Notes on the Notes – September 21, 2025
Creation 3
This week’s music:
“Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above” (VU #216)
“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!
What God’s almighty power hath made, God’s gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning glow or evening shade God’s watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;
Within the shelter of God’s might, Lo! all is just and all is right;
To God all praise and glory!
Our God 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!
Thus all my gladsome way along, I sing aloud thy praises
That all my hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises.
Be joyful in your God, my heart! Both soul and body take your part;
To God all praise and Glory!”
This “hymn of Thanksgiving” is based upon Deuteronomy 32:2. The words were written by Johann Jakob Schutz and translated by Frances Elizabeth Cox (1864). The lyrics remind us of God’s faithfulness through both times of joy and times of sadness. The tune is a Bohemian Brethren hymn which had been in use since the mid 1700s.
Hear the song sung in worship at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swOYIL5gOoU
“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. 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.
“O Jesus, Think on Me” (VU #607, The Hymnary #264)
“O Jesus, think on me and purge away my sin;
from selfish passions set me free and make me pure within.
O Jesus, think on me, by anxious thoughts oppressed;
Let me you loving servant be and taste your promised rest.
O Jesus, think on me, nor let me go astray:
Through darkness and perplexity point out your chosen way.
O Jesus, think on me, that, when the flood is past,
I may the eternal brightness see and share your joy at last.”
The hymn “O Jesus, Think on Me,” known by its more common title “Lord Jesus, Think on Me,” was written in Greek by Synesuis, a native of Cyrene, who was born around 375 C.E. Synesius was a prominent philosopher and Bishop of Ptolemais. He included this powerful supplication as the last of ten odes, making it one of Christianity’s oldest surviving hymns. The hymn’s enduring appeal lies in its deep plea for divine presence and guidance through life’s challenges. The hymn was translated to English by Vicar Allen William Chatfield in 1876. The music for the hymn, SOUTHWELL, is from Daman’s Psalmes (1579). Daman was a foreign composer residing in England, who probably arrived in England in 1566 as a servant of Sir Thomas Sackville. In 1576 he became a recorder player at the Court of Elizabeth I. He composed The Psalmes of David in English Meter, which was published in London in 1579. The hymn first appeared in the United Church’s The Hymnary with 6 verses. It did not appear in subsequent hymn books until Voices United, where we see it again, but with only 4 verses.
“Abundant Life”
“We cannot own the sunlit sky, the moon, the wildflowers growing,
For we are part of all that is within life’s river flowing.
With open hands receive and share the gifts of God’s creation,
That all may have abundant life in every earthly nation.
When children have no bread but tears, and fond hopes die a-borning,
When bodies shiver in the night and weary, wait for morning,
God calls humanity to wake, to join in common labour,
That all may have abundant life in oneness with their neighbour.
God calls humanity to join as partners in creating
A world that’s free from want and fear, life’s goodness celebrating,
That world, it beckons bright and fair, invites our gifts, our labour,
That all may have abundant life in oneness with their neighbour.
This week’s anthem has words written by Ruth Duck and music by Ron Klusmeier and reminds us of our role in sharing God’s abundance with all humanity.
“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.
Response for Psalm 77 (VU #791)
“God, bend your ear and hear my prayer.“
We will be using this short refrain, written by Jeffry Honore (ca. 1994), as a sung response during the Prayers of the People.
“Touch the Earth Lightly” (VU #307)
“Touch the earth lightly, use the earth gently,
Nourish the life of the world in our care:
Gift of great wonder, ours to surrender,
Trust for the children tomorrow will bear.
We who endanger, who create hunger,
Agents of death for all creatures that live,
We who would foster clouds of disaster,
God of our planet, forestall and forgive!
Let there be greening, birth from the burning,
Water that blesses and air that is sweet,
Health in God’s garden, hope in God’s children,
Regeneration that peace will complete.
God of all living, God of all loving,
God of the seedling, the snow and the sun,
Teach us, deflect us, Christ reconnect us,
Using us gently and making us one.”
The words for this hymn were written by Shirley Erena Murray in 1991. Shirley Erena Murray (born 31 March 1931) is a New Zealand hymn lyrics writer. In the words, she contrasts the harm being done to the earth with the hope for “a new heaven, and a new earth,” where we turn from our current path of destruction to return to God’s way of caring for Creation and each other. Hear the hymn sung at Church of the Redeemer in worship at: https://youtu.be/EcwyMmf3q0g
“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).
