Post by John on Mar 9, 2015 20:12:59 GMT -5
SONGS AND READINGS FROM “SONGS OF PRAISE”
AT SAFFRON WALDEN BAPTIST CHURCH
MARCH 8th 2015 led by Rev John Goddard with Tracy Todman at the piano
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Hymn numbers are from BAPTIST PRAISE AND WORSHIP
John welcomed us and we sang together
327 ALL MY HOPE ON GOD IS FOUNDED
1 All my hope on God is founded;
all my trust he will renew;
safe through change and chance he guides me,
only good and only true:
God unknown,
he alone
calls my heart to be his own.
2 Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray God's trust;
though with care and toil we build them,
tower and temple fall to dust.
But God's power,
hour by hour,
is my temple and my tower.
3 God's great goodness lasts for ever,
deep his wisdom, passing thought;
splendour, light and life attend him,
beauty springing out of naught.
Evermore
from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.
4 Day by day the mighty Giver
showers gifts on us below;
his desire our souls delight in,
pleasure leads us where we go.
See love stand
at his hand,
joy awaits at his command!
5 Still from earth to God in heaven
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Hear Christ call
one and all:
those who follow shall not fall.
Concerning this song The original words "Meine Hoffnung stehet feste" were written in around 1680 by Joachim Neander.
In 1899 these were translated into English by Robert Bridges, who would later become British Poet Laureate. He was, at the time, living in the Berkshire village of Yattendon, where he was choir master for the parish church of St Peter and St Paul.[1] Disappointed with range of hymns available, he made his own collection which he entitled the Yattendon Hymnal and included this hymn, number 69
The original tune was a German chorale melody named Meine Hoffnung (from its German text). This tune was also used as the principal choice for the Methodist Hymns and Psalms book of 1983.
The hymn's popularity increased when its pairing with a tune Michael by the English composer Herbert Howells became more widely known.[4] Howells' son, Michael, born in 1925, had died in childhood in 1935 from spinal meningitis. It is believed that shortly after this, in 1936, Howells received a request for a new hymn tune in the morning's post, and he is said to have written the tune, which he named after his late son, over breakfast.
The tune first appeared in 1936 in the Clarendon Hymn Book, but its use remained largely confined in public school (independent) use in Britain for the next thirty years or so.[citation needed]
Its popularity began to spread in 1969 when it was included in the "100 Hymns for Today" supplement of the Hymns Ancient and Modern, one of the standard Church of England hymn books of its day. The Methodist church included it (albeit as second choice) in the 1983 Hymns and Psalms, and it was the main choice in the 1986 New English Hymnal. It has subsequently appeared in many hymn books across the English-speaking world.
WE READ PSALM 22 which has references to the death of MESSIAH Jesus Christ centuries later and he uttered the fist verse when hanging from the crucifixion cross gibbet outside the walls of Jerusalem around AD 33.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him--
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn--
for he has done it.
WE THEN SANG 219 IT IS A THING MOST WONDERFUL
It is a thing most wonderful,
Almost too wonderful to be,
That God’s own Son should come from heav’n,
And die to save a child like me.
2 And yet I know that it is true:
He came to this poor world below,
And wept and toiled and mourned and died,
Only because He loved us so.
3 I cannot tell how He could love
A child so weak and full of sin;
His love must be most wonderful,
If He could die my love to win.
4 I sometimes think about His cross,
And shut my eyes, and try to see
The cruel nails, and crown of thorns,
And Jesus crucified for me.
5 But even could I see Him die,
I could but see a little part
Of that great love, which, like a fire,
Is always burning in His heart.
6 It is most wonderful to know
His love for me so free and sure;
But ’tis more wonderful to see
My love for Him so faint and poor.
7 And yet I want to love Thee, Lord:
O light the flame within my heart,
And I will love Thee more and more
Until I see Thee as Thou art!
These verses were written as a poem in 1872 by Bishop William Walsham How (1823-1897).
The tune we used for this hymn on Sunday afternoon, is Herongate, an Essex folk song arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
William Walsham How, a solicitor’s son, was born in Shrewsbury in 1823 and educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford (BA 1845). He was ordained in 1846, and was curate of Saint George’s, Kidderminster (1846), Holy Cross, Shrewsbury (1848), before becoming the Rector of Whittington in the Diocese of St Asaph in 1851. He was later a Rural Dean (1853), a canon of Saint Asaph Cathedral (1860), chaplain of the English church in Rome (1865) and Rector of Saint Andrew’s Undershaft, London, (1879).
