Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for December 1, 2024
Pre-service Song
Angels We Have Heard on High
Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o’er the plains:
And the mountains in reply,
Echoing their joyous strains.
Chorus
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heav’nly song? (Chorus)
Come to Bethlehem, and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King. (Chorus)
See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise. (Chorus)
Words and Music: Traditional French Carol
©Public Domain
Call To Worship – Advent Reading – Candlelighting
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
Isaiah 11:1-6, 10 (CSB)
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a Spirit of counsel and strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
His delight will be in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge
by what he sees with his eyes,
he will not execute justice
by what he hears with his ears,
but he will judge the poor righteously
and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.
He will strike the land
with a scepter from his mouth,
and he will kill the wicked
with a command from his lips.
Righteousness will be a belt around his hips;
faithfulness will be a belt around his waist.
The wolf will dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat.
The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together,
and a child will lead them.
On that day the root of Jesse
will stand as a banner for the peoples.
The nations will look to him for guidance,
and his resting place will be glorious.
We light this candle as a sign of the hope of Christ.
Our Sung Call to Worship
O Come All Ye Faithful
O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of angels!
Chorus
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!
Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
O sing, all ye bright hosts of heav’n above!
Glory to God,
All glory in the highest! (Chorus)
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n;
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing! (Chorus)
By John Francis Wade
©Public Domain
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
Psalm 130 (CSB)
Out of the depths I call to you, Lord!
Lord, listen to my voice;
let your ears be attentive
to my cry for help.
Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord; I wait
and put my hope in his word.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning—
more than watchmen for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord.
For there is faithful love with the Lord,
and with him is redemption in abundance.
And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Thank you, Father, for forgiving our sins
through your Son, Jesus our Lord.
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
Heidelberg Catechism Question 1
Remember the Gospel!
What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own,
but belong with body and soul
both in life and in death,
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit,
he also assures me of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Distribution Song)
God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r when we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
From God our heavenly Father a blessed angel came
And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same
How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Fear not, then said the angel, let nothing you affright.
This day is born a Savior of a pure virgin bright.
To free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s pow’r and might.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace
This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Traditional English 18th Century Carol
©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
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. (Repeat)
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.
By Charity Gayle, Ryan Kennedy, David Gentiles, Steve Musso, and Bryan McCleery
© 2021 Centricity Music Publishing; Come Up Kings Publishing; Gather House Music; ComissionMusic; McCleery MSC; Steven Musso Music; Watershed Worship Publishing
Joy to the World
Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.
Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.
Words by Isaac Watts, Music by George Frederick Handel
©Public Domain
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.
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
Genesis 3 & Romans 3:23
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me,
she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent
deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she
was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life
and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Romans 3:23 (ESV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This is the word of the Lord.
The grass withers and the flower falls
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Sermon
Genesis 3 and Romans 3:23 – The Problem – Pastor Dean VanEvery
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
Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone.
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to him belong.
Who holds our days within his hand?
What comes, apart from his command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand.
Chorus
O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal;
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death.
What truth can calm the troubled soul?
God is good, God is good.
Where is his grace and goodness known?
In our great Redeemer’s blood.
Who holds our faith when fears arise?
Who stands above the stormy trial?
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore, the rock of Christ? (Chorus)
Unto the grave, what will we sing?
“Christ, he lives! Christ, he lives!”
And what reward will heaven bring?
Everlasting life with him.
There we will rise to meet the Lord,
Then sin and death will be destroyed,
And we will feast in endless joy,
When Christ is ours forevermore. (Chorus)
By Keith Getty, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, and Matthew Merker
© 2020 Getty Music Hymns and Songs; Getty Music Publishing; Jordan Kauflin Music; Love Your Enemies Publishing; Matthew Merker Music; Messenger Hymns
Blessing
Romans 11:36 (ESV)
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever.
Amen.
Scripture text for next Sunday: Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-23