Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Service Readings for March 22 2020
Our Spoken Call to Worship
From Psalm 19:1-4a, 14 (ESV, HCSB)
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the earth proclaims his handiwork.
Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge.
There is no speech and there are no words
where their voice is not heard.
Their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.
Lord, we have come to worship You today.
May the words of our mouths and the meditations
of our hearts be acceptable in Thy site, O Lord,
our Strength and our Redeemer.
Our Sung Call to Worship
Indescribable
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
Adapted from Streams of Mercy, Barbara R. Duguid
Sovereign Lord, we confess before you our deep impatience and frustration with life in a fallen world. We strive and do not succeed; we pray and do not see answers; we ask for holiness and find ourselves seemingly stuck in our sin. As a result, we condemn You in our hearts and our words for Your slowness to fulfill Your promises. We easily become discouraged and give up the fight against our pet lusts.
Please forgive us and hear us, we pray.
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy on us.
We treasure our triumphs and successes more than humility and glory in our best efforts over and above Christ’s righteousness. We boast in our own abilities and fail to lift our eyes to Jesus, our only hope in life and in death.
Please forgive us and hear us, we pray.
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy on us.
By your Spirit, Lord, help us to grasp the enormity of the new creation You have already begun in us. May that reality drive us to live lives of holiness as we wait, straining every muscle in our battle against sin. Teach us to long for the new heavens and the new earth and to share this glorious vision of hope with others. In the meantime, as we wait, grant us Your peace in our hearts.
Please hear us as we pray.
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy on us.
Time of silent confession.
Our Sung Confession
All Gone
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
From Psalm 103:8-14, 17-18
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame.
He remembers that we are dust.
The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting on those who fear him,
and His righteousness to their children’s children,
to those who keep His covenant and remember
to do His commandments.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me
Thanksgiving and Petition
We Give Thanks in Prayer and Offer Petitions to God
We express our gratitude to God our Father for Christ’s work on the cross for us and bring our requests before him. In bringing our requests, we confess that we believe God truly is a good father, who cares about our needs and gives us what he knows is best.
Elder Prayer for March 22, 2020
Heavenly Father, foremost in our thoughts today is the coronavirus pandemic. You are sovereign over all things, even the microbes of a plague and will use their destructiveness to the honor and glory of your name and for the ultimate good of your people. Still our hearts from anxiety, grow our faith in You and give us wisdom and discretion in our thoughts, words and actions. In this time of distress, we pray for our governing authorities. As we meditate on Romans 13, we thank you for the granting of order and relief from chaos by instituting all levels of government, as all authority comes from You. Thank you that you have given us authorities as your servants for our good. We pray for their wisdom and discernment to be a terror to bad conduct and approvers of good conduct. Give us grace to be in subjection to the authorities to avoid your wrath through them, as well as for the sake of conscience. Out of conscience and ultimately to recognize your rule, give us wisdom and grace in attending to the responsibilities you give us to pay taxes and compensate those who sell to and serve us. Especially make us sensitive to give honor and respect to all. Above all give us understanding how to best love others. Open our eyes, especially at this time to how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We pray that you would work and use us to comfort those grieving loss, give rest to the tired, strength to the weak, confidence to the anxious, and company and fellowship to the lonely. Make us watchful for one another as your covenant community while we are scattered until You grant that we may gather again. May your word do your good work in us today for the glory of your great name. Amen.
We Give Thanks by Giving
We give financial offerings to support the work of the church because of our gratitude to God. By giving we confess we are trusting in God’s provision for us as well.
On the first Sunday of each month we have two offerings—one for the general fund and a second one for the benevolence ministry of our church.
You may give electronically at gabcames.org/giving/.
You may also send a check by mail.
We Give Thanks in Song
Salvation Belongs to Our God
Scripture Reading
Hosea 11:1-11 (ESV)
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more they were called,
the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and I bent down to them and fed them.
5 They shall not return to the land of Egypt,
but Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword shall rage against their cities,
consume the bars of their gates,
and devour them because of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent on turning away from me,
and though they call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
10 They shall go after the LORD;
he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
Sermon
Hosea 11:1-11 – Yahweh Still Loves His Son – Pastor Michael Felkins
Sending
Having heard and confessed the Gospel, we are sent into the world on mission in Christ, which we express in both song and spoken word.
Sending Song
Romans Doxology