He became a Suffragan Bishop for East London as Bishop of Bedford, and in 1888 he became the first Bishop of Wakefield, a new diocese in the industrial heartlands. His untiring work among the people of the docks and the slums earned him the title of “the poor man’s bishop,” and because he insisted on using public transport he was also known as the “omnibus bishop.” But he liked best his description as “the children’s bishop.” He died in Leenane, Co Mayo, in 1897, while on a fishing holiday in Dulough.
Bishop How, who was strongly influenced by the Tractarian Movement, was the author and editor of several collections of hymns, sermons and children’s stories, many of them published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), and he wrote at least sixty hymns.
His hymns are marked by pure rhythm as well as directness and simplicity, showing a comprehensive grasp of the subject and throwing unexpected light on their themes, with images interwoven with tender thoughts. Although he is seldom thought of as a poet, his hymns have outlived his other literary works and he is one of the most effective Victorian hymn writers.
‘It is a thing most wonderful’ was written by How, while he was Rector of Whittington in Shropshire – then in the Diocese of St Asaph but now in the Diocese of Lichfield. – but was not published until 1872.
The first version was five verses in length, but within 15 years he had added two more verses to the original. Through this hymn, How is trying to reveal the love of God by looking at the Cross through the eyes of a child. In the 1872 draft, he placed the text I John 4: 10 above the hymn: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The tune ‘Herongate’ is one of several folk song melodies collected by Vaughan Williams. He transcribed the tune of ‘In Jesse’s City’ in 1903 when he heard a maid singing that song in Ingrave Rectory near Brentwood, about three miles from Herongate in Essex. It was first used with this hymn in 1906 in the first edition of the English Hymnal, which Vaughan Wlliams edited with Percy Dearmer.
The verses are based around Romans 3 v 19 . 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. “
WE HAD A SELECTION OF VERSES READ FROM ISAIAH 53
These verses contain predictions some 700 years before they happened to the sufferings of Jesus Christ on our behalf who came to us from His Father, declaring “I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE, IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME YOU HAVE SEEN MY FATHER”
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his
descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,G
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,H
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
HEALING WOUNDS ISAIAH 53:5
Throughout the New Testament, the Suffering Servant described here is understood to be Jesus. This astounding verse claims that his wounds heal us. Peter explained it this way: when Jesus died on the cross, his suffering and death "healed" us of our sins, enabling us to live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).
WE SANG A FAIRLY MODERN SONG
199 “IN A BYRE NEAR BETHLEHEM PASSED BY MANY A WANDERING STRANGER”
In a byre near Bethlehem
Passed by many a wandering stranger
The most precious Word of Life
Was heard gurgling in a manger
For the good of us all
By the Galilean Lake
Where the people flocked for teaching
The most precious Word of Life
Fed their mouths as well as preaching
For the good of us all
And He’s here when we call Him
Bringing health, love, and laughter
To life now and ever after
For the good of us all
Quiet was Gethsemane
Camouflaging priest and soldier
The most precious Word of Life
Took the world's weight on His shoulder
For the good of us all
On the hill of Calvary
Place to end all hope of living
The most precious Word of Life
Breathed His last and died, forgiving
For the good of us all
In a garden, just at dawn
Near the grave of human violence
The most precious Word of Life
Cleared His throat and ended silence
For the good of us all
Words: John L. Bell, 1987
Music: Wild Mountain Thyme; arr. Zac Hicks, 2011
©1987 Wild Goose Resource Group, Iona Community, Scotland
GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive North American agent | 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638
www.giamusic.com 800.442.1358
About this song
This song has been set the Iona Community’s “The Word of Life” . (In a Byre Near Bethlehem)” in a fitting musical and atmospheric setting. (“Byre” is another word for barn, by the way.) The recording sounds like a small pub band with a raucous men’s chorus.
