Restoration Presbyterian Church

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Boothwyn, PA
Restoration Presbyterian Church

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We are a Reformed Presbyterian church and part of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) denomination.

We are strugglers, sufferers and sinners who share in God’s restoration of all things – our life with God, our relationships, our community, and our world – through the Gospel.

10/27/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for October 27

*Wholeness in the "Good Portion"*

“Unite my heart to fear Your Name.” (Psalm 86:11)

Dear Church Family,

On Sunday morning, we considered the account of Martha and Mary at the end of Luke 10. Mary was content to put the burdens and cares of a busy household aside and sit at the feet of Jesus, while Martha was distracted with much serving. Martha's distracted and divided heart led to two things: 1. Restlessness within herself. 2. Resentfulness toward others. These are the two dangers for us whenever our hearts become distracted and divided by all the stuff that causes us to be overwhelmed and pulled apart by fear, worry, and anxiety -- Restlessness and Resentfulness.

We are distracted people living in a disracted and distracting world. If you're like me, you can find yourself some days slowly drifting toward a restless and resentful heart. Left unchecked, this sort of heart-division will bring the following:

*Divided Focus – What is my attention going to be devoted to?... When our focus isn’t on the Lord, it will be on the storms of life's trials, or the competing amusements that distract us. This will always steer us off course.

*Divided Fears – How Many different kinds of cares and worries consume me?... When we are not living in fear of the Lord, we will fear everything else. When God gets smaller, all the "stuff" gets bigger.

*Divided Motivations – What underlying desires are conditioning my decisions?... When the Lord isn’t our heart’s desire, there are so many other things to run after. If we aren't driven in our lives by love for the Lord then we will always be driven by love for something else.

*Divided Loyalties – What is really governing my life?... If our allegiance isn’t to the Lord, we will be ruled over by the harsh taskmasters of the world and our own sin. If we aren't being ruled by Christ and His word, there are a multitude of other masters always ready to gladly receive our devoted service.

What is the solution to a divided heart? It is to get out in front of the division and make the conscious, daily decision to choose the "Good Portion," as Mary did in Luke 10. As the Psalmist prays in Psalm 86:11 -- “Unite my heart to fear Your Name.” It is in fellowship with the Lord that we find the wholeness of a united heart. This is a prayer for every day, "Lord, take the broken pieces of my divided heart today and unite them anew IN YOU -- that I might focus on You, fear Your Name, desire You above all else, and be ruled in my Life by the light and warmth of Your Word and SPirit!"

This will be a particularly important lesson for many of us to keep in mind as we approach the holiday season and find ourselves more and more distracted by so many responsibilities, obligations, events, and activities. We will need to remember as things begin to pile up and mount over the coming weeks and months that busyness is not a virtue and your value is not defined by the number of items on your schedule. There may be more value in one brief heartfelt conversation with a friend, one encouraging word to a stranger, or one morning of focused prayer than there is in all the big and flashy events you feel pressured to plan or make an appearance at.

So, look to the Lord, and find unity of heart and wholness of life in Him. When you do, all the stuff will take care of itself.

Blessings,

Pastor Jon

10/25/2026

Sunday October 25th, 2026. Sermon Text: Luke 10:38-11:13

10/24/2026

We are so blessed to be out with our community this evening at the Upper Chichester Table and Treat event! Stop by and see us (and get some candy) if you're free!

10/20/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for October 20

Where Did Hospitals Come From?

“Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

On Sunday morning we looked at the Parable of the Good Samaritan. One major point of historical disconnect between this story in its ancient context and our modern context is the fact that there were no hospitals available in the ancient world to bring the dying man in Jesus’ parable to. Instead, travelers in need were at the mercy of other travelers to provide tangible help on the road, as the Samaritan did for the man in the story. Conversely, if you or I were to come across someone in a similar situation in our day, the best course of action would be to call 9-1-1, wait for the paramedics to arrive, ensure the man was OK, and find out what hospital he was being taken to for follow-up. But in the first century, they had no such luxury.

It brings up an interesting historical question – Where did hospitals come from in the first place? In modern America, we have such plentiful access to hospital care, particularly in highly populated areas like ours, that we often have a choice of which one to go to. But in the ancient world there were none. What happened?

The truth of the matter is that what happened is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the Christian Church that established and built the very first hospitals in the world in the fourth century A.D. in the Eastern Roman Empire. In fact, it was at the Council of Nicea – Yes, the council most popularly known as the gathering that formulated the first edition of the Nicene Creed! – that mandated that a place dedicated to the care of the sick, travelers, and poor be established in every city that had a Christian Bishop. Indeed, the early Christians understood well that orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxy (right practice) are to go hand in hand!

One of the most notable of these early Christian hospitals was established by a man named Basil of Caesarea (330-379 AD), at Caesarea in the region of Cappadocia. Later generations would give Basil the title “The Great.” Basil was not only a great preacher and teacher (Basil’s book “On the Holy Spirit” remains a foundational classic work on the personhood and divinity of the Spirit of God), but he was also a gifted administrator, whose life was devoted to the care of the poor and the good of the city the Lord had called him to serve. The large complex known as the “Basileias” – featuring a homeless shelter, a hospice center, and a hospital – was built in Caesarea in 369 AD. If you’re interested, you can read a little more about Basil and his “house of healing” here – https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/basils-house-of-healing

All that to say, one of the many great tangible blessings that people so easily take for granted in the modern world – the multitude of hospitals providing ongoing medical care for so many – is the direct result of the Gospel of Jesus Christ taking root within the consciousness of humanity. Whether they realize it or not, everyone in the modern world benefits from the church's enacting of the Lord's commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Truly, our forefathers in the faith took seriously Jesus’ calling at the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan to “Go and do likewise.” May we carry on their legacy – to the greater glory of King Jesus the Great Physician – And do likewise as well!

