The Southern Highlands is a beautiful place to live. And if you have ever visited or perhaps live here you will notice that in the Highlands there are many churches. What makes Highlands Reformed Church any different to all the others?
Why Reformed?
Back in 1517 a German Monk named Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg. Little did Luther know that God would use this to bring on the Protestant Reformation. Out of the reformation came what has now come to be known as the Five Solas. These Solas are a summary of Reformed Theology. Reformed Theology is what we are about. Sola Scriptura = Scripture (Bible) Alone, Solus Christus = Christ Alone, Sola Fide = Faith alone, Sola Gratia = Grace Alone and Soli Deo Gloria = to the Glory of God Alone. These five solas help us to understand the Gospel as given to us in the Word of God. These Solas along with many other wonderful truths are what we focus on and seek to grow in as we worship God.
God is described in the Bible as being a Holy, Holy, Holy God (Isa 6:33, Ps 99). The word Holy means that He is not only exalted and above all His creation, but it also tells us that He is unlike anything else. He is eternal, all powerful, all knowing, all present. He is so perfect, glorious and spectacular that to even look upon Him would cause us to die. In Reformed Theology we praise God for sending Christ Jesus to die on the cross so that His people can be justified (declared righteous) in God’s sight. This doesn’t stop anyone from sinning nor make them somehow perfect, but once a believer is justified they are in effect clothed in or covered by the righteousness of Christ so that when God the Father looks upon His people He doesn’t see their sins, but rather sees the righteousness of Christ.
Why the Logo?
You might have noticed the logo for the church is made up of three important items. In no particular order we first notice the shield. In Ephesians 6:16 Paul tells believers to take up the shield of faith. This faith is key to our entire lives. We live by faith, we are saved by grace through faith, and it is the gift of faith in Christ Jesus and all He did, does and will do that sustains us. Next is the sword in the middle of the shield. Ephesians 6:17 tells us that the sword is the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God given to us to know God and to know ourselves. The Bible is “breathed out” by God and profitable in many ways (2 Tim 3:16-17, see also Psalm 119). It can penetrate to our our very hearts and minds. Thirdly and most importantly is the cross that the sword makes. It is to remind us that the cross of Christ Jesus is central to our faith. It is on the cross that Jesus took upon Himself the punishment that His people deserved. Instead of a Priest sacrificing a lamb to signify that the punishment for sin has been paid, Jesus became the sacrifice that was required and He took upon Himself that punishment. Death could not hold Him and Jesus rose victorious and is now seated at the right hand of God as our Mediator and High Priest. He is our King, Lord, Saviour and friend. And every week as we join together as believers we seek to worship our “Holy, Holy, Holy” God and praise Him for sending Jesus Christ to save sinners.