Dear parish and friends!

As we approach Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, I am thankful that the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation. With that in mind, I have updated the "Our Missions" page on our church's website.
It is not comprehensive, but includes a few more missions that we as a URCNA church support.

Let me especially note the work of Word & Deed. I met their president, Rick Postma, at our Synod in 2007 and was impressed by what they do in providing tangible relief in developing nations as a means of spreading the Gospel and the work of indigenous churches. On their website you can read their magazine online, support them, and even sponsor a child for $1 a day.

With thanks!

Pastor Hyde

KOLOA, Kauai, Hawaii—Last night (Nov. 29) was the first of two nights with the saints of the Kauai Reformation Church, as Rev. Adam Kaloostian and I taught two sessions of a membership class. First, Rev. Kaloostian taught on "The History of the Reformed Churches," emphasizing our catholicity, the need to be Reformed as well as reforming, and our place in the history of the Reformed movement. Then I spoke on "The Church Order of the Reformed Churches," highlighting the need for the living organism we call the church to have an institutional structure as a way of ordering the activities of the local church as well as the collective churches. This order also safeguards us as former evangelicals moving into the Reformed Church from authoritarian congregationalism as well as top-down leadership in which it is the pastor's way or the highway.

A vigorous discussion ensued after each session, food and fellowship was enjoyed, and we offered prayer for the many good gifts Christ gives us.

It was also encouraging to welcome a new family as well as two more brothers who have been worshipping with KRC. Weekly attendance has gone from 30 to 50 since beginning in September.

Rev. Kaloostian and I left the meeting with this thought for the Oceanside URC, Grace Evangelical Church, as well as our sister churches in the URCNA: KAUAI IS A RIPE MISSION FIELD, brothers and sisters! WE NEED TO FIND THE NEEDED FINANCES as well as CALL A MINISTER to REFORM THIS ISLAND AS WELL AS BE A LAUNCHING POINT TO ALL THE ISLANDS!

Thursday morning I will be traveling with my main man, Rev. Adam Kaloostian (aka, Grigor Lusavorich), to the island of Kauai to lead those involved in planting the Kauai Reformation Church in a two-night whirlwind membership course. We will be returning Saturday afternoon, in time to preach again on the Lord's Day.

Also, check out what others have said about their experiences on Kauai:

Memry Efflandt, wife of Rev. Kevin Efflandt.

Brian Cohran, seminarian extraordinaire.

Rev. Mike Brown, friend and colleague.

The Kauai Reformation Church is set to begin officially with public worship on September 2nd. Praise the Lord...the Lord's name be praised!

For updated info, see the Kauai Mission page. A more permanent website will be developed soon, but this one will serve for the time being.

The past Lord's Day the Rev. Adam Kaloostian of the Ontario URC filled the Oceanside URC pulpit. In the morning service he preached a phenomenal sermon entitled, The Commission-Driven Reformed Church, in which he challenged us with six points:

1. You need to learn from the Antioch church that the Lord calls churches with what might be seen as relatively limited resources to do remarkable things for the expansion of His kingdom.

2. You need to learn from Christ's warning to Ephesus that if you fail as a local church to embrace your call to fulfill your commission in a biblical way, then Christ Himself will leave this local church.

3. You need to be convinced that distinctively Reformed teaching and distinctively Reformed worship is biblical teaching worship—and so those in whom the Spirit is working will be attracted to us and to our church plants, because they are following the Scripture.

4. You need to be convinced that our evangelism and church-planting must be built upon the two pillars of biblical outreach—preaching and prayer.

*5. You need to be convinced that it is our privilege to excel in the grace of giving our money in support of evangelism and church-planting, meaning, providing deaconal support and paying the
preachers to those in need*

6. You need to be convinced to actually become involved in the lives of unbelievers, building relationships with them, answering their questions, and bringing them under the preaching of the Word.

To listen to the sermon, click here for the audio of his original sermon to his congregation in Ontario.