We begin Part One: Ancient Philosophy of a new Forum series: A Survey of Western Thought, this Thursday, 6 pm Eastern and 6 pm Pacific. We’ll be discussing introductory matters, such as what constitutes thought, what is philosophy, and does it matter, among other things. This will also be a good opportunity, as a group, to begin discussing some of our particular interests and emphases that we may like to, at…
Fair Oaks, CA
Fair Oaks, CA
Hope for the Future is one of our long-time partners in ministry. They’ve had a wide-ranging ministry in Romania for more than 20 years, and do a tremendous work there. Each year they raise most of their operating funds through a dinner and silent auction. It’s not only a worthy cause, it’s a lot of fun with a chance to visit with…
This article was originally posted at Exploring the Faith. We’ve looked at some of the benefits of interactive teaching. So let’s consider some of the challenges of teaching this way: “It takes a lot more time.”This is true. If you’re studying a passage of Scripture, and you have people respond to you and invite them to raise their hands and ask questions,…
This article was originally posted at Exploring the Faith. In the last post, we saw that Scripture doesn’t call pastors to preach, in the familiar sense of delivering sermons, but there is a repeated call for pastors to teach the church. I noted that—contrasted with preaching—teaching has different priorities, a different focus, and different expectations. So we should want to see this kind…
This article was originally posted at Exploring the Faith. The preaching of the Word has traditionally held a preeminent place in most evangelical churches. This is no accident. Young pastors and leaders have been taught how vital sound preaching is for keeping a church faithful and healthy. Quotes from noted leaders reinforce to us the crucial nature of preaching to the life…
We’re excited to announce that yesterday we publicly appointed a new addition to our pastoral team — Jack Foster. Jack and his wife, Damaris, live in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico with their two grandsons, Ivan and Jetxiel. Jack is especially passionate about diligent and thorough study of the Scriptures, theological reflection, and faithfully applying biblical truth to the church and to our…
Updated May 15, 2022 There’s an old saying that the church should be “reformed and always reforming.” This means that we’re “reformed” in the sense of holding to the authority of God’s Word above all else, and we’re “always reforming” by not assuming any doctrine is true simply because it’s traditional for us. Instead, we seek to be good Bereans (Acts 17:11) by searching the Scriptures to see…
Our next Forum discussion will be Saturday, Aug 14, at 10 am Pacific / 1 pm Eastern. We ‘ll be exploring the topic of “Fundamentalists & Evangelicals.” What are the differences? Why is this important? For more information, please email us at info@orchardefc.org.
The Sacramento-area youth are beginning a new 7-week series examining God’s Amazing Book. The study series begins Thursday, June 24, 6 pm, at the Brackett family home in Orangevale. Mona Brackett will be leading this study. For more information contact her at monica.brackett@gmail.com.
Our Forum study and discussion group now meets bimonthly. Our next meeting is June 12 at 10 am (Pacific). We’ll be discussing whether The Orchard should allow differing views on the nature of hell, or whether we should insist on only the Eternal Conscious Torment view. Since this will also be a church meeting, we encourage all of our church family to…