The sweet "well done"...

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Take a Look at Our New Sign!

Photos from FCC Picnic at Christview

The Garden at Mid-Point

Your Input is Needed

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Projects and programs always have four (4) stages. First is the idea stage when plans are developed. Second is the implementation or start-up phase when the plan is set in motion. Third is the operational phase when the project work is done on a day to day basis. The fourth phase is planning for continuation and includes refining the original plan—or deciding that the project is not worth the effort and going on to something different.

“Growing the Community from the Ground Up", the FFC Community Garden Program, is in Phase III: the gardeners are working the garden on a day to day basis, learning how to garden, and making decisions about the future. Based on comments from everyone involved, we have reached the mid-point of our project and have achieved some success. “Success” in this case means that stuff is growing, the garden is well-tended and attractive, and that individual gardeners have stuck with it and have worked hard.

Another measure of success is how well our teenaged leader, Kari Keever—with lots of help from Mom Mary and Sister Alicia—has managed the garden and kept it connected to Loaves and Fishes with donated produce. Still another measure is the positive coverage provided by Carroll County News: look for a story this week about the garden and FCC.

Having begun in March, we are exactly at the mid-point in our garden’s first year of operation. There are still some aspects or “parts” of our initial plan (Phase I) that we need to take in hand—or defer for another time. There are four (4) items that we need to take action on:

First, it is time to install the “Growing Community from the Ground Up” sign. Volunteers are ready to go: what they need is to have the location of the sign determined—and permission to erect the posts and sign.

Second, the rain barrels planned for distribution of rain water has not worked as planned. The original idea was perhaps too complicated: it has been difficult to run piping from the church to the individual beds. An alternative idea is proposed: collect the rain as planned, but then hand-carry the water to a reservoir (one of the blue barrels) located on the garden site. This will facilitate either by gravity or with the aid of a small pump, piping the water into a network of drip hoses laid out on the growing beds. Dave Buttgen, who is designing alternative technology systems for a fish farming project in Malawi, may be able to design the system and power the pump with a very low cost solar or wind generator.

Third, a decision should be made regarding what “kind” of garden FCC will operate: will it be a traditional garden operation, a “natural” garden, or an organic garden? Different rules apply and the decision has implications for who will choose to participate, how much we can charge for production if we sell it, and so on.

The fourth decision is about what to do with what is produced. Currently, some of the stuff is taken home by the gardeners for personal use. And some of it is donated to Loaves and Fishes. We also used some of Jennifer’s flowers to decorate the church on Sunday. Are there other ideas? For example, should produce be sold as a fund raiser for the youth program, for a cash gift to Loaves and Fishes, or to go into an operating fund for the garden itself? Or, should what is produced simply be distributed after services to anyone who wants it? Or, is a combination of all of the above…plus other ideas…called for?

Please use the comment function located here if you have an opinion or idea you would like to share. Or, email:

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firstchristianchurchberrville@gmail.com.

Jesus: Lord of All the Earth

Statue and portait of Isaac Watts

Sermon by John Turner based on Colossians 1:15-23

June 21, 2009

The Small-Scale, Big-Scale, and the Overall Salvation Pictures

in Paul's Letters

Paul understands the small-scale, personal picture, that Jesus died to reconcile individual sinners to God and to one another, making peace by the blood of his cross, paving the way for him to present us mature in our likeness to him and fit for eternal life.

Paul understands the big, cosmic picture, that Jesus Christ was present with God from the beginning, that all things were created through him and for him, that all things hold together in him and that all things will find their ultimate destiny in him, that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the church and the first citizen of the perfect new creation of the whole universe.

Paul understands the salvation picture: We are not saved because we are handsome or healthy, athletic or smart, educated or wealthy, popular or well-connected. We are not saved because we are respectable or religious, morally disciplined or socially responsible. We are saved because we have believed his gospel and, dying to sin and self, have given ourselves to him, totally, without reservation. We have decided that he will rule our lives.

Since the conclusion of the era of Paul and the other apostles, I cannot think of a person who has done more to put the small-scale personal picture, the big, cosmic picture, and the overall salvation picture together for us in terms that we can understand than Isaac Watts.

Isaac Watts, 1674—1748

Isaac Watts was a tiny man, barely over five feet at his tallest, with a head too large for his body, a nose too prominent and eyes too small for his face, with a physique weakened by too much reading, too little exercise, too little sleep, further debilitated by several severe illnesses, and deeply scarred by small pox. He was frequently bedridden for long periods of time. In his young adulthood, a young woman poet became entranced by Watts’ writings and the two began corresponding, feeling that they had fallen in love and should consider marriage. But when they met in person, the young woman was negatively overwhelmed by Watts’ appearance and exclaimed, “If only I could say that I admire the casket (translate casket as container) as much as the jewel it contains.” Watts never again came so close to marriage and family. Watts told a friend that he trusted he would understand in heaven why this was for the best.

Watts was brilliant and creative, stunningly precocious from early childhood, but he knew that his hope rested not in his wit and reason and giftedness, but solely in the grace of God. Among the many things he was—astronomer, mathematician, logician, psychologist, educator, grammarian, preacher, theologian, pastor, poet, children’s writer, and more (he published text books in several fields that were used at leading universities)—he will be best remembered as the father of modern English hymnody. In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, he wrote hymns that 300 years later still appear in our hymnals. More than that, he established the patterns which later hymn writers sought to develop. I think it safe to say that no one in history has more influenced how English-speaking Protestant Christians worship. He may not have fathered biological offspring, but he fathered much of the worship of our churches.

The Founding Figure of Late 17th and Early 18th Century

Contemporary Christian Hymns

Prior to Watts, the hymns being sung in many English churches consisted entirely of the 150 psalms of our Bible rearranged to rhyme and to fit the meter of available tunes. Now think just a moment whether you would want to sing in church the words to some of our psalms, especially the ones complaining of our enemies and wishing horrible fates upon them. Not all the topics are suitable for public praise and worship. Nor do the psalms speak the name of Jesus, and direct references to the Holy Spirit are few and far between. There is a lot missing for the Christian. Then imagine trying to sing them in abysmally bad rhymes, with very unnatural word order. We sampled perhaps the least objectionable one last week, and felt awkward singing, “My soul he doth restore again, and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness, e’en for His own name’s sake,” but that was nothing compared to many of them. It was a test of endurance to get through them.

The best I can figure, Watts was in his mid-teens, the age when few of us are satisfied with the way the world is run, when returning from church, he was complaining at length about the pitiful renditions of the psalms they had to endure as their only subjects for singing. He had a long list of considered reasons that the hymns were inferior, unfruitful, and insufferable. Irritated, his father replied, “Then, young man, if you are so dissatisfied, why don’t you give us something worth singing?”

