The Semper Reformata Podcast

Who Was Noah ? In this old stale sermon, extracted from a message preached at Templepatrick Reformed Church in 2017, we think about Noah, his Walk, his Work, his Warrant, his Willingness... and his Saintly Perseverance!  And we have another look at Genesis 6:3, and whinge about the assault of Semi-Pelagianism upon the modern evangelical churches.   Read the notes HERE and HERE . Hosted o...

Catechism Class - Lords Day 5, Q12-15 The Greatest Escape . The Hebrews author asks, "How can we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?"  What must we escape from, and how can we escape, when we are helpless in our lost human condition?  We need a Rescuer, to come and save us.  The catechist asks: Q.12 Since, according to God's righteous judgment we deserve temporal and eternal p...

The Days of Noah, and the Context of Genesis 6:3 What does the Bible mean when it tells us in Genesis 6, “My spirit shall not always strive with man?”  Can it be that God will awaken a sinner to his sins, open his sin-blinded eyes, reveal Christ to him, and then right at the very moment that he asks for forgiveness, find that God’s spirit has ceased to strive with him? Aren’t we assured that...

Catechism Class - LD4 Q9-11, Excuses ! The catechist deals with man's sin and the reason for it, teaching us that the responsibility for our sin and our condemnation under the law is entirely our own doing, the result of our original sin and continuing disobedience against God.  Because He is JUST, he MUST punish crime and wrongdoing, and because He is JUST he will not demand that crime be pu...

Gospel Living Text . Romans 12:14-21 A self explanatory portion of scripture! May God give us grace, that with the help of the Holy Spirit we might be enabled to practice it in our own lives! There are many modern ethical issues that face Christians.  The issues facing Christians today have changed and become. ore complex, and even in our local context, we are faced with our own particular di...

Catechism Class - LD3, Q7-8, The Fall of Man Q7 “ From where, then, did man's depraved nature come? ” “ From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise, for there our nature became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin .”  In this class we are going to look at the Fall of Man, and the consequences that have resulted from it.   Genesis 2:16-17...

TableTalk - The Final Judgment. #1 I want to suggest that there is just ONE JUDGMENT DAY!  When the Bible talks about this day, it always refers to it in the singular - the DAY of the Lord, the DAY of judgement - it never speaks of the future DAYS of judgment. See 1 Thessalonians 5:2.    To help us explore the Final Judgment Day, we are going to work through Revelation 20:11-15, and...

History Podcast - The Gnostics Who were the 'Gnostics?' - that mysterious heresy that embedded itself within the very early church? In this podcast we examine the 'cult' in the most basic manner - Not that's there's anything logical or understandable about Gnosticism! Why would we bother trying to understand this heresy?  Because in the modern church, there are activities and beliefs that see...

True Christian Love Christians are to love one another, as a grateful response to the love we have experienced from Christ, our Savour, who loved us when we we were unlovable!  But what will Christian love look like in practice?  Paul sets at the standard we are to aim for in Romans 12:9-10 9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10 Be...

Catechism Class - LD3 Q6, The Image of God In this lesson we are looking at Lord’s Day 3, Q6 in the Heidelberg Catechism.  In our last class, on Lord’s Day 2, we learned that we are miserable, wretched sinners, condemned under the law of God which we have wilfully broken. That divine law reveals to us just how far short of God’s righteousness we have fallen, when we measure up our own lives a...

You are NOT the Centre of the Entire Universe ! It's true!  As my granny would have said, "Catch yourselves on - who exactly do you think you are?"  We are told nowadays that we should have self-esteem, follow our hearts and do what makes us happy.  Paul's instructions to Christians in Romans gives us lifestyle instructions that are greatly different.  He wrote, " For I say, th...

Catechism Class: Lord's Day 2, Q3-5, 'The Broken Law.' Our instructor in the Heidelberg Catechism begins his teaching on the inherent Sin and Misery of mankind, in questions 3-5.  Hw do we know we are sinners?  Because the LAW of God sets the standards for our behaviour in life.  The purpose of life is to love God and our neighbour.  The law will convince us how far short of th...

Catechism Class - LD1 Q1, I am not my own ! For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.  1 Corinthians 6:20 How many of us think of ourselves as a 'self-made' man or woman?  The Christian believer cannot think that way.  In this episode of the Catechism Class, Bob looks at the classic wording of Lord's Day 1 in the Heidelb...