The Scottish and the Irish sure know how to write songs. “In a Byre” has been around since 1987, but was discovered only a few years ago. It is the first relatively new Christmas song we’ve heard that absolutely everyone loves to sing the moment they open their lips. In this song, the traditional worship folks lie down with contemporary worship folks, which is as shocking as Isaiah’s prophecies of the fraternization of lions with lambs and children with snakes.
What makes this song so great?
Perhaps it’s the traditional Irish tune, “Wild Mountain Thyme,” made popular by many songs and instrumentals. The melody is beautiful…and flexible. There are some nice renditions of the tune out there that are slow, inspiring Celtic ballads. Then there are romping pub versions like ours.
Perhaps it’s the provocative and distinctly flavoured text. When a small, burly men’s chorus sat down to record the track, they first began reflecting on the text to get some inspiration. Here’s a distillation of that discussion:
It is the anti-Christmas-carol Christmas carol—not sappy, schmaltzy, or sentimental.
It vividly and accurately summarizes the life and ministry of Christ, giving the big picture context for Jesus’ birth.
It highlights the fact that it is not only Christ’s death which is beneficial to us, but His life, too (in theological terms, both Christ’s passive and active obedience are displayed as meritorious for us). This is hammered home in the repeated phrase, “for the good of us all.”
It is inherently communal, not individualistic. The song’s text and musical style both lend themselves to corporate—not solo—singing.
It is vivid and earthy, not overly spiritualized (e.g. “cleared His throat and ended silence”).
It concretizes joy. Instead of saying, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come,” it says, “And He’s here when we call Him, bringing health, love, and laughter.” Since when have we sung of laughter the result of Jesus’ presence among us?
It is raucously celebrative—a great counterbalance to Christmas tunes that merely highlight more reverent celebration.
It strips our inhibitions to praise with abandon. The Irish musical style naturally does this to us, and the colloquial nature of the text perfectly follows suit.
It balances transcendence and immanence in sometimes shocking juxtaposition (e.g. “The most precious Word of Life was heard gurgling in a manger”).
WE CONSIDERED FROM THE GOSPELS THE GOOD FRIDAY EVENTS
THEN WE SANG 257 NOW THE GREEN BLADE RISES FROM THE BURIED GRAIN
Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
In the grave they laid him, Love whom men had slain,
Thinking that never he would wake again.
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green,
Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain.
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Thy touch can call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
[This is the original Latin version]
Surgit a sepulto spica semine,
sub terra quam tegebant tenebrae;
Amor revivit mortis e loco:
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
Sepeliverant occisum homine,
quem non sperabant excitum fore:
par dormienti spicae sub solo,
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
Pascha vidit instar spicae surgere
post sepulturam tertio die;
ex morte Christum ortum video:
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
Quando hiemales lugent animae,
vivificas nos tuo pollice;
sint corda nudo paria solo,
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
THEN WAS READ THE STORY OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FOM THE DEAD
FROM PAUL'S FIRST LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS AT CORINTH FROM CHAPTER 15
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include
God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."D
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:8
Paul stresses the basics every Christian must believe: that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried (really dead), and that he rose again. Listing some of the many people who saw Jesus after his resurrection, Paul includes himself, last of all. He is referring to his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9).
WE THEN SANG 398 THY [ meaning your ] HAND O GOD HAS GUIDED
Thy hand, O God, has guided
thy flock, from age to age;
their wondrous tale is written,
full clear, on every page;
thy people owned thy goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both of this bear witness;
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
Thy heralds brought glad tidings
to greatest as to least;
they bade men rise, and hasten
to share the great King's feast;
and this was all their teaching,
in every deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
When shadows thick were falling,
and all seemed sunk in night,
thou, Lord, didst send thy servants,
thy chosen sons of light.
On them and on thy people
thy plenteous grace was poured,
and this was still their message,
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
Through many a day of darkness,
through many a scene of strife,
the faithful few fought bravely,
to guard the nation's life.
Their gospel of redemption,
sin pardoned, man restored,
was all in this enfolded:
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
And we, shall we be faithless?
shall hearts fail, hands hang down?
shall we evade the conflict,
and cast away our crown?
