Service Preview for March 14

Service Preview for March 14

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Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for March 14

Reflection
“God frequently allows the results of our compromises to run their natural course
but uses them to serve our spiritual development.” Oswald Sanders

Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.

Our Spoken Call to Worship
Psalm 148 (ESV)

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!

Praise Him, sun and moon,
Praise Him, all you shining stars!
Praise Him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For He commanded and they were created.
And He established them forever and ever;
He gave a decree and it shall not pass away.

Men: Praise the Lord from the earth,
You great sea creatures and all deeps,
Fire and hail, snow and mist,
Stormy wind fulfilling His word!

Women: Mountains and all hills,
Fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
Creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
Princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
Old men and children!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for His people
Praise for all His saints,
For the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!

Our Sung Call to Worship
10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)

Chorus
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul,
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul,
I’ll worship Your holy name.

Verse 1
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning;
It’s time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes. (Chorus)

Verse 2
You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger,
Your name is great and Your heart is kind;
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing,
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.
(Chorus)

Verse 3
And on that day when my strength is failing,
The end draws near and my time has come;
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending,
Ten thousand years and then forevermore.
(Chorus 2X’s)

Ending
I’ll worship your holy name,
Lord, I’ll worship Your holy name.

Words and Music by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin
©2011 Atlas Mountain Songs, sixsteps Music, Thankyou Music, worshiptogether.com songs

Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.

Our Spoken Confession
Adapted from Matthew Henry’s commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

All unrighteousness is sin;
every actual sin, committed with design,
and not repented of,
shuts us out of the kingdom of heaven.

We are a people puffed up with human wisdom
and knowledge.

We flatter ourselves that we may live in sin
and yet hope to die in Christ and go to heaven.

Beloved brethren, we cannot hope to sow to the
flesh and reap everlasting life.

Father, forgive us, for we have sinned greatly
against You.
We allow our bodies to dictate our appetites.
We use our words to tear apart rather than build.
Our thoughts are consumed with ourselves continually.
We are a people in desperate need of rescue.

Time of silent confession.

Our Sung Confession
I’ll Never Forsake You

Verse 1
O soul, are you weary from wave upon wave
Of grief and affliction whom no man can save?
Has sickness surrounded, or unending night?
Uncertainty stolen your joy and your might?

Verse 2
O doubting, o fearful—remember His care,
The helpless and hopeless need never despair
For from your afflictions His glory shall spring
The deeper your sorrow, the louder you’ll sing!

Chorus
Remember your Father—His promise, His love:
“I’ll never forsake you, this pain will not break you,
For I will remake you for unending joy;
My promise is faithful though now it is painful;
No power can trample my covenant love.”

Verse 3
Remember your Savior—His grief and His pain,
The lonely affliction, unmerited shame.
Though you had betrayed Him, He died in your place;
The joy set before Him He offers by grace.
(Chorus)

Words and Music by David L. Ward and John Roberts
©2011 Hymnicity

Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.

Remember the Gospel
Adapted from Romans 5:8-9

Praise be to God, He will never forsake those who
turn to Him!
The gospel and the grace of God are available to
change you and make you new!
Christ’s blood and the washing of regeneration can
take away all guilt.

Our justification is owed to the suffering and
merit of Christ alone.
Our sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Both work together to make us righteous in the
sight of God.
Thanks be to the Father and to the Son and
to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Verse 1
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not His equal.

Verse 2
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

Verse 3
And tho’ this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thro’ us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure
For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

Verse 4
That word above all early pow’rs,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Thro’ Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Words and Music by Martin Luther,Translation by Frederick Hedge
Public Domain

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.

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/ or place your offering in the boxes at the back of the sanctuary or send a check in the mail.

Scripture Reading
Joshua 9:1-27 (ESV)
1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. 6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” 7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” 8 They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” 9 They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’ 12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. 15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them. 17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? 23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” 26 So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

Sermon
Joshua 9:1-27 – Our Dirty Little War With Sin – Pastor Michael Felkins

Sermon Discipleship Questions
1. What encouraged you?
2. What convicted you?
3. Is there anything in your life that needs to change?

Sending
Having heard and confessed the Gospel, we are sent into the world on mission in Christ, which we express in spoken word.

Blessing
From Thomas Doolittle

May Jesus have the best of your love this week
because you are the object of His special, electing, redemptive love.

Next Sunday’s Scripture Passage: Joshua 10:1-15