Gratitude for God's Grace, #1 - Romans 12:1 The sinner who has been saved from sin, through faith alone, by God's grace alone, in Christ alone, will be so grateful that the burden of guilt and condemnation has been lifted from them, that they will want to live a life that will be pleasing to God, to keep His law, and walk in His ways. In Romans 12-16, Paul lays out the practical implications of hi...

The Wigtown (or Solway) Martyrs At Wigtown, (Dumfries and Galloway) two courageous women, Margaret Wilson and Margaret McLaghlin, were executed by drowning in the Solway Firth, for the crime of worshipping Christ, in accordance with His Word, without interference from the state.   Presbyterian Covenanters, they worshipped God in the fields and hills, singing Psalms and listening to faithful p...

Catechism Class, Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 1A - My ONLY Comfort? In this episode, Bob responds to the proposed 'Gay Conversion Therapy' ban, as the Class considers why the Heidelberg catechist begins with the question, "What is my ONLY comfort in life and death?" Can he really mean that there is no satisfaction in ANYTHING that this life offers, except the forgiveness of sin, found in Chris...

Corinth AD50 - City of Sin! Paul arrived in Corinth from Athens in AD50, - but what did he find when he arrived in this sin cursed city, the pleasure-seeking Ibiza of the ancient world?  In this podcast episode Bob McEvoy takes us through Acts 18:1-4, and explores the background of the city and the context of the passage.  It's all about Corinth that you really need to know! Notes Link:...

Catechism Class - 'THE LAST WORD' Have you ever wondered why Christians say 'Amen' at the end of their prayers?  In this 20 minute episode Bob looks at the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 52B, which deals with the coda to the Lord's Prayer. Q128 How do you end your prayer? A. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. That is: All this we ask of you because, as our King, h...

Arthur Guinness, - Irishman, Evangelical Christian, Philanthropist . With St. Patrick's Day looming on March 17, people all over the world will be celebrating Ireland's 'patron saint' with a glass of two of Ireland's alleged favourite beverage, - Guinness.  Every bottle or can calls the signature of the founder, Arthur Guinness.  But who was Arthur Guinness, what did he contribute to Iri...

Sabbath Day Controversies  #1. There's controversy surrounding the issue of Sabbath Observance.  In this sermon, preached at Templepatrick Reformed Church, Bob McEvoy looks at an incident found in Matthew 12, where Jesus and his disciples are accused by the religious hypocrites of the Pharisees of 'Sabbath Breaking.'  What happened and why, and what can we learn from it? Read the no...

In our year of Eschatology in TableTalk (Now extended because of the Covid-19 lockdowns) we have referred to the three systems of eschatology, - what Christians believe will happen in the future; what we sometimes call Bible Prophecy, but looking back over the series, it seems that I have totally ignored the postmillennialist viewpoint, and although I’m not a postmillennialist, I do think we shoul...

Only Jesus Can Heal Broken Lives . We live in a world that has been broken and scarred and ruined by sin, by the fall. That brokenness manifests itself in many different ways, both in society as a whole and in individual lives. The Lockdowns of 2020-2021 must surely result in a major increase in mental illness, broken homes, domestic violence, depression and even suicide. The bible tells us that a...

Purgatory! (No, not this podcast - although that might be a fair and accurate description!) People are made up of Body and Soul/Spirit, and that after we die, our soul/spirit lives on, in heaven with the Lord, until the resurrection day, when the dead shall rise – both the saved and the lost, the saved to be the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem, a new heaven and earth, reunited now with their phys...

'St' Patrick - Roman Catholic or Reformed? - APOLOGIES - the original upload had faulty audio, so this will hopefully be slightly better. In this bonus episode for the Lockdown Patrick's Day, Bob looks back over some old, mouldy notes on Patrick, and rehashes them for the podcast - and he calls this a BONUS? Still, Patrick did not have all the understanding or light which the reformers had, but hi...

Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 52A, Q127, The Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation' I am Weak, but He is Strong! Does God ever ‘lead’ us into temptation? The dichotomy between the sovereign rule of God over every aspect of our lives, and our requirement to stand firm, resisting temptation - and the resources available to us in the war against the evil one.  We conclude that We are WEA...