Not so: in God's deep counsels
some better thing is stored;
we will maintain, unflinching,
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
Thy mercy will not fail us,
nor leave thy work undone;
with thy right hand to help us,
thy victory shall be won;
and then, by all creation,
thy name shall be adored,
and this shall be their anthem:
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
This was written by Edward Hayes Plumptre, D.D.
son of Mr. E. H. Plumptre, born in London, Aug. 6, 1821, and educated at King's College, London, and University College, Oxford, graduating as a double first in 1844. He was for some time Fellow of Brasenose.
On taking Holy Orders in 1846 he rapidly attained to a foremost position as a Theologian and Preacher. His appointments have been important and influential, and include that of Assistant Preacher at Lincoln's Inn; Select Preacher at Oxford; Professor of Pastoral Theology at King's College, London; Dean of Queen's, Oxford; Prebendary in St. Paul's Cathedral, London; Professor of Exegesis of the New Testament in King's College, London; Boyle Lecturer; Grinfield Lecturer on the Septuagint, Oxford; Examiner in the Theological schools at Oxford; Member of the Old Testament Company for the Revision of the A.V. of the Holy Scriptures; Rector of Pluckley, 1869; Vicar of Bickley, Kent, 1873; and Dean of Wells, 1881.
Dean Plumptre's literary productions have been very numerous and important, and embrace the classics, history, divinity, biblical criticism, biography, and poetry. The list as set forth in Crockford's Clerical Directory is very extensive.
His hymns are elegant in style, fervent in spirit, and broad in treatment. The subjects chosen are mainly those associated with the revived Church life of the present day, from the Processional at a Choral Festival to hospital work and the spiritual life in schools and colleges. The rhythm of his verse has a special attraction for musicians, its poetry for the cultured, and its stately simplicity for the devout and earnest-minded. The two which have attained to the most extensive use in Great Britain and America are: Rejoice, ye pure in heart," and "Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old." His translations from the Latin, many of which were made for the Hymnary, 1871 and 1872, are very good and musical, but they have not been used in any way in proportion to their merits.
The tune is THORNBURY Composed by Basil Harwood (1859-1949) Meter:76 76 76 7 and refrain Key:D Major
The verses are based on Ephesians 4 v 4-5 “ There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
We closed our worship by saying together to one another the words of The Grace and then turned to refreshments and conversation.
AT SAFFRON WALDEN BAPTIST CHURCH
MARCH 8th 2015 led by Rev John Goddard with Tracy Todman at the piano
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Hymn numbers are from BAPTIST PRAISE AND WORSHIP
John welcomed us and we sang together
327 ALL MY HOPE ON GOD IS FOUNDED
1 All my hope on God is founded;
all my trust he will renew;
safe through change and chance he guides me,
only good and only true:
God unknown,
he alone
calls my heart to be his own.
2 Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray God's trust;
though with care and toil we build them,
tower and temple fall to dust.
But God's power,
hour by hour,
is my temple and my tower.
3 God's great goodness lasts for ever,
deep his wisdom, passing thought;
splendour, light and life attend him,
beauty springing out of naught.
Evermore
from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.
4 Day by day the mighty Giver
showers gifts on us below;
his desire our souls delight in,
pleasure leads us where we go.
See love stand
at his hand,
joy awaits at his command!
5 Still from earth to God in heaven
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Hear Christ call
one and all:
those who follow shall not fall.
Concerning this song The original words "Meine Hoffnung stehet feste" were written in around 1680 by Joachim Neander.
In 1899 these were translated into English by Robert Bridges, who would later become British Poet Laureate. He was, at the time, living in the Berkshire village of Yattendon, where he was choir master for the parish church of St Peter and St Paul.[1] Disappointed with range of hymns available, he made his own collection which he entitled the Yattendon Hymnal and included this hymn, number 69
The original tune was a German chorale melody named Meine Hoffnung (from its German text). This tune was also used as the principal choice for the Methodist Hymns and Psalms book of 1983.
The hymn's popularity increased when its pairing with a tune Michael by the English composer Herbert Howells became more widely known.[4] Howells' son, Michael, born in 1925, had died in childhood in 1935 from spinal meningitis. It is believed that shortly after this, in 1936, Howells received a request for a new hymn tune in the morning's post, and he is said to have written the tune, which he named after his late son, over breakfast.
