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History
Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (CCPC) is a member of the Orthodox
Presbyterian Church. We were founded in 1977 under the ministry of
Rev. Robert K. Churchhill. The Rev. John Hilbelink began his labors in
Amarillo in 1979 upon Rev. Churchill's retirement from the ministry.
Rev. Hilbelink pastored the congregation until 1987. The Rev. K Scott Oliphant
served as pulpit supply and then as the interim pastor until 1991, when the
Rev. David Brack was called as the pastor. Rev. Brack continues his pastoral
labors among us. In the year 2000, God blessed us with property and a new
building in the growing Western Amarillo community. We praise him for his
continued faithfulness, as we continue to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Andrew Moody served as our second teaching elder from 2006-2010.
Beliefs
God's Holy Word is our primary standard. It is the only infallible rule of
faith and practice Our church officers subscribe to the Westminster Standards
as our secondary standard, which consists of the Westminster Confession of
Faith, the LargerCatechism, and the Shorter Catechism, as containing the
system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. The four parts of our name
help to explain more about who we are:
Christ Centered
• God Incarnate; Immanuel, which means “God with us”
• Second Person of the Trinity
• Lord, Savior and Head of the Church
• Ultimate Prophet, Priest and King
• Only Mediator between a Holy God and sinful mankind
Colossians 1:15-19
“He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities; all things were
created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold
together. And He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and
the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the
supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and
through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things
in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”
Westminster Shorter Catechism — Question and Answer # 21
“Who is the redeemer of God’s chosen ones?” — “The only redeemer of
God’s chosen is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, Who became
man. He was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and
one person forever.”
We strive to be Christ-centered in our corporate worship and in
our daily living.
Psalm 66:1-4
Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you,
All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to your name.”
Covenant Theology
• Scripture or the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is the holy,
inspired, inerrant Word of God.
• Scripture is our only authority for faith and life.
• More continuity exists between the Old and New Testaments than difference.
The New Testament is in the Old Testament, concealed, and the Old Testament
is in the New Testament, revealed.
• The Person and Work of Christ are the central themes of God’s covenant
of grace (God’s promise to save sinners for Himself) revealed throughout Scripture.
• Historic, Biblical orthodoxy consistent with the Protestant Reformation
(as found in the teachings of Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc.)
• Conservative and Reformed in doctrine and in practice.
• Not dispensational.
Luke 24:25-27, 32
“He (Jesus) said to them (two disciples on the road to Emmaus), ‘How foolish
you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?’ And
beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.... They asked each other, ‘Were not our
hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the
Scriptures to us?’”
“What authority from God directs us how to glorify and enjoy Him?” —
“The only authority for glorifying and enjoying Him is the Bible, which is the
Word of God and is made up of the Old and New Testaments.” — “What
does the Bible primarily teach?” — “The Bible primarily teaches what man
must believe about God and what God requires of man.”
“Of God’s Covenant with Man”
“The distance between God and the creature is so great that, even though
rational creatures are responsible to obey Him as their Creator, yet they could
never experience any enjoyment of Him as their blessing and reward except by
way of some voluntary condescension on His part, which He has been pleased
to express by way of covenant.”
We believe and teach that the most unified, consistent understanding of
Biblical truth that honors and pleases our Savior God is found in
Covenant theology, which is clearly stated in the Westminster Confession
of Faith and its Catechisms, originally written in 1647.
Presbyterian Government
• “Presbyterian” (from the New Testament Greek word for elders, presbuteroi)
simply means “rule by elders.”
• The Apostles appointed elders (never just one, but a plurality of elders) in
every local church, to oversee its life and ministry. The group of elders in a
local church is called a session.
• Elders are gifted and called by Christ to lead His church, but the congregation
must confirm their calling by electing them to this office.
• Elders should be loving servant-leaders, who care for God’s people as good
shepherds care for their sheep.
• Elders are responsible to maintain the peace and purity of the church for the
honor and glory of Christ through the exercise of church discipline.
• The New Testament designates two kinds of elders; first those who teach
(often called pastors, preachers or ministers) and secondly those who rule.
