Who is Burning Bush Reformed Church?
Burning Bush Reformed Church (BBRC) is an independent Reformed church in the south of Grand Rapids, Michigan. In our preaching and church life we emphasize the centrality of Scripture and the sovereign grace of Christ. Christ has on the cross paid the penalty for all the sins of all of God’s elect, and He continues to apply this redemption and to save sinners by working faith through his Word and Spirit. The church as a body of believers strives to walk with God and to worship Him in spirit and truth. Within the church, we strive to love one another, to serve God by serving one another, and to build one another up in the holy faith of our Lord once delivered to the saints. And within the wider community, the church desires to live honestly and sincerely in this world, and to spread God’s word and the gospel faithfully, purely, and widely (John 20:21).
A Biblical, Confessional, Reformed Church
BBRC wants to base every aspect of our church life and personal lives on the Word of God as our supreme standard, and to rely on the Holy Spirit’s grace to lead us to walk by the light of the Word.
The church is a biblical church, in that the Bible is the final standard that informs who we are and who we should be. Every Christian church should be modelled on the teaching and example of the New Testament church and the tradition of the apostles.
The church is a confessional church, meaning that we hold to historic and faithful summaries of biblical doctrine such as the ancient creeds of the Christian church and the Reformed confessions.
The church is a Reformed church, meaning that we stand unashamedly within the Protestant tradition of the sixteenth century Reformation. The Reformation’s doctrinal distinctives are sometimes expressed as the “Five Sola’s,” five Latin phrases that express a foundational principles of the Protestant Reformation. They summarize core theological beliefs: Sola scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola fide (faith alone), Sola gratia (grace alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone). The word “alone” emphasizes that salvation and Christian life are centered solely on God’s Word, through faith in Christ, by His grace, for His glory, and based on Scripture as the ultimate authority.
History
BBRC started to meet in the mid 1970’s as a house church. The church was formally organized in 1981 under its present name as a Reformed church based on congregational church polity, and called its first minister, pastor Arie Nobel, soon afterward. For many years, BBRC held church services in Cutlerville, Michigan, about one mile from where we now gather. Pastor Nobel, served faithfully as minister of word and sacraments for many decades until he passed away in November 2020.
Elders and Deacons
BBRC is both a Reformed church, with its roots in the Reformation, and a congregational church after the pattern of the New Testament churches. The church recognizes that the authority of Christ is vested in the whole congregation (Gal.1:8–10; Matt.18:15–20), but that Christ has also prescribed that local congregations be led by godly men who have been duly appointed to lead and oversee the church (Titus 1:5–11; 1 Tim. 3:4–5). As the Belgic Confession states in Art.30: “We believe that this true church must be governed according to the Spiritual order which our Lord has taught us in His Word. There should be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and to administer the sacraments; there should also be elders and deacons who, together with the pastors, form the council of the church. By these means they preserve the true religion; they see to it that the true doctrine takes its course, that evil men are disciplined in a spiritual way and are restrained, and also that the poor and all the afflicted are helped and comforted according to their need. By these means everything will be done well and in good order when faithful men are chosen in agreement with the rule that the apostle Paul gave to Timothy.“
The following men currently serve as elders and deacons:
DEACONS
Zeke Kamps and his wife Rachel are the parents of six boys and the proud grandparents of a recently born granddaughter! Zeke is the owner of a landscaping business.
Jay Bouman and his wife Lydia have several children, of whom the youngest is still being home schooled. Jay works in the mechanical and automotive industry.
Enoch Nobel is the secretary and treasurer of the consistory of Burning Bush Reformed Church. He also serves as a deacon. Enoch is a businessman and has worked in the concrete industry for many years. Enoch and his wife Nancy are the parents of seven children and also have one grandchild.
ELDERS
Doug Veurink works as a printing and typesetting professional in the printing industry. Douglas and Sandy have teenage girls.
Antoine Theron works as a theologian and researcher at a local seminary. He is an ordained Reformed minister, and regularly preaches for Burning Bush Reformed Church. He and Nicoline, his wife, have girls and boys.
Dennis Nobel is a semi-retired farmer and a groomer of cows! He is the father of four adult children and the grandfather of a growing tribe!
Affiliations
BBRC is a Reformed church in the congregational tradition. This means that the church is an independent Reformed church subject only to the Word of God and we acknowledge Christ as the only head of his church. We are grateful for God’s work in other faithful churches in our area and more broadly, and we seek to work with other churches where this advances the gospel of Christ and mission of serving Christ above all.
Burning Bush Reformed Church is affiliated with the Logos Global Network family of Christian church ministries.
