Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for May 4, 2025
Pre-service Song
Oh, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace!
My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of Your name.
The name of Jesus charms our fears
and bids our sorrows cease;
‘tis music in the sinner’s ears,
‘tis life and health and peace.
He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood avails for me.
He speaks, and, listening to His voice
new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice;
the humble poor believe.
To God all glory, praise, and love
be now and ever given
by saints below and saints above,
the church in earth and heaven.
By Charles Wesley and Carl G. Glaser
©Public Domain
Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
Lamentations 3:21-24 (ESV)
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Our Sung Call to Worship
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not:
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. (Chorus)
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! (Chorus)
Words by Thomas O. Chisholm, Music by William M. Runyan
©Public Domain
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
Romans 7:18-25 (ESV)
For I know that nothing good dwells in me,
that is, in my flesh.
For I have the desire to do what is right,
but not the ability to carry it out.
For I do not do the good I want,
but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want,
it is no longer I who do it,
but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right,
evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God,
in my inner being, but I see in my members another law
waging war against the law of my mind and making me
captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Wretched man that I am!
Who can deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind,
but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
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
Colossians 1:13-14, 19-23 (ESV)
Remember the Gospel!
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh
by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless
and above reproach before him,
if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast,
not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard,
which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
Glorious Day
One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He.
The Word became flesh and the light shined among us.
His glory revealed.
Chorus
Living, He loved me, dying He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away.
Rising, He justified freely forever.
One day He’s coming,
O glorious day. O glorious day.
One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain.
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree.
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected,
Bearing our sins my Redeemer is He.
The hands that healed nations stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me. (Chorus)
One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door.
Then He arose over death He had conquered.
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore.
Death could not hold Him,
The grave could not keep Him from rising again. (Chorus)
One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glories will shine.
Wonderful day my beloved one bringing.
My Savior Jesus is mine. (Chorus)
Glorious day. O, glorious day!
By Michael Bleecker, J. Wilbur Chapman, and Mark Hall
© 2009 Curb Songs; Be Essential Songs; My Refuge 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.
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
2 Corinthians 5:11-15 (ESV)
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
This is the word of the Lord.
The grass withers and the flower falls
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Sermon
2 Corinthians 5:11-15 – The King’s Commission in Light of Truth – 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?
I Need Thee Every Hour (Distribution Song)
I need Thee ev’ry hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee, O I need Thee; Ev’ry hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
I need Thee ev’ry hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.
I need Thee, O I need Thee; Ev’ry hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
I need Thee ev’ry hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
I need Thee, O I need Thee; Ev’ry hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
I need Thee ev’ry hour, Most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
I need Thee, O I need Thee; Ev’ry hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
Words by Annie S. Hawks, Music by Robert Lowry
©Public Domain
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
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
For the Cause
For the cause of Christ the King we give our lives, an offering
‘Til all the earth resounds with ceaseless praise to the Son.
For the cause of Christ we go with joy to reap, with faith to sow
As many see and many put their trust in the Son.
Chorus
Christ we proclaim,
The Name above every name:
For all creation, every nation,
God’s salvation through the Son!
For the King once lifted high to cries of rage, of “crucify!”
Endured the cross as every sin was laid on the Son.
To the King who conquered death to free the poor and the oppressed
For lasting peace for life and liberty in the Son. (Chorus)
Let it be my life’s refrain: To live is Christ, to die is gain;
Deny myself, take up my cross and follow the Son!
Let it be my life’s refrain: To live is Christ, to die is gain;
Deny myself, take up my cross and follow the Son! (Chorus)
By Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend
© 2016 Getty Music Publishing; Townend Songs
Blessing
Jude 24-25 (ESV)
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you blameless before the presence
of his glory with great joy,
to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority,
before all time and now and forever.
Amen.
Scripture text for next Sunday: 2 Corinthians 5:15-21