHT, AND ON OLIVE’S BROW
This hymn speaks of the passion of Christ in the garden, initiating his state of
humiliation in anticipation of the cross. This hymn teaches us the example of
Christ, to struggle in prayer in spite of fear, sorrow, suffering, and rejection. We
are convicted of our failure, with the disciples, to watch and pray for one hour, or
to comprehend the extent of His sacrifice.
The third stanza is somewhat controversial. Christ was in fact forsaken by God,
as He testified on the cross. However, the fourth stanza reminds us that the
angels, in obedience to the mercy of God the Father Almighty, came to comfort
Christ in the garden, perhaps with a similar haunting refrain.
This hymn speaks of the passion of Christ in the garden, initiating his state of
humiliation in anticipation of the cross. This hymn teaches us the example of
Christ, to struggle in prayer in spite of fear, sorrow, suffering, and rejection. We
are convicted of our failure, with the disciples, to watch and pray for one hour, or
to comprehend the extent of His sacrifice.
The third stanza is somewhat controversial. Christ was in fact forsaken by God,
as He testified on the cross. However, the fourth stanza reminds us that the
angels, in obedience to the mercy of God the Father Almighty, came to comfort
Christ in the garden, perhaps with a similar haunting refrain.
IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, GOD ONLY WISE
1 Ti 1:17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Theology is the study of God, the science of exploring and understanding the
attributes of God. The deeper we understand the character of God, the more we
can worship and glorify the one true God, and our God, from the depths of our
soul. There is but one only, the living and true God, infinite, eternal, and
unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and
truth. 'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
1 Ti 1:17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Theology is the study of God, the science of exploring and understanding the
attributes of God. The deeper we understand the character of God, the more we
can worship and glorify the one true God, and our God, from the depths of our
soul. There is but one only, the living and true God, infinite, eternal, and
unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and
truth. 'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to BE in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Worship:
We strive for a deeper understanding of God, as He is revealed in His Word, for
the purpose of glorifying Him in all that whereby He maketh himself known. Christ
came to show us the Everlasting Father, bear His name, obey His will, reveal to
us the will of God for our salvation, offer up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine
justice, subdue us to himself, rule and defend us, and restrain and conquer all
his and our enemies.
We are engaged in spiritual warfare, not against flesh and blood, and not even
between the body and the spirit. We struggle daily against our fallen human
nature and its ungodly desires. We are not looking for deliverance from our
bodies, but our hope is in the redemption of both the body and the soul. We also
war against every false teaching, misconception, deception, all suppression of
truth, and whatsoever is prejudicial to truth.
We strive for continual Christian Reform for the maintaining and promoting of
truth. We reject humanism, the idea that man is sovereign and autonomous.
God alone is sovereign. We reject trichotomy, the gnostic idea that man has a
higher spiritual component untainted by the fall that alone can achieve
communion with God through mindless worship. We maintain dichotomy, that
man is body and soul, with physical and non-physical components. We engage
our minds in worship, devote our lives to worship, and pour out our love for God,
with thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.
We pray that our worship, initiated by God, would be restored to our church. We
pray that our adoration would be inspired by the deep spiritual truths that we
profess and present to God. Forgive us for trivially approaching the throne of
God with mere emotion and sentiment. Help us declare the timeless truths in the
Psalms and hymns. Help us to worship and sing with the same conviction as our
forefathers, those at the stake who sang as martyrs for the cause of Christ.
the purpose of glorifying Him in all that whereby He maketh himself known. Christ
came to show us the Everlasting Father, bear His name, obey His will, reveal to
us the will of God for our salvation, offer up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine
justice, subdue us to himself, rule and defend us, and restrain and conquer all
his and our enemies.
We are engaged in spiritual warfare, not against flesh and blood, and not even
between the body and the spirit. We struggle daily against our fallen human
nature and its ungodly desires. We are not looking for deliverance from our
bodies, but our hope is in the redemption of both the body and the soul. We also
war against every false teaching, misconception, deception, all suppression of
truth, and whatsoever is prejudicial to truth.
We strive for continual Christian Reform for the maintaining and promoting of
truth. We reject humanism, the idea that man is sovereign and autonomous.
God alone is sovereign. We reject trichotomy, the gnostic idea that man has a
higher spiritual component untainted by the fall that alone can achieve
communion with God through mindless worship. We maintain dichotomy, that
man is body and soul, with physical and non-physical components. We engage
our minds in worship, devote our lives to worship, and pour out our love for God,
with thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.
