Service Preview for May 22, 2022

Service Preview for May 22, 2022

Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for May 22, 2022

Reflection

“We disguise our struggle [with life] by piling up figures in a bank [account]
to reflect privately our sense of heroic worth.
Or by having only a little better home in the neighborhood, a bigger car, brighter children.
But underneath throbs the ache of cosmic specialness,
no matter how we mask it in concerns of smaller scope.”

Ernest Becker
The Denial of Death

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

Our Spoken Call to Worship
Isaiah 2:2-3 (CSB)

In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
All nations will stream to it,
and many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us about his ways
so that we may walk in his paths.”

Our Sung Call to Worship
Christ is Mine Forevermore

Verse 1
Mine are the days that God has numbered;
I was made to walk with Him.
Yet I look for worldly treasure
and forsake the King of kings.
But mine is hope in my Redeemer—
though I fall His love is sure!
For Christ has paid for every failing;
I am His forevermore!

Verse 2
Mine are tears in times of sorrow,
darkness not yet understood.
Through the valley, I must travel
where I see no earthly good.
But mine is peace that flows from heaven
and the strength in times of need.
I know my pain will not be wasted—
Christ completes His work in me.

Verse 3
Mine are days here as a stranger,
pilgrim on a narrow way.
One with Christ, I will encounter
harm and hatred for His name.
But mine is armour for this battle,
strong enough to last the war.
And He has said He will deliver
safely to the golden shore.

Refrain
And mine are keys to Zion city,
where beside the King, I walk.
For there, my heart has found its treasure—
Christ is mine forevermore.

Bridge
Come rejoice now, O my soul,
for His love is my reward!
Fear is gone, and hope is sure—
Christ is mine forevermore. (Repeat)

Ending
And mine are keys to Zion city,
where beside the King, I walk.
For there, my heart has found its treasure—
Christ is mine forevermore.

Music and Words by Jonny Robinson and Rich Thompson
©2016 CityAlight Music

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

Our Spoken Confession
Isaiah 1:16-17 (CSB)

Hear the command of the Lord:
“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from my sight.
Stop doing evil.”

Lord, have mercy on us, sinners.
We cannot wash ourselves.
We cannot cleanse ourselves.
We cannot stop doing evil.
We cannot learn to do what is good.

“Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.”

Lord, have mercy on us, sinners.
We have learned to do evil,
excused injustice,
empowered oppressors,
prized our rights over those of others,
fought for ourselves and not the vulnerable.

Time of silent confession.

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

Remember the Gospel
From Hebrews 9:24, 26; 10:22-23, 39 (CSB)

Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands
but into heaven itself,
so that he might now appear in the presence of
God for us.
He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages,
for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Men
Let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith,
with our hearts sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed in pure water.

Women
Let us hold on to the confession of our hope
without wavering,
since he who promised is faithful.

All
We are not those who draw back and are destroyed,
but those who have faith and are saved.

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
There is A Fountain Filled With Blood

Verse 1
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

Verse 2
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in His day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away:
Wash all my sins away,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

Verse 3
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

Verse 4
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

Words by William Cowper, Music Early American Melody
©Public Domain

All Gone

Verse 1
Sins against the Holy One,
Sins against his loving Son,
Sins against his law we’ve done.
Sins against both God and man,
Sins that we have boldly planned,
Sins outnumbering the sand— (Chorus)

Chorus
What grace! No trace remains.

They’re all gone, all gone.
Far as the east is from the west,
Into the ocean they are cast.
They’re all gone, all gone.
He has removed our ev’ry debt,
Covered our shame and our regret,
They’re all gone.

Verse 2
All the justice we deserved,
All the punishment we earned,
Holy wrath without reserve,
Poured upon the righteous one,
Once for all the work is done,
Now the victory is won. (Chorus 2 X’s)

Music and words by Eric Schumacher and David Ward
©2018 Hymnicity

O Praise the Name/There is a Fountain

Verse 1
I cast my mind to Calvary,
Where Jesus bled and died for me.
I see His wounds, His hands, His feet.
My Saviour on that cursed tree.

Verse 2
His body bound and drenched in tears.
They laid Him down in Joseph’s tomb.
The entrance sealed by heavy stone.
Messiah still and all alone. (Chorus)

Chorus
O praise the Name of the Lord our God.
O praise His Name forevermore.
For endless days we will sing Your praise.
Oh Lord, oh Lord, our God.

Verse 3
And on the third at break of dawn,
The Son of heaven rose again.
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King. (Chorus)

Verse 4
He shall return in robes of white.
The blazing sun shall pierce the night.
And I will rise among the saints,
My gaze transfixed on Jesus’ face. (Chorus)

Verse 5
When this poor lisping stamm’ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler sweeter song
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save
Then in a nobler sweeter song
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save

Music and Words by Benjamin Hastings, Dean Ussher, and Marty Sampson
©2015 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia

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
Isaiah 1:18-20 (ESV)
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

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

Sermon
Isaiah 1 & 2 – State of the Union – Pastor Michael Felkins

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

Blessing
Hebrews 13:20-21 (CSB)

Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus — the great Shepherd of the sheep — through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.

Scripture text for next Sunday: Isaiah 3 & 4