Young Watts proceeded to do just that. The congregation was soon singing his hymns. His very first preserved hymn is not so widely known today, but it is worth noting. It was based on Revelation 5, and it portrays the worship that will take place in heaven. For now I want to focus on the opening verse which seems to anticipate Watts’ own career:

Behold the glories of the Lamb amidst His Father’s throne.

Prepare new honors for His Name, and songs before unknown.

Watts proceeded to produce a new hymn for most Sundays that followed for a considerable period of time. I have seen varying counts of how many hymns Watts wrote, but on one Website I counted over 700 of Watts’ “new honors for His name and songs before unknown.” You can probably find about thirty of those hymns still being published in hymnals today with most individual Protestant hymnals having about ten to fifteen of them. Many of the rest of his hymns, though hindered by dated language, are still worth devotional reading and might inspire young hymn writers to come up with more current expression of the basic thoughts.

The Mixed Response

Watts’ hymns were instantly popular in certain segments of churches, but thoroughly denounced in others.

Watts improved matters in three ways: (1) he ranged a little further from the text of the psalms to write with more natural rhyme and meter as when he turned Psalm 90 into "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"; (2) he Christianized the psalms as when he turned Psalm 72 into "Jesus Shall Reign," and (3) he wrote hymns of original composition and Christian experience such as “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."

Those who loved Watts’ songs saw them as fresh, clear, understandable, in their own modern language, and speaking to their hearts to kindle and fire their passions. Those who hated Watts’ hymns saw them as taking too much liberty with the words of scripture and thereby disrespecting the inspiration of scripture and as introducing too many subjective human feelings into the worship of the church. For instance, Watts’ use of "I" in “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," was considered blasphemous by many.

In other words, Watts was a contemporary hymn writer of his day, every bit as controversial as

our contemporary Christian musicians of the past several decades. The many churches who opposed his hymns tended not to grow. Those who welcomed his hymns were much more likely to grow. In time, almost all surviving churches were singing his hymns.

We need to understand the lessons that Watts had learned: (1) Hymns need to speak truly, clearly, and well in the language of the worshipers. (2) They need to be based on careful study of Scripture and prayerful reflection on the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. (3) They need to train the hearts of the worshipers to receive, celebrate, and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in all its dimensions. To an unprecedented degree, Watts accomplished all three goals, and the results were evident to those who could move far enough out of their ruts to give a fair hearing to his hymns.

About 100 years after Watts wrote, Barton Stone’s Christians and Alexander Campbell’s Disciples of Christ were movements that grew rapidly on the American frontier and at last came together. An early form of every Watts hymn we are singing this morning—and many more as well--appeared in one or both of the first two hymnbooks of the Stone-Campbell movement, published in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Watts’ hymns, and those of the succeeding generation that were inspired by him, were the songs to which our movement marched across the American frontier planting churches right and left.

Watts’ Themes:
1. The Sovereign Creator

Watts understood that God created the world to be good, and that, even in its fallen state, enough of the goodness remains that we should thank and praise the Lord for its beauties.

1. I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,

That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.

I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;

The moon shines full at God's command, and all the stars obey.

2. I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,

Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.

Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, wherever I turn my eye,

If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

3. There's not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,

And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;

While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;

And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God, art present there.

2. Redemption at the Cross

Watts’ also understood that human beings, including himself, have committed grievous sins for which there is no redemption except through the grace of God made available through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

1. Alas! and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?

(We delete the worm language today and make it “for sinners such as I”)

2. Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

3. Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in,

When Christ, the mighty Savior died, for man the creature's sin.

4. But drops of grief can never repay the debt of love I owe:

Here, Lord, I give my self away; 'Tis all that I can do.

Side point: When this hymn was declining in popularity in the late nineteenth century, Ralph Hudson set it to a new tune and wrote a refrain for it to turn it into, “At the Cross.” Similarly, current contemporary Christian musician Chris Tomlin has added a refrain to “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and Watts’ old hymn has a new and wide audience as “The Wonderful Cross.”

3. Grateful Worship in Resposnse to Costly Redemption

The notion that we owe all to Christ also appears in what is probably Watts= greatest hymn and the hymn that many experts have called the greatest hymn in the English language:

1. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

3. See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small: love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

4. A Possible Happy Ending Ahead

The cross may be at the painful center of history, but it points toward what is for believers a happy ending. Not only was the world made good, but it would be made new again under the Lordship of Jesus. Clearly Watts= best known work is the one titled in his hymnal "PSALM 98 PART 2 The Messiah's coming and kingdom." Do you recognize it by that title? It is one of our two favorite Christmas carols, but it was not written especiually for Christmas and its meaning stretches far beyond Christmas. Today, we will sing some verses of it at the close of our worship service to remind us that it is a hope toward which we are every day still pointed: "No more let sins or sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; he comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found."

5. The Importance of the Saving Gospel

Perhaps the dominant theme of Watts’ music is celebration that Jesus has come and will come again to reign over all the world. Yet Watts was quite aware that, if Jesus comes to reign on behalf of love, truth, and justice, then those who persistently choose to resist Jesus’ reign cannot fit within the perfect future Jesus will bring. It was essential to Watts for everyone to understand how urgent it is for us to receive and to proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. People who could be saved by the gospel may be lost without it.

Watts was a Calvinist. Calvinists believe in predestination which says that God chooses all who are saved. But Watts took a gentle version of that Calvinist doctrine, asserting that God would not mock anyone with the opportunity to hear the gospel if they could not by believing it and accepting Jesus as Lord be saved. If we truly believe in Jesus and seek to obey his leading, Watts held that this is all the evidence that is needed that we have been chosen by God for salvation.

6. World Mission

Watts’ belief, that the fate of the lost may well depend on their hearing a persuasive presentation of the gospel, drove him with a passion to see the gospel shared in the whole world. In the opening section of our worship service, we sang, "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does its successive journeys run." Two things need to be noted about this hymn:

(1) It has an evangelistic and missionary fervor that has been missing from much of Christianity in our times. Watts understood with great clarity that we have been given the gospel that it might be shared with all the world. Was it by accident or mere coincidence that the great evangelical awakening led by the Wesleys, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and a generation later our own frontier movement, came on the heels of Watts= songs, and that, on both sides of the Atlantic, that revival marched to the hymns of Watts and the new hymns inspired by him? I don't think so!

(2) The theological conviction underlying the evangelistic fervor was that Jesus is Lord of all the earth and that we are responsible for celebrating and proclaiming and living out his love to all people: "His kingdom spread from shore to shore till moons shall wax and wane no more." All things hold together in the One through whom creation came, the One through whom creation will be fulfilled, even Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen and alleluia! Let our good news of Jesus be proclaimed to all the world.

One thing to note as you consider your calling to proclaim the gospel. You may object that you are not able, that there are too many things against you. Make a list of your obstacles and compare them to the list of obstacles that Watts faced. I am pretty sure that he overcame more and greater obstacles.

