Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for March 19, 2023
Pre-service Song
Jerusalem
See Him in Jerusalem, walking where the crowds are.
Once these streets had sung to Him, now they cry for murder.
Such a frail and lonely Man holding up the heavy cross.
See him walking in Jerusalem on the road to save us
See Him there upon the hill, hear the scorn and laughter;
Silent as a lamb He waits, praying to the Father.
See the King who made the sun and the moon and shining stars.
Let the soldiers hold and nail Him down, so that He could save them.
See Him there upon the cross, now no longer breathing;
Dust that formed the watching crowds, takes the blood of Jesus.
Feel the earth is shaking now, see the veil is split in two,
And He stood before the wrath of God, shielding sinners with His blood.
See the empty tomb today, death could not contain Him.
Once the Servant of world, now in vict’ry reigning.
Lift your voices to the One, who is seated on the throne;
See Him in the New Jerusalem, praise the One who saved us!
Words and Music by Jonny Robinson, Rich Thompson and Tiarne Tranter
© 2014 CityAlight Music
Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
Psalm 147:1-5, 7, 10-12 (CSB)
Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.
The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers Israel’s exiled people.
He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
Our Lord is great, vast in power;
his understanding is infinite.
The Lord helps the oppressed
but brings the wicked to the ground.
He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
he does not value the power of a warrior.
The Lord values those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his faithful love.
Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!
Hallelujah!
Our Sung Call to Worship
Praise to the Lord the Almighty
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.
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 thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
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.
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 Confession
Psalm 25:6-8, 11, 16-18 (CSB)
Remember, Lord, your compassion
and your faithful love,
for they have existed from antiquity.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my acts of rebellion;
in keeping with your faithful love, remember me
because of your goodness, Lord.
The Lord is good and upright;
therefore he shows sinners the way.
Lord, for the sake of your name,
forgive my iniquity, for it is immense.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am alone and afflicted.
The distresses of my heart increase;
bring me out of my sufferings.
Consider my affliction and trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
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
Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 (CSB)
Remember the Gospel!
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?
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
Be Still My Soul
Be still, my soul! the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul! thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul! when dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears.
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul! thy Jesus can repay;
From His own fullness all He takes away.
Be still, my soul! the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul! when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Words by Katharina von Schlegel & Jane Borthwick; Music by Jean Sibelius
©Public Domain
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Thank You, Jesus, for the Blood
I was a wretch; I remember who I was.
I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time.
Sin separated, the breach was far too wide,
But from the far side of the chasm,
You held me in your sight.
So you made a way across the great divide,
Left behind heaven’s throne to build it here inside.
There at the cross, You paid the debt I owed.
Broke my chains, freed my soul,
For the first time, I had hope. (Chorus)
Chorus
Thank You, Jesus, for the blood applied.
Thank You, Jesus, it has washed me white.
Thank You, Jesus, You have saved my life,
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.
You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin.
You were buried for three days,
But then You walked right out again.
And now death has no sting, and life has no end.
For I have been transformed by the blood of the Lamb. (Chorus)
There is nothing stronger,
than the wonder working power of the blood,
the blood that calls us sons and daughters.
We are ransomed by our Father through the blood, the blood. (Chorus)
Glory to His name,
Glory to His name!
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name.
Words and Music by Charity Gayle, Ryan Kennedy, David Gentiles, Steve Musso, and Bryan McCleery
Glory to His Name—Words and Music by Elisha Albright Hoffman and John Hart Stockton
©2021 Come Up Kings Publishing, ComissionMusic, Gather House Music, McCleery MSC, Steven Musso Music, Watershed Worship Publishing
©Public Domain for Glory to His Name
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 a Mission Moment to highlight the different missions giving
opportunities we have at Grand. Members are encouraged to give to GABC Missions to support these missions.
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
Matthew 2:13-23 (CSB)
13 After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.
16 Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who intended to kill the child are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. 23 Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
This is the word of the Lord.
The grass withers and the flower falls but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Sermon
Matthew 2:13-23 – The True Son of God – 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 both song and spoken word.
Sending Song
Jerusalem
See Him in Jerusalem, walking where the crowds are.
Once these streets had sung to Him, now they cry for murder.
Such a frail and lonely Man holding up the heavy cross.
See him walking in Jerusalem on the road to save us
See Him there upon the hill, hear the scorn and laughter;
Silent as a lamb He waits, praying to the Father.
See the King who made the sun and the moon and shining stars.
Let the soldiers hold and nail Him down, so that He could save them.
See Him there upon the cross, now no longer breathing;
Dust that formed the watching crowds, takes the blood of Jesus.
Feel the earth is shaking now, see the veil is split in two,
And He stood before the wrath of God, shielding sinners with His blood.
See the empty tomb today, death could not contain Him.
Once the Servant of world, now in vict’ry reigning.
Lift your voices to the One, who is seated on the throne;
See Him in the New Jerusalem, praise the One who saved us!
Words and Music by Jonny Robinson, Rich Thompson and Tiarne Tranter
© 2014 CityAlight Music
Blessing
Romans 15:13 (CSB)
Now may the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace as you believe
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Scripture text for next Sunday: Matthew 3:1-12