Hymns

More Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
 When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends. James 1:2 J. B. Phillips

All of us want grace, yet few of us enjoy experiencing the desperate need that drives us to ask God for it. I rarely stray from the more literal translations, but I loved the way that J. B. Phillips captures for us the essence of the message the apostle James in this passage. I have discovered that finding grace is often not simply about either thanking God for blessings or enduring difficulty, but it is about the way with which I greet them. Lately the lyrics of “He Giveth More Grace”, written by Annie Johnson Flint, more than a century ago, have been playing on a constant loop within my heart. Though Annie was a brilliant and God-fearing woman, her life was filled with difficulties right from the start. When Annie was just three, her mother passed away while giving birth. Then a few years later, her father also died, though not before giving her up for adoption to a young Christian couple who were friends of the family. Annie came to faith in Christ early in life, and things were looking up as she went on to begin a career as a teacher. But an early onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis, brought suffering into her universe and her adopted family sent Annie, her sister and some cousins on a trip to Switzerland, in hopes that the climate might do her good. Yet after a brief and blessed time of rejuvenation and strength, Annie came down with a fever and was diagnosed with Typhoid. Though she did ultimately recover, the disease left its toll. Yet, in spite of these fiery trials, rather than her experiences leaving Annie feeling defeated, it was during this time that she, began to write the words to today’s hymn:

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greatest
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase
To added affliction He addeth His mercies
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace!

His love has no limit
His grace has no measure
His power has no boundaries
Known unto men
And out of His infinite
Riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth
And giveth again!

Like the Apostle James, Annie had learned that the trials, which came her way, instead of being harbingers of failure, were actually friends, bringing with them God’s unending grace and strength. I do hope you will enjoy our rendition of this hymn. My friends at Watermark Assisted Living know more of what it means to lean on God’s grace than most of us and it was a real blessing getting to sing it with them.

The Solid Rock

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV

Back in 1976, I worked for a company in charge of tree trimming for Connecticut Light and Power. Though by then I had a few years of experience clearing the right-of-way, nothing prepared me for the devastation of Hurricane Belle. Huge oaks, ancient maples and towering pine trees were snapped off or uprooted and on top of the power lines for our entire region. Over the following week we would often drive our trucks into neighborhoods that had been without power for days where the people would come out and cheer, as if we were conquering heroes. But if they could have read our minds, they would have heard thoughts like, “What in the world are we going to do?” or ” How are we going to get this done without getting hurt?” We were facing a huge challenge, but Joshua was coming up against the even more overwhelming task of leading the people of Israel, into a battle of conquest for the land that God had promised them. Unknown enemies lay ahead, and the tombs of those who had disobeyed God in the wilderness lay behind. Now that Moses was dead Joshua was in charge, and maybe like me, he wondered what to do. He recalled that Moses had met God at the burning bush and spent forty days in the cloud of glory receiving the ten commandments, but all Joshua had done was to watch from a distance. How would he be able to do what God was asking of Him?

Sometimes I try to encourage people facing major challenges by saying, “God knows what you are going through.”; but while that is true, it misses the most important point. The reality, for those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus, is that God not only knows, what we are going through, but that He has planned for every step of our journey. Our real hope: is not that we can handle what lies ahead, but that God has promised to be with us and on that solid rock of God’s promise, we can be courageous, no matter what comes our way!

He Set Me Free

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 ESV

Besides when we get to sing with our family in church, my personal favorite times are on Thursday mornings with my friends in memory care. Some people don’t come and visit, because they think that having a normal conversation is hopeless. While that may be true for some, a great many of the residents really enjoy my little stories laced in between the songs. It did my heart good today to hear their laughter as I related a memory of times when I was asked to pick up men who were being released from prison. I told them that whether these fellows had just spent a night cooling off after a fight, or had finished serving a lengthy sentence, none of them ever asked me to take them back! Their gleeful enjoyment of those first hours of freedom reminded me of today’s verse and the freedom that God gives us when He unlocks the jail cell of sin and opens the door into a life of true freedom through the grace of Jesus Christ. I hope you will enjoy our little rendition of the old hymn, He Set Me Free!