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Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for March 7
Reflection
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God,
being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today,
the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
Deuteronomy 28:1–2
Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
From 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 (NIV)
Praise be to you, O LORD,
God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power,
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
Our Sung Call to Worship
How Great Is Our God
Verse 1
The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty,
Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice.
He wraps Himself in light, and darkness tries to hide,
And trembles at his voice, trembles at his voice. (Chorus)
Chorus
How great is our God, sing with me,
How great is our God, and all will see,
How great, how great is our God.
Verse 2
Age to age He stands, and time is in His hands,
Beginning and the end, beginning and the end.
The Godhead, three in one: Father, Spirit, Son,
The Lion and the Lamb, the Lion and the Lamb. (Chorus)
Bridge
Name above all names,
Worthy of all praise,
My heart will sing
How great is our God. (Repeat) (Chorus)
Words and Music by Chris Tomlin & Stuart K. Hine
©2004 sixsteps Music, Vamos Publishing, worshiptogether.com songs, Wondrously Made Songs
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
Father, we have repeatedly chosen to satisfy our
self–centered desires instead of fulfilling your call
to love you and our neighbor.
We have been unkind and impatient
with those who needed our time and concern.
Father, we have sinned. Forgive us.
We have not always stood up for what was right
and allowed others to suffer because of our cowardice.
Father, we have sinned. Forgive us.
We have not delivered the gospel of peace as we ought.
Father, we have sinned. Forgive us.
We have not forgiven others as you have forgiven us.
Father, we have sinned. Forgive us.
Time of silent confession.
Our Sung Confession
Since I Am So Sick
Verse 1
Since I am so sick
Since I am in need
Since I have no healing within me
Chorus
Oh, my God, be mindful of me
You are my help and my Redeemer
Verse 2
Unto You, oh Lord
I lift up my soul
In Your loving-kindness I believe
Bridge
Surely those who wait on You
Will never be ashamed
All of those who call on You
Will know the faithfulness of Your name (Chorus)
Words by Dan Chaffer and music by 100 Portraits and Waterdeep
© 1999 Gentleman Adventurer’s Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel & The Lord’s Supper
Adapted from Romans 5:8-9
Hear the good news!
God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood,
much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Jesus, you are our Rescuer and King,
You deserve all of our thanks, praise, and honor.
What has Christ given us to remember this reality?
He invites us to dine at his table.
(Open the bread.) What is this bread?
This is the body of Christ, broken for us. (Break and eat.)
(Open the cup.) What is this cup?
This is the blood of Christ, shed for us. (Drink.)
Let’s stand and sing, rejoicing in the gospel!
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
Man of Sorrows
Verse 1
Man of sorrows, Lamb of God,
By His own betrayed.
The sin of man and wrath of God
Has been on Jesus laid.
Verse 2
Silent as He stood accused,
Beaten mocked and scorned,
Bowing to the Father’s will,
He took a crown of thorns. (Chorus)
Chorus
Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation,
Where Your love poured out over me.
Now my soul cries out, hallelujah,
Praise and honor unto Thee.
Verse 3
Sent of heaven, God’s own Son
To purchase and redeem
And reconcile the very ones
Who nailed Him to that tree. (Chorus)
Bridge
Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full
By the precious blood that my Jesus spilled.
Now the curse of sin has no hold on me
Whom the Son sets free, Oh is free indeed. (Chorus)
Verse 4
See the stone is rolled away,
Behold the empty tomb.
Hallelujah, God be praised,
He’s risen from the grave. (Chorus)
Words and Music by Matta Crocker and Brooke Ligertwood
©2012 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia
I Am Set Free
Verse 1
You broke my chains of sin and shame
And You covered me with grace
You mend my life with Your holy fire
You cover me with grace
And You are the hand that reaches out to save.
Chorus
(And) I am set free oh, oh, oh, oh
I am set free oh, oh, oh, oh
It is for freedom that I am set free
Bridge
(And) yes Lord we are grateful for Your grace
And for Your love. (Repeat 3 times)
(Chorus)
Words by Leslie Jordan, Music by Dan Galbraith
©2011 Integrity’s Praise! Music, Little Way Creative
Thanksgiving and Petition
We Give Thanks in Prayer and Offer Petitions to God – Elder Prayer
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 8:1-35 (ESV)
1And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4 And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5 And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. 8 And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.
10 Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12 He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14 And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20 So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. 25 And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. 26 But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. 27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. 29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
Sermon
Joshua 8:1-35 – The Necessity of Obedience – Pastor Eric Schumacher
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
Based on Ephesians 1:18-19
May you know and live out the hope to which
God has called you;
May you experience and proclaim the riches of
his glorious inheritance in the saints;
and may you trust fully in his incomparably great
power for us who believe.
Amen.
Next Sunday’s Scripture Passage: Joshua 9:1-27