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Our Pastor
The Reverend J. Howard Cepelak
The Reverend J. Howard Cepelak is a native of Woodbury, Connecticut. He holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree from Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and
a Master of Divinity degree from Andover
Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. He
did graduate work at Westminster/Cheshunt College and The Faculty
of Divinity at Cambridge University, Cambridge,
England. He was formerly Associate Pastor of Grace
Congregational Church in Framingham, Massachusetts, and
Senior Pastor at Pawtucket Congregational Church in Pawtucket,
Rhode Island.
November 2008
Message from the Pastor
Pastor Howard's Sermons
Archived Pastor's Page
The Power of Prayer
As Christians, we know that we have direct access to God the Father through God the Son. The Lord delights in the prayers of
His children and both invites us to pray and seeks our prayers. All of Scripture testifies to the reality that in good tunes and
in bad times, God simply wants us to turn to Hun. Hence, in these difficult times - times filled to overflowing with possibility
for both great goodness and great peril - we need to turn to God.
Thus, pray for;
This nation. Never before in the history of the United States of America, the
most successful nation in the history of the world, founded on the faith and values of Christianity, have we been faced with
either the maximization of our rights, freedoms and prosperity or the sacrifice of them through moving to a socialist economy
and a secular state with ever increasing restrictions of all our freedoms including our religious and personal freedoms.
Government's most powerful weapon for control other than military force, comes through taxation. And behind taxation is the
threat of force. Where government taxation is heaviest, charitable giving of all kinds, and especially the financial support
of Christ's church, reduces or evaporates. Church life and the proclamation of God's Word in socialist countries (socialism
always sees human government as the supreme power, thus displacing God) virtually disappear.
As Christians we know that Jesus Christ is
Lord of all, the King of Kings. That means He governs our personal lives, our social lives
our business lives and our political lives. He holds us accountable for how we live and of how we use everything that He
has entrusted to us including our money and our vote. He governs the thoughts of our minds, the emotions of our hearts,
the work of our hands, the use of our bodies and the status of our souls. Thus, pray for this nation, that we will preserve
our freedoms.
Trinity Church . As we move
through our stewardship program, pray that each of us will be moved to
meet, to the best of his or her ability, the Biblical standard of the
tithe. The tithe represents 10% of our income given to Christ's church. We
live in a period of local history when all of our churches face serious
difficulty. Many of us remember when Waltham churches were full. Not all
that long ago, when Waltham had a population of 30,000, church life
flourished. Now, with a population of nearly 70,000, only a small
percentage of people attend any church at all. Secular humanism has become
the dominant religion of this part of the world. The times will
change once again. We pray for a resurgence of faith in God in
Christ and for the revitalization of His church. Trinity Church, made up
of sinners, as is every church, nonetheless seeks faithfulness to Jesus
Christ, free from the adaptation to secular humanism so evident in too
many congregations today. Pray for our success as we proclaim His
Word.
Trinity Church's Restoration
Program. G. B. Restorations of Belchertown has done a
comprehensive survey of what needs to be done to restore our magnificent
building. This building represents a sermon in architecture materially
expressing the beauty of holiness. Our steeple lifts up our eyes towards heaven. Our sanctuary,
one of the most beautiful in New England, provides an inspiring setting for our worship. This building was built to the
glory of God. We use it for that purpose. The total price tag for the restoration is $2,000,000.
Currently we have approached five private foundations
seeking grants for the restoration project. Pray for their
success.We will also be contacting various business and corporations in our community to help in this process.
Pray for their generous response.
The Radio Ministry. We have been broadcasting our services for
about six months on WBIX am radio. This brings Trinity Church into the
homes of those who either cannot attend church or for whatever reason do
not go to church. Our best estimate of the size of our radio congregation
is about 3,000 listeners. We have heard from a few. Pray that this
ministry will inspire the listeners to greater faith, deeper devotion and
to a personal commitment to Christ and to Trinity Church as we seek to
proclaim His sacrifice for the sake of our salvation.
Our Sunday School. I don't know how many churches in our area
teach the Biblical faith. In many cases, they do not, having compromised
with secular humanism and spiritual relativity. We teach the time-tested
truth of the Biblical revelation. As our schools and the culture militate
against the Christian faith, we proclaim it. Only in a faithful Sunday
School will our children learn about Jesus Christ. Only in a faithful
Sunday School will they know of His love and power. Pray for the
success of our Sunday School and for our devoted teachers.
Church attendance. I don't know how to speak about our Sunday
worship services without sounding either arrogant of self-aggrandizing.
But I will take the risk. I preach, to the best of my ability, Christ
crucified and risen and place that proclamation within the context of our
contemporary living. The sermons are good - sometimes great. (There, I
said it!) For a small church, our music program is
excellent - better than in many churches three times our
size. We avoid fads and the manipulative trickiness evident
elsewhere. We have so much to offer including a warm and friendly
fellowship. Those in church every Sunday represent a faithful group of
dedicated servants. But many members see Sunday worship as optional. I
don't understand that. Keeping the Sabbath holy is a commandment,
not a recommendation. All Christians everywhere need to be
worshipping in a good church. We have a good church. And remember,
we do not go to church to get something, we go to give
something - to give something to God who has given us everything - to give
our selves as living sacrifices of gratitude and
thanksgiving.
Church Growth. I wish I had a magic formula. No magic here; but we do have the
miracle of the power of the Christian faith. All I can say is to spread the word about our church. Invite your friends and
neighbors.
Ourselves.
We need to pray that we will both speak and act as ambassadors of Christ.
As St. Paul writes, We have renounced underhanded ways; we
refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open
statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every man's
conscience in the sight of God. Following Christ's Great
Commandment to love God above all else and then love our neighbors as
ourselves, we can maximize goodness in all that we say, in all that we do
and in all that we are. That's our job as our Lord's contemporary
disciples. Living a life of honesty, integrity and good will, we can
commend ourselves to every man's conscience. Nothing can replace acts of simple kindness as a way of life and as a means of evangelism. That's our job.
So pray.
Blessings, JHC
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