Sundays after Pentecost
Unifying Theme: |
||
| Scripture | Theme | Hymns |
|---|---|---|
| Exodus
32:1-14 --or-- Isaiah 25:1-9 |
The golden calf and God's mercy --or-- Marvelous works of God |
64: Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God
Almighty 66: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven 355: Depth of Mercy |
| Psalm
106:1-6, 19-23 --or-- Psalm 23 |
The Lord's favor; our sins --or-- The shepherd |
138: The King of Love My Shepherd
Is 381: Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us |
| Philippians 4:1-9 | Standing firm in the Lord | 297: Beneath the Cross of Jesus 368: My Hope Is Built |
| Matthew 22:1-14 | Many invited to the wedding | 88: Maker in Whom We Live 339: Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast |
This week I am breaking from my ordinary routine of selecting a featured hymn from those suggested for use with the Revised Common Lectionary. Instead, please let me share something a little bit more personal. This week is close to September 29, the date when my earthly father left this life and entered into perfect union with my Heavenly Father. As long as I can remember, my fathers walked together. Now they walk as one. As you might expect, hymns were sung at the funeral. One was Blessed Assurance. The first two lines of this hymn appear on the headstone of its writer, Fanny Crosby (1820-1915).
My father and Ms. Crosby never knew each other. They lived in different times. They had different backgrounds. They approached and experienced life in different ways. Yet they had something in common. They both loved Jesus, and they both knew the joy of putting their trust in Him. Crosby penned the marvelous words of this hymn. My father sang them heartily with great delight. I hope that you will, too. Here they are:
| 1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. Refrain: This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. |
| 2. Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight; angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love. (Refrain) |
| 3. Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love. (Refrain) |
May you be filled with the joy of knowing the same blessed assurance that Crosby wrote about.
God bless you--
Lection at HymnSite.com
God bless you!
| Passages suggested are from The Revised Common Lectionary: Consultation on Common Texts (Abingdon Press, 1992) copyright © by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Reprinted with permission of CCT. |