06/12/10: Logan's Worship Blog

Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson)

Deuteronomy 8:7

⁷ For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills

hymn story:

Turning to the young Robert Robinson, the bleary-eyed gipsy fortune-teller pointed a quivering finger and said, “And you, young man, you will live to see your children and your grandchildren.”

Robert Robinson suddenly paled and said, “You’re right. She’s too drunk to know what she’s saying. Leave her alone. Let’s go.”

But her words haunted him the rest of the day. “If I’m going to live to see my children and grandchildren,” he thought, “I’ll have to change my way of living.”

That very night, half in fun and half seriously, he took his gang to an open air revival service nearby where the famous evangelist, George Whitfield, was preaching. “We’ll go down and laugh at the poor deluded Methodist,” he explained

Two years and seven months after hearing that sermon, twenty-year-old Robert Robinson made his peace with God, and “found full and free forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.”

Joining the Methodists, and feeling the call to preach, the self-taught Robinson was appointed by John Wesley to the Calvinist Methodist Chapel, Norfolk, England. And there, for the celebration of Pentecost (Whitsunday), in 1858, three years after his marvelous conversion, he penned his spiritual autobiography in the words of this hymn.

Amazing Grace (John Newton)

Ephesians 2:8

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his insubordination. He was pressed into the Royal Navy and became a sailor, eventually participating in the slave trade. One night a terrible storm battered his vessel so severely that he became frightened enough to call out to God for mercy, a moment that marked the beginning of his spiritual conversion. His career in slave trading lasted a few years more until he quit going to sea altogether and began studying theology.

Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It is unknown if there was any music accompanying the verses, and it may have been chanted by the congregation without music. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies, but in 1835 it was joined to a tune named "New Britain" to which it is most frequently sung today.

You are Love (myself)

The first verse of this song asks how we can love God more. The second asks God to help us love others as ourselves. In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus tells us that these two commandments should be at the forefront of our hearts:

The Greatest Commandment

³⁴Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Yet there is one more category of Divine Love that many of us push to the back burner, and that's God's Love for us. 1 John 4:19 tells us that "We love because He first loved us." Thus, it is impossible to love God and love our neighbor until we fully embrace God's Love for us, despite our sinful nature. God is love and Christ is in us. That's why we sing in the bridge:

"You are a part of us

Never apart from us

We are Loved

We are Loved"

Bread of Life (yours truly)

John 6:35

³⁵Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

As we broke bread for the Lord's supper this Sunday, we worshipped to these lyrics:

Break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

as you broke the bread, o Lord

that day beside the sea

throughout your word i seek you Lord

my spirit longs for thee

so break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

bless your holy word, o Lord

bless your word to me

as you blessed the bread, o Lord

that day by galilee

then all my chains shall fall away

and i shall find my peace

so bless your holy word o Lord

bless your word to me

Bread of life

You are the bread of life

you became flesh, my righteousness

Jesus you are

Bread of life

You are the bread of life

you became flesh, my righteousness

Jesus you are

Nothing But Your Blood (Redman)

Ephesians 2:13 (New International Version)

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

As we passed the cup this Sunday, we worshipped to these lyrics:

Your blood speaks a better word
Than all the empty claims I've heard upon this earth
Speaks righteousness for me
And stands in my defense
Jesus it's Your blood

What can wash away our sins?
What can make us whole again?
Nothing but the blood
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can wash us pure as snow?
Welcomed as the friends of God
Nothing but Your blood
Nothing but Your blood King Jesus