Notes on the Notes – September 11, 2016
This week’s theme:
Welcome Back Sunday
– God Searches for Me?
This week’s readings:
Exodus 32:7-14
Luke 15:1-10
This week’s music:
“Let’s Join In”
“Let’s join in, let’s join in,
Where there’s music and there’s laughter-
This day we celebrate a brand new start.
Come join in, come join in,
Shout God’s praises to the rafters-
This day we invite all to take a part.
Let’s join in, let’s join in,
Let’s be clear about what matters
This day we share Christ’s love straight from the heart.
Worship God, worship God,
The creator and provider
The source of all that is and what will be.
Follow Christ, follow Christ,
Hear his message, sense his nurture-
The chosen one who came for you and me.
Let’s join in, let’s join in,
Let’s be clear about what matters
This day we share God’s love for you and me.
Come and learn, come and learn,
Share your insights, hear Christ’s stories.
We meet the needs of others where we live.
Come and share, come and share,
Share your hopes, your needs, your story,
Enrich the lives of others as you give.
Let’s join in, let’s join in,
Let’s be clear about what matters.
This day we search for meaning where we live.
Let’s join in, let’s join in,
Let’s proclaim the truth with justice,
And set aside our yearning based on greed.
Come join in, come join in,
Come and hear the silenced voices,
Rememb’ring ways that Jesus met their needs.
Let’s join in, let’s join in,
Let’s be clear about what matters
This day we show our faith by word and deed.
The lyrics for this fall hymn were written by Bill Steadman, of St. Andrew’s United Church in Sudbury, Ontario in 2003. The words are paired with the tune, TRAVEL ON, which was composed by Sydney Carter in 1969.
“Come In, Come In and Sit Down” (VU #395)
“Come in, come in and sit down,
You are a part of the family.
We are lost and we are found,
And we are a part of the family.
You know the reason why you came,
Yet no reason can explain;
So share in the laughter and cry in the pain,
For we are a part of the family.
God is with us in this place,
Like a mother’s warm embrace.
We’re all forgiven by God’s grace,
For we are a part of the family.
There’s life to be shared in the bread and the wine,
We are the branches, Christ is the vine.
This is God’s temple, it’s not yours or mine,
But we are a part of the family.
There’s rest for the weary and health for us all;
There’s a yoke that is easy, and a burden that’s small.
So come in and worship and answer the call,
For we are a part of the family.”
This family song became known to United Church congregations in the arrangement made by Darryl Nixon for the hymn book supplement Songs for a Gospel People (1987). Singer songwriter James K. Manley, the composer of this hymn, is a minister in the United Church of Christ (USA). “Part of the Family” reminds both members and visitors that our congregation is an open, diverse group that welcomes people of all ages, every marital status, and all views, interest levels, and stages in the faith journey.
Hear the hymn sung by Strathroy United Church at:
“Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love” (VU #574)
“Come, let us sing of a wonderful love, tender and true, tender and true,
Out of the heart of the Father above, streaming to me and to you
Wonderful love, wonderful love dwells in the heart of the Father above.
Jesus the Saviour this gospel to tell joyfully came, joyfully came,
Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell, sharing their sorrow and shame,
Seeking the lost, seeking the lost, saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet; Why do they roam? Why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget; home, weary wanderers, home!
Wonderful love, wonderful love dwells in the heart of the Father above.
Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love! Come and abide, come and abide,
Lifting my life till it rises above envy and falsehood and pride:
Seeking to be, seeking to be lowly and humble, a learner of thee.”
This hymn was written by Robert Walmsley, a jeweler in Manchester and a Congregationalist leader of the Manchester Sunday School Union, in 1900. Adam Watson’s WONDERFUL LOVE is the tune known to Canadian congregations for Robert Walmsley’s text. The hymn leads us from the eternal love of God for us, through the coming of Jesus, who tells of us God’s love and searches for the lost, to the yearning for God’s continuing love.
Hear the hymn sung at Strathroy United Church at:
“The Lord’s Prayer“
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory,
Forever and ever. Amen.”
This version of the Lord’s prayer can be found at #960 in Voices United. It is adapted from a chant by R. Langdon. Two forms of the Lord’s prayer are recorded in the New Testament: a longer form in the Gospel of Matthew (6:5-13) as part of the Sermon on the Mount, and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke (11:1-4) as a response by Jesus to a request by “one of his disciples” to teach them “to pray as John taught his disciples.”
“Grant Us, God, the Grace of Giving” (VU #540)
“Grant Us, God, the grace of giving,
With a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living
We may offer faithfully.”
The text of our offering response comes from the Mennonite hymn book, “Hymnal: a Worship Book.” The tune is a familiar one which is also used for the Advent hymn “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” (VU #2).
“I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me” (VU #575)
I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, any time.
I’m gonna work so God can use me anywhere, Lord, any time.
I’m gonna pray so God can use me anywhere, Lord, any time.
I’m gonna sing so God can use me anywhere, Lord, any time.”
This traditional African-American spiritual is from the Presbyterian Hymnal (1990).
“When You Walk from Here” (VU #298)
“When you walk from here,
When you walk from here,
Walk with justice, walk with mercy,
And with God’s humble care.”
Our benediction response was written by Linnea Good of Vancouver. It was published in Stickpeople (1993). The text is derived from Micah 6:8.
Seasons of Creation by Carola Ann-Margret Forsberg (Sweden)
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