Hymns

Come Thou Fount

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Not as the result of works so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Maybe the reason this now ancient hymn strikes a chord in my heart is that the tumultuous life of young Robert Robertson was a lot like my own. Wandering far from the fold of God, was an understatement in both our lives. But into the middle of my mess, and on a collision course with disaster, God intervened, when someone offered me a ride while hitchhiking if I would just go to church. In Robert’s case, he and some ne’er-do-well friends, made plans to go to laugh and mock at a meeting where the famous evangelist George Whitefield was speaking. God must have chuckled, because there Robertson fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit under Whitefield’s preaching, and not long afterward, committed His life to Jesu Christ. Then, just two years later, at the age of 22, the wonderful lyrics, of Come Thou Fount were born as Robert wrote:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to me
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering soul to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart O take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

That great debt of grace, only paid by the precious blood of Jesus is what binds us in love to Him forever, if we give our hearts to Jesus Christ. I pray that our simple rendering of this wonderful hymn, will be a blessing to you all this Sunday. Have a wonderful Sunday, and may you find rest and peace in His grace.

Higher Ground

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 
Philippians 1:23 ESV

About ten years ago, I used to pay a weekly visit to an elderly couple from our church, who were no longer able to come to the Sunday services. Since they enjoyed singing, so I would always bring my guitar. Though their apartment was small, they made room for a cage where they kept two little parakeets, and the highlight of our singing sessions was when those two parakeets joined in. During the slower hymns, they would tweet to each other and dance on their perch, but whenever we sang the hymn, “I’ll Fly Away” they got so excited that they flew right out of the open cage door and sat up above the kitchen cabinets, where they joyfully tweeted with all their might!

That memory from years ago came back to me yesterday with the passing of yet another dear friend into the presence of Jesus. It reminded me that while we are here on earth, we are in a body that like the bird cage is not our permanent home. We can sing and praise the Lord the best we can from our low perch, but at the time that God chooses we have an appointment to keep with Jesus. Because of His death and resurrection, our cage door has been opened and when we hear His voice, we will spread our own wings and fly up and away. There He has prepared a high and heavenly new perch from which we be able to sing a hymn of praise forever – on that highest ground of all!

When Morning Comes

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Matthew 27:59-60 ESV

For the followers of Jesus, the darkest night of their lives began as Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross. Though Jesus Himself had told them on many occasions that He was to die, few really heard Him. Now, seeing His limp body being rolled in a linen shroud and placed in a tomb, the reality came crashing down like an avalanche burying their hopes and dreams. After the shouts, curses and screams they had heard on Friday as Jesus along with two thieves were crucified, Saturday passed in silence and rest. Wondering what they would do next, Mary Magdalene and some of the women determined that at least they could bring more spices on the first day of the week to give honor and dignity to the dead according to their customs. But when they got to the tomb, nothing was as they imagined. The stone had been rolled away, and an angel greeted them with the astonishing news. “He is not here! He has risen!” That first Easter message reminds me of the song, “When Morning Comes” often called, “Bye and Bye”

" Oft our cherished plans have failed
disappointments have prevailed
And we've wandered in the darkness
heavyhearted and alone
But we're trusting in the Lord
and according to His Word
We will understand it better by and by"
When Morning Comes by Charles A. Tindley 1905

Maybe you are in a place this morning when your own cherished plans have failed. You feel as if you are sitting alone in the dark. The good news for you is that, just as Jesus broke through the darkness on that first Easter morning, He will break through the darkness of anyone who will come seeking Him. He is not dead. He is alive and able to help us, restore our hopes and teach us how to live for Him today!