Notes on the Notes – October 7, 2018

Thanksgiving

Dedication of Window in Memory of Angela Moodie

World-Wide Communion

This week’s scripture readings:

1 Timothy 2: 1-7           Job 1:1,2:1-10

This week’s music:

“For the Fruit of All Creation” (VU #227)

“For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping;
Future needs in earth’s safekeeping, thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labour, God’s will is done.
In the help we give our neighbour, God’s will is done.
In our world-wide task of caring for the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing, God’s will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us, for the truths that still confound us,
Most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.”

This week we gather together in praise and thanksgiving for God’s goodness.  The words for this harvest hymn were written by Fred Pratt Green in 1970.  They remind us that as God gives to us, we are commissioned to care for each other.  The words have been set to the traditional Welsh song “Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through the Night), which was arranged as a hymn tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906.

Hear the song sung in Welsh at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGgoi6zawg

“We Praise You, O God” (VU #218)

The title for our hymn book, Voices United,  comes from the third stanza of this hymn.  The words were written by Julia Cory in 1902 at the request of the organist, for a Thanksgiving service at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York.  The words of the second verse remind us of the timelessness of God, and that God is with us even in the difficult times.  The melody, KREMSER, was arranged by the Viennese conductor Eduard Kremser from a tune published with the earlier text in a 17th-century collection of Dutch folk songs.

“We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator;
In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.
We lay it before you; we kneel and adore you;
We bless your holy name, glad praises we sing.

We worship you, God of our mothers and fathers,
Through trial and tempest, companion and guide.
When perils o’ertake us, you will not forsake us,
But faithful to your promise, you walk by our side.

With voices united our praises we offer
And gladly our songs of thanksgiving we raise.
Our sins now confessing, we pray for your blessing,
To you, our great Redeemer, forever be praise!”

Hear the hymn played on organ at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPlPtJ0iZW8

“I Will Rise”

“There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh my fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say “It is well”
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise”

This week’s anthem is dedicated in memory of Angela Moodie.

“Chris Tomlin wrote this song with the pastor Louie Giglio, who often collaborates on lyrics with Tomlin. In 2011, Chris told us how the song came together: “We were sitting across a table at lunch one day and he said, ‘Man, I feel like there needs to be more songs for people who are really going through the hardest time in life. They’re struggling and maybe have just buried someone and they’re looking over a grave. And that sense of loss, that hurt of loss of losing someone. But what kind of words can you give people in that moment in worship, to worship God in the midst of it?’ And that song specifically speaks to that. I wrote down a little line that he said, ‘the grave is overwhelmed.’ That’s the line that he was carrying. I took that one line, ‘The grave if overwhelmed,’ and built the song around it. So, ‘Jesus has overcome/And the grave is overwhelmed/Victory is won/He’s risen from the dead.’ And that became a song of real hope for people who lose someone and know that this is not the end. That this life, the physical flesh is not the end, but God has given us life everlasting spirit, that’s our hope.” (Source:  www.songfacts.com)

Watch Chris Tomlin perform the song at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRF8UihM5s

“Sent Forth by God’s Blessing” (VU #481)    

“Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing,
The people of God from this dwelling take leave.
The supper is ended, O now be extended
The fruits of this service in all who believe.

The seed of Christ’s teaching, receptive souls reaching,
Shall blossom in action for God and for all.
God’s grace did invite us, God’s love shall unite us
To work for the kingdom and answer its call.

With praise and thanksgiving to God ever-living,
The tasks of our everyday life we will face.
Our faith ever sharing, in love ever caring,
Embracing God’s children of each tribe and race.

With your feast you feed us, with your light now lead us;
United us as one in this life that we share.
Then may all the living with praise and thanksgiving
Give honour to Christ and the name that we bear.”

This week is World-Wide Communion Sunday.  World-Wide Communion Sunday is the first Sunday in October, when Christians from many denominations and many places in the world have communion on the same day as a reminder of our unity in faith.  The words for this post-communion hymn were written by Omer Westendorf, an organist, composer and music publisher in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This arrangement of “Llynn Onn,” a traditional Welsh folk tune, is by Leland Sateren, an American Lutheran organist and composer. We know the tune as THE ASH GROVE.

Hear the hymn at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTnBNtH2gMk

??  To ponder:  Do you believe that God provides more than we need? Why or why not?