https://www.restorationpca.org/

Restoration Presbyterian Church, 2655 Chichester Avenue, Boothwyn, PA (2026)

06/02/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for June 2

*Where Are You Positioned?*

"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience." (Luke 8:11-15)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)

On Sunday morning we considered the Parable of the Sower from the Gospel of Luke. Today I just want to follow up on that and ask, Are you positioning yourself properly, today? In the Parable, Jesus mentions three basic threats to bearing fruit over the long haul in our lives – 1. The attacks of the enemy, 2. The hardness of our own hearts, 3. The distractions, pleasures, and cares of life. In other words, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil in reverse order.

First, the DEVIL– the attacks of the Enemy. In the Big Picture, the seed on the path are people whom the devil completely deceives and they never believe. However, we need to be aware on the ground, every day, we are ALL in a battle. There’s an Enemy who wants to sn**ch away the fruit of the word, by trying to draw us to wander onto the wrong path.

What do you do? Make sure you are properly positioned! Consider Proverbs 4:26-27 – “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” The Evil One cannot get near those who are properly positioned. So, stay in the middle of the field, and cling to the Cross – which like a Scarecrow will fend off the enemy whenever he approaches!

Second, the FLESH – This is the rocky soil of the hardness of our hearts -- the shallow soil where the roots are blocked by rock under the surface. Many of you who’ve been walking with the Lord for years, know how it is. After a while the Word stops penetrating into the soil of your soul the way it used to. What do you do when you feel your heart starting to calcify? Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if your hear his voice, do not harden your heart!”

We need to be about the work of breaking up those rocks with the sledgehammer of the Cross. That is, When I’m not feeling it, I am called to pick up the Cross and apply it to my fickle emotions and remind myself – It’s not about my feelings or performance anyway, and never was! It’s about Christ’s Work FOR ME, His Promises TO ME, and His Work IN ME. When I get that Gospel into my soul, it starts to break down the hardness of my heart so that the roots can start to form again – And I can bear fruit that reflects the Lord’s love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness in my life once again!

Third, the WORLD – The thorns of life’s distractions, pleasures, and cares. There is so much stuff that we’re trying to fill ourselves with, that ultimately just suffocates us. This is a very NOISY world, and we have very NOISY hearts. We fight against all sorts of distractions. The question isn’t whether they’ll be there. The question is whether we will let them get so big that they choke out our faith.

We need to see amidst the thorns that threaten us, that there is a much bigger set of thorns that saves us – that is, there is One who bore the Thorns on his own head, for you and me, that He might take them away! Jesus was troubled, to take away our trouble. He took up our sins, our worries and fears, our sicknesses and sorrows, nailed it all to the Cross and buried them in the grave so that they might not swallow us up! He took the Thorns, so that you and I might bear the Fruit! When our vision of this Gospel gets bigger, the other stuff gets smaller and we can put everything into perspective, and sing, "Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is Well, It is Well, with my soul!"

So, wherever you find yourself today, friends – Whether a fruitful season… A wandering season… A rocky season… A thorny season… or some combination of all four – The Lord is calling you back today to the Middle of the field. Bring whatever is going on today back into perspective by reminding yourself of the Bigger Picture of His Word, His Life, and His Love FOR YOU! Rise up, give thanks, and bear good fruit, with patience!

Blessings,

Pastor Jon

05/31/2026

31May2026

05/26/2026

Tuesday Encouragement, May 26

*Give Me Neither Poverty Nor Riches*

Yesterday in my reading I came to the words of Agur the son of Jakeh, in Proverbs 30:7-9….

“Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.”

Agur is seeking from the Lord the right portion of earthly blessings the Lord might allot to him in order keep him from the two downfalls of forgetting the Lord on the one hand, and profaning the name of the Lord on the other. Excessive wealth brings with it the danger of trusting in wealth rather than God, in which case we will forget that everything we have is simply a gift. Poverty, on the other hand, brings with it the danger of trying to steal and defraud in order to obtain the necessities of life, in which case we profane the name of the Lord by breaking his commandments and robbing our neighbor. Agur says, essentially, “Lord, give me what is needful for me, and let me be content with that modest portion, that I might trust entirely in you.”

