Tag: Be with me Lord

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9-1-1 or 4-1-1?

Almost 35 years ago, a comedy hit the silver screen with the tag line, “Who ghostbustersya gonna call?” Most know the response as the title of the movie…”Ghostbusters!” If you have ghosts, call for help. But away from Hollywood, some 25 years earlier, the ‘Universal Emergency Number’ was established. You know that number as 9-1-1. A home invasion, a car accident, an injury or a threat on your life, any type of emergency would justify a call to 9-1-1. But when was the last time you picked up the phone and dialed 4-1-1? Do you know what you’d hear if you pushed those three numbers? This short, three digit number was established as directory assistance.

Whether you have ‘ghost,’ real-time emergencies or just need help finding some one’s number, we have an answer for that. But how often do we ignore the one who has all the answers and can assist us in any emergency. Do we take time to “call” the one who knows our needs even before we do? When life hits you with emergencies, and when you need ‘assistance,’ Who ya gonna call?’ Join us on Sunday morning as we ‘pick up the phone’ and make a call…though it might not be to 9-1-1 or 4-1-1.

 

“…I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.” I Corinthians 14:15

Sunday morning, August 20, 2017

The following songs are found in the hymnal, Songs of Faith & Praise.

“Come Thou Almighty King” – 19

One of my favorite ‘Call to Worship’ songs is this plea we offer for God to come; help us, reign over us, bless us and descend upon us. Before we sing this last verse, notice what we’re saying…our highest praise we offer is to God, not just now, but forever (“Hence ever more…”). And as this verse concludes we ask one more request, “may we see His majesty in glory (heaven), and love Him and adore Him throughout all eternity.” You know…we’re opening our song service with a prayer.

“I Will Pray” – 840

When do you pray; at supper, in the morning, before you go to bed? Though we don’t sing this one very often, it is all encompassing hymn we sing to our Father. “Father, in the morning, at the noon and in the evening…I will pray!” Interestingly, the last verse proclaims we the idea that will pray from the beginning (birth) to the end (death).

“My Eyes Are Dry” – 792

What does it mean to have ‘dry eyes?’ We’re not singing about a medical condition, unless you talk about a hard heart. “My eyes are dry, my faith is old, my heart is hard, my prayers are cold…” Those are symptoms of a life that has forgotten who God is. But we sing this as a reminder that we don’t have to live with ‘dry eyes.’

“When My Loves for Christ Grows Weak” – 350

Follow the progression through this song. We’ve discussed it before (DATE), but let’s review. When my love for Christ is suffer, remember the garden where Christ prayed before His arrest. And as you recall that night, figuratively, ‘walk amid the shades’ and you’ll see that ‘suffering, friendless One weeping (Hebrews 5:7) and praying alone.’ But, when you ‘see’ a man distraught, but it doesn’t faze you (“When my love for man grows weak…”), then go to the cross, the Hill of Calvary. There, you will see the agony of the cross and the faith and love of Christ.

“Before the Throne of God” – No Book

During the passing of the collection plate, we’ll come “Before the Throne of God above…” We’ll sing it, but we’ll also talk about during this morning lesson’s. I wonder, would this song be a 9-1-1 or a 4-1-1?

“I Will Call Upon the Lord” – 63911

For the song before the lesson (9-1-1…), it’s fitting that we ‘call’ upon the Lord. Why? Because, “He is worthy to be praised…” Psalm 18:3

“Lord We Come Before Thee Now” – 797

Though not a typical ‘invitation song,’ we’ll follow the message of this morning as we sing/pray, “Lord, we come before Thee now…” We’ll sing verse 1, 3 & 4, but let’s save the second verse as the closing. Notice the wording, “Lord, on Thee our souls depend: in compassion now descend; fill our hearts with Thy rich grace and tune our lips to sing Thy praise.”

“Be With US, Lord” – 778

As we close this morning, we’ll sing a familiar ‘closing song’ but with a twist. Rather than singing in the singular (Be with ME, Lord) we’ll sing it in the plural. “Be with us, Lord we can not live without Thee, we dare not try to take one step alone. We can not bear the loads of life unaided. We need Thy strength to lead ourselves upon.”

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More Than a Coincidence

Late Night StudyConcerning a particular situation or a specific set of circumstances some might said, ‘What a coincidence!’  But how do we know if something is coincidental (lucky) or if it’s more likely providential?  Often we look at life and see it as lucky or unlucky, black or white and yet all the while we might be missing the point.  Perhaps we come up short of giving God the credit He deserves for working in our lives.  Perhaps we need to be better about recognizing and seeing that God’s hands are working in ways we can not see.  (Remember the song “God Will Make a Way.”)  After all, don’t we pray for Him to be with us?

 

Consider two Christian song writers from this century; Chisholm and Sanderson.  T.O. Chisholm was a well to chisholmrenowned American song writer during the early 1900’s.  Many of his 1,200 works of Christian poetry have found their way into some of our hymnals.  In 1960, at the age of 94, Chisholm passed from this life.  His works are well documented but we’ll consider one that was born on a lonely, dark night.

Another well noted writer and composer from the same era was L.O. Sanderson.  Sanderson was a preacher of the gospel as well a noted musician.  He is recognized as one who wrote the words and music to many of our gospel songs.  He was born in 1901 and passed lo sandersonaway in 1992, at the age of 91.  Like Chisholm, Sanderson penned the music to one particular song in the dark hours of the night.  Perhaps it’s not surprising that these two men combined their talents to produce some ‘greats songs of the church.’ 

It was recorded that one night around midnight, Sanderson was working alone in his office.  He had been preparing his sermon for the coming Sunday morning, but a new, specific tune kept running through his mind.  To satisfy his musical creativity, he stopped his study and jotted down the musical notes.  In a few short weeks he sent the music to his friend, T.O. Chisholm, and inquired of him if had any poetry to fit the scales.  As Chisholm reviewed the work of his friend, he found the musical bars (the meter, 11.10.11.10) were a perfect fit for the poetry he penned, “Be with me, Lord – I can not live without Thee, I dare not try to take one step alone, I cannot bear the loads of life, unaided, I need Thy strength to lean myself upon…” 

As the two friends compared notes and asked each other questions about this specific work, they found that they both had similar circumstances surrounding their endeavors.  Both were working late one night (after midnight to be precise), and both were preoccupied with some specific words, a specific tune, floating within their mind.  They were struggling to accomplish one task while trying to embrace this new song.  And yet both were unable to be resolution to their struggle until they put their music, poetry, to paper.  The extraordinary piece of this puzzle was that both men were creating this song of praise and affirmation some 1000’s of miles apart.  Could it have been a coincidence or just plain lucky?  Was this just a great accident of hymnology or was our God, the Great Composer, at work in creating a hymn for His people to sing for the ages?

Two men of God, in two separate towns divided by hundreds of miles sitting in their respective offices churning out their own contribution to this hymn of prayer.  Perhaps Chisholm’s inspiration in the third verse explains this more clearly; “…a constant sense of Thy abiding presence, where ‘er I am, to feel that Thou art near.”