Battle Belongs

{Verse 1}
When all I see is the battle
You see my victory
When all I see is the mountain
You see a mountain moved

And as I walk through the shadow
Your love surrounds me
There's nothing to fear now
For I am safe with You

{Chorus}
So when I fight I'll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
Oh God the battle belongs to You
And every fear I lay at Your feet

I'll sing through the night
Oh God the battle belongs to You

{Verse 2}
And if You are for me
Who can be against me
For Jesus there's nothing
Impossible for You

When all I see are the ashes
You see the beauty
When all I see is a cross
God You see the empty tomb

{Bridge}
Almighty Fortress
You go before us
Nothing can stand against
The power of our God

You shine in the shadow
You win every battle
Nothing can stand against
The power of our God

He Will Hold Me Fast

When I fear my faith will fail
Christ will hold me fast
When the tempter would prevail,
He will hold me fast

I could never keep my hold
Through life's fearful path
For my love is often cold;
He must hold me fast

{Chorus}
He will hold me fast
He will hold me fast
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast

{Verse 2}
Those He saves are His delight
Christ will hold me fast
Precious in His holy sight
He will hold me fast

He'll not let my soul be lost
His promises shall last
Bought by Him at such a cost
He will hold me fast

{Verse 3}
For my life He bled and died
Christ will hold me fast
Justice has been satisfied
He will hold me fast

Raised with Him to endless life
He will hold me fast
'Til our faith is turned to sight
When He comes at last!

Hosea 4:1-5:15

The Lord Accuses Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2
there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3
Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4
Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.[a]
5
You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7
The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
8
They feed on the sin[b] of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9
And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10
They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
12
My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
13
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
14
I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
15
Though you play the whore, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16
Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17
Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone.
18
When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
their rulers[c] dearly love shame.
19
A wind has wrapped them[d] in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah
5 Hear this, O priests!
Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread upon Tabor.
2
And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,
but I will discipline all of them.
3
I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
Israel is defiled.
4
Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
and they know not the Lord.
5
The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[a]
Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
Judah also shall stumble with them.
6
With their flocks and herds they shall go
to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
7
They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
for they have borne alien children.
Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
8
Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
we follow you,[b] O Benjamin!
9
Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
10
The princes of Judah have become
like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
11
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth.[c]
12
But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
13
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.[d]
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
14
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
15
I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Sermon Points:

Without the Lord...
- Destructive relationships
- Selfish priests
- Foolish decision making
- Empty religious practices
- Misplaced trust

Know the Lord through His word:
- Engage in the Bible to know God
- Ask God to help you to understand His word
- Join others in knowing the Lord together

Come Thou Fount

{Verse 1}
Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount—I’m fixed upon it—
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

{VERSE 2}
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

{VERSE 3}
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to Thee:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Goodness of God

I love You, Lord
Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

{Chorus}
Cause all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

{Verse 2}
I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
And in darkest night You are close like no other

I've known You as a Father
I've known You as a Friend
And I have lived in the goodness of God

{Bridge}
'Cause Your goodness is running after
It's running after me

With my life laid down
I'm surrendered now
I give You everything

'Cause Your goodness is running after
It keeps running after me