Appended Hymns

"Behold the Glories of the Lamb"

Written by Isaac Watts when he was in his teen years

Based on Revelation 5

1. Behold the glories of the Lamb amidst His Father’s throne.

Prepare new honors for His Name, and songs before unknown.

2. Let elders worship at His feet, the Church adore around,

With vials full of odors sweet, and harps of sweeter sound.

3. Those are the prayers of the saints, and these the hymns they raise;

Jesus is kind to our complaints, He loves to hear our praise.

4. Eternal Father, who shall look into Thy secret will?

Who but the Son should take that Book and open every seal?

5. He shall fulfill Thy great decrees, the Son deserves it well;

Lo, in His hand the sovereign keys of Heav’n, and death, and hell!

6. Now to the Lamb that once was slain be endless blessings paid;

Salvation, glory, joy remain forever on Thy head.

7. Thou hast redeemed our souls with blood, hast set the prisoner free;

Hast made us kings and priests to God, and we shall reign with Thee.

8. The worlds of nature and of grace are put beneath Thy power;

Then shorten these delaying days, and bring the promised hour.

"Say to the Nations, Jesus Reigns"

Written by Isaac Watts

Based on Psalm 96, similar to Psalm 98 on which he based “Joy to the World”

The last verse was early dropped from publication in some hymnals

1. Say to the nations, Jesus reigns, God's own almighty Son;

His power the sinking world sustains, and grace surrounds his throne.

2. Let heav'n proclaim the joyful day, joy through the earth be seen;

Let cities shine in bright array, and fields in cheerful green.

3. Behold, he comes, he comes to bless the nations as their God;

To show the world his righteousness, and send his truth abroad.

[4. But when his voice shall raise the dead, and bid the world draw near,

How will the guilty nations dread to see their Judge appear!]

"The Heavens Declare Thy Glory, Lord"

Written by Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 19

1. The heav’ns declare Thy glory, Lord, in ev’ry star Thy wisdom shines

But when our eyes behold Thy Word, we read Thy Name in fairer lines.

2. The rolling sun, the changing light, and nights and days, thy power confess

But the blest volume Thou hast writ reveals Thy justice and Thy grace.

3. Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise round the whole earth, and never stand:

So when Thy truth began its race, it touched and glanced on every land.

4. Nor shall Thy spreading Gospel rest till through the world Thy truth has run,

Till Christ has all the nations blest that see the light or feel the sun.

5. Great Sun of Righteousness, arise, bless the dark world with heav’nly light;

Thy Gospel makes the simple wise, Thy laws are pure, Thy judgments right.

6. Thy noblest wonders here we view in souls renewed and sins forgiv’n;

Lord, cleanse my sins, my soul renew, and make Thy Word my guide to Heav’n.

For the words to all published Watts hymns, see:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts/psalmshymns.ii_1.html

and, for many of them with tunes, see:

http://nethymnal.org/bio/w/a/t/watts_i.htm

Jesus: Lord of Angelic Armies

stained glass window inspired by a Joachim Neander hymn

Sermon by John Turner
June 14, 2009

James 1:2-18

The Text

In the first century A.D., James wrote to believers undergoing persecution because of their commitment to Christ. Here is what he said: 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The Points

James believes that God has a wonderful goal for us from which no suffering can separate us, and, if we take the right attitude, the suffering will even help us get to the goal. The goal is to fit us to reign with Christ and to wear the crown of life in the perfect new heaven and new earth. That is what God wants to give to us. James suggests these steps for us:

1. We must resist Satan. When it appears to us that life’s rewards go to the unfaithful, Satan may tempt us to abandon the Lord, to neglect serving him. We must not yield to this temptation, but we must reject Satan’s lies.


2. We must seek wisdom by asking for it in prayer. In order to reach a good result, we need the ability to recognize the difference between God’s ways and other ways. Only God can give such wisdom, and he gives it only to those who ask, seek, knock, and persist.

3. We must purify our hearts. If we are to receive what God wants to give us, we must ask with pure desire, undivided hearts. What will not do is wavering and waffling between God and the world. We cannot expect to receive godly wisdom while we are trusting ungodly counsel. Divine wisdom is to help us discern and carry out the will of God, to keep us from wrongdoing, and to enable us to endure persecution for the sake of a higher goal; we get that only when we trust God purely.


4. We must have constant faith. We must trust God as the source of all things good, beautiful, and true. We must trust Jesus Christ as the one who delivers saving grace to us. We must not judge based on our circumstances or our feelings, or on what we can see or control. We must trust absolutely.


5. We must hold to the word of truth. The word of truth is the gospel of Jesus Christ, including all the promises of the Holy Scriptures. If the wisdom we think we have found does not fit with the Jesus revealed in the Bible, then it is no wisdom at all.

6. Even in suffering, we must rejoice. This does not mean that we feel happy to suffer. Nor is it about painting a plastic smile over gritted teeth. Because God has guaranteed our best hopes, because we are already in God’s presence, and because we are moving toward eternal life with God, we can at a deep level rejoice even when circumstances seem unfavorable.

Where Will We Find Examples of This Pattern?

Resisting Satan, praying for wisdom, purifying our hearts, enduring in faith, holding to truth, rejoicing even in the midst of suffering: where can we look for examples of such practice? It is hard to find clearer examples than the faithful people caught in the turmoil of the Reformation era.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe were the times of the Protestant Reformation and of the consequent religious upheaval and frequent civil and international warfare. One of the most urgent religious questions of the age was, “Will God protect and provide for me as I take my stand for him?” Answers to the question were offered in the hymns of the era. The dominant theme of the hymns was God’s goodness and sovereignty, his providence and protection.

The Hymns of the Reformation Era

Let’s look at the hymns we are singing or hearing today in the approximate order they were written:

1529: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, was the leading and pivotal figure of the Protestant Reformation. He brought to the fore the traditional Protestant themes of “justification by grace alone, through faith alone,” of “the Bible only” as the basis of Christian authority, of eliminating the practice of selling indulgences, of practicing “the priesthood of all believers,” of worship and Bible study in the native languages of each people, of the sacred significance of secular labor, of the goodness of creation and of married sex, of the right of the clergy to marry, and of the duty and privilege of congregations to sing in worship services. Under extreme pressure to recant his views, Luther refused and was excommunicated. His life was in great danger. At a key point in his battle for reform, Luther is credited with saying, “Here I stand, I can do no other.” Behind that strong stand, he saw God’s protection. Drawing on Psalm 46, he wrote the great Christian hymn: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” At one point in the hymn he identifies Jesus as “Lord Sabbaoth” often translated “Lord of hosts,” which means “Lord of angelic armies.”

