Notes on the Notes – June 9, 2024

99th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada

Music this week will be led by the Harmony Singers

This week’s music: 

“Make a Joyful Noise” (VU #820)

“Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Worship your God with gladness.
Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Come to this place with a song!

Know that your God has made you.
Know it’s to God we belong.
And come to this place with joyfulness and praise.
Worship your God with a song!

Enter these gates, thanks giving.
Enter these courts with praise.
Sing thanks to your God and bless the holy Name.
Worship your God with a song!

Ages through endless ages,
Seasons of endless years,
The love of our Maker ever shall endure.
Worship your God with a song!

Both the tune and text of this upbeat, joyful psalm are from Stickpeople (1992) by the Vancouver composer Linnea Good.  The tune was arranged by David Kai of Gloucester, Ontario.  The words are a setting of Psalm 100.

Hear the song at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCf_kfiThoA

“Spirit of Life” (VU #381)

“Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea; move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.”

This sung prayer will be our response to the words of assurance.  It was written by Carolyn McDade in 1981 and arranged by Grace Lewis-McLaren and published in 1993.

“He’s Always Been Faithful to Me”

“Morning by morning, I wake up to find the power and comfort
Of God’s hand in mine.
Season by season I watch Him, amazed,
In awe of the myst’ry of His perfect ways.
All I have need of His hand will provide.
He’s always been faithful to me.

I can’t remember a trial or a pain He did not recycle to bring me gain.
I can’t remember one single regret in serving God only
And trusting His hand.
All I have need of His hand will provide.
He’s always been faithful to me.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not; Thy compassions, they fail not,
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Wondrous the portion Thy blessings provide.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

This is my anthem,
This is my song;
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long.
God has been faithful, He will be again.
His loving compassion, it knows no end.
All I have need of His hand will provide.
He’s always been faithful to me.”

This song has words and music by Sara Groves. It is based on the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” by Thomas O. Chisholm and William M. Runyan. The arrangement is by Gary Rhodes.

Hear the song sung by Sara Groves at:  https://youtu.be/cTLfQ05Otk0

Hear the song sung by The Zoe Group (acapella) at:  https://youtu.be/1DOvGHB9qbc

“A New Creed”

“We are not alone, we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.

We are called to be the church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.”

The music for this setting of the New Creed was composed by Richard Hall.  The words are a statement of the beliefs of the United Church of Canada. They give us a centering point as we journey through our life of faith.  To learn more about the history of this statement of faith, please go to:  http://www.windsorparkunitedchurch.com/a-new-creed/

To learn about the crest of the United Church of Canada go to: http://www.windsorparkunitedchurch.com/the-united-church-crest/

“Caring Community”

“Imagine the dream of Creation,
Imagine the song of a thousand seas.
Sun and moon, the colours of dawning,
The Holy in all that we see.

Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.

Beyond all that’s broken and shattered,
Beyond all that tears us so far apart.
Still, our gifts, our healing, our wholeness,
Lie deep in the dream of your heart.

Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.

When justice cries out from the shadows,
When kindness and mercy have lost their way.
Lead us now, our faith turned to action,
With strength and with courage we pray.

Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.

We offer the work of our living,
And lift up the love of our open hearts.
Share the joy, the laughter, the daring,
Remembering all that we are.

Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.”

Today’s anthem was written by Pat Mayberry and Rev. Elisabeth Jones in 2016.  The arrangement is by David Kai (2021).  The words invite us, as faithful people, to care for the Creation and everything in it as part of our covenant with God.

Hear the song sung in worship by the Harmony Singers (2023):

“We Give You But Your Own” (VU #542)

“We give you but your own,
Whate’er the gift may be,
All that we have is yours alone,
We give it gratefully.”

The words for our offering response were written by William Walsham How in 1858, and updated for use in Voices United. The music is by Johann Balthasar Konig (1738), with adaptations by William Henry Havergal (1847).

“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You” (VU #232)

“Joyful, joyful we adore you God of glory, life and love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before you, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the gloom of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.

All your works with joy surround you, Earth and heaven reflect your rays,
Stars and angels sing around you, centre of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain, sound their praise eternally.

You are giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Source of grace and fount of blessing, let your light upon us shine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals join the mighty chorus, which the morning stars began;
God’s own love is reigning o’er us, joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing march we onward, victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward in the triumph song of life.”

This hymn of joy celebrates the constancy of God’s love for and in creation.  The words are not a translation of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” but were written in 1907 by Henry van Dyke as a gift to his host, James Garfield, president of Williams College, Massachusetts (and later president of the United States), while van Dyke was a guest preacher at the college.  The text was altered in the interest of inclusivity when it was published in Voices United.

Hear the hymn at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JydNpcB50k

“One More Step Along the World” (VU #639)

“One more step along the world we go,
One more step along the world we go,
From the old things to the new, keep us traveling along with you:
And it’s from the old we travel to the new; keep us traveling along with you.”

We will be using one verse of this hymn, with adapted lyrics, as our benediction response this week.   The hymn was written by Sydney Carter was written in 1971.  The words emphasize that living a faith-filled life is more about the journey than about having all of the answers.  It also speaks of our desire to have God with us as we live and learn in a world that is constantly changing.  We ask that God be with us, and we be with God, as we continue to move forward and change as Windsor Park United Church and as the United Church of Canada.