A Net in Time

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Hymn

Sunday Sermon: God’s emerging future: becoming the church for others

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This sermon is the the Christian Reformed Church.  Still learning this ministers style so note taking is still a work in progress with him.

Hymns/songs
Here I am to worship
Jesus be the Centre
Have thine own way Lord
Spirit of the living God
Jesus, all for Jesus

Scripture
Nehemiah 5

Sermon Notes:

As a church we need to keep moving towards God’s emergent future.
But what seems like the future (default) seems to be the way to go.
So there is conflict between the two.

In chapter 5 you can see this conflict, the selfishness of the people pushing towards their default future rather than God’s emergent future

The Israelites had broken down into a bunch of selfish folks…looking out to their own interests.

. A famine and people weren’t sharing with each other
. Government was over taxing them
. An influx of workers is straining their resources
. They were charging interest to each other

This selfishness brought the community to a standstill.

They sought their own needs, not the needs of the people.

How does this passage apply to us today?
. How are we sharing our finances with the church?
. How are we using our money for God?
. Are we remembering who we are the church for?

Stop
Restore
Promise
Praise

Stop.
Nehemiah was angry.  He didn’t react immediately.  He stopped and thought.
He told them to stop what they were doing.  Stop being self-centered.

Restore.
Go back to being what they were, make it right, correct the situation.  Restore the healthy community.

Promise
Make an oath.  Promise this solemnly.  Be accountable.

Praise.
The people said amen…so be it.  They praised God.

The Israelites, called to be a holy nation, walking in the fear of the Lord.

This church is to be a testament of God to the people around us.
What is more important to us?   This testimony or our own needs.

Be challenged
Be encouraging
Be generous

Do this all on account of Jesus.

Be part of a missional church.


Hymn Study: Have thine Own Way Lord

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Lyrics:
1 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.

2 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.

3 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

4 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

United Methodist Hymnal, 1989

Written by Adelaide A. Pollard, a woman who wrote hymns, but we can’t be sure how many as she seldom signed them.   Her devotion was to furthering the cause of God, not to seeking recognition for her own work. 

This particular hymn was inspired by the prayer of an elderly woman who asked God to simply “Just have your own way with us”. 

“As Adelaide left the prayer meeting that night the phrase from that
prayer, “Have Thine own way”, rang in her mind. On the way home she
formed the lyrics in her mind and before going to bed that night, she
wrote the words on paper.” (source)

The tanbible includes this tidbit “Upon
returning home that evening, Miss Pollard mediated on the story of the
potter, found in Jeremiah 18:3-4.


       Then
I went to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on the
wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of
the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.”
Some hymnals have altered verse two to say 

 2 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow. 

The reason for that change being found here.   Personally I think she’s meaning how our hearts are changed from being dark with sin to be being white with the light of being cleansed by God’s work in our lives.  
 
      

Song Study: I am Not My Own

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This is a song produced by Jeremy Zeyl, it is based on the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 1.   But don’t let that scare you away.   🙂   The song stands on it’s own without as a biblically based song, meant for today’s congregations. 
At age 21 “I heard Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 1
read at a church service. Those words about “my only comfort in life
and in death” leapt out at me and inspired me to write the song “Not My
Own.” ” (source)
Here are the lyrics: 
 
 Verse 1

This my only comfort in my life and in my death
You have fully paid for all my sins and all my debts
With your precious blood you’ve set me free
With your precious blood you’ve set me free

Chorus

I am not my own but belong body and soul
In my life and in death to you Lord, Christ my Lord
Verse 2

You preserve my life in such a way that without you
Not a hair can fall from me unless you will it to
All things work together for my salvation
All things work together for my salvation

Verse 3

Therefore by your Holy Spirit you assure me
Of eternal life and make me willing and ready
From now on to always live for you
From now on to always live for you

This song had my hubby singing out strongly beside me which is unusual with songs that he is not familiar with.  He tends to just listen until he’s sure of the tune….but he sang with this one right from the start as loudly as if he’d known it all his life.  🙂

No real history to it other then Jeremy is a CRC kid born and raised close to home in London, Ontario.

If you’d like to know more about him, read this interview with Calvin Institute.

Hymn Study: For The Beauty of the Earth

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Hebrews 13:15-16 – “Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.” 


 Written by Folliot S. Pierpoint, this is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving and was originally written as a song for the Eucharist (The Lord’s Supper).

Pierpoint was the author of several poetry collections, including The Chalice of Nature and Other Poems (1855), Songs of Love, the Chalice of Nature, and Lyra Jesu (2nd Edition, 1858). The words of this hymn appeared in Lyrica Eucharistica, The Hymnal Noted (second edition, 1864).  (source)

Pierpoint was born in Bath, England in 1835.  He was educated at Queens College in Cambridge, and later taught at Somersetshire College, where he was a teacher of classics.

He wrote numerous poems, but For the Beauty of the Earth is the only one he is remembered for today. Not only did he write books of poetry, but also produced two hymnals.   He was 29 years old when he wrote this particular hymn.

