Download: Readings and Song Lyrics for September 13, 2026
Pre-service Song
This is My Father’s World
This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world,
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world,
The birds their carols raise;
The morning light, the lily white
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world,
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me ev’rywhere.
This is my Father’s world,
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world,
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and heaven be one.
Words by Maltbie D. Babcock, Music by Franklin L. Sheppard
©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 46:1-3, 8-11 (ESV)
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear
though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved
into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth,
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Our Sung Call to Worship
Indescribable
From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea,
Creation’s revealing Your majesty.
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring,
Every creature unique in the song that it sings.
All exclaiming:
Indescribable, uncontainable;
You placed the stars in the sky,
and You know them by name.
You are amazing God;
All powerful, untamable;
Awestruck, we fall to our knees
as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing, God.
Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go,
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow?
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light,
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night?
None can fathom.
Indescribable, uncontainable;
You placed the stars in the sky,
and You know them by name.
You are amazing God;
All powerful, untamable;
Awestruck, we fall to our knees
as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing, God.
Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky,
and You know them by name.
You are amazing, God;
Incomparable, unchangeable;
You see the depths of my heart
and You love me the same.
You are amazing God.
You are amazing God.
You see the depths of our hearts
and You love us the same.
You are amazing God.
By Laura Story and Jesse Reeves
© 2004 Laura Stories; sixsteps Music; worshiptogether.com songs
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
Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
These for sin could not atone
Thou must save and Thou alone.
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Words by Augustus M. Toplady, Music by Thomas Hastings
©Public Domain
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
John 3:16-18 (ESV)
Remember the Gospel!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r thro’out the universe displayed.
Chorus:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When thro’ the woods and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze: (Chorus)
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin. (Chorus)
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art! (Chorus)
By Stuart K. Hine
© Copyright 1949 and 1953 Stuart Hine Trust CIO Stuart K. Hine Trust
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
Psalm 50 (ESV)
A Psalm of Asaph.
1The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done,
and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge
before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none
to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving
as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation 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
Psalm 50 (ESV) – “The Well-Ordered Life” – 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
This is My Father’s World
This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world,
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world,
The birds their carols raise;
The morning light, the lily white
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world,
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me ev’rywhere.
This is my Father’s world,
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world,
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and heaven be one.
Words by Maltbie D. Babcock, Music by Franklin L. Sheppard
©Public Domain
Blessing
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)
Now may the God of peace
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,
equip you with everything good
that you may do his will,
working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Scripture text for next Sunday: Psalm 51