Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
Psalm 45:6
In spite of sin, indeed through sin itself, God works His marvelous will. As Jacob admonished his brethren, so, he admonishes us: men meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
And so, Providence Presbyterian Church was born amidst hard and troubled times. The great goal of this church, as for all faithful churches, was to glorify God. Yet, there was a seemingly more mundane goal: peace, tranquility and unity of the brethren. These still are our goals.
Yet through it all, we have persevered because God has preserved us. And so, with a Biblical realism that belies the lies of our Pagan culture, we acknowledge our sins, collectively and individually, before our Triune God—Father, Son & Holy Ghost. We implore His mercy and strength, thanking Him for supporting our weakness, O, these 20 years.
As the Church of old was admonished again and again to remember their past deeds, recall God’s mercy and recollect their sins, so, we too, recall in the presence of many witnesses our past.
Providence Presbyterian Church was born on March 8, 1987. Perhaps it would be more proper to state that she was conceived on that date, for those gathered together were committed to being Orthodox Presbyterians from the beginning. It was decided on that day to meet around I-25 & Colorado. With Elder DeWolf presiding as the clerk, the first moments of Providence were sealed in ink.
On March 15, the attendees met again with the intent to incorporate and set a time, place & name. Through a quark of legislative idiosyncrasy, she has never officially had the OPC title appended to her legal name. Thus, “Providence Presbyterian Church” was born.
Monies were allocated for newspaper ads, ministerial pay, benevolences and evangelistic outreaches of the OPC & MERF. The self-sufficient church to be—a chapel in Presbyterian parlance—was maturing. Children were baptized, the Supper was administered and more significantly thirty-one people were being fed by the Word.
Dr. Coppes was officially called by Providence on October 11 and installed on November 15.
As Providence grew numerically and spiritually, a newsletter was created, Reformation Day parties were celebrated, sister-churches were assisted, radio ads were promulgated, teaching was expanded, and fellowship was engendered.
This would be a poor Christian report of history if difficulties and sins were ignored. Being in the process of sanctification, but not perfect, we rubbed each other in the wrong way at times. As friction produces flames, so, at times there were little flames. But love covered a multitude of sins.
And, so, being here today, reflecting upon our corporate existence, we also reflect upon our unique familial and individual histories. We recognize what we were without Christ: hopeless, lost and without hope in this world. But God in His great love wherein He loved us, sent us the Spirit to regenerate our souls and to draw us together with bands of love. He graced us with the fruits of the Spirit; He granted us differing gifts. These we shared with one another. We cared and prayed and loved. We wept for others. But we also saw God work in ourselves, subduing us to Himself. We grew closer to each other. And He built up our lives in spite of a great schism.
As we reflect upon our past, seeing God move marvelously, we see the future. Look and see if you have not grown in patience; know that you take your responsibilities more seriously; examine the truth that God holds onto His own; observe how you know more of His Word. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Opportunities wait for us because God has foreordained good works that we should walk therein. College students, neighbors, military families and everyday workers need the Gospel else they parish. Pray for each other; pray for our church. Implore the Spirit to excite our souls to live out the Gospel in thought, word and deed.
Thus we acknowledge Your wonderful acts of Providence. And we ask for your blessing upon us, our Covenant-keeping God, because of the merit and work of Jesus Christ our Great Justifier & Savior.
Amen.