Luther believed that our human battles are waged as the visible manifestation of invisible battles between angels and demons. The ultimate outcome for the faithful is guaranteed because Jesus is the commander of the angelic armies. Even with angelic help, Luther was not naïve about how the victory would come. He well understood that many faithful people including himself might physically suffer and die in the battle for truth. His hymn concludes, “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever.” He was convinced that Jesus would win in the end and that those who trust Jesus would share his ultimate victory in eternal life.

Luther had serious flaws, prejudices, and blind spots; sometimes he was just plain wrong; and yet his hymn has rightly stood the test of time. “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” has been called “the battle hymn of the Reformation,” and yet one does not have to be Protestant to appreciate it. A few years ago, I was glancing through a Roman Catholic missal—that’s m-i-s-s-a-l, not m-i-s-s-i-l-e [a missal is a seasonal prayer and hymnbook for the celebration of mass]—and I saw there, listed for singing during a Roman Catholic mass, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” by Martin Luther. That hymn is now seen as able to strengthen the spirituality of Catholics as well as Protestants. How time can heal wounds!

1597 “We Gather Together” was written to celebrate a victory of the Calvinist portion of the Netherlands against her Spanish overlords, seemingly freeing the Reformed Church to emerge into the open and her exiled refugees to return home. From the perspective of the Reformed Church, the Spanish overlords were “the wicked oppressing” who would “now cease from distressing,” although it took fifty more years to actualize that hope in full. The hymn attributes the deliverance to God and prays that God will continue to defend them, “Let thy congregation escape tribulation,” and concludes, “O Lord, make us free.” It is more than a song of the Thanksgiving season. It is a prayer for God’s freeing his people to serve him.

1648 “Now Thank We All Our God” has an extraordinary beginning: in Germany, the years 1618 to 1648 were the time of the Thirty Years’ War when Germany was a primary battlefield on which nations from all over Europe were battling for various reasons--- religious, political, economic, and national—reasons they did not fully understand and so did not know how to stop. It was sort of a continent-wide demolition derby with devastating consequences for ordinary people. The war reduced Germany from 16 million to 6 million people. That is almost two dead for every one who survived. Martin Rinkart, a son of a poor coppersmith, returned to his hometown as a Lutheran pastor just as the war started. During the war, his town was held once by Austria and twice by Sweden. He was the only pastor in the town to live through the war, and he lived just one year past the conclusion of the war. So the bulk of his ministry was conducted in a city under repeated siege and under the onslaught of famine and plague. He conducted funeral services for as many as fifty people on one day. In the year 1637, he conducted 4,000 funerals, an average of eleven per day, his wife’s among them. He tended the sick, fed the hungry, and consoled the bereaved even as he and his family also suffered. Yet, during the Thirty Years War, he wrote 66 hymns, including this great hymn thanking God for his providence. The first verse is stunning in its historical context, “Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices, who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices; who from our mothers’ arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love and still is ours today.” How extraordinary!

1650 “The Lord’s My Shepherd,” Many Reformed Christians in Great Britain sang only scripture songs, primarily the psalms. But, as poetry, the 16th and 17th century metrical arrangements of the Psalms were extremely awkward, for instance: “My soul he doth restore again, and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness, e’en for His own name’s sake.” Most such hymns have not endured until our time, and those that have are rarely used. That is generally the long-run fate of awkward wording. Nonetheless, the psalms were especially appropriate to the Reformation era because so many of them dealt with surviving under duress, triumphing even when undergoing persecution by ungodly enemies, walking under the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd through the valley of the shadow of death.

1677 “Fairest Lord Jesus” was no doubt earlier than its publication date, the earliest published version is from German Jesuits in 1677, and the Jesuits are generally listed as the authors of it. However, these Jesuits lived in an area in which Moravian refugees had settled along the border of what is now Poland and the Czech Republic. There are traditions that the song is originally Moravian. However that may be, this wonderful hymn affirms that Jesus is our soul’s glory, joy, and crown, that he is more beautiful than all creation and than all the angels of heaven, that he makes the woeful heart sing, and that he is Lord of the nations. Yet, it was written in very tough times. How important in tough times it is to know that there is something of enduring beauty and truth that shall prevail in the end!

1675 “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above” was written by Johann Schütz, a lawyer whose passion was Christian spiritual renewal through small group Bible study, prayer, and mutual accountability. Schütz was an important figure in the expansion of a movement known as Evangelical Pietism that became during the 18th and 19th centuries what I believe to be the most vital force for positive social and cultural change in history. What we notice in Schütz’s song is his positive confidence in God’s reign over all creation and in God’s dependable love and power. God is able to keep all his promises to bring justice and righteousness, to comfort our griefs, and, as we trust his work in our lives, to fill us with joy. What an extraordinary faith for the tough times in which it was written! The words of this hymn are included as an insert in your bulletin for your devotional reading.

1680 “Praise to the Lord the Almighty” was published the year that author Joachim Neander died at age 30. Even though he died so young, Neander was considered the greatest of all German Protestant hymn writers. After a wild adolescence, he became a devout Christian. He was a pastor, a scholar of theology and literature, a musician and composer, and an educator, an extraordinarily accomplished young man of God. Among other things, he was a friend of Johann Schütz. Neander was so enamored of the Düssel River valley, working in Düsseldorf, going into the nearby countryside for inspiration for his writing and composing, holding outdoor gatherings there where he preached to gathered crowds, and even living in a cave/hermitage there for a time, that the cave and the valley were named for him: Neanderthal. It was there nearly two centuries later that the remains of the famous Neanderthal man were found and the name that was originally given to honor an extraordinary man of God now means nearly the opposite; to call someone a Neanderthal is not the compliment it should be. Neander has several hymns and hymn tunes that are still used. My personal favorite is “All My Hope on God Is Founded” which I have included as an insert for your devotional reading. But Neander’s best known hymn is “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” It celebrates God’s sovereignty over all creation and especially God’s provision for and defense of his faithful people. In the tough days in which Neander lived, as Germany sought to recover from the Thirty Years War, the words from verse 2, “Shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth,” really meant something. And consider the extraordinary optimism of “Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been granted in what He ordaineth?” The third verse is worth special note: “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.”

Conclusion

The hymns of the 16th and 17th centuries are strong hymns of faith, courage, and even joy. They call us to ponder anew the difference God can make in our lives even in the most extraordinarily difficult times. They are models of how we can find the courage to stand firm under pressure.

To tell the truth, by the time I had finished this week’s study of Reformation era hymns, I felt convicted of being part of a whiny, self-indulgent generation. The good news is that the cure is evident and available: building an awareness of the power and goodness of God, resisting Satan, praying for wisdom, purifying our hearts, enduring in faith, holding to the truth, and rejoicing in the midst of suffering. May it be so. Amen.

