CHRIST CHURCH VENTURA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

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1 The Celtic Cross is an ancient Christian symbol. The cross proper recalls the death of Christ for the sins of his people, while the circle is a historic symbol of God s eternal nature. Jesus name is at the center, depicted by the Greek letters Ιης and is surrounded by the vine and branches, representing our relationship to Him. At the bottom, CHRISTUS VICTOR, Christ is Victorious, testifies to his triumph over sin and death on the cross. This Celtic cross is used by permission of Saint Paul s Presbyterian Church in Orlando, Florida. Each of the five panels represents a significant event in Christ s life. Exalting Christ through Worship, Learning, Community, and Outreach HIS REIGN The wounded lamb as Christ reclining on the book of seven seals is a historic symbol of the reigning Christ. The threerayed nimbus is an ancient symbol of deity. (Revelation 5:9-12) HIS RESURRECTION Lilies traditionally represent the resurrection; the trumpet heralds Christ s certain and triumphal return. (1 Corinthians 15:54; Matthew 24:31; Luke 12:27) HIS ATONEMENT The crown of thorns and nails testify to Christ s sacrificial death on the cross. (Hebrews 2:17: John 19:2; 20:27) HIS BAPTISM The dove and tongues of fire symbolically portray the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:10; Acts 2:3) HIS INCARNATION The open Bible is the Word of God. The double lighted candlesticks represent the dual nature of Christ his deity and his humanity. (John 1:1-14) CHRIST CHURCH VENTURA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA To all who are spiritually weary and seek rest; to all who mourn and long for comfort; to all who struggle and desire hope; to all who sin and need a Savior; to all who are strangers and yearn for home; to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness; and to whoever will come; this church offers a genuine welcome in the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

2 WHAT IS OUR MESSAGE? The great good news is that God has taken it upon Himself to do something for us that we are powerless to do for ourselves. The Gospel is simply this: sinners are forgiven and accepted by God because of the work of Jesus Christ. Trust in Christ s finished work is not just the beginning of the Christian life, but the means and end as well. The Gospel is what must be applied more and more deeply in order to live as a Christian. The power of the Gospel is not merely about forgiveness and improvement, but renewal and wholeness. A GOSPEL-SHAPED MINISTRY WHAT DO WE BELIEVE? We embrace the historic Christian faith believing the timeless truths held in common by the church in all ages and places. We wholeheartedly affirm the classic doctrines defined by the Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. The Trinity There is only one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Incarnation The person Jesus Christ is the only Son of God who is both fully God and fully human. The Gospel changes people Through the continual application of the Gospel we become more like Christ. The Atonement Jesus died on a cross and was raised from the dead in order to redeem us from our sins. The Gospel produces joy Grace frees us from both condemnation and self-righteousness to enjoy God fully. The Gospel defines community In union with Christ, we become God s sons and daughters His new people. The Gospel points outward The Gospel informs attitudes The Gospel removes barriers Grace disengages approval seeking, engenders authenticity, and curbs pride. As Christians, we desire the peace and well-being of our communities and cities. Reconciliation humbles us so that we may become agents to reconcile others. The Gospel renews culture All of life matters to God and we are to pursue all vocations with excellence. WHAT DO WE BELIEVE? The Gospel builds momentum Church planting is both the result of and means to fulfilling the great commission. We also embrace the Reformed Christian faith believing the biblical teachings that were restated during the Protestant Reformation. This great renewal of the church in the 16 th century has given us a common heritage in the classic solas. Scripture Alone The Bible is the one source of divine revelation and the only completely reliable guide for faith and life. Christ Alone Salvation is accomplished by the substitutionary atonement of the historical and sinless Christ alone. Grace Alone We are rescued from God s anger, freed from sin s bondage and lifted to new life by His grace alone. Faith Alone God Alone Christ s righteousness is imputed to us as the only possible satisfaction of God s justice by faith alone. The sole purpose of our creation and redemption is to enjoy God s presence and live for His glory.

3 CHRIST CHURCH VENTURA IS A CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA Empowered by the Gospel, we aim to experience God s pleasure in fostering true knowledge, holy affection, and faithful obedience through historic worship, biblical learning, genuine community, and cultural outreach to the end that God s people are gathered and Christ s Kingdom is extended throughout Ventura County and beyond. OFFICERS Teaching Elder Roy R. Bennett (roy@ojaipca.org) Ruling Elder Robert Glass (rglass@raypak.com) Ruling Elder Eric Halvorson (prof.halvorson@gmail.com) Order for the Celebration and Worship of God Third Sunday after Pentecost: June 13, :00 P.M. PRELUDE Pianist Tilford Jackson WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SILENT PREPARATION CALL TO WORSHIP AND RESPONSE Isaiah 25:6-9 STAFF Chief Musician Tilford Jackson Office Manager Debbie Glass CONTACT INFORMATION PO Box 25 Ojai, CA (805) / WORSHIP LOCATION Trinity Lutheran Church 196 N. Ashwood Avenue in Ventura at 4:00 PM ANNOUNCEMENTS EARLYBIRD BIBLE READING Wed. at 6:30 AM Revelation Coffee Bean and Tea 4360 Main St. in Ventura MISSION SPOTLIGHT January 10 th Dr. Samuel Ling China February 7 th Rev. Seima Aoyagi Japan March 14 th Rev. Joel Pelsue Hollywood April th Rev. Mike Malone Africa May 30 th Rev. Jim Bailey Cloudhaven July 25 th Cindy Hood PCA in Chile August 22 nd Michael Blank PCA in Peru Sept th Rev. Tom Patton World Missions VOLUNTEERS WANTED Worship greeters (contact Eric Halvorson) Training available Supper concierges (contact Robert Glass) All music reproduction is by permission CCLI# INVITIATORY Open our lips, O Lord. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise. Unison: Great is your mercy and grace, O Lord. You restore the peoples of the earth for your own glory. Come dwell among us and be glorified in your Church forever. Come let us adore Him! * HYMN OF PRAISE (Music on page 2) Rejoice, the Lord Is King * PRAYER OF ADORATION Unison: O Lord, keep your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion, for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 1

4 REJOICE, THE LORD IS KING * BENEDICTION Corinthians 13:14 Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. * DISMISSAL HYMN How Can I Keep From Singing * AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Westminster Confession of Faith VII.1-6 Unison: The distance between God and his creation is so great, that, although reasoning creatures owe him obedience as their creator, they nonetheless could never realize any blessedness or reward from him without his willingly condescending to them. And so it pleased God to provide for man by means of covenants. 2 Go in peace to love and serve the risen Lord Jesus. Thanks be to God! POSTLUDE Pianist Tilford Jackson * Congregation standing 19

5 ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, GIVE THANKS continued The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works. In it life was promised to Adam and through him to his descendants, on the condition of perfect, personal obedience. By his fall, man made himself incapable of life under that covenant, and so the Lord made a second, the covenant of grace. In it he freely offers sinners life and salvation through Jesus Christ. In order to be saved he requires faith in Jesus and promises to give his Holy Spirit to everyone who is ordained to life so that they may be willing and able to believe. This covenant of grace is frequently identified in Scripture as a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance and everything included in that legacy. This covenant was administered differently in the time of the law and in the time of the gospel. Under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances given to the Jewish people, all foreshadowing Christ. For that time the covenant administered under the law through the operation of the Spirit was sufficient and effective in instructing the elect and building up their faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of their sins and eternal salvation. This administration is called the Old Testament. PRAYER OF COMMITMENT Unison: Almighty God, you have redeemed us with the precious blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Grant that his love may constrain us to live no longer for ourselves but for him who died for us and rose again. Teach us to live for your glory and rest in your grace. Amen. Under the gospel Christ Himself, the substance of God s grace, was revealed. The ordinances of this New Testament are the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord s Supper. Although these are fewer in number and are administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet they are available to all nations, Jews and Gentiles, and in them the spiritual power of the covenant of grace is more fully developed. There are not then two essentially different covenants of grace, but one and the same covenant under different dispensations. 3

6 THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Isaiah 54:1-10 (ESV) ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, GIVE THANKS 54 :1 Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the LORD. 2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. 4 Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. 6 For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. 7 For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8 In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9 This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. 10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God! * HYMN OF TRUST (Music on page 5) I Sing the Mighty Power of God 17

7 MAY WE BE ONE I SING THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD 16 5

8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF GRADUATES Bronwyn Bennett & Micah Sveiven AGNUS DEI John 1:29 PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE A Litany for Graduates We give you thanks, 0 Lord, for all our students, our sons and daughters, fellow believers and friends. Watch over them as their days increase. Bless and keep them wherever they may be. Hear our prayer, 0 Lord. Strengthen them as they grow and stand. Comfort them when discouraged or sorrowful. Raise them up if they fall and may your peace which passes understanding abide in their hearts. Hear our prayer, 0 Lord. Grant to them the knowledge of truth and the desire to do what they ought, to love what they ought, to value what is precious in your sight, and to turn away from what is offensive to you. Hear our prayer, 0 Lord. Graft in their hearts the love of your name, increase in them true faith, nourish them with all grace and goodness, and by your great mercy keep them. Hear our prayer, 0 Lord. Give them grace to be ever mindful of the merits and mediation of their Lord Jesus Christ, that they might live in the joy and freedom of their salvation. Hear our prayer, 0 Lord. Direct them in all their endeavors with your gracious favor, and further them with your continual help that in their various callings, in works begun, continued, and ended, they may glorify your name and, by your mercy, arrive at your eternal kingdom and their heavenly home, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hear our prayer, 0 Lord. THE LORD'S SUPPER Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast! The gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to the Lord! (People are encouraged to come forward to receive the sacrament and to repent and rejoice as the sacrament is observed. The wafer is to be dipped into the wine.) COMMUNION HYMN (Music on page 16) May We Be One Daigle and Cooney 1993 COMMUNION SONG (Music on pages 17 & 18) Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks * HYMN OF FAITH (Music on page 7) The Son of God Goes Forth to War 6 15

9 PRAYER OF CONSECRATION THE SON OF GOD GOES FORTH TO WAR WORDS OF INSTITUTION 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION PRAYER OF APPROACH Unison: We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table. But you are the same Lord, whose nature is always to have mercy; grant us therefore, gracious Lord, that we may so partake of this bread and wine that our sinful bodies may be made clean by Christ s body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. AMEN 14 7

10 * NEW TESTAMENT LESSON Revelation 11:19 12:17 (ESV) 11 :19 Then God s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. 12 :1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! 13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. THE SANCTUS Isaiah 6:3; Psalm 118:26 All music reproduction is by permission CCLI#

11 * PRAYER OF DEDICATION CONFESSION OF SIN Unison: Our gracious God and Father, your promises in Christ Jesus are true and will all be fulfilled as surely as you have spoken them. Yet we have often doubted them and lived at times as if there is no God. Lord, forgive us for trusting other things and being content with temporal treasures. Grant us grace to repent and to rest in Christ, our God incarnate, as the ground of our lives and the spring of our hope. Teach us to resign to your will and to believe that you work all things for my good. Bless us with the faith of Abraham, that does not stagger at promises through unbelief. ASSURANCE OF PARDON Isaiah 54:9-10 For this is like the days of Noah to me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but my lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you. THE GREAT THANKSGIVING The Lord be with you! And also with you! Lift up your hearts! We lift them up to the Lord! Let us give thanks to the Lord! It is good and right so to do. It is right, and a good and joyful thing, that we should always give you thanks, O Lord; therefore, with the angels, we exalt and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you and singing, The Word of the Lord! Thanks be to God! * PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION AFTERNOON SERMON Cosmic Warfare PASTORAL PRAYER OFFERTORY * DOXOLOGY Reverend Roy R. Bennett 12 9

12 SERMON NOTES AT THE LAST TRUMPET Once upon a time there was a vineyard the Father planted with his care so fine. And he left it to the care of his children to bring forth fruit fit for his finest wine. At the last trumpet they d sing, hallejujah! At the last trumpet they d be a lovely bride. At the last trumpet they d sing, hallejujah to the king! Having been faithful in the tending of his vine. Can you see we are the children of his vineyard, while his wine is his blessing to the earth? If we live life looking for an empty blessing, can t you see we ll taste the fullness of his curse? At the last trumpet they d sing, hallejujah! At the last trumpet they d be a lovely bride. At the last trumpet they d sing, hallejujah to the king! Having been faithful in the tending of his vine. Are we soon forgetting how to prune and till his vineyard? Are we forgetting how to gather out the stones? Til the harvest surely is sown within the Father s trust, Tell me children will it grow up all in thorns? At the last trumpet will we sing, hallejujah? At the last trumpet will we be a lovely bride? At the last trumpet will we sing, hallejujah to the king? Having been faithful in the tending of his vine. John Michael Talbot The New Earth