First Presbyterian Church of Villa Rica

Order for the Worship of God
SUNDAY, October 24th, 2021, 11 AM

At Church and Online
(Live Stream and Online Bulletin)

Nursery 10 AM to 12 PM
10 AM Bible Study for all ages
11 AM Worship Services

 GATHERING OF GOD’S PEOPLE
“Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.” – Deuteronomy 4:10

PRELUDE
(As we prepare our hearts for worship let us quiet our hearts and our cell phones.)

Live Stream

Sermon:  by Reverend Greg Bysma

Direct YouTube Link

Bulletin/Order of Worship

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP
INVOCATION

(All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version, ESV, unless otherwise noted.)

Worship through Hymn of Thanksgiving

“My Jesus, I Love Thee”

 Verse 1

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;
For thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Verse 2

I love thee because thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Verse 3

I’ll love thee in life, I will love thee in death;
And praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath;
And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Verse 4

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

 

Worship through Confessional Reading

Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 27

Q. What do you understand by the providence of God?

A. The almighty, everywhere-present power of God, whereby, as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.

 

---

Worship Through Songs of Praise:

“Beautiful One“

Verse 1

Wonderful so wonderful is Your unfailing love
Your cross has spoken mercy over me
No eye has seen no ear has heard
No heart could fully know
How glorious how beautiful You are

Chorus

Beautiful One I love
Beautiful One I adore
Beautiful One my soul must sing

Verse 2

Powerful so powerful Your glory fills the skies
Your mighty works displayed for all to see
The beauty of Your majesty awakes my heart to Sing, How marvelous how wonderful You are

(Chorus)

Bridge

You opened my eyes to Your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
‘Cause nothing on earth is as beautiful as You

(Repeat)

(Chorus 2x)

 

“As The Deer“

Verse 1

As the deer pants for the water
So my soul longs after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

Chorus

You alone are my strength my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

Verse 2

I want You more than gold or silver
Only You can satisfy
You alone are the real joy giver
And the apple of my eye

(Chorus)

Verse 3

You’re my friend and You are my brother
Even though You are a King
I love You more than any other
So much more than anything

(Chorus)

---

PASTORAL PRAYER

….Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

WORSHIP THROUGH TITHES AND OFFERINGS

Offertory Song:

“I Love You Lord”

Verse (3x)

I love You Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
O my soul rejoice
Take joy my King
In what You hear
May it be a sweet sweet sound
In Your ear

 

Children Released to Children’s Church

Exposition of God’s Word

“God’s Unsurpassed Love”

Reverend Greg Bysma

“More Love to Thee, O Christ” 

Verse 1

More love to thee, O Christ,
More love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea,

Chorus

More love, O Christ, to thee,
More love to thee,
More love to thee!

Verse 2

Once earthly joy I craved,
Sought peace and rest;
Now thee alone I seek;
Give what is best:
This all my prayer shall be,

(Chorus)

 Verse 3

Let sorrow do its work,
Send grief and pain;
Sweet are thy messengers,
Sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me,

(Chorus)

 Verse 4

Then shall my latest breath
Whisper thy praise;
This be the parting cry
My heart shall raise,
This still its prayer shall be,

(Chorus)

Benediction

Doxology: Hymn #731

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heav’ly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Worship Through Tithes and Offerings

THIS WEEK AND UPCOMING EVENTS

---

SMALL GROUPS TODAY:

Whittle/Dickinson Group: will meet at the Dickinson home at 5 PM. Please bring a dish to share.

Mitchell/Forlaw Group:  will meet at the Mitchell home at 5 PM. Please bring a dish to share.

NEW! Missions Small Group for Everyone, Thursday October 7th:  The group met every 1st and 3rd Thursday evening from 7-8 PM beginning in September. This Small Group meets Next  on November 4th for a final time of bible study, prayer and preparation for the “WE ARE in the Fight for VR” conference-location to be determined (the group rotates location and meets in various member’s homes). This Small Group led by Teaching Elder Tom Myers and Ruling Elder Gary Brittain is sponsored by the Missions Committee, but everyone is invited.  This task oriented group spends the 1st 30 minutes in prayer and study the Word of God, and the second thirty minutes to prepare for the “WE ARE in the Fight for VR” Missions Conference on November 5th, 6th, and 7th. Theme or memory verses for next meeting: Matthew 28:19 & 20 The group will have its last meeting on November 11th.

MISSIONS CONFERENCE with Dr. Harry Reeder

The Missions Conference will be on November 5th, 6th, and 7th and will continue the theme, “Across the Street, and Across the Sea”.  This year’s emphasis Across the Street will be: WE ARE in the fight for VR!” –The Purpose, Mission, Vision, and Ministry of the Church”.   The November 5th, Friday Evening meal and service will be at the Villa Rica Amphitheater, weather permitting.  Keynote Speaker: Dr. Harry Reeder

PRAYER CARDS
Please complete the prayer request form in the right margin of this page, or if on your phone, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the form.  There are also index cards next to the bulletins on the tables in the back. Pastor Tom would like to know how he can pray for you. You may enter your request in the form on this page, put them in the offering box, or hand them to Pastor Tom.