Appended for your devotional reading:

“All My Hope on God Is Founded” by Joachim Neander, translated by Robert Bridges
Originally set to the tune “Neander” from the Chorale “Unsser Herrscher” by the author
Sometimes set to the tune “Michael” by Herbert Howells. The version presented here is the original English translation. Verses 1 and 2 are modernized in Chalice Hymnal, No. 88, and a new third verse is added.


1. All my hope on God is founded; He doth still my trust renew,
Me through change and chance He guideth, only good and only true.
God unknown, He alone calls my heart to be His own.


2. Pride of man and earthly glory, sword and crown betray his (man’s) trust;
What with care and toil he (man) buildeth, tower and temple fall to dust.
But God’s power, hour by hour, is my temple and my tower.


3. God’s great goodness aye endureth, deep His wisdom, passing thought:
Splendor, light and life attend him, beauty springeth out of naught.
Evermore from His store newborn worlds rise and adore.


4. Daily doth th’almighty Giver bounteous gifts on us bestow;
His desire our soul delighteth, pleasure leads us where we go.
Love doth stand at His hand; joy doth wait on His command.

5. Still from man to God eternal sacrifice of praise be done,
High above all praises praising for the gift of Christ, His Son.
Christ doth call one and all: ye who follow shall not fall.

Lo, Heaven and Earth, and Sea and Air, a lesser known Neander hymn, in English translation, the inspiration for the stained glass window at the top of this blog:

1. Lo, heaven and earth, and sea and air,
Their Maker's glory all declare;
And thou, my soul, awake and sing,
To Him Thy praises also bring.

2. Through Him the glorious Source of Day
Drives all the clouds of night away;
The pomp of stars, the moon's soft light,
Praise Him through all the silent night.

3. Behold, how He hath everywhere
Made earth so wondrous rich and fair;
The forest dark, the fruitful land,
All living things do show His hand.

4. Behold, how through the boundless sky
The happy birds all swiftly fly!
And fire and wind and storm are still
The ready servants of His will.

5. Behold the waters' ceaseless flow,
For ever circling to and fro;
The mighty sea, the bubbling well,
Alike their Maker's glory tell.

6. My God, how wondrously dost Thou
Unfold Thyself to us e'en now!
O grave it deeply on my heart
What I am, Lord, and what Thou art!

“Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above” by Johann Jakob Schütz, translated by Frances Cox Set to the tune “Mit Freuden Zart” The version presented here is the original English translation. A slightly modernized version is found in Worship and Rejoice, 56, and a politically correct modernized version is found in Chalice Hymnal , 6.

1. Sing praise to God Who reigns above, the God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love, the God of our salvation.
With healing balm my soul is filled and every faithless murmur stilled:
To God all praise and glory.

2. What God’s almighty power hath made His gracious mercy keepeth,
By morning glow or evening shade His watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of His might, Lo! all is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory.

3. The Lord is never far away, but through all grief distressing,
An ever present help and stay, our peace and joy and blessing.
As with a mother’s tender hand, God gently leads the chosen band:
To God all praise and glory.

4. Thus, all my toilsome way along, I sing aloud Thy praises,
That earth may hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises.
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart, both soul and body bear your part:
To God all praise and glory.

5. Let all who name Christ’s holy Name give God all praise and glory;
Let all who own His power proclaim aloud the wondrous story!
Cast each false idol from its throne, for Christ is Lord, and Christ alone:
To God all praise and glory.

KA-POW

Hi, everybody. It is time for our fireworks stand. Thank you very much to the folks that have signed up to work. It takes a lot of people putting forth a lot of effort in order to pull this off every year. The good news (other than the obvious Good News) is that in two weeks it is over, and we all go back to normal. We will be getting our shipment in on Saturday, June 20th. I would like everyone to be there at 10:00 in the morning. We will go over some planning that Barbara and I will have done by then, have a donut, and pray for our endevour.
Again, thank you to everyone already signed up. We do have some serious holes, though. We need an Overnight Security Sleeper for Thursday, 6/25. We also need people to work everyday after that point. I am confident that we will fill in the schedule and am sure that God will be with us and bless us.
If you would like to sign up for a spot or have any other questions please contact me. I am good about returning phone calls and check my e-mial every evening.
Brian Scheller
870-654-5907
bscheller@cox.net

Breakfast In the Garden

The people of our church who are involved with the Community Garden are invited to breakfast at 8:00 am June 18.

This is an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the garden and conversation over a cup of coffee

before the work day begins.

Jesus: Lord of Our Hearts

scenes from Glendalough, Ireland

June 7 Sermon by John Turner

Wow Texts from Paul’s Letters

In Colossians 1:11-23, the Apostle Paul asserts that Jesus Christ, the very image of God, is at the center of all creation—before, behind, beneath, above, and right in the middle of everything—the shining glory and ultimate fulfillment of life, the universe, and everything. Wow!

In Ephesians 1:15-23, another Wow text, Paul prays for us that:
1. We might have the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that our desires and decisions might be consistent with who God is and what he has planned for us.
2. We might know the hope to which he has called us, being renewed in his image through faith in Jesus Christ and being made fit to represent God’s glory both in this life and the next.
3. We might know the riches of God’s inheritance in the saints, the status that awaits us in the new creation when we will reign with Christ and share his unlimited power eternally.
4. We might know the immeasurable power that is ours even now, the same power by which Jesus was raised from the dead and exalted at the right hand of God, the same power by which Jesus rules over the evil powers and principalities, the same power by which he governs his true church and brings it toward fulfillment.
5. We might know that Christ is the source and measure of all fulfillment and so our lives will be pointed toward Christ and what he offers; we must let him be Lord of our hearts.

Celtic Roots and Spirituality

I know of no examples in history more fitting to illustrate Paul’s prayer being answered than examples drawn from Celtic Christianity. When I say Celtic Christianity, I am referring to the spirituality that first took root in Ireland between the 4th and 9th centuries A.D., and then spread back across Scotland, Wales, portions of England, and eventually the European continent.

America has strong Celtic roots, as is apparent in the traditional American folk music best preserved in Appalachia and the Ozarks. Those roots show right here in Berryville and in this congregation. How many of you have ancestors from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or the Celtic portions of England? Furthermore, the Campbell-Stone Restoration Movement, of which First Christian Church of Berryville is a product, has very strong Celtic roots. When we talk about Celtic Christianity, we are talking about our own origins.

The Real St. Patrick

Let’s start with St. Patrick. As a wayward British adolescent, Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and enslaved as a shepherd in Ireland, held prisoner in the vicinity of his shepherd’s hut by his lack of means to flee back to Britain. Patrick, as a shepherd/slave, often cold and hungry, taught himself to pray without ceasing as a way of comforting himself and as a means of preserving his hope for freedom; as his prayer life matured, he became a powerful spiritual warrior.