The tune first appeared in 1936 in the Clarendon Hymn Book, but its use remained largely confined in public school (independent) use in Britain for the next thirty years or so.[citation needed]
Its popularity began to spread in 1969 when it was included in the "100 Hymns for Today" supplement of the Hymns Ancient and Modern, one of the standard Church of England hymn books of its day. The Methodist church included it (albeit as second choice) in the 1983 Hymns and Psalms, and it was the main choice in the 1986 New English Hymnal. It has subsequently appeared in many hymn books across the English-speaking world.
WE READ PSALM 22 which has references to the death of MESSIAH Jesus Christ centuries later and he uttered the fist verse when hanging from the crucifixion cross gibbet outside the walls of Jerusalem around AD 33.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him--
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn--
for he has done it.
WE THEN SANG 219 IT IS A THING MOST WONDERFUL
It is a thing most wonderful,
Almost too wonderful to be,
That God’s own Son should come from heav’n,
And die to save a child like me.
2 And yet I know that it is true:
He came to this poor world below,
And wept and toiled and mourned and died,
Only because He loved us so.
3 I cannot tell how He could love
A child so weak and full of sin;
His love must be most wonderful,
If He could die my love to win.
4 I sometimes think about His cross,
And shut my eyes, and try to see
The cruel nails, and crown of thorns,
And Jesus crucified for me.
5 But even could I see Him die,
I could but see a little part
Of that great love, which, like a fire,
Is always burning in His heart.
6 It is most wonderful to know
His love for me so free and sure;
But ’tis more wonderful to see
My love for Him so faint and poor.
7 And yet I want to love Thee, Lord:
O light the flame within my heart,
And I will love Thee more and more
Until I see Thee as Thou art!
These verses were written as a poem in 1872 by Bishop William Walsham How (1823-1897).
The tune we used for this hymn on Sunday afternoon, is Herongate, an Essex folk song arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
William Walsham How, a solicitor’s son, was born in Shrewsbury in 1823 and educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford (BA 1845). He was ordained in 1846, and was curate of Saint George’s, Kidderminster (1846), Holy Cross, Shrewsbury (1848), before becoming the Rector of Whittington in the Diocese of St Asaph in 1851. He was later a Rural Dean (1853), a canon of Saint Asaph Cathedral (1860), chaplain of the English church in Rome (1865) and Rector of Saint Andrew’s Undershaft, London, (1879).
He became a Suffragan Bishop for East London as Bishop of Bedford, and in 1888 he became the first Bishop of Wakefield, a new diocese in the industrial heartlands. His untiring work among the people of the docks and the slums earned him the title of “the poor man’s bishop,” and because he insisted on using public transport he was also known as the “omnibus bishop.” But he liked best his description as “the children’s bishop.” He died in Leenane, Co Mayo, in 1897, while on a fishing holiday in Dulough.
Bishop How, who was strongly influenced by the Tractarian Movement, was the author and editor of several collections of hymns, sermons and children’s stories, many of them published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), and he wrote at least sixty hymns.
His hymns are marked by pure rhythm as well as directness and simplicity, showing a comprehensive grasp of the subject and throwing unexpected light on their themes, with images interwoven with tender thoughts. Although he is seldom thought of as a poet, his hymns have outlived his other literary works and he is one of the most effective Victorian hymn writers.
‘It is a thing most wonderful’ was written by How, while he was Rector of Whittington in Shropshire – then in the Diocese of St Asaph but now in the Diocese of Lichfield. – but was not published until 1872.
The first version was five verses in length, but within 15 years he had added two more verses to the original. Through this hymn, How is trying to reveal the love of God by looking at the Cross through the eyes of a child. In the 1872 draft, he placed the text I John 4: 10 above the hymn: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The tune ‘Herongate’ is one of several folk song melodies collected by Vaughan Williams. He transcribed the tune of ‘In Jesse’s City’ in 1903 when he heard a maid singing that song in Ingrave Rectory near Brentwood, about three miles from Herongate in Essex. It was first used with this hymn in 1906 in the first edition of the English Hymnal, which Vaughan Wlliams edited with Percy Dearmer.
