Notes on the Notes – September 7, 2025
Creation 1
This week’s music:
“What is the Place” (Songs For a Gospel People #70)
“What is the place where we are meeting?
Only a house, the earth its floor,
walls and a roof sheltering people, windows for light, an open door.
Yet it becomes a body that lives when we are gathered here,
and know our God is near.
Words from afar, stars that are falling,
sparks that are sown in us like seed,
names for our God, dreams, signs and wonders sent from the past are what we need.
We in this place remember and speak again what we have heard:
God’s free redeeming word.
And we accept bread at this table, broken and shared, a living sign.
Here in this world, dying and living, we are each other’s bread and wine.
This is the place where we can receive what we need to increase
God’s justice and God’s peace.”
This Dutch hymn by Jesuit priest, Huub Oosterhuis (1968) was translated to English by David Smith in 1970. The music is Varius’ Nederlandtsche gedenckklanck (1626). What is a church? Is it a building? While having a “place” to gather is important, our building is no more the church than a wrapper is the candy bar. What’s inside is what counts. Unlike a candy bar, however, a church is a living entity – composed of real people led by a living head, Jesus Christ. Long ago St. Paul called the church a living, breathing, functioning “body.”
“Spirit of the Living God” (VU #376, SFGP #91)
“Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”
Our sung response to the Words of Assurance is the first verse of one of the most long-lasting and widely used choruses in Christian worship. Every aspect of the song embodies a simple sincerity. The melody encompasses only five notes. The harmonies can be played by a very modestly skilled pianist, and three of the four lines repeat the same nine words. Yet for many, the straightforward petitions of this song draw the singer into an attitude of prayer.
The first verse of the hymn was written by Daniel Iverson (1890-1977), a native of Brunswick, Ga. The arrangement in Voices United is the one written by Darryl Nixon for Songs for a Gospel People (1987), the first United Church hymn book where the hymn appeared.
“You’ve Searched Me God, You Know Me”
“You’ve searched me God, You know me,
You know when I sit, when I rise up to go,
You gentle Your hand on my heart, You are Holy,
The seeds of my life You have sown.
My heart will sing and rejoice, know the wonder of Your Grace,
I will rest in the palm of Your hand.
Before a word was spoken,
Before all the hurt, all the shattering of dreams,
Before all the longing, Great Healer, You held me,
The days of my life, You have seen.
My heart will sing and rejoice, know the wonder of Your Grace,
I will rest in the palm of Your hand.
The wings of dawn are rising,
I fly to the shores of a sea far away,
Yet there You will find me, my solace, my comfort,
You guide me in all of Your ways.
My heart will sing and rejoice, know the wonder of Your Grace,
I will rest in the palm of Your hand.
O Holy One, Creator,
O You who have gathered me in from the cold,
My life it was woven together, forever,
In Love where all things are made whole.
My heart will sing and rejoice, know the wonder of Your Grace,
I will rest in the palm of Your hand.”
The words for this week’s anthem were written by Pat Mayberry (2013) and are an adaptation of Psalm 139:1-10. The music is also by Pat Mayberry and the arrangement we are using is by David Kai (2016).
“Amen, Amen, Amen” (VU #969)
The music for our sung response following The Song of Faith selection was composed by James A. Kriewald (1985).
“For the Gift of Creation” (VU #538)
“For the gift of creation, the gift of your love,
and the gift of the Spirit by which we live,
We thank you and give you the fruit of our hands.
May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give.”
Our offering dedication was first published in the United Methodist Book of Worship (1991) and is especially appropriate during the season of Creation. The composer, Steve Garnaas-Holmes is a United Methodist pastor in Montana.
“I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” (VU #644)
“I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit you well,
In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell.
When you heard the wonder of the word, I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord, to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time and you join your hearts as one,
I’ll be there to make you verses rhyme from dusk till rising sun.
In the middle ages of your life, not too old, no longer young,
I’ll be there to guide you through the night, complete what I’ve begun.
When the evening gently closes in and you shut your weary eyes,
I’ll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise.
I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.”
This is perhaps the best known song of Iowa composer John Ylvisake. The hymn is sung from God’s point of view, assuring us that God is with us every step of our faith journey.
Hear the WPUC Worship Team (2021) sing the hymn at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-y0gstp6Do
“Send Us Out”
“Send us out in the power of Your Spirit, Lord,
May our lives bring Jesus to the world.
May each thought and word bring glory to Your name,
Send us out in Your Spirit, Lord, we pray.”
The words and music for our benediction response were written by Ruth Fazal (1993).