 The song was inspired by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded
him.  Pierpoint wrote praises of God for the beauties all around him
into the lyrics.  Take for instance beauty of the earth and sky, beauty
of each hour, and the joy of human love that he incorporates into the
lyrics. (source)

The words to the original text can be found here.   The tune Dix was written by Conrad Kocher in 1838, also the tune used for As with Gladness Men of Old. 

Pierpoint died at age 82 having written 7 volumes of poetry. 

 Originally the last two lines of each verse read: 

Christ our God, to thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.

Lyrics
(1) For the beauty of the earth, 
For the glory of the skies; 
For the love which from our birth, 
Over and around us lies; 
Lord of all, to Thee we raise 
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

(2) For the wonder of each hour,

 Of the day and of the night; 
Hill and vale and tree and flow’r,
 Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise 
This, our hymn of grateful praise.
 (3) For the joy of ear and eye, 
For the heart and mind’s delight; 
For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to sound and sight; 
Lord of all, to Thee we raise 
This, our hymn of grateful praise. 
 (4) For the joy of human love, 
Brother, sister, parent, child; 
Friends on Earth and friends above, 
 For all gentle things and mild

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

(5) For Thy Church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above
Offering up on on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love 

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise.


Hymn Study:I Come to the Garden Alone

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“11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.”   John 20:11-18

Lyrics
 I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses. 
  • Refrain:
    And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
    And He tells me I am His own;
    And the joy we share as we tarry there,
    None other has ever known.

             He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.
 

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.
Charles Austin Miles wrote this hymn in March 1912.  In his own words he said “I was seated in the darkroom where I kept my photographic equipment and organ.  I drew my Bible toward me, it opened at my favourite chapter, John 20….that meeting of Jesus and Mary had lost none of its power to charm.   As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene.  I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life, when she knelt before her Lord, and cried “Rabboni!”…under the inspiration of this vision I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the poem exactly as it has since appeared.   That same evening I wrote the music”.   Some sources add additional information about seeing visions which I don’t know what I think of.  🙂

Miles, started his career as a pharmacist, but later abandoned that in order to work as editor and manager at Hall-Mack.  he started writing gospel music in 1892.   Hall-Mack published his first gospel song “List ’tis Jesus’ Voice”.   He was very proud to be known as a gospel music writer.   His desire was to be of good use to the Lord God.   As he said in this “way I may be of the most use to my Master, whom I serve willingly
although not as efficiently as is my desire.”  (source)

Hymn Study: Precious Lord, Take My Hand

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I wasn’t aware of some controversy around this song until I started researching it. 

The controversy makes sense. There are two men bearing a similar name, living around the same time. Thomas Dorsey the big band musician and Thomas Andrew Dorsey musician.

I depended on Snopes to help wind my way through this quagmire. 

AND EVEN SO.. I still don’t really get it.  ALL I really understand is that Thomas Dorsey (white guy, big band) didn’t write this song.  Thomas Andrew Dorsey (black guy, jazz player) DID write the song.  The fellow who wrote it did have his wife and son die, and through his grief at the loss of both wrote this song Precious Lord. 

It’s important to get the names straight.   

This is a story that comes from a place of extreme grief.  Knowing that you were performing, doing the Lord’s work, while at home your wife is dying, giving birth to your son, and having your son die the next day.  

Pouring out your grief before the Lord in song….and struggling to come back to him in the aftermath.    In the midst of despair, a friend visited Dorsey and arranged for him
to be left alone in a music room with a piano. “It was quiet; the late
evening sun crept through the curtained windows,” Dorsey recalled. For
the first time in many days, he sat at a piano using his fingers to
browse the keys. Soon, the young artist experienced a personal
revival: “I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and
touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I’d never heard or
played before, and words [for “Precious Lord”] came into my head—they
just seemed to fall into place.”  (source)

 Dorsey was raised in a Baptist home, but turned away from the Lord to pursue playing jazz and blues music.  Severe illness brought him back to the Lord.  Over his life time he composed over 1,000 songs, 200 of which were gospel songs.   To learn more, read this page.   He died in 1993 and is known as the “architect of modern gospel music”.

Lyrics: 
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light:
Refrain
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,

Precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand lest I fall:
Refrain
When the darkness appears
And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand,
Guide my feet, hold my hand:

Hymn Study: Praise Ye the Lord, The Almighty

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I LOVE the singing of Fernando Ortega… The way he sings hymns just lifts my spirit every single time.   He occasionally lightly changes the words but not enough to annoy.  🙂

Here he is, singing this lovely hymn written by Joachim Neander

Lyrics:
The verses I am familiar with in red.  
Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.
Praise ye the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.
Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
 This hymn was originally written in German and was translated by Catherine Winkworth.    It was written by Joachim Neander, who studied theology in Bremen.      He wasn’t a serious theology student until he heard a sermon by a man by the name of Theodore Undereyk.  (source) .   (see…. good preaching changes lives)  🙂   He was a minister only for a year before he died, at age 30, from tuberculosis.

An interesting fact is that a valley was renamed after him, and in that valley the remains of Homo neanderthalensis, or the Neanderthal man was discovered.  (source)   This makes him the only hymnist with a hominid named after him.

 Now for this hymn without singing.  Isn’t the tune lovely?