The verses are based around Romans 3 v 19 . 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. “
WE HAD A SELECTION OF VERSES READ FROM ISAIAH 53
These verses contain predictions some 700 years before they happened to the sufferings of Jesus Christ on our behalf who came to us from His Father, declaring “I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE, IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME YOU HAVE SEEN MY FATHER”
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his
descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,G
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,H
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
HEALING WOUNDS ISAIAH 53:5
Throughout the New Testament, the Suffering Servant described here is understood to be Jesus. This astounding verse claims that his wounds heal us. Peter explained it this way: when Jesus died on the cross, his suffering and death "healed" us of our sins, enabling us to live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).
WE SANG A FAIRLY MODERN SONG
199 “IN A BYRE NEAR BETHLEHEM PASSED BY MANY A WANDERING STRANGER”
In a byre near Bethlehem
Passed by many a wandering stranger
The most precious Word of Life
Was heard gurgling in a manger
For the good of us all
By the Galilean Lake
Where the people flocked for teaching
The most precious Word of Life
Fed their mouths as well as preaching
For the good of us all
And He’s here when we call Him
Bringing health, love, and laughter
To life now and ever after
For the good of us all
Quiet was Gethsemane
Camouflaging priest and soldier
The most precious Word of Life
Took the world's weight on His shoulder
For the good of us all
On the hill of Calvary
Place to end all hope of living
The most precious Word of Life
Breathed His last and died, forgiving
For the good of us all
In a garden, just at dawn
Near the grave of human violence
The most precious Word of Life
Cleared His throat and ended silence
For the good of us all
Words: John L. Bell, 1987
Music: Wild Mountain Thyme; arr. Zac Hicks, 2011
©1987 Wild Goose Resource Group, Iona Community, Scotland
GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive North American agent | 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638
www.giamusic.com 800.442.1358
About this song
This song has been set the Iona Community’s “The Word of Life” . (In a Byre Near Bethlehem)” in a fitting musical and atmospheric setting. (“Byre” is another word for barn, by the way.) The recording sounds like a small pub band with a raucous men’s chorus.
The Scottish and the Irish sure know how to write songs. “In a Byre” has been around since 1987, but was discovered only a few years ago. It is the first relatively new Christmas song we’ve heard that absolutely everyone loves to sing the moment they open their lips. In this song, the traditional worship folks lie down with contemporary worship folks, which is as shocking as Isaiah’s prophecies of the fraternization of lions with lambs and children with snakes.
What makes this song so great?
Perhaps it’s the traditional Irish tune, “Wild Mountain Thyme,” made popular by many songs and instrumentals. The melody is beautiful…and flexible. There are some nice renditions of the tune out there that are slow, inspiring Celtic ballads. Then there are romping pub versions like ours.
Perhaps it’s the provocative and distinctly flavoured text. When a small, burly men’s chorus sat down to record the track, they first began reflecting on the text to get some inspiration. Here’s a distillation of that discussion:
It is the anti-Christmas-carol Christmas carol—not sappy, schmaltzy, or sentimental.
It vividly and accurately summarizes the life and ministry of Christ, giving the big picture context for Jesus’ birth.
It highlights the fact that it is not only Christ’s death which is beneficial to us, but His life, too (in theological terms, both Christ’s passive and active obedience are displayed as meritorious for us). This is hammered home in the repeated phrase, “for the good of us all.”
It is inherently communal, not individualistic. The song’s text and musical style both lend themselves to corporate—not solo—singing.
It is vivid and earthy, not overly spiritualized (e.g. “cleared His throat and ended silence”).
It concretizes joy. Instead of saying, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come,” it says, “And He’s here when we call Him, bringing health, love, and laughter.” Since when have we sung of laughter the result of Jesus’ presence among us?
It is raucously celebrative—a great counterbalance to Christmas tunes that merely highlight more reverent celebration.
It strips our inhibitions to praise with abandon. The Irish musical style naturally does this to us, and the colloquial nature of the text perfectly follows suit.
It balances transcendence and immanence in sometimes shocking juxtaposition (e.g. “The most precious Word of Life was heard gurgling in a manger”).
WE CONSIDERED FROM THE GOSPELS THE GOOD FRIDAY EVENTS
THEN WE SANG 257 NOW THE GREEN BLADE RISES FROM THE BURIED GRAIN
Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
In the grave they laid him, Love whom men had slain,
Thinking that never he would wake again.
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green,
Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain.
