- Prelude:
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- Down By The Riverside
- Quartet
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- Liturgist:
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- We are told that when we sing, we pray twice. We hear the
words of the song and they tell us about our God, about God’s grace,
who we are as a child of God. We hear about the trust God has placed
upon us, to be God’s presence in life to others. At the same time, we
are also touched by the beauty of the melody as it lifts our spirit and
moves us at our emotional level of life. Today, we will have this
chance to pray twice as we sing some of our old Gospel hymns. We will
also be touched by some of their stories. Why were these hymns written?
What was happening in the life of the hymn writer that caused him or
her to write of their faith in this way? How do these stories speak to
our lives and our faith journeys today? “Come, Now Is The Time To
Worship.”
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- Call To Worship: “Come, Now Is The Time To Worship
Gospel Group
- Children’s Moment
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- Pastor: We all know that we have a wonderful music
ministry in our church. Music is central to our worship as it has been
throughout the ages. The Psalms are written as poetry in our Bible, but
they were songs that were sung by those in worship in early Israel.
Let’s hear about the significance music plays in Hebrew worship from
one of those Psalms:
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- Read Psalm 47:1-7
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- Sing praises with a psalm to the God of all the earth. Also
note that Kay is scriptural as we see the use of the trumpet in
worship. Singing was and is a great way of expressing our joy. Of
praying to God twice, with our words of gratitude and the joy within
our spirit.
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- The next scripture shows us that singing was also a central
part of the earliest church’s worship:
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- Read Colossians 3:16-17
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- The next hymn reminds us of this sense of joy and gratitude
that is expressed in our singing.
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- Let’s sing the first two verses of Hymn #77 “How Great
Thou Art.”
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- Pastor: We recognize that the music that touches our
souls may be different for each of us. For example, a survey by The UMC
Hymnal Revision Committee showed the hymn we just sang as was the most
popular hymn in the survey. Coincidently, it was also voted the least
popular hymn in the same survey. So some of you were very happy just
now, while others were rolling your eyes.
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- Pastor: Singing has always been a central part of
our worship as Methodists, and now as United Methodists. Charles Wesley
wrote over 1800 hymns. John Wesley wrote several hundred. A number of
these hymns still in our hymnal today.
- There is one of Charles’ hymns that has been set aside for
special recognition. It is the very first hymn in our hymnal. #57, “O
For A Thousand Tongues To Sing.” It has been named the Anthem of the
Methodist Church as it is a hymn the sings of God’s saving grace and
gives an invitation to Christian discipleship. One fact that may
interest you is this hymn was written on the first anniversary of
Charles’ heartwarming experience. Let us sing the first two verses of
this hymn.
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- O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing-verses 1-2
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- Pastor: John Wesley believed that singing and music
were so important to worship that he wrote “Directions For Singing.”
These directions are in the front of our hymnal, but we also made them
a bulletin insert. I love #4, where Wesley tells us “to sing lustily
and with good courage.” At the same time, #5 reminds us that “we are
not to bawl but try to blend our voices with others.”
- Pastor: Our Saturday Evening Gospel Service is our
fastest growing service in the church. In fact it has almost doubled in
size since we began this format. One reason may be some of the
nostalgia that is felt when we sing these old hymns. Certainly, as we
walk our Christian faith journey we often have important memories that
become associated with some of these songs. But another reason is so
many of the hymns are upbeat and do bring a sense of joy to our heart.
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- There is also a little concern with some of the hymns. The
concern is the theology we hear in the words. Many have what we call a
blood theology. Often times we will hear words that talk about the
blood of Jesus that saves us and makes us whole. Certainly the blood of
Christ is central to our Christian faith as it is central to one of the
most important parts of our worship, The Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Jesus’ own words are prayed, “This is my blood of the new covenant shed
for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.” But what does this
mean? In biblical anthropology, the blood was seen as the source or
essence of life. Literally blood was seen to be the life-force of our
being. So blood is what gives us life and sustains life. When Jesus
talks about his blood, he is literally talking about his living
presence. He says it clearly in the Gospel of John when he says, “No
greater love has anyone than this, but a person lay down his life for a
friend. You are my friends.” The theology of blood is one that
recognizes the absolute, total commitment of Jesus to us and to the
work of God. I lay down my very life for you in love. So we can
substitute the word love for blood and not change the meaning of any of
these songs. In fact, it may more fully express what the words are
trying to say.
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- There is one song that has become a favorite of the Gospel
group, as it is one of those upbeat songs that truly excites the
spirit. And it is one that expresses the total commitment of Jesus and
the victory that brings to all of our lives.
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- Sing “Victory In Jesus” (can do all verses if we
like).
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- Pastor: Many of these hymns have been written after
a tragedy or a crisis in the hymn writer’s life. Usually they want to
express how their faith has brought them through this very hard, often
devastating time.
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- The next hymn we are going to sing is, “Tis So Sweet To
Trust In Jesus.” It was written by Louisa Stead after her husband of
only several years drowned as he was trying to rescue a drowning boy.
Not only did she lose a husband, but they also had a four year old
daughter who lost her father. Yet her faith allowed her to write the
following words.
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- Sing: Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus (verses 1 &
4).