Seventeenth century pastor, Jeremiah Burroughs, in his wonderful little book, “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment,” has this great insight where he says the way to contentment in our lives is not to get our circumstances up to our desires, but rather to lower our desires to our circumstances. To many, this sort of thing may sound like defeatism. But the truth is the opposite -- this is not defeatism. It is actually the first step to living each day in the joy and peace of the Lord’s victory: to lower our desire for earthly things, and increase our appetite for Heavenly Things.

Our natural inclination is quite the opposite, isn’t it? That is, we tend to always be striving to get our circumstances up to our desires. “If only I had THIS… or THAT… THEN I would be content.” However, many of us know from experience that this is actually not the way to contentment, but quite the contrary the surest path to discontent with where the Lord has you right now. And when you are discontent with where the Lord has you right now, it will be very difficult to take any joy or have any peace, much less to serve the Lord freely – right here and right now, in your life, today.

Further, even if you do get everything you currently want, oftentimes you will find out eventually that it simply does not satisfy. Like a kid on Christmas Morning – All the toys are the greatest thing ever!... That is, UNTIL December 27, when they’re all sitting untouched, in the basement. And so you go to the next thing… and then the next thing... And on... and on... and on…

Why is this? It is because we were made for communion with God, and the things of this world will not satisfy the eternal longings of your eternal soul. We are seeking to fill an emptiness with things that simply cannot and will not do it for us.

Here’s how Jeremiah Burroughs put it:

"My brethren, the reason why you have not got contentment in the things of the world is not because you do not have enough of them... but because they are not things proportionate to that immortal soul of yours that is capable of God himself.... It is as if a man were hungry, and to satisfy his craving stomach he should gape and hold open his mouth to take in the wind, and then think that the reason he is not satisfied is because he has not got enough of the wind. No, the reason is because the wind is not suitable to a craving stomach."

We were made for communion with God. Nothing else will fill that void within. Everything else is like gulping the air.

When you feel extreme hunger, or thirst, that feeling in itself is not a pleasant feeling. Nevertheless, the feeling of hunger and thirst are gifts to drive us to the food and drink that will strengthen and sustain us. After all, if you never felt hungry or thirsty, then what would happen? You woul forget to eat and drink, and so be left malnourished and dehydrated. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will not hunger.” (John 6:35) He also said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…” (John 7:37) He has what will satisfy – The only question is, Do you realize how hungry and thirsty you really are?

You see, we need to get to the place where we can say, with Asaph, in Psalm 73, “Lord, Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.” For only then, will we be able to say, with Paul – “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” Otherwise, we are seeking fulfillment and strength from things that cannot give what we need.

So, today, dear friends – May the Lord grant us the grace to learn from the wisdom of Agur, and Asaph, and Paul, and Jeremiah Burroughs. Count your many blessings today, give thanks to the Lord, and rise up in his joy to serve him and your neighbor in gratitude and love.

The Lord bless and keep you.

Pastor Jon

05/24/2026

24May2026

05/22/2026

We hope you can join us at Restoration Church for a free petting zoo, food, and fun on Sunday, June 7!

05/19/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for May 19

*Happy Pentecost!...*
..Well, in a few days, at least! This coming Sunday -- May 24 -- will be Pentecost Sunday, when we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead as recorded in Acts chapter 2. (The word "Pentecost" comes from the Greek word for "fiftieth") It is worth noting that in addition to the resurrection of Jesus, the Day of Pentecost is another vitally important event in the New Testament that happened on the first day of the week. (Pentecost was and is always on a Sunday.) It is no coincidence that just as it was on the first day of the week that Jesus was risen from the dead as the "firstfruits" of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20), so also it was on the first day of the week that the Holy Spirit came down from the risen Christ to bring forth the firstfruits of the harvest of the New Creation -- the Church. (2 Cor. 5:17)

For some reason, in most Protestant churches Pentecost Sunday generally winds up getting far less recognition than some of the other days we remember -- Christmas, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday. In my opinion, this is unfortunate. For the truth is that Pentecost is no less significant than any of those other events. Consider: Without Jesus' outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be saved. Further, without the sending of the Holy Spirit, the spread of the Gospel in the world would have ended before it even started.