Eventually, God revealed to him the providential means by which he could escape to return to Britain. God then called Patrick to go to France and to prepare himself to return to Ireland, his land of enslavement, as a Christian evangelist. Patrick’s mission to Ireland led to the founding of monasteries across Ireland where the Christian faith was preserved during a dark moment in human history when a vibrant and pure faith vanished from much of the rest of the British Isles and from the heart of Europe.

St Patrick’s Breastplate

According to traditional legend, there was a night when all fires in a certain section of Ireland were to be extinguished, and then re-lit from the king’s fire. One year the night that fires were to be extinguished coincided with the Easter vigil. Patrick stood on the hill of Slane about twenty miles from the king’s hill of Tara and at the proper moment lit a large forbidden but quite visible bonfire in honor of the risen Christ. The king sent troops to arrest Patrick and his supporters, but Patrick and his supporters found their way through the search party. According to the legend, the search party saw only a doe and her fawns when Patrick and his supporters passed through them. Patrick confronted the king to his face. The king was so moved by Patrick’s courage that he allowed Patrick’s Christian activity to proceed unhindered.

There are some historical problems with the tradition that have not yet been answered, but the tradition must preserve the real memory that Patrick daringly and successfully challenged the human and spiritual powers that were aligned against the progress of the gospel in Ireland.

Patrick’s success in such spiritual warfare is often credited to a prayer called, “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” “The Deer’s Cry,” “The Lorica” or it may be known by its first line as, “I Bind unto Myself Today.” Here it is:

1. I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three.

2. I bind this day to me forever by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;

His baptism in the Jordan River, His death on the cross for my salvation;

His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way,

His coming at the day of doom, I bind unto myself today.

3. I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim;

The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, the service of the seraphim,

Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, the Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,

All good deeds done unto the Lord and purity of virgin souls.

4. I bind unto myself today the virtues of the star lit heaven,

The glorious sun’s life giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even,

The flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,

The stable earth, the deep salt sea around the old eternal rocks.

5. I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, His shield to ward;

The word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard.

6. Against the demon snares of sin, the vice that gives temptation force,

The natural lusts that war within, the hostile men that mar my course;

Or few or many, far or nigh, in every place and in all hours,

Against their fierce hostility I bind to me these holy powers.

7. Against all Satan’s spells and wiles, against false words of heresy,

Against the knowledge that defiles, against the heart’s idolatry,

Against the wizard’s evil craft, against the death wound and the burning,

The choking wave, the poisoned shaft, protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

8 Bridge: Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

9. I bind unto myself the Name, the strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three.

Of Whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.

In the first stanza, Patrick binds to himself the armor of the strong name of the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In the second stanza, the piece of armor consists of Christ’s life, his incarnation, baptism, death, resurrection, ascension, and future return.

Stanza 3's piece of armor comes from angelic beings, truthful witnesses, apostles, patriarchs, prophets, good deeds, pure hearts, and faithful servants.

Stanza 4's piece of armor comes from the creation’s stars, sun, moon, lightning, wind, earth, sea, and rocks.

Stanza 5’s piece of armor is God’s power to respond to our needs: holding, leading, watching, staying, hearing, teaching, guiding, shielding, speaking, guarding.

Stanzas 6 and 7 describe what the armor protects against: sin, vice, temptation, lust, hostility, enmity, Satan, demons, heresy, idolatry, sorcery, corruption, poisoning, burning, drowning, wounding.

Stanza 8, with a different meter and therefore set to a different tune, is an appeal for Christ to be with us, behind and before us, in and through us, beneath and above us, in every thought and action of ours and of those who behold us.

Stanza 9 repeats in greater detail the appeal to the armor of the Trinity. You may wish to use this song as your own prayer on a regular basis.

The Heart of Celtic Spirituality

What impresses me about this prayer is the relation that it sees between the material and the spiritual. No part of our faith or of our lives is excluded. The prayer is at once grounded in the Bible and in our daily, down-to-earth living. It is at once spiritual and physical. The unseen and the seen are not separated. Because God is Creator and Sovereign, and because Jesus was incarnate and resurrected, and because the Holy Spirit is present and active in the hearts and minds of believers, bodily realities are spiritually significant. But because the spiritual is in charge, the physical realities, even inanimate things such as the sun and the wind, are answerable to the spiritual, and may be used to communicate spiritual truths or to serve spiritual purposes. This is the heart of Celtic spirituality. I long for more of it in my own life.

St. Patrick’s prayer is quite realistic about the fact that we are caught in the middle of spiritual warfare. We live in spiritually-naive times when many are unaware of the dangers of twisted spirituality. Not so this prayer. It knows that eternal outcomes are at stake in our spiritual choices and that we need divine assistance to choose rightly.

But no matter how real the danger, the most powerful thrust of this prayer is in the blessing that Christ may be in all, through all, and surrounding all. The goal of our lives is to become embodiments of Christ’s presence, manifestations of his glory through which others may behold his story. We live in times in which many think that they can re-imagine Jesus as they choose to support whatever view of life they deem best; it is quite another thing to recognize that Christ can control every aspect of our lives and re-imagine us.

Celtic Monastics

In the Celtic monasteries of Ireland and later in Britain, life was divided into three segments: prayer, study, and work. Food and sleep were minimized for the sake of prayer. Prayer was offered in many forms. Sometimes they stretched out their arms as though on a cross. When they grew too weary to hold their arms out or too tired to stay awake, they might walk into the ocean or a lake to seek support and wakefulness from the cold water, standing with the water up to their necks. A legend says that St. Kevin of Glendalough in Ireland once remained so still that a bird nested in his outstretched hand, and he refused to leave his position until the eggs hatched and the babies flew. Even the existence of such a legend testifies to the extraordinary devotion that these saints demonstrated. And we thought the robin at our church door was something! But our concern for that robin and her babies is a bit of our Celtic spirituality.

Be Thou My Vision

The theme of Christ being in, through, and above all shows up in the most representative hymn of the Celtic Christianity: “Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart.” No hymn makes clearer the prayer that our vision in life may be centered upon Christ, the highest love of our hearts, indeed, as the more modern translation makes clear, both the Lord of our hearts and the Ruler of all.

Celtic Saints

I would love to talk to you about St. Columba, St. Aidan, St. Chad, St. Cuthbert, and St. Columbanus through which Celtic Christian spirituality moved out from Ireland across Britain, and back to Europe. But I have time to offer only a few general observations. What strikes me about these saints of our faith is that their lives and ministries were thoroughly rooted and grounded in scripture and prayer and deeply respectful of their created environments and their fellow creatures, and in extraordinary harmony with them. As they traveled, they chanted scripture and prayed. New missions and new locations were always purified through prayer and fasting. Decisions were often made with a clear sense of God’s leading and empowerment. And their obvious devotion had a converting power upon those who observed these great leaders.