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- This next hymn was written in the midst of a series of
tragedies. One can only imagine the strength of faith that kept this
author connected to God. Haratio Spafford was a Presbyterian Layman,
who worked closely with Evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Spafford invested
heavily in property in Chicago just before the great fire. When Chicago
burned he lost much of his investment. This happened just after he had
lost a son. Needing to take a rest from this deep grief, he and his
wife decided to take a vacation in Europe. Just before they were to
sail, a last minute business issue came up, so Spafford sent his wife
and four daughters ahead promising to join them later. On the voyage
the ship was struck by another and sank in 12 minutes. All four
daughters drowned. Spafford’s wife wired him telling him what had
happened and he immediately took the next ship to Europe. As he sailed
by the place where the ship had sunk, these words to our next hymn came
to him. As we sing the first verse the words “when sorrows like sea
billows roll” take on a new depth of meaning as we learn the story.
They are more than a metaphor for hard times, or rough sailing. These
words express the literal truth of pain for Horatio Spafford. And yet,
he can say, “It Is Well With My Soul.”
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- Sing: It Is Well With My Soul (verses 1 & 4)
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- Pastor: In the midst of tragedy, the strength of our
faith is knowing that our God is love, and in love we are never
forgotten or left alone. God is with us in all we face and experience.
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- We remember that it is because God so loved the world that
God sent God’s son. Not to condemn us, but so God can make us and our
world whole. We call it being saved.
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- The Gospel Group would like to sing a song for you that
echoes this understanding that in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of
the hard times, God always surrounds us in love to give us the strength
and courage to face a new day, and the ability to heal and know joy and
happiness again.
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- Gospel Group sings: “On The Wings Of A Dove”
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- Pastor: Bishop William Willimon says that because
the United Methodist Church is not creedal and does not have a
catechism, most of us get our theology from our hymns. We reflected
earlier about the blood theology we often see. But another common
thread in these hymns is that our faith walk is all about getting us to
heaven. This is especially true of the African American Spirituals. The
slave knew life as hard and with little to no hope of it changing. But
some day, they would be with God and life would be different. So for
these slaves, and for those whose life was often a daily task of
survival, we hear hymns like Swing Low Sweet Chariot, comin for to
carry me home. Do Lord. Do remember me for I have a home way beyond the
blue.
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- The next hymn we will sing is one written by Albert
Brumley. Brumley was a cotton farmer who obviously worked very hard. A
popular song in Brumley’s day was a sad ballad about a man in prison
longing for his true love. One of the verses was, “If I had the wings
of an angel, I would fly from these prison walls to be with my
beloved.” As he was in the field hard at work, Brumley had the thought
of death freeing him from these prison walls of hard work and a hard
life. You will hear this thought as we sing our next hymn, “I’ll Fly
Away.”
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- Sing “I’ll Fly Away” (all three verses).
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- Pastor: Today, we still know that our hope in the
eternal is found in Jesus’ life death and resurrection. But we also
have learned that God’s love seeks to give us new life, the salvation
of life even now. That if eternal life is real, we have already begun
it, and God is with us, loving us now.
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- It is why we dare to pray and lift our needs, our concerns,
both our personal and the world’s into God’s presence asking for God to
act from God’s grace. So as we do every week, we want to take a moment
to pray for God’s strength for those who are on our hearts. We want to
pray for God’s shalom and God’s justice as we remember those who are
experiencing the absence of God’s kingdom in their lives today.
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- Do Pastoral Prayer followed by the Lord’s Prayer (sung
in Emmaus tune)
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- Introduce the collection: Have Quartet Sing during
collection
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- After collection sing “Count Your Many Blessings”
- Ushers come forward during hymn.
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- Liturgist does Prayer of Dedication:
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- Pastor: We know that God’s grace is present even now
trying to save the world even now. The very cornerstone of our faith
has Jesus saying, “We must be born again, born from above to enter into
the kingdom of God.”
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- This change, this act of repentance that leads to a new
direction for the living of our lives is seen in the story of John
Newton. Newton was the captain of a slave ship in the mid-1700’s.
During a return voyage from Africa to England, John Newton read Thomas
a Kempis’ book, “Imitation of Christ.” It is a religious classic and is
still in print today. This book was the beginning of Newton’s
conversion. At first he simply tried to make his voyages more humane,
but he eventually realized the inhumanity of what he was doing. He
finally left his ship and took a job at the Port of Liverpool. He
continued his reading and study. He felt a continual call to preach the
good news, so he studied in earnest to be a minister. He was greatly
aided in this endeavor by the Wesley’s. At the age of 39, John Newton
was ordained into the Anglican Church. Throughout his life, Newton
never ceased to marvel at God’s mercy and grace that had transformed
him and his life. He wrote many hymns reflecting this theme, but the
most famous is the one we are about to sing. Newton wrote the words,
but the melody is an early American folk melody entitled “Loving Lambs.”
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- The words remind us even to this day of the amazing grace
of God that has the power to bring about new life to even those who
seem the most unloveable. That it is love that truly transforms us and
all life to be born again into the “Imitation of Christ.”
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- A love that we receive now, but will be with us throughout
eternity.
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- Please stand as we sing about God’s “Amazing Grace.”
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- Sing “Amazing Grace” sing verses 1, 2, 4, 6
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- Benediction:
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- Closing Hymn “To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has
Done
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- Gospel Group play a few instrumentals as people leave.
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