The Lord bless and keep you,

Pastor Jon

10/18/2026

18October 2026 service

10/16/2026

Please join us this evening for a night of fun and felloship at 7:00 pm! The kids especially will have an AWESOME time!

10/13/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for October 13

*Strengthen Yourself Today IN the LORD*

"But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his own destruction"

The above words are written about king Uzziah, in 2 Chronicles 26:16. Uzziah was one of the "good kings" of Israel. He became king at age 16, and reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. The Lord blessed Uzziah and used him in many ways to be a blessing His people. However, at some point along the line, Uzziah stopped trusting in and depending upon the Lord, and he lost his way. He would then learn humility by being confined to his house as a l***r until the day of his death. The last thing written about Uzziah, sadly, would be not his many accomplishments, but the fact that he "was a l***r until the day of his death, and being a l***r lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord." (2 Chronicles 26:21)

What happened? The very strength that was the Lord's blessing to Uzziah became a weakness when Uzziah started trusting in himself rather than the Lord. But wait -- didn't the Lord love Uzziah? Yes! The Lord disciplines those he loves. Uzziah needed to return to the Lord who was his strength and be saved from his own pride, which was a plague far worse than any leprosy could ever be. We do not know what life was like in those final days for king Uzziah, but I trust that the Lord proved to be Uzziah's strength even in that time of his greatest weakness, and in God's abundant mercy both Uzziah's leprosy and pride are now healed, never to return.

With that said, you may recall the name Uzziah from another place in Scripture. In Isaiah 6, it was "in the year that king Uzziah died" that the prophet Isaiah had his vision of the Lord in the Temple, high and lifted up, when the seraphim cried "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is filled with His Glory." It was the Lord Himself who was and remains and always will be the only Glory and Strength of His people! Kings -- both good and bad -- come and go. The Lord remains forever! He is the God who WAS, IS, and IS to COME – God of your past, present, and future.

As we continue to rush through the remainder of the year 2026, and find ourselves neck deep in the ever-increasing pace of various activities – Let us remember that THIS is the most important thing for all of us to remember and keep in our hearts. The Lord is your strength. When you feel like you can’t go on -- The Lord is your strength. When you start to give into the temptation of believing the lie that it all depends on YOU – The Lord is your strength. When you find yourself overwhelmed and anxious over many things – The Lord is your strength. When you fail and fall and the enemy whispers the deceit of despair in your ear – The Lord is your strength. And when you enjoy success and catch yourself starting to think -- like king Uzziah -- that your accomplishments and blessings are your own doing, and pride begins to rise up – Remember that it is the Lord who is your only strength, and strengthen yourself in Him by humbly repenting of that pride so that the Lord might uphold you in His grace.

In every new day and in every new season -- His mercies are ever-new! Therefore, may he renew His strength in all of us today and every day, even into the ages.

Amen.

The Lord Bless and Keep You,

Pastor Jon

10/11/2026

Sunday October, 11th,2026. Sermon text: Luke 10:1-22.

10/06/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for October 6

Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things

"The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank." (Exodus 2:2-3)

On Sunday morning we talked about following Jesus in the way of humility. One beautiful thing about cultivating the grace of humility in our lives is that if you are truly walking humbly before the Lord, then you will start to see the significance of the smallest acts of love and service. Whenever I consider this theme, I am reminded of Moses' mother, making a basket for her baby boy to save him from the decree of Pharaoh. Amidst everything else going on that day in Egypt -- all the political intrigue and building of kingdoms -- by far the single most significant thing happening was in fact a slave women preparing a basket for her baby boy.

While Pharaoh was making decrees, waging wars, and building cities on the backs of slaves, the Lord was working in the heart of this one seemingly insignificant woman to save her son. She loved her son, but she did not know at the time just how important he would be. In fact, no one would know how important he was for another 80 years! For it would not be until he was 80 years old that this boy who lived would be sent back to Pharaoh by the Lord, and speak those famous words, "Thus says the Lord, 'Let my people go...'"

What sorts of activities are you engaged in today or this week? Do not despise the day of small things. As we sojourn in this world by faith, we do not know the full implications of the small things we do -- the kind look, the encouraging word, the heartfelt prayer, the day of unnoticed service -- but these are all the sorts of things the Lord delights to use to bring honor to his name and blessing to his people. "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Beloved, Do not despise the day of small things, and keep your eyes on that Basket! Don't miss all the extraordinarily ordinary opportunities that might present themselves to you each day to love God and your neighbor. Whatever you do today, do it as unto the Lord, and trust that He is with you.

The Lord bless and keep you.

Pastor Jon

Address

2655 Chichester Avenue
Boothwyn, PA
19061

Opening Hours

10:15am - 11:30pm

Website

https://www.restorationpca.org/

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