Service Preview for April 10, 2022

Service Preview for April 10, 2022

Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for April 10, 2022

Reflection
“Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just a gardener.”
George Herbert

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

Our Spoken Call to Worship
Adapted from Psalms 104:1-7

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

The Lord has done great things!

He is clothed with honor and majesty,
who covers himself with light as with a garment,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain.

The Lord has done great things!

He lays the beams of his upper chambers in the waters,
who makes the clouds his chariot,
who walks on wings of the wind.

The Lord has done great things!

He has laid the foundations of the earth,
so that it should not be moved forever,
he covered it with the deep as with a garment.
The waters stood above the mountains.
at his rebuke they fled;
at the voice of his thunder, they hastened away.

The Lord has done great things!
Let us exalt his name together!

Our Sung Call to Worship
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Verse 1
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O, my soul, praise Him for He is thy health and salvation.
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near.
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Verse 2
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth;.
Hast thou not seen, how all your longings have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Verse 3
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee.
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Verse 4
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen, sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Words by Joachim Neander, translated by Catherine Winkworth
Music: Stralsund Gesanguch
©Public Domain

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

Our Spoken/Sung Confession
Adapted from the writings of Arthur Pink

Father, we confess that we are hell-deserving sinners
who have fallen short of your glory in all that we do.

Lord, have mercy / Lord, have mercy. / Lord, have mercy, have mer–cy, Lord.

There is nothing in us that commends us to You.
Our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before You.

Lord, have mercy / Lord, have mercy. / Lord, have mercy, have mer–cy, Lord.

If we receive our lawful due,
we would even now be suffering
in the dreadful flames of hell.

Lord, have mercy / Lord, have mercy. / Lord, have mercy, have mer–cy, Lord.

Have mercy on us. Forgive us. Cleanse us.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Have mercy, Lord.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Have mercy, Lord.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Have mercy, Lord.

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

Remember the Gospel
Colossians 2:13-15

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh,
he made alive together with Him,
having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements
that was against us, which was contrary to us.
And he has taken it out of the way,
having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers,
he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it.

Thank you, Jesus! The Lord has done great things!

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

Verse 1
How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss.
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Verse 2
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.

Verse 3
I will not boast in anything:
No gifts, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ:
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Tag
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Words and Music by Stuart Townend
©1995 Thankyou Music

All I Have is Christ

Verse 1
I once was lost in darkest night,
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

Verse 2
But as I ran my hell-bound race,
Indifferent to the cost.
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed,
You suffered in my place.
You bore the wrath reserved for me,
Now all I know is grace. (Chorus)

Chorus
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ.
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.

Verse 3
Now Lord I would be Yours alone,
And live so all might see.
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
O Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose,
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You. (Chorus 2 X’s)

Words and music by Jordan Kauflin
©2008 Sovereign Grace Praise

Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

Verse 1
What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer
There is no more for heaven now to give
He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace.

To this I hold: my hope is only Jesus
For my life is wholly bound to his.
Oh, how strange and divine, I can sing: all is mine!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Verse 2
The night is dark but I am not forsaken
For by my side, the Savior he will stay.
I labour on in weakness and rejoicing
For in my need, his power is displayed.

To this I hold: my Shepherd will defend me;
Through the deepest valley he will lead.
Oh the night has been won, and I shall overcome!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Verse 3
No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven;
The future sure, the price it has been paid
For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon
And he was raised to overthrow the grave.

To this I hold: my sin has been defeated
Jesus now and ever is my plea
Oh the chains are released, I can sing I am free!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Verse 4
With every breath I long to follow Jesus
For he has said that he will bring me home.
And day by day I know he will renew me
Until I stand with joy before the throne.

To this I hold: my hope is only Jesus!
All the glory evermore to him!
When the race is complete,
still my lips shall repeat:
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Song Ending
When the race is complete,
still my lips shall repeat:
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Words and Music by Jenny Robinson, Rich Thompson and Michael Farren
©2018 CityAlight Music, Farren Love And War Publishing, Integrity’s Alleluia! Music

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 21:40-22:29 ESV
40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,
22:1 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.
6 “But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12 “A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
17 “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. 20 And
when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, stating that he should be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” 29 Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.

This is the word of the Lord.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Sermon
Acts 22:40-22:29 – A Transformed Witness for Jesus- 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
Ephesians 1:18-19 (CSB)

May the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
so that you may know what is the hope of his calling,
what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power
toward us who believe,
according to the mighty working of his strength.

Amen.