We pray that our worship, initiated by God, would be restored to our church. We
pray that our adoration would be inspired by the deep spiritual truths that we
profess and present to God. Forgive us for trivially approaching the throne of
God with mere emotion and sentiment. Help us declare the timeless truths in the
Psalms and hymns. Help us to worship and sing with the same conviction as our
forefathers, those at the stake who sang as martyrs for the cause of Christ.
What is Reformed Theology?
It's an understanding of God and man, that goes completely against all our natural tendencies toward humanism.
Reformed theology is vehemently criticized by Pelagians, Arminians, and Humanists -- i.e. the natural man. We
can only understand and accept the gospel by the working of the Holy Spirit, as he convinces us of our sin and
misery, opens our eyes to the knowledge of Christ, and renews our wills.
This is the response of someone who was able to "get it", after hearing the sermon on David and Goliath:
I now understand the condition of man: "dead is dead".
I understand that God is Holy.
I now understand those confusing scriptures about God's calling. He is in control.
I am now able to understand how our actions could NEVER change our human condition, but our actions are
simply the response, because God did pull us from "death" and that our actions are the process of the
transformation of becoming like Christ, that the Holy Spirit is working in us, even though it feels like it is coming
from our head and our heart.
I understand that (to my surprise) not only did God give Old Testament commands that could not be lived, He also
gave New Testament commands that could not be lived in perfection either, except by Christ who lived Old and
New perfectly FOR US. (Just like David)
I understand that the sin of envy causes ONE TO LOSE EVERYTHING. In our envy we want to be like God and
help make the choice of being dead or alive, and in the process we dishonor God's character of Holiness and
Sovereignty.
I understand the action is coming FROM God TO man.
I understand the choice is by God before we were born. The Spirit is doing His perfect work IN us and that the life
was lived 2,000 years ago that we cannot live, and that the debt of our sin was paid 2,000 ago, and that our
actions are strictly a process of our growing into the likeness of Christ, and has nothing to do with our salvation. It
is strictly a gift to us, as was the victory on that day (that David fought Goliath) given to the nation.
I am just amazed at the burden that has dropped off in understanding this! The guilt is just gone, that people
being lost are my fault. The fear of Hell is gone because I have symptoms of being alive, because I am very
interested in pleasing God, so I know that I am called of God. Even the comparison of myself to those "awful
people" is of no concern to me. My measure is Christ, and I am excited to become more like him, instead of being
filled with worry about Hell being my motivation. I feel like I am in a daze.
It's an understanding of God and man, that goes completely against all our natural tendencies toward humanism.
Reformed theology is vehemently criticized by Pelagians, Arminians, and Humanists -- i.e. the natural man. We
can only understand and accept the gospel by the working of the Holy Spirit, as he convinces us of our sin and
misery, opens our eyes to the knowledge of Christ, and renews our wills.
This is the response of someone who was able to "get it", after hearing the sermon on David and Goliath:
I now understand the condition of man: "dead is dead".
I understand that God is Holy.
I now understand those confusing scriptures about God's calling. He is in control.
I am now able to understand how our actions could NEVER change our human condition, but our actions are
simply the response, because God did pull us from "death" and that our actions are the process of the
transformation of becoming like Christ, that the Holy Spirit is working in us, even though it feels like it is coming
from our head and our heart.
I understand that (to my surprise) not only did God give Old Testament commands that could not be lived, He also
gave New Testament commands that could not be lived in perfection either, except by Christ who lived Old and
New perfectly FOR US. (Just like David)
I understand that the sin of envy causes ONE TO LOSE EVERYTHING. In our envy we want to be like God and
help make the choice of being dead or alive, and in the process we dishonor God's character of Holiness and
Sovereignty.
I understand the action is coming FROM God TO man.
I understand the choice is by God before we were born. The Spirit is doing His perfect work IN us and that the life
was lived 2,000 years ago that we cannot live, and that the debt of our sin was paid 2,000 ago, and that our
actions are strictly a process of our growing into the likeness of Christ, and has nothing to do with our salvation. It
is strictly a gift to us, as was the victory on that day (that David fought Goliath) given to the nation.
I am just amazed at the burden that has dropped off in understanding this! The guilt is just gone, that people
being lost are my fault. The fear of Hell is gone because I have symptoms of being alive, because I am very
interested in pleasing God, so I know that I am called of God. Even the comparison of myself to those "awful
people" is of no concern to me. My measure is Christ, and I am excited to become more like him, instead of being
filled with worry about Hell being my motivation. I feel like I am in a daze.
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