It is the Holy Spirit who takes what Jesus did then and there, and gives us new life by applying to us – here and now – the once for all saving work and ongoing life and power of the risen Lord Jesus. In other words, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is nothing more or less than the presence and power of the risen Chist at work in the world, in the church, and in our lives. For this reason, just before he was crucified, Jesus amazingly said to his disciples that "it is for your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:7-8) The Holy Spirit is our Paraklete -- Our Helper, Advocate, Comforter -- present with us ALWAYS.

Further, more than simply saving us and leaving us, the Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us for the mission the Lord has entrusted to us. When we think of the mission of the church, we cannot think of the church's mission merely as something for people in far away places to do. We must think in terms of our own mission in Upper Chichester and the surrounding neighborhoods where the Lord has placed us. Where is the Lord calling us in the power of the Spirit to GO and be His Light today... this week... this year? This is where remembering the truth of Pentecost should lead us -- Jesus is with us right now by the power of the Holy Spirit and will work through us as we follow and serve him in the world.

One passage I always think about every year in connection with Pentecost is Psalm 67. This Psalm so beautifully weaves together the inseparable union between God's blessing to us, and that blessing being extended from us to all the nations.

Here is Psalm 67.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Psalm 67 is a Psalm for the harvest, and it applies to both God's earthly blessings as well as to the harvest of souls being brought in through the spreading of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world. The foundation for this prayer is the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12 and the Benediction the priests were told to give the people of Israel in Numbers 6 (Often referred to as the "Aaronic Benediction -- "The Lord bless you and keep you...") Psalm 67 takes both of those passages and turns them into a prayer, that God's blessing upon His people would extend OUTWARD from us and ultimately to the ends of the earth!

Our God is a Missional God, and WE are the people He has called to His Mission. What a blessing and privilege it is to be called to the very mission of the Living God in the world! Therefore, may the refrain of Psalm 67, verses 3 and 5, be the refrain of our own hearts today and every day. "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!" As God has blessed us, he calls us to go forth in the compassion and power of the Spirit and be a blessing to others in His name!

Amen. God shall bless us. Let all the ends of the earth fear Him!

The Lord bless and keep you all,

Pastor Jon

05/17/2026

17May 2026

05/12/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for May 12

*Learning From Jesus in the Garden*

Dear Church Family,

Whenever I go to prayer during seasons of severe affliction, doubt, or difficulty, I take courage from the scene of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Here is Luke's account, in Luke 22.39-46:

"And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

For your encouragement this morning, I want to offer three brief reflections on prayer from this astounding scene:

1. "When he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

When it comes to the ongoing battles that we often refer to as spiritual warfare, we must see prayer is our first and foremost duty. As such, may God help us always to remember that prayer itself is most fundamentally a means of grace. That is, prayer is one of the things the Lord uses to encourage our faith and strengthen us to follow Him in our lives. We often say that "there is power in prayer," and this is true. But the power in prayer is not simply in God answering our prayers, but in the very act of praying itself. If we are not strengthened through prayer in times of calm, we won’t be able to handle the storms and battles of life rightly when they come. It's easy to pick up a sword when you see somebody coming at you. It takes much faith to pray to be strengthened for a battle you cannot see.

2. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Jesus models for us what it looks like to pray during seasons in which we are being called to do extremely hard things for the Lord -- to go through trials that we very much DO NOT want to face -- while trusting in the Fathers greater purpose. We rightly follow him in praying, "Father, not my will, but Yours be done." However, it is very rare, especially in times of suffering and trial, that those who repeat these words in prayer actually pray them as Jesus did -- that is, in full sincerity and truth. To be perfectly honest, when I pray the words, "Not my will, but ours, be done," there almost always follows an internal sigh, which says to God in effect (even if without words): "I believe, Lord -- Help my unbelief!" Jesus, however, spoke these words to His Father without reservation, so that by his perfect faithfulness to His Father's will, He might cover over all our reservations and help us in our unbelief. Jesus' prayer is surely a model for our prayers. But even more than that -- by the perfection of His prayers, He covers the imperfection in ours, as even now "He ever lives to make intercession for us." (Hebrews 7:25)

3. "And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him."

