Notes on the Notes – November 1, 2020

Homecoming Sunday

The Road That We Have Travelled

Communion

 Isaiah 43:18-25                 Matthew 2:1-12

“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 son 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 the Royal Albert Hall in London:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMY3ivdNzwE

See Libera perform the song at:  https://youtu.be/MAkXHhs9vOc

“For the Faithful Who Have Answered” (VU #707)

“For the faithful who have answered when they heard your call to serve,
For the many ways you led them testing will and stretching nerve,
For their work and for their witness as they strove against the odds,
For their courage and obedience we give thanks and praise, O God.

Many eyes have glimpsed the promise,
Many hearts have yearned to see.
Many ears have heard you calling us to greater liberty.
Some have fallen in the struggle,
Others still are fighting on.
You are not ashamed to own us.
We give thanks and praise, O God.

For this cloud of faithful witness, for the common life we share,
For the work of peace and justice, for the gospel that we bear,
For the vision that our homeland is your love – deep, high, and broad –
For the different roads we travel we give thanks and praise, O God.”

In commissioning a hymn for the fiftieth anniversary of women’s ordination in 1986, the United Church of Canada specified that the text should concentrate on all peoples’ faithful response to God’s call. Sylvia Dunstan based her hymn on Hebrews 11 and 12. It is set to the tune, OMNI DIE, which appears to have come from a Trier Gesanbuch of 1695.

“Love Grows Here”

“Take a look around you, tell me what you see;
People here to worship the Lord, just like you and me.
Some have come in gladness, some have come with fear;
But all have come because they know that love grows here!

Yes, love grows here, and all of us can share the wonder and joy that it can bring.
For God is near, teaching us to care, and showing our hearts how to sing.

Some of us are lonely, some have many friends;
Some lives just beginning, some are near the end.
Yet we come together knowing He is near,
Once again reminding us that love grows here!”

This week’s beautiful anthem is by Don Besig.

“Holy, Holy, Holy” (VU #315)

“Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!”

The words for this hymn are based on Revelations 4:8-11 and were written by Reginald Herber in 1826.  The tune, NICAEA, was composed by the Reverend John B. Dykes (1861).  It is named for the Council of Nicaea (C.E. 325) where the doctrine of the Trinity, known as the Nicene Creed, was formulated.   We will be using the first verse of the hymn as part of our communion liturgy this week.

Sing along with the Plymouth Choir and Congregation of First-Plymouth Church, Lincoln Nebraska on May 31, 2015 accompanied by the Plymouth Brass and Organist Christopher Marks  at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SHDNs7Dt5M

“Great Amen” (VU #974)

“Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!
Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!”

We will be using this response as part of our communion liturgy this week.  It was written by Jim Strathdee (1985).

“Bread for the Journey” (MV #202)

“Bread for the journey, food for the way.  Cup of God’s blessing, tomorrow, today.”

Today’s communion music was written by Bruce Harding in 2000.

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

“One more step along the world I go,
One more step along the world I go,
From the old things to the new,
Keep me travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

As I travel through the bad and good,
Keep me travelling the way I should;
Where I see no way to go
You’ll be telling me the way, I know:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

Give me courage when the world is rough,
Keep me loving though the world is tough,
Leap and sing in all I do,
Keep me travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.”

This folk-hymn by Sydney Carter was written in 1971. The words of the hymn 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.

“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.”

This setting of the New Creed of the United Church of Canada was composed by Richard Hall.  To learn more about what the United Church believes as stated in the New Creed go to: http://www.windsorparkunitedchurch.com/a-new-creed/

Bonus video:

Leona Lewis – Footprints in the Sand