MISSIONARY OF THE MONTH
Please be in prayer for our missionary of the month.

CHURCH LUNCHEON!

There will be a potluck lunch following the service on the 3rd Sunday of each month. That’s November 21st next. Bring a dish to share. This is a time of fellowship with old and new friends.  Visitors are welcome! There is always plenty of food.

NEW MEMBERS CLASS

A three week new member’s class will be  held on October 31^st, November 14^th and 17^th . Josh Whittle and Tom Myers will be leading this class.

(Please Stand As Able)

This Week in Our Church Life

HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS
Prayer Group now meets via Zoom at 7 PM.
Call the church office for info.

WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY
Wednesdays at 10am, PRECEPT BIBLE STUDY

A 10-week ladies precept Bible study began on Sept. 8^th at 10am. The group is studying the 7 Churches  of Revelation. Contact Debby Morgan for more info. If childcare is needed contact Jeanie Forlaw.

Other Resources

Kingdom Outreach:  See our Missions and Outreach Page

 What is Happening this Week, this Month?  Visit our This Week page.

A YEAR IN TABLETALK
You are invited to join us in reading through Tabletalk devotions for the year of 2021. January’s edition will be available by the offering box in the Sanctuary. You can purchase a subscription by calling 1-800-435-4343 or by visiting the Table Talk website. You can also begin a free subscription through the website.

Continue to pray and encourage one another.1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

---

COVID protocols: The leadership strongly recommends that everyone wear a mask in common areas when not seated for worship or Sunday school. We understand that many of us have been vaccinated, or have antibodies from getting the virus, and may not want to wear masks anymore. We would urge you to do so for any among us that are in poor health and susceptible to a severe reaction, or have a condition that does not allow them to be vaccinated. Currently the hospitals in Georgia are at capacity and we don’t want to add to the strain on their resources. Current reports are that this strain of the virus may start declining soon so we are hopeful that this strong recommendation will only be in effect until the end of September.  

Philippians 2:3-4
(ESV) Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

The Elders and Deacons of First Presbyterian Church of Villa Rica.

---

Secondary Resources for Further Study
(The Bible itself being the only Living, Infallible, Sufficient, and Authoritative rule of faith and practice.)

W.M.F Chapter 18 Of  Assurance of Grace and Salvation

Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish): yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. 2. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. 3. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. l And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure, m that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance; so far is it from inclining men to looseness. 4. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God’s withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived; and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.

Isaiah 53

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ² For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

 ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? ⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Canons Of Dort

The first main point of doctrine, divine election and reprobation

Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn All People

Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire ­human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

Article 2: The Manifestation of God’s Love

But this is how God showed his love: he sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (1 John 4:9; John 3:16).

Article 3: The Preaching of the Gospel

In order that people may be brought to faith, God mercifully sends messengers of this very joyful message to the people and at the time he wills. By this ministry people are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. For “how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone preaching? And how shall they preach unless they have been sent?” (Rom. 10:14-15).

Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel

God’s wrath remains on those who do not believe this gospel. But those who do accept it and embrace Jesus the Savior with a true and living faith are delivered through him from God’s wrath and from destruction, and receive the gift of eternal life.

Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 10  of Effectual calling

1.All those whom God has predestined to life, and only those, he is pleased to effectually call at his appointed and accepted time, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to come to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. In this call, he enlightens their minds spiritually, in a way effective to salvation, so that they understand the things of God. He takes away their heart of stone and gives to them a heart of flesh; he renews their wills; and by his almighty power he makes them determined to do what is good. This effectually draws them to Jesus Christ, yet in such a way that they come completely freely, being made willing by his grace.

2. This effectual call comes entirely from God’s free and special grace, not from anything at all foreseen in the person, who is completely passive in it until, being made alive and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is enabled by it to answer the call and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.

PRAYER

We are able to talk to God. He speaks verbally to us in His Word and nonverbally through His obvious providence. We commune with Him through prayer. Charles Hodge declared that “prayer is the converse of the soul with God.” In and through prayer we express our reverence and adoration for God; we bare our souls in contrite confession before Him; we pour out the thanksgiving of grateful hearts, and we offer our petitions and supplications to Him.

In prayer we experience God as personal and powerful. He can hear us and act in response. Scripture teaches both the sovereign foreordination of God and the efficacy of prayer. The two are not inconsistent with one another, for God ordains the means as well as the ends for His divine purposes. Prayer is a means God uses to bring His sovereign will to pass.

Prayer is to be addressed to God alone, either to God as Triune or to the distinct persons of the Godhead. To pray to creatures is idolatry.

Proper prayer has several requisites. The first is that we approach God with sincerity. Empty and insincere phrases are a mockery to Him. Such prayer, far from being an exercise of godly religion, is an offense against God.