It is astounding to think about Jesus being strengthened for what He was called to do. Surely, He was God, and as God He needed no help. But this is the mystery and glory of the incarnation -- the fact that He is God did not cancel out the reality of His humanity. Jesus was fully human like we are in every single way, with one and only one exception: He was entirely without any sin of his own. The Father answered Jesus' prayer not by taking the cup from Him, but by strengthening Him for the trial ahead. We often say that sometimes God's answer to prayer is "No." This is very true. But I think there's more to it. When God says "No" to a prayer of faith for a greater purpose, He also brings with this answer the grace and strength to endure and move forward with trust in His Goodness, so that in time our desires will align with His desires.

May the Lord grant all of us much grace and faith to follow Jesus in this vital ministry of prayer -- for ourselves, for one another, and for the world -- remembering that as we heard on Sunday morning, Jesus sees us in our suffering, he knows, and he draws near in His infinite compassion.

Blessings,

Pastor Jon

05/10/2026

Sunday, May 10th,2026. Sermon Text: Luke 7:1-17

05/05/2026

Tuesday Encouragement for May 5, 2026

*Where Are You Planted?*

"Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers."

(Psalm 1:1-3)

This past Sunday morning we heard Jesus telling us about the tree and its fruit. Jesus said, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:43-44) Just like you know a tree by the fruit it produces, so you know the character of a person by the fruit they produce. Good roots grow good trees that produce good fruit. There is an inseparable connection between what’s going on underneath the surface at the level of your heart’s desires and what is coming out of you at the level of your words and actions.

Psalm 1 takes the process a step deeper, and drives us to ask the question, “where am I planted?” Are you like the tree that is planted by flowing streams? As you go through this week, and you get into the various battles and storms you are facing – both big and small – consider where you see yourself standing in those moments. Have your roots somehow become legs that have wandered away from the flowing streams of God grace in Christ? Or are you keeping yourself firmly planted in the right place, with your roots deeply entrenched in Gospel soil?

That said, being planted in the right place doesn't mean that everthing is going to be sunshine and bliss. One thing I appreciate most about the the description of the Good Tree in Psalm 1, is the line, “that yields its fruit in its season.” The Psalmist is well aware that even as we are planted by streams of water, we are going to go through all sorts of different seasons in life. Not every season is going to necessarily be a season in which you see or feel a whole lot of fruitfulness. Further, different kinds of seasons bring forth different kinds of fruit. There are dry seasons and wet seasons. A season of sorrow will bring different fruit than a season of joy. Waiting season is different than a season of new beginnings. Fruit borne in youth will look different than fruit borne in old age.

The Thing is, through each of these seasons – Where are you planted? Seasons come and go. The streams of living water remain through it all. If you stay by those living streams, then you will be fruitful in time. You may not see it or feel it immediately, but you will. There may be lots of bugs and bad weather and floods that threaten you as you are planted by those flowing streams, but they will not take you down. The firmly planted and deeply rooted tree will remain through it all because it has been planted in the right place, and is tended by the Heavenly Gardener who planted it -- And He is Good, and also Infinitely Greater than anything that threatens His beautiful Garden.

So, this week, whatever storms or threats may be present, I pray you will see yourself nevertheless planted by those flowing streams of God's grace, and may your roots grow deeper and stronger. And don’t forget our four steps from Sunday morning, 1. Gospel Freedom – Let Go! 2. Gospel Focus – Take the logs out of your eye. 3. Gospel Fruit – Rinse daily with Gospel Listerine. 4. Gospel Foundation – Get to work building on the Rock of Christ and His teaching.

Blessings,

Pastor Jon

Restoration Presbyterian Church

06/02/2026

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