Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for June 21, 2026
Pre-service Song
I Love to Tell the Story
I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love:
I love to tell the story because I know ‘tis true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.
Chorus
I love to tell the story, ‘twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story; ‘tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet;
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word. (Chorus)
I love to tell the story; for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest:
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
‘Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long. (Chorus)
Words by Katherine Hankey, Music by William G. Fischer
©Public Domain
Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
Psalm 121 (ESV)
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Our Sung Call to Worship
Fairest Lord Jesus
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son;
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor
Thou my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight
And all the twinkling, starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heav’n can boast.
Beautiful Savior, Lord of all the nations
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine!
Words and Music by Joseph August Seiss and H.S. Hoffman von Fallesleben
©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.
Our Sung Confession
I Am Ashamed
I used to nurture bitterness,
To count up every slight.
The world’s a moral wilderness,
And I have felt its blight.
Self-pity ruled, resentment reigned,
No one understood my pain.
I spiraled down in murky night,
Insisting that I had the right
To hate and hate again.
I am ashamed, ashamed. O, my Lord, forgive.
But then the gospel taught me how
To contemplate the cross.
For there Christ died for me and now
I’ve glimpsed the bitter cost.
He bore abuse and blows and hate.
He did not retaliate.
Triumphant malice sneered and tossed
Blind rage at Him; He never lost
The love that conquers hate.
I am ashamed, ashamed. O, my Lord, forgive.
I am ashamed, ashamed. O, my Lord, forgive.
To make no threat, to smile, forgive,
To love and not because I must;
For Jesus showed me how to live
And trust the One who’s just.
To suffer wrong and feel the pain,
Certain that the loss is gain.
Oh God, I want so much to trust,
To follow Jesus on the cross:
To love and love again, to love and love again.
I am ashamed, ashamed. O, my Lord, forgive.
I am ashamed, ashamed. O, my Lord, forgive.
Forgive.
By Sandra McCracken and D. A. Carson
© 2000 Brown, Ian; Carson, D. A.; Christway Media
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV)
Remember the Gospel!
God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—
by grace you have been saved.
He raised us up with him and seated us with him in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the
coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches
of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
Grace Greater Than Our Sin
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Chorus
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide,
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today. (Chorus)
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe;
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? (Chorus )
Words by Julie H. Johnston, Music by Daniel B. Towner
©Public Domain
Speak O Lord
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You,
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness;
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.
Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail;
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time,
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises;
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, ‘til Your church is built,
And the earth is filled with Your glory.
By Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
© 2005 Thankyou Music Ltd
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
James 4:1-10 (ESV)
1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
This is the word of the Lord.
The grass withers and the flower falls
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Sermon
James 4:1-10 (ESV) – Wisdom’s War – Pastor Dean Van Every
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
Lord Have Mercy (For What We Have Done)
For what we have done and left undone
We fall on Your countless mercies.
For sins that are known, and those unknown,
We call on Your name so holy.
For envy and pride, for closing our eyes:
For scorning our very neighbor.
In thought, word, and deed, we’ve failed You, our King;
How deeply we need a Savior.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy on us.
For what You have done, Your life of love
You perfectly lived, we praise You.
Though tempted and tried, You fixed Your eyes;
You finished the work God gave You.
And there on the tree, a King among thieves,
You bled for a world’s betrayal.
You loved to the end, our merciful friend;
How pure and forever faithful.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy on us.
For hearts that are cold, for seizing control;
For scorning our very Maker.
In thought, word, and deed, we’ve failed You, our King;
How deeply we need a Savior.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy on us.
By Matt Papa, Aaron Keys, James Tealy and Matt Boswell
Blessing
Romans 15:13 (ESV)
May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
you may abound in hope.
Amen.
Scripture for next Sunday: James 4:11-17