Together, teaching and ruling elders oversee or shepherd God’s flock, the
church, through the ministry of God’s Word, the sacraments and prayer.
• Other officers in the church, deacons, are also called by Christ and confirmed
by the congregation to serve in a ministry of mercy, which attends to the
material or physical needs of the saints.
• The qualifications for elders and deacons are listed clearly in Scripture,
I Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
Acts 20:19
“Paul sent to
watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers. Be shepherds of the
own blood.’”
Hebrews 13:17
“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you
as men who must give an account. Obey them so their work will be a joy,
not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
Westminster Confession of
I. The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of His church, has appointed a
government in it, to be administered by church officers, distinct from civil
magistrates.
II. To these church officers He has committed the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
For this reason they have authority to retain and to remit sins, to shut the kingdom
against the unrepentant both by the Word and by censures, and to open it to
repentant sinners by the ministry of the gospel and by releasing from censures,
as the occasion requires.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church Book of Discipline
“Ecclesiastical discipline is the exercise of that authority which the Lord Jesus
Christ has committed to the visible church for the preservation of its purity,
peace and good order. Judicial discipline is concerned with the prevention
and correction of offenses, an offense being defined as anything in the doctrine
or practice of a member of the church which is contrary to the Word of God.
The purpose of judicial discipline is to vindicate the honor of Christ, to promote
the purity of His church and to reclaim the offender.”
We teach that all members of the church, both communicants and those
who are members by virtue of baptism only, should submit themselves
to the preaching of God's Word and the loving care, counsel and
correction of elders, whom Christ has called to shepherd His flock
according to His will.
Church Life
• Reverent, relevant, God-centered worship services, Sunday morning and
evening. The purpose of worship is not entertainment or therapy, but pleasing
God. Each week the Christian should ask, “What did I put into worship that
was glorifying and pleasing to God?” rather than, “What did I get out of it?”
• Discipleship/Training/Fellowship - Various Bible Studies for adults and
teenagers meet during the week. Although parents are responsible for the
spiritual training and evangelism of their own children, the church does offer
Sunday School Classes for all ages. They provide only minimum instruction
in Christian doctrine, but they are a major source of fellowship for all of us,
where we learn how to listen to, interact with, serve, include, encourage,
enjoy, be patient with, pray with, correct, care for and love others in God’s
family. Sunday School is an excellent opportunity for our families to learn
that the church is not a place, but the people with whom God has placed us
and wants us to love as He does.
• According to Scripture, a true church: 1.) Submits to the absolute authority
of the Bible in doctrine and practice 2.) Properly administers the two
sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which Christ instituted and 3.)
Faithfully practices church discipline.
• Membership in a local, visible church is not optional for Christians. It is
essential for following Christ. The church is where you grow in grace by
God’s means (the Word, sacraments, prayer, and the fellowship of the saints),
where your personal gifts are discovered, developed and used to build God’s
kingdom, where you make your stand in an unbelieving world and where your
learn to live and to die for God’s glory.
Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11-13
“God placed all things under His (Christ’s) feet and appointed Him to be head
over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills
everything in every way.” “It was He (Christ) who gave some to be apostles,
some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness
of Christ.”
I Peter 2:9-10
“But you (believers) are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who
called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a
people, but now your are the people of God: once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Romans 16:3,5
“Greet Priscilla and Aquilla, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus...Greet also
the church that meets at their house.”
Westminster Confession of
I. The universal church, which is invisible, consists of all the elect who have
been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ its head. This church
is His bride, His body, and the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
II. The visible church, which is also universal under the gospel (that is, not
confined to one nation, as it was before under the law), consists of all those
throughout the world who profess the true religion, together with their children.
It is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God,
outside of which there is no ordinary possibility to salvation.”
We want to be a faithful church that adds to our faith, goodness
and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and
to self-control perseverance and to perseverance, godliness and to
godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love.
We know if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they
will enable us to be effective and productive in our service and witness
for the Lord Jesus Christ in Amarillo, Texas