Notes on the Notes – March 5, 2023

Second Sunday in Lent

This week’s music: 

“In Suffering Love” (VU #614) v 1,2,3,5

“In suffering love the thread of life is woven through our care,
For God is with us, not alone our pain and toil we bear.

There is a rock, a place secure within the storm’s cold blast;
Concealed within the suffering night God’s covenant stands fast.

In love’s deep womb our fears are held; there God’s rich tears are sown
And bring to birth, in hope newborn, the strength to journey on.

In suffering love our God comes now, hope’s vision born in gloom;
With tears and laughter shared and blessed the desert yet will bloom.”

“Cares Chorus”

“I cast all my cares upon You.
I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.
And anytime that I don’t know what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon You.”

This simple chorus was written by Kelly Willard in 1978.  Her “Cares Chorus” was based on 1 Peter 5:6-7, where Peter writes about how to handle hard things, especially when we don’t understand. Peter says: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.”

“Peter reminds us to pray in troubled times, something we often forget in painful circumstances. Writer Andree Seu Peterson was a young widow with four children who realized, “Thinking a lot is not the same as praying a lot.” Negative over-thinking and rumination is toxic. It leaves us feeling overwhelmed, pessimistic, and powerless. Peter says to throw all our anxieties, cares, concerns, and worries on God.” (Source: https://wohbm.org/all-your-anxieties/)

Hear the song at:  https://yout-u.be/zn7RHpQ6ots

“How Deep the Peace” (MV #95)

“How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose wrongs are forgiven.
How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose hearts are healed.”

Our response to the Words of Assurance is based on Psalm 32.  Having left our concerns with God through prayer, we hear of God’s unfailing love. This hymn was written by Linnea Good in 2004.

“God So Loved the World”

“God so loved, He so loved our world that He gave us His only son
That if we will believe in Him we will have everlasting life.

For God sent not His Son to condemn the world, but that all through Him might be saved.”

The comforting words of John 3:16 have been set to music by Jack Hayford.

“Speak, O Lord”

“Speak, O Lord, as we come to You,
To receive the food of Your holy Word.
Take Your Truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness;
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience, holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail;
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds,
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time,
That will echo down through eternity;
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises;
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, ’til Your church is built,
And the earth is filled with Your glory.”

This week’s anthem is by Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty.  It has been arranged by Fred and Ruth Coleman and comes from the collection “In Christ Alone.”

Hear the original version at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my90e3a_nlM

“Praise God Throughout These Forty Days”

“Praise God throughout these forty days;
 Praise Christ, our Lord, whom God did raise;
And praise the Spirit who imparts
God’s love in Christ into our hearts.”

The Lenten words for our offering response were written by G.W. Dub Shepherd for the tune OLD 100TH, more familiar as the doxology, “Praise God from Whom All blessings Flow.”

“Now Let Us From This Table Rise” (VU #483)

“Now let us from this table rise
Renewed in body, mind and soul;
With Christ we die and live again,
His selfless love has made us whole.

With minds alert, upheld by grace,
To spread the word in speech and deed;
We follow in the steps of Christ,
At one with all in hope and need.

To fill each human house with love, it is the sacrament of care;
The work that Christ began to do we humbly pledge ourselves to share.

Then give us grace, Companion-God, to choose again the pilgrim way
And help us to accept with joy the challenge of tomorrow’s day.”

This post-communion hymn is a call to action.  As we go back into the world, we are asked to spread the Word through our words and actions.  We are also asked to fill each human house with love.  In the closing verse, we ask God for grace as we daily accept the challenge of living as a follower of Christ.  Fred Kaan wrote this hymn in 1964 for his congregation at Pilgrim Church in Plymouth. The tune, NIAGARA was composed by Robert Jackson, an organist and choir director from Oldham, Lancashire. It was first published in the Congregational Church Hymnal in 1887.

Hear the hymn played on pipe organ at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOc14nOGhYc

“Grace Alone”

“Every promise we can make,
Every prayer and step of faith,
Every difference we will make
Is only by His grace.

Every mountain we will climb,
Every ray of hope we shine,
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace.

Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our Cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.”

For the season of Lent, we will be using this song as our benediction response.  It was written by Scott Wesley Brown and Jeff Nelson.

Hear the song at:  https://youtu.be/b6lhilgWXIE