What We Must Do

What is impressing itself very deeply on my mind is that we cannot expect to succeed in God’s mission unless all that we do is similarly rooted and grounded. I do not mean that we must pray with our arms outstretched or with water up to our necks, but we must find that combination of prayer, study, and work by which God’s leading and empowering become part of our daily experience as a church, and by which others may through us connect to God’s presence. I want to emphasize that it is especially in our prayer life that God is able to mold us ever more deeply into his image. As we pray for help in living out God’s will for our lives, in completing our part in God’s mission for us, we must submit ourselves to God’s reshaping of our lives, and to the miracles that he would work through us.

St. Francis

No one captured this vision better than St Francis. Francis came much later than Patrick and was not in a Celtic country, but he had a Celtic spirituality. He called upon Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Sister Water and Brother Fire, and even Sister Death, to praise the Lord. Everything reveals its Lord; everything can in its own way praise the Lord. We live in materialistic times in which material things are seen as having material causes. It is a radical reformation for us to begin to see material things as being spiritually governed and spiritually revelatory. Celtic spirituality from St. Patrick to St. Francis helps us make the connections between the spiritual and the material.

Drawing on Our Celtic Christian Roots

Modern sensibilities have not succeeded in putting things in quite the same way. We need to draw on ancient resources in order to be pointed toward these ways of seeing the Lord of our lives. We need these aids to help us see our hope, our inheritance, our power, our protection, our vision, our life, and our love in Christ.

We look to Christ in the beauties of the morning, the brightness of noon, the glories of the setting sun, in our highest achievements, and deepest pleasures, even in our dangers, our disappointments, our pains, our deaths, to find the meaning, the purpose, and the direction for each day. His suffering as well as his resurrection, his incarnation as well as his ascension, reveals his glory. St. Bernard of Clairvaux is able at once to speak of the sacred head wounded on the cross and of the joy and satisfaction that loving hearts find in Jesus; in his own hour of trial, he prays that even though “should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to thee.” In every valley, on every mountain peak, Jesus outshines them all. Come to him. Let him be Lord of your heart. He will not disappoint.

Worship Themes for June and Early July

The picture shows a version of the hymn we know as "Amazing Grace" as it was published by its author John Newton under the title, "Faith's Review and Expectation" with the scriptural basis given as 1 Chronicles 17:16-17. The verse that begins, "When we've been there ten thousand years," is not there because Newton did not write it. It was added later. See the whole hymn at
http://nethymnal.org/htm/a/m/a/amazing_grace.htm

WHEN THE OLD HYMNS WERE NEW

When June comes, and the choir is taking a bit of a break, we have come to expect:

1. that we will have guest soloists from the Opera of the Ozarks, and



2. that we will sing “old favorite” hymns.

That will happen again this year, but we will go a step further and organize our worship themes around the old hymns, why they were written, and what they still add to our spiritual enrichment.

You may find it interesting and instructive that the opposition in the 18th century to the hymns of Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley was every bit as strong as late 20th century opposition was to contemporary choruses. Yet how much poorer we would be if the 18th century opposition had crushed these grand old hymns!

The sermons in this series will focus on what each era of Christian hymns contributes to our understanding of Jesus.

June 7 “Jesus: Lord of Our Hearts” Hymns influenced by Celtic Christian spirituality
are marked by the conviction that all creation reveals the presence of its Creator and Redeemer, that all parts of life are spiritually significant, and that Christ may be seen as the glory of it all. This spirituality was in the monasteries of Patrick’s Ireland and then moved back across the British Isles (Scotland, Wales, England) and the European continent. Theme hymn: “Be Thou My Vision.”

June 14 “Jesus: Lord of Angelic Armies.” Hymns of the Protestant Reformation era are marked by deep gratitude even in hard times for the power and providence of God and by a firm confidence that faithful followers of Jesus will ultimately be on the winning side in the battle for truth. Theme hymn: “A Mighty Fortress Is My God.”

June 21 “Jesus: Lord of All the Earth.” Hymns by Isaac Watts are rich and varied. Watts’ greatest hymn is probably “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” but the joint theme hymns for this service are “Jesus Shall Reign” and, to cool us off on the first day of summer, “Joy to the World,” emphasizing the worldwide reign of our Lord.

June 28 “Jesus: Liberator of Our Hearts.” Hymns by Charles Wesley cover even more themes than those of Watts, but the core in many of them is how Jesus through the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts to be like his. The theme hymn is, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”

July 5 “Jesus: Power to Save.” Hymns of the late 18th century, especially those by John Newton and William Cowper, are focused on how Jesus delivers us from unbelief. What could the theme hymn be except Newton’s “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound”? But we will not overlook how Cowper’s hymns reveal his battle with depression, a theme strangely contemporary.

July 12 “Jesus: Lamb and Shepherd,” hymns of the early 19th century, especially Reginald Heber, James Montgomery, and Charlotte Elliott. The focus is on how the Lamb of Calvary bridges the gap between sinful humanity and the holy God. The theme hymns will be Heber’s “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,” and Elliott’s “Just As I Am without One Plea.”

If you enjoy this series, we may keep moving the hymns closer to our own time.

Want to warm up a bit on the old hymns? Try the Net Hymnal.

To find an old hymn by title, click this link: http://nethymnal.org/ttl/ttl.htm and then click the first letter of the title andd finally the title itself. For some, you wil have a choice of several tunes.

To find old hymns by the author or composer, similarly click this link: http://nethymnal.org/bio/bio.htm?b and then click the letter of the person's last name, and the name itself. You will then be able to browse some of the better known hymns associated with that person.

For more yet on specific authors, here are some links:

Isaac Watts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts/psalmshymns.toc.html

http://nethymnal.org/bio/w/a/t/watts_i.htm

Charles Wesley:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley

http://nethymnal.org/bio/w/e/s/wesley_c.htm

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Charles_Wesley

John Newton and William Cowper:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/newton/olneyhymns.html

http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/cnm (The Cowper and Newton Museum)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olney_Hymns

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cowper

http://nethymnal.org/bio/n/e/w/newton_j.htm

http://nethymnal.org/bio/c/o/w/cowper_w.htm

Want more yet? There is always Google!

Have fun.

THEY WERE DEVOTING THEMSELVES TO PRAYER

Pentecost, Nora Kelly, www.cbac.org/publications.html

SERMON, MAY 31, 2009, PENTECOST SUNDAY

by John Turner

Acts 1:12-14, 24-25; 2:1-4, 36-47

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN PENTECOST

On the fortieth day from the resurrection, Jesus, the divine Son, ascended into heaven to be in the place of authority at the right hand of the divine Father. For the next several days, the apostles, along with the women who had accompanied them on their mission trips and some other believers, including Jesus’ family, about 120 in all, gathered regularly in an upper room in Jerusalem and devoted themselves to prayer. Among other things, because Judas Iscariot had betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide, they selected a replacement for him. And, they asked to be filled with the power from on high that Jesus had promised them.

