Service Preview for April 25

Service Preview for April 25

Live Stream Service here

Before Attending: Please review our service information.

Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for April 25

Reflection

You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slaughtered,
and you purchased people
for God by your blood
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.

You made them a kingdom
and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.

Revelation 5:9–10 (CSB)

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

Our Spoken Call to Worship
From Psalm 47:1-2, 5-6

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.

For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.

God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Our Sung Call to Worship
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

Verse 1
All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Verse 2
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all;
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Verse 3
Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all;
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Verse 4
O that with yonder sacred throng
We at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all;
We’ll join the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Words by Edward Perronet & John Rippon
Music by Oliver Holden
Public Domain

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

Our Spoken Confession

Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess
our deep sinful tendencies,
our brokenness and shortcomings,
our law-breaking and lack of law keeping.

You alone know how often we have sinned
in wandering from your ways,
in wasting your gifts,
in forgetting your love.

Have mercy on us, O Lord,
we are ashamed
we are sorry
we need forgiveness.

Forgive our sins,
help us to remember the gospel
help us to see its beauty
help us to walk in its truths.

For the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Time of silent confession.

Our Sung Confession
I Am One of Those

Verse 1
I am one of those, at the table not invited,
And to all here at the feast it’s very plain,
I cannot hide in etiquette or conversation,
But Christ himself sent word to me and so I came.

Verse 2
I am one of those who was dead and fully buried,
And I still bear every stigma of decay,
There is no way I can cover just what I’ve been through,
‘cause when Jesus called I came out of the grave. (Chorus)

Chorus
Though the world may number me among the foolish,
I think Jesus Christ is all I need to know
Jesus suffered and paid blood to buy the lowest of the low
Hallelujah! Amen! That’s me! I am one of those!

Verse 3
I am one of those, who was a leper and contagious,
The deformities and scars I have today,
Yet while I was vile with sickness Jesus loved me,
And He healed, restored and through and through remade.

Verse 4
I am one of those who was doomed to death in prison,
And I’ve done more evil things than I could say,
Jesus broke inside and there unlocked my shackles,
And to set me free, he died and took my place. (Chorus)

Verse 5
I am one of those, who was hard to love and ugly,
Self-righteous critical religion was my stain.
So I ran to Christ to wash and be discovered,
Jesus came to me and covered up my shame. (Chorus)

Music and Words by Nathan Partain
©Nathan Partain 2009

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

Remember the Gospel
Hear the good news!
Through Jesus, God has poured out
new life
forgiveness
redemption.

If you hate your sin, trust in Jesus,
and submit to his kingship.
You have received new life.
You have received forgiveness.
You have received redemption.

Jesus, you are our Rescuer and King,
You deserve all of our thanks, praise, and honor.

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
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

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 21:1-45 (Reader will read Joshua 21:1-3, 41-45)
1Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 2 And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” 3 So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.
4 The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.
5 And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
6 The Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.
7 The Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.
8 These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.
9 Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, 10 which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. 12 But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands,
Libnah with its pasturelands, 14 Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 16 Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; 17 then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, 18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities.
19 The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.
20 As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities; 23 and out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, 24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities; 25 and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities. 26 The cities of the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their pasturelands.
27 And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities; 28 and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities; 30 and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities; 32 and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities. 33 The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.
34 And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, 35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities; 36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities; 38 and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 39 Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. 40 As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.
41 The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. 42 These cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities.
43 Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

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

Sermon
Joshua 21:1-45 – A Kingdom of Priests – 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 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Now, may the God of peace himself
sanctify you completely,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body
be kept blameless at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Next week’s scripture passage: Joshua 22:1-34