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Thy touch can call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
[This is the original Latin version]
Surgit a sepulto spica semine,
sub terra quam tegebant tenebrae;
Amor revivit mortis e loco:
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
Sepeliverant occisum homine,
quem non sperabant excitum fore:
par dormienti spicae sub solo,
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
Pascha vidit instar spicae surgere
post sepulturam tertio die;
ex morte Christum ortum video:
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
Quando hiemales lugent animae,
vivificas nos tuo pollice;
sint corda nudo paria solo,
AMOR EN! REDIVIT SEGETIS MODO.
THEN WAS READ THE STORY OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FOM THE DEAD
FROM PAUL'S FIRST LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS AT CORINTH FROM CHAPTER 15
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include
God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."D
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:8
Paul stresses the basics every Christian must believe: that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried (really dead), and that he rose again. Listing some of the many people who saw Jesus after his resurrection, Paul includes himself, last of all. He is referring to his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9).
WE THEN SANG 398 THY [ meaning your ] HAND O GOD HAS GUIDED
Thy hand, O God, has guided
thy flock, from age to age;
their wondrous tale is written,
full clear, on every page;
thy people owned thy goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both of this bear witness;
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
Thy heralds brought glad tidings
to greatest as to least;
they bade men rise, and hasten
to share the great King's feast;
and this was all their teaching,
in every deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
When shadows thick were falling,
and all seemed sunk in night,
thou, Lord, didst send thy servants,
thy chosen sons of light.
On them and on thy people
thy plenteous grace was poured,
and this was still their message,
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
Through many a day of darkness,
through many a scene of strife,
the faithful few fought bravely,
to guard the nation's life.
Their gospel of redemption,
sin pardoned, man restored,
was all in this enfolded:
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
And we, shall we be faithless?
shall hearts fail, hands hang down?
shall we evade the conflict,
and cast away our crown?
Not so: in God's deep counsels
some better thing is stored;
we will maintain, unflinching,
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
Thy mercy will not fail us,
nor leave thy work undone;
with thy right hand to help us,
thy victory shall be won;
and then, by all creation,
thy name shall be adored,
and this shall be their anthem:
One Church, one Faith, one Lord.
This was written by Edward Hayes Plumptre, D.D.
son of Mr. E. H. Plumptre, born in London, Aug. 6, 1821, and educated at King's College, London, and University College, Oxford, graduating as a double first in 1844. He was for some time Fellow of Brasenose.
On taking Holy Orders in 1846 he rapidly attained to a foremost position as a Theologian and Preacher. His appointments have been important and influential, and include that of Assistant Preacher at Lincoln's Inn; Select Preacher at Oxford; Professor of Pastoral Theology at King's College, London; Dean of Queen's, Oxford; Prebendary in St. Paul's Cathedral, London; Professor of Exegesis of the New Testament in King's College, London; Boyle Lecturer; Grinfield Lecturer on the Septuagint, Oxford; Examiner in the Theological schools at Oxford; Member of the Old Testament Company for the Revision of the A.V. of the Holy Scriptures; Rector of Pluckley, 1869; Vicar of Bickley, Kent, 1873; and Dean of Wells, 1881.
Dean Plumptre's literary productions have been very numerous and important, and embrace the classics, history, divinity, biblical criticism, biography, and poetry. The list as set forth in Crockford's Clerical Directory is very extensive.
His hymns are elegant in style, fervent in spirit, and broad in treatment. The subjects chosen are mainly those associated with the revived Church life of the present day, from the Processional at a Choral Festival to hospital work and the spiritual life in schools and colleges. The rhythm of his verse has a special attraction for musicians, its poetry for the cultured, and its stately simplicity for the devout and earnest-minded. The two which have attained to the most extensive use in Great Britain and America are: Rejoice, ye pure in heart," and "Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old." His translations from the Latin, many of which were made for the Hymnary, 1871 and 1872, are very good and musical, but they have not been used in any way in proportion to their merits.
The tune is THORNBURY Composed by Basil Harwood (1859-1949) Meter:76 76 76 7 and refrain Key:D Major
The verses are based on Ephesians 4 v 4-5 “ There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
We closed our worship by saying together to one another the words of The Grace and then turned to refreshments and conversation.