Report from the Wintery Midwest
From "The Marsh Newsletter" (Volume 3 Issue 2, February 1997), TE Robert Marsh reports on his church in Springfield, IL:
"This Month Has Been the Month of the SNOW: Since I have lived in Oklahoma for a long time, I had forgotten what DEEPsnow was like. Well, God gave me a wake up call. He says to the snow, _Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, _Be a mighty downpour.' Job 37:6
"Even with days of 6 inch snows, the congregation is faithful. This month we averaged 37 in attendance. In fact, last Sunday, during a storm, one of the families who normally travels 40 minutes in good weather showed up first to worship. This wonderful family is in their 80s.
"I truly thank God for His grace and mercy. He has given this church a core group who are willing to roll up their sleeves and pitch in. Three new families and one young man joined us on the first Sunday of this month. Now we have twenty members. The three new families have worked together in another church as the financial committee. They volunteered to help us out, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Another family is showing an interest in talking to the elders about joining next month.
"While I'm away at Ft. Polk next month, volunteers have been coming out of the woodwork to help with the service and Sunday Schools. The Ladies Bible Study has gotten together to have a Valentines Day fellowship dinner. I'm sorry I will be in the field and have to miss it. One of the ladies will be taking Sally to the dinner.
"I was reading an article about how our denomination differs from the other Presbyterians. I discussed this with a friend the other day. He said that the real difference is our view of Scripture. I got to thinking about it and he is right. We believe: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)
We believe in the inerrancy and infallibility of God's Word. God's Word cannot lie, or else we would have no foundation to our faith. When I get back that will be the focus of our advertisements in the paper."