Each week, you may find information here about the music in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas. Some of this information is original; most of it is copied from other websites such as Wikipedia, GBOD, and hymnary.org. It is my hope that this information will enhance your understanding and enrich your worship experience.
About the Organ Music:
Rejoice in God's Saints - David Cherwien
(c.1995, Augsburg Fortress)
Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) gave us a fresh hymn for All Saints’ Day. Rather than elevating saints to a realm beyond the earthly, Pratt Green, in the words of Carlton Young, “describes the importance of saints and how they interact with the world.” In contrast to the “great cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:2 that hover above us, Pratt Green brings these saints to our level: “A world without saints forgets how to praise.” Saints model for us the “habit of prayer” and a “depth of adoring” that we should “share.” The last half of the second stanza—“Some carry the gospel through fire and through flood / our world is their parish; their purpose is God”—is reminiscent of John Wesley’s famous declaration, “I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”
It was written for the six-hundredth anniversary celebration of [Julian of Norwich’s] Revelations of Divine Love (1373), commissioned by the Dean of Norwich Cathedral. British hymnal editor and composer John Wilson advised Pratt Green to explore the lives and influence of the saints beyond the cloistered life, showing how saints relate to common life.
An Englishman educated at Didsbury College in Manchester, Pratt Green was ordained in the Methodist ministry in 1928, serving circuits throughout the country between 1927 and 1969. During his ministry he wrote plays and hymns and published three collections of his poems. But it was not until his retirement that Pratt Green’s hymn writing blossomed, creating over 300 hymns. Generally considered to be the leader of the “hymnic explosion” that began in the 1960s, Pratt Green’s hymns appear more often than any other 20th-century hymn writer in English language hymnals published in North America.
Green’s approach to saints is in contrast to William Walsham How’s famous hymn, “For All the Saints” (UM Hymnal, No. 711), written more than 100 years earlier. How, echoing the conquests and colonization of the 19th century, drew heavily upon militaristic images of “faithful soldiers,” “victor’s crown,” “fierce strife” and “long warfare.” Images of “triumph,” “brave hearts” and “strong arms” in How’s text are replaced here with calls to prayer, patience and self-giving. Pratt Green offers an alternative to classical views of the saints that speaks to all of our experience.
LAUDATE DOMINUM (Latin words for the opening phrase of Psalm 150) comes from the end of the anthem "Hear My Words, O Ye People" by C. Hubert H. Parry, an anthem he composed in 1894 for a festival of the Salisbury Diocesan Choral Association. Parry's tune was set to Baker's text in the 1916 Supplement of Hymns Ancient and Modern, replacing an earlier LAUDATE DOMINUM by Henry J. Gauntlett for Baker's text. Parry's tune is an inspired melody from a great tune writer who rarely attended church but who produced some of the best hymn tunes in the later Victorian era.
Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days;
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer,
Their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share.
Some march with events to turn them God’s way;
Some need to withdraw, the better to pray,
Some carry the gospel through fire and through flood;
Our world is their parish; their purpose is God.
Rejoice in those saints, unpraised and unknown,
Who bear someone’s cross or shoulder their own.
They shame our complaining, our comforts, our cares;
What patience in caring, what courage, is theirs!
Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days;
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
In loving, in living, they prove it is true:
The way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you.
Dr. David Cherwien (b. 1957) is currently serving as Director of Music at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN, and in 2002 was appointed Music Director for the National Lutheran Choir, also based in the Twin Cities. He has also held full time parish music positions in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Chicago, Seattle, and Berlin. He completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance, and the Master of Arts degree in Theory and Composition, both from the University of Minnesota. His undergraduate work was in organ performance and music education at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, where he was honored as distinguished alumni in the fall of 2000.
Let us Break Bread Together - Dale Wood
(c.1974, Augsburg Publishing)
This spiritual was formed in the West African Gullah/Geechee slave culture that developed in the costal areas of South-Eastern colonial America, including St Helena Island, Beaufort, and Charleston, South Carolina. The text of the version that is commonly sung in the United States was first published in The Journal of American Folklore (1925). The Journal included spirituals, as well as African American folk tales and proverbs that were collected by students at the Penn School on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina. A second version appeared in Saint Helena Island Spirituals (1925) by Nicholas Ballanta, a very significant collection that included 103 Gullah spirituals.
Some of the stanzas of this African American spiritual may date back to the eighteenth century. Other stanzas have been added by oral tradition. A look through modern hymnals will reveal an array of variations on the text. The most notable alteration in the Psalter Hymnal is the phrase "to the Lord of life" in place of the original "to the rising sun," in which "rising sun" was a metaphor referring to the Son rising. The song's use at communion services probably dates from after the American Civil War. Miles Mark Fisher notes in Negro Slave Songs in the United States (1953): [Originally the hymn] relates hardly at all to holy communion, which does not necessarily require early morning administration or a devotee who faces east. It was a signal song of Virginia slaves during the eighteenth century who used it and similar ones to convene their secret meetings.
The text describes participation in the Lord's Supper as a humble act in which we not only eat the bread and drink the wine, but also praise our God "on our knees." The refrain ends with a prayer for mercy, an African-American Kyrie that reminds us of the tax collector's prayer in Luke 18:13.
African American composer John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) arranged the first solo version with the three stanzas that are common to most hymnals in the United States. He also established the precedent of singing the final stanza up the octave. This practice is observed in several hymnals including The United Methodist Hymnal. This version of the spiritual was popularized by notable African American soloists in the mid-twentieth century such as Paul Robeson, Roland Hayes, and Marian Anderson.
Let us break bread together on our knees, let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us drink wine together on our knees, let us drink wine together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us praise God together on our knees, let us praise God together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
Dale Wood (1934-2003) was born in Glendale, California, of Finnish-Polish parentage (his father's last name was Wojtkiewiecz, which immigration authorities shortened to Wood). Dale grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Franklin High School, where he was voted "most likely to succeed" in his class. Raised a Lutheran, his career as a composer was launched at age 13 when he won a national hymn-writing competition for the American Lutheran Church. His first choral anthem was accepted for publication one year later. His knowledge of music was immense, and his appreciation ran the gamut from classical to the Broadway stage. He admired composers from Leroy Anderson to Villa Lobos, and he was comfortably conversant with artists such as Marcel Dupré and many theatre organists. Although he attended Occidental College, he never received a college degree. In the words of his former wife, Gloria, "No, the boy didn't need any degree. He fell out of the nest with all he needed.” Dale began playing the organ in church at age 14, and he served as organist and choirmaster at Eden Lutheran Church in Riverside and The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco.
Wood published numerous articles on worship, liturgy, and church music and was a contributing editor to the Journal of Church Music for over a decade. He lectured and conducted choral festivals throