Liturgy Lessons – Oct. 2, 2016
Call to Worship: Psalm 111 (Responsively, see Trinity Hymnal pg. 826)
Opening Hymn: Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven (#76)
Confession: Psalm 25 (selections) and Agnus Dei (“Jesus, Lamb of God”)
Assurance of Pardon: John 3:16-17; Psalm 40:1-3
Song of Assurance: O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (#535)
Catechism/Congregational Prayers
Tithes and Offerings
Doxology: #733
Sermon: Rev. Casey Bedell
Meditation
Supper Hymns: Spirit of God, descend upon my heart (#338 vs. 1-3, 5); Be unto your name
Closing Hymn: Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing (#384)
Benediction
Our liturgy this week is saturated with music that contains water imagery. So, as we begin, let me offer the following story that I recently heard from a friend:
Two young salmon are drifting downstream. An older salmon passes them, coming upstream, and says “Hey guys, how’s the water?” After the older fish is out of sight, one of the young salmon turns to the other with a confused expression and says “what is water?”
This is the first of a new season of liturgy lessons, so let me start with a bit of cultural blasphemy. Sundays during the fall are NOT about the Seahawks. It is in the sanctuary, NOT the stadium, that we celebrate the true victory! Gathering for corporate worship on Sunday is arguably the most important thing we do all week. And yet, our culture is saturated with charged messages that seek to aim our affections towards other things. What do we really worship? What are we celebrating? What occupies our hearts and minds during the week? Are we meant to lazily drift along with the cultural current? Or, like the Salmon, is our purpose to return to the headwaters of life? They do it every year. We do it every Sunday. In our current culture, it takes effort to go upstream. These liturgy lessons are made available to you as a way of building momentum to Sunday. Just as the Seahawks practice throughout the week, we seek to maintain a private discipline of prayer, devotion, and singing, so that when we gather on Sunday morning we can continue together what has already been ongoing in our hearts and homes. Indeed, this is my main prayer for the lessons, that they might aid in a deeper understanding and familiarity with our liturgy and songs for both old and young alike. Then, God-willing, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we might come together to celebrate Christ with more devotion and decibels than any crowd at CenturyLink field. Perhaps the disciples were the original 12th man?
Thank you Lord, for the church, your Body. Thank you for the gift of community. Thank you for the gift of worship, of liturgy, of sacrament, of song. Thank you for your Word, and the power of it being preached. And, thank you that your spirit is alive and working in the hearts of your people at Covenant Presbyterian Church. You are great composer of our lives. Tune our hearts to sing your praise.
Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven (#76)
Text: Henry Francis Lyte. 1834 Music: John Goss
Henry Francis Lyte’s father abandoned his family while Henry was still a boy. Then Henry’s mother and brother died, leaving Henry an orphan at age nine at which point He was taken in by a Christian couple. Lyte studied for the ministry, was ordained, and served several small churches––the last in Brixham on the English Channel––where he served for 23 years. While at Brixham, he formed a Sunday school that enrolled 800 children, and wrote many hymns based on the Psalms. “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven,” based on Psalm 103, is one of those. It is one of the most famous hymns in the English speaking language, and has been sung at many famous weddings and funerals in the United Kingdom. Lyte suffered ill health for most of his life, and died at age 54. He had never been anything but a village pastor, but his legacy of great hymns lives on. And that is often how God works––using people whom we might think to be ordinary to give us extraordinary blessings. In the suggested recording link, listen for the descant on the final verse, sung by the boy choir. The descant is independent treble melody that is sung above the basic melody. Soaring over our heads, it is designed to depict the angelic voices in heaven that join us in proclaiming the unending song of praise to the King of Heaven. Listen on Sunday, and you may just hear those angels joining us at CPC!
Link to sheet music: http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/96182
Suggested recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9RJMOP9Tw
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (#535)
Text: Samuel Trevor Francis(1834-1929) Tune: Thomas J. Williams(1869-1944)
This is one of those perfect marriages of text and tune. The devotional hymn text fits this welsh melody like hand to glove. The flowing triplets feel like fomenting waves throughout, and bring a visceral awareness of God’s love “flowing like a mighty ocean”. The swelling and receding notes of the melody alongside the dark minor mode help us contemplate the ocean depth of Jesus’ love, “vast, unmeasured, boundless, free”. It is a strong, masculine melody with friendly intervals(no big leaps) for the voice. A perfect example of the Welsh folk tradition, it rivals the Irish in melodic richness. There is an unproven legend about the origin of this text which suggests it was penned by a young soul that had been delivered from attempting suicide. Whatever Samuel Francis was enduring when he wrote this, one thing is clear. He was engulfed in the love of Christ, and his text is full of this immersive imagery. “Underneath me, all around me is the current of Thy love”. Lifted out of the waves of pitiful sorrow into the ocean of Christ’s love, Samuel Francis was testifying to the truth that Paul wrote so long ago: “How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:18). Easily one of my all-time top 10, this vivid hymn helps us all visualize the immensity of Christ’s love: overwhelming and free, submerging us in the depths of his tender heart.
This hymn is aided by the depth of sound from the organ, a glorious instrument with a troubled history in the protestant church. Unfortunately, In the modern American church, many leaders have dismissed the organ and its symphonic array of possibilities, replacing it instead with expensive sound systems. However, I just want to say how grateful I am for the organ at CPC. And, the capable players we have in our congregation. What a gift it is to us! And, kids, if you’ve ever wondered what’s going on behind that big wooden block, watch the video below to see both hands and feet working together. What a workout!
Sheet music: http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/97624
Suggested recording for singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXjksN-Fn18
Link to Organ version(showing both hands and feet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdkv_QptY3E
Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing (#384)
Text: John Fawcett, 1773 Tune: Sicilian Mariners, anonymous folk song, 18th cent.
This hymn of corporate benediction is new to us. The words were written by a Baptist pastor who dedicated his entire ministry to a village church in rural England. Because of its standard meter, the text has been set to numerous tunes. In our Trinity hymnal it is paired nicely with an old Italian sailor’s song. It is fitting that, having just consumed the “living water” in our supper, we would then ask the Lord’s continued blessings on our journey. May you, Christian, have the strength this week to not just drift with the tide, but swim upstream, die to self, and rediscover new life in the process.
Link to sheet music: http://www.hymnary.org/page/fetch/GG2013/696/high
Link to accompaniment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoYBiYJWY9A
Compiled by Ross Hauck, Music Director