On the tenth day from the ascension, the fiftieth day from the resurrection, the Sunday of the Jewish Pentecost festival, when they were gathered and praying, the house where they were was suddenly filled with a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and an appearance like flames rested on each one of them. And they began to speak in languages that they had not learned as the Holy Spirit directed them. As they rushed out into the streets and as the Pentecost pilgrims saw and heard them, there was much astonishment, for the pilgrims heard the believers speaking not in Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek or Latin that they might have been expected to know, but in the native languages of each region from which the pilgrims came, from all the countries of southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa, praising God and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

PETER'S EXPLANATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

Some accused the disciples of being drunk, but Peter stood up and explained that it was too early in the morning for drunkenness and that this was instead a miracle of God fulfilling the prophecy of Joel that all God’s people, young and old, male and female, of all social statuses, would be inspired to prophesy, that is, to declare God’s immediate word for his people. Peter further asserted that the miracle was evidence that Jesus who had been crucified was now risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sending the promised Spirit upon his followers. Based on this evidence he declared that they had reason to know that the crucified Jesus was both Lord and Christ.

Based on the evidence, many hearers believed what Peter said about Jesus. In other words, they had faith. They asked what more they needed to do. Starting with their (1) faith (hold up thumb and follow with fingers), Peter instructed them to go on (2) to repent and (3) to be baptized. They would then (4) receive forgiveness of sins and (5) receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Say it with me: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Forgiveness of Sins, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Those instructions define the foundation of Christian life and of the church of Jesus Christ. Peter assured them that the promises implied in these instructions were “for all whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” We may assume that those whom the Lord calls coincide with “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord” whom Joel had promised would be saved. Those whom God calls are the same as those who call upon the Lord. Those who call upon the Lord are the same as those whom God calls. So much for the battle between free will and predestination. It is not either-or. It is both-and.

AMAZING RESULTS THEN. HOW ABOUT NOW?

With this invitation to believe and be saved, the 120, who had gathered in the upper room, that very day baptized 3000 new believers, an average of 25 each.
Drop realism for a moment and think about it. On a typical Sunday, about 60 of us gather here. If, not just in one day, but--let’s give ourselves some leeway--in the next 365 days, each of us brought 25 more, we would have 1500 by the end of the year. If even 3 of us each brought 25 or if even 25 of us brought 3 in the next year, our attendance would more than double. We can accomplish much less than the first believers did on their first day in public ministry and still grow by leaps and bounds.

You say that this cannot happen? Why do you say this? Because you have not seen it happen before? That is not reason. It had not happened before Pentecost Sunday either. It was a miracle. If miracles still happen, and I assure you that they do, anything can happen that God wants to happen.

So the real question is:

“Why might God want sudden growth in this congregation?”

I think that we can look ahead in our passage in Acts to glimpse why God might want sudden growth in this congregation. The Jerusalem church did not stop at 3,120. It kept growing daily. Apparently God wanted the growth that began on Pentecost Sunday to keep going. Why?

WHAT THE EARLY CHURCH DID

Let’s read Acts 2: 42-47: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

In short, the early believers spent a lot of time together in activities that promoted spiritual growth.

(1) They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. We do that when we study the Bible together.

(2) They devoted themselves to fellowship. We may think that this means recreational activities or potluck dinners. Those are fine, and there is a place for them because they open doors for other things, but I suspect that the term fellowship referred more to the time we spend encouraging and supporting one another in our Christian goals, in becoming less like the unbelieving world and more like Jesus, in finding the courage and vision and equipping and empowerment to serve Jesus effectively.

(3) They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. This likely referred to two things at once: (a) eating together was a way to facilitate being together and a way to equalize providing for those in need; and (b) in the course of their meals together they observed the Lord’s Supper as a reminder that their life together was founded on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and that their life together now looked forward to the coming Messiah’s banquet in the new heaven and new earth.

(4) They devoted themselves to the prayers. We have no reason to think that they had a book of prescribed prayers as early as approximately 33 A.D. when these events were taking place or even as early as 62 A.D. when Acts was most likely written. So, when it says that they devoted themselves to the prayers, it probably means that they devoted themselves to agreeing in faith and love with whatever spontaneous prayers were raised by their fellow believers. More to the point, I suspect that their devotion to prayer was the most basic purpose in their being frequently together. It was in prayer that they claimed the promises of God contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was in prayer that they sought to grow in Christlikeness. It was in prayer that they sought the leading and empowerment of God for mission. It was in prayer that they opened themselves to the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. It was in prayer that they prepared themselves to be agents of the reign of God. It was in prayer that they submitted themselves to obey God’s guidance and to play their proper role in the life of the church. Devoting themselves to prayer was the key without which the rest would not have happened.

Because they devoted themselves to prayer, awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Because they devoted themselves to prayer, they generously entrusted their material resources to meet the needs of others in their fellowship. Because they devoted themselves to prayer, they celebrated the positive possibilities in every occasion, receiving their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.

It was their devotion to prayer that made them outstanding and attractive people with whom others wished to join themselves. “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

WHAT MIGHT GOD DO HERE AND NOW?

I do not have a prophetic word about what God will specifically do to grow our church if we will seriously devote ourselves to studying his word, to encouraging spiritual fellowship, to worshiping around the Lord’s table, to meeting one another’s needs, and, undergirding it all, to praying. But I believe that he will notice and bless our activities and that he will add to our numbers.

I believe that this congregation fills a special niche in Berryville and Carroll County:
· We seek to be Bible-based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led.
· We seek to be faithful, obedient, and Christlike.
· We seek to grow steadily and continually in our spiritual lives.
· We seek to be gentle, loving, and nonjudgmental.
· We seek to show our faith and love in tangible ways.
· We seek to keep the main thing the main thing and not to get sidetracked chasing divisive or faddish theological rabbits.
· We seek to speak to our time and place without compromising the eternal gospel.
· We seek to reach out to people who need to know God.

If this is what people are looking for, I believe that they can find it here. If that is the sort of church God wants to bless, I believe that we are seeking to make ourselves available for the blessing.

I believe that, as we get better at succinctly describing who we are and what we are trying to do, and as we become more focused in pursing our mission and calling, more and more people will join with us.

In the meantime, we must devote ourselves to praying for the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit. It is the living presence of God powerfully active among us that makes all the difference. That comes only in answer to prayer.

The church that grows on solid foundations will be one that devotes itself to prayer.

The church that devotes itself to prayer will be one that is filled with the Holy Spirit.

The church that is filled with the Holy Spirit will be one that is powerfully effective—in word and deed—for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The church that is effective for the gospel will be one that grows and grows and grows—spiritually and numerically.

Let’s be that church! Let’s get on a solid foundation and devote ourselves to prayer.

Let's be that church!