The second is that we approach God with reverence. In prayer we must always remember to whom we are speaking. To address God in a cavalier, casual, or flippant manner, as we might speak with our earthly friends, is to treat Him with the contempt of familiarity. As people pay homage to a king or entering his presence with a posture of respect and obeisance, so we come before God in full recognition of His supreme majesty.

The third requisite, which follows from the previous ones, is that we approach God in humility. Not only must we remember who He is, but we must also remember who and what we are. We are His adopted children. We are also sinful creatures. He invites us to come boldly before Him, but never arrogantly.

God instructs us to be earnest and fervent in our requests. At the same time, we come in willful submission. To say “Your will be done” is not an indication of a lack of faith. The faith we bring to prayer must include a trust that God is able to hear our prayers and that He is disposed to answer them. Yet when God says no to our request, this faith also trusts in His wisdom. God’s wisdom and benevolence must always and everywhere be assumed by those who entreat Him with petitions.

We pray in the name of Jesus because we do thereby acknowledge His office as mediator. As our High Priest, Christ is our intercessor even as the Holy Spirit is our helper in prayer.

Heidelberg Catechism:

Lord’s Day 10

Q&A 27
Q. What do you understand by the providence of God?
A. The almighty and ever present power of God¹ by which God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures,² and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—³all things, in fact, come to us not by chance⁴ but by his fatherly hand.⁵

Q&A 28
Q. How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?
A. We can be patient when things go against us,¹ thankful when things go well,² and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing in creation will separate us from his love.³ For all creatures are so completely in God’s hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.

Lord’s Day 45

• Q 116.  Why is prayer necessary for Christians?
  A.  Because it is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us; and also, because God will give His grace and Holy Spirit to those only who with sincere desires continually ask them of Him, and are thankful for them.
• Q 117.  What are the requisites of that prayer which is acceptable to God and which He will hear?
  A.  First, that we from the heart pray to the one true God only, who hath manifested Himself in His Word, for all things He hath commanded us to ask of Him; secondly, that we rightly and thoroughly know our need and misery, that so we may deeply humble ourselves in the presence of His divine majesty; thirdly, that we be fully persuaded that He, notwithstanding that we are unworthy of it, will, for the sake of Christ our Lord, certainly hear our prayer, as He has promised us in His Word.
• Q118.  What hath God commanded us to ask of Him?
  A.  All things necessary for soul and body, which Christ our Lord has comprised in that prayer He Himself has taught us.
• Q119.  What are the words of that prayer?
  A.  Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

---

CHAPTER XVIII Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation 

1. Although hypocrites and other unregenerate people may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and fleshly presumptions of being in God’s favor and in a state of salvation (a hope of theirs that will perish), yet people who truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him in sincerity, trying to walk in all good conscience before him, may be assured with certainty in this life that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, a hope that will never make them ashamed.
2. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable belief grounded on a fallible hope, but a confident assurance of faith founded on
   • the divine truth of the promises of salvation,
   • the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made,
   • and the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God.
     This Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, by which we are sealed to the day of redemption.
3. This confident assurance does not belong to the essence of faith, so that a true believer may wait a long time and come into conflict with many difficulties before he partakes of it. Yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things that are freely given to him by God, a person may attain it, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means. Therefore it is the duty of each person to give great diligence to make sure of his calling and selection by God, so that by it his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, which are the proper fruits of this assurance. Thus this assurance is far from inclining people to looseness.
4. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation shaken in various ways, diminished, and cease for a time,

• • by negligence in preserving it,
  • by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit;
  • by some sudden or vehement temptation,
  • or by God’s withdrawing the light of his face, allowing even those who fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light.

Yet are they never utterly destitute of the seed of God, the life of faith, the love of Christ and the brethren, sincerity of heart, and consciousness of duty, all of which the operation of the Spirit may use to revive this assurance in due time. In the meantime, they are supported by the Spirit from utter despair.

---

Sunday Schedule:

Nursery Provided 1000-1200 AM
1000-1045 Bible Study for all Ages
1045-1100 Break
1100-1200 Worship (Sanctuary & Fellowship Hall), , plus online live-stream.

We thank the Lord for His faithfulness to us and for His hand of protection. Thank you for your support, encouragement and love for each other during these challenging times.

May we continue to labor together in love for the sake of the gospel and God’s kingdom,
The Session

---

10:00-10:45       Adult Bible Study in the Fellowship Hall, other ages in various classrooms. (Nursery Provided)

10:45-11:00       Break

11:00-12:00       Worship (Sanctuary, plus live-stream).  Fellowship Hall live stream available for overflow and physical distancing.

Children’s Church (Large Classroom)

Nursery Provided 1000 to 1200 AM

If you or your child have flu-like symptoms or a fever, please stay home and enjoy the Online Bulletin and Live-Stream.

We thank you for your prayers, for the willingness you have shown to be diligent in worship, and for your support of FPCVR.

Prayerfully, The Session