Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for September 26
Reflection
“Walking in the fear of God means living with the knowledge
that the God who loves us and gave his Son for us
is also the creator and judge of the world.”
Brian J. Vickers
Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
From Psalm 100 (NIV)
Aclamad con júbilo al SEÑOR, toda la tierra.
Servid al SEÑOR con alegría;
venid ante El con cánticos de júbilo.
Sabed que El, el SEÑOR, es Dios;
(Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.)
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Entrad por sus puertas con acción de gracias,
y a sus atrios con alabanz
Dadle gracias, bendecid su nombre.
(Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.)
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Our Sung Call to Worship
O Shout for Joy (The New Hundredth)
Verse 1
Oh, shout for joy unto the Lord,
Worship Him with gladness.
Let all the earth bring songs of praise,
Telling of His greatness,
Know that the Lord we praise is God;
He is God our Maker,
And we are His, a people called
Sheep within His pasture. (Chorus)
Chorus
Oh, enter in His gates with praise.
His courts with great thanksgiving;
For He is good, His love endures
Morning after morning.
Verse 2
Oh, shout for joy unto the Lord!
See the way is open
To live in peace beneath His grace,
Every sin forgiven
For He who knew no mark of sin
Took our sin upon Him,
That we might be the righteousness
Of the God of Heaven. (Chorus)
Verse 3
Oh, shout for joy unto the Lord
Through the hours of darkness.
For day by day His faithful hand
Ever stays upon us.
With every morning rise, we kneel;
All our lives we offer
To be a living sacrifice,
Wholly to the Saviour. (Chorus 2 X’s)
Words and Music by Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty and Fionan De Barra
©2012 Getty Music Publishing
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
From Psalm 51:1-9 (CSB)
Be gracious to me, God,
according to your faithful love;
according to your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.
Completely wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you — you alone — I have sinned
and done this evil in your sight.
So you are right when you pass sentence;
you are blameless when you judge.
Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire integrity in the inner self,
and you teach me wisdom deep within.
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Turn your face away from my sins
and blot out all my guilt.
Time of silent confession.
Our Sung Confession
Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed
Verse 1
Alas, and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sov’reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!
Verse 2
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut His glories in,
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man, the creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears.
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt my heart with tears.
Verse 3
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
‘Tis all that I can do.
Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sov’reign die?
Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!
Words by Isaac Watts, Traditional Irish Tune
Public Domain
Arrangement ©2016 Sovereign Grace Music
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
From Romans 8:31-39 (CSB)
What, then, are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?
He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.
How will he not also with him grant us everything?
Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect?
God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns?
Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more,
has been raised;
he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written:
Because of you we are being put to death all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor any other created thing
will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
In Christ Alone
Verse 1
In Christ alone, my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Verse 2
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For every sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
Verse 3
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
Verse 4
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
©2001 Thankyou Music
Receive the Glory
Chorus
Not to us, but to Your name alone
Be all the glory, the glory, forever
For Your faithfulness and steadfast love
Receive the glory, the glory belongs to You. (Repeat)
Verse 1
All that we’ve accomplished
You have done for us.
And any fruit we harvest
Is a gift from Your hand.
We are only jars of clay
That hold a priceless treasure.
And we exist to bring
You pleasure, O God. (Chorus 1 X)
Verse 2
Only by Your mercy
Can we come to You.
Though we deserved Your judgment
You have called us by name.
So we glory in the cross of Christ
That made us Yours forever.
That joined our lives
Together to sing. (Chorus 2 X’s)
Music and Words by Bob Kauflin
©2004 Sovereign Grace Praise
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
Acts 9:19b-31 (CSB)
19bSaul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.
20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”
21 All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
22 But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
Sermon
Acts 9:19b-31 – Peace, Strength, and Persecution – 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 Acts 9:31
Go in peace and be strengthened.
Live in the fear of the Lord
and be encouraged by the Holy Spirit.
And may the flock of the Great Shepherd
grow in number throughout the earth.
Amen.
Next week’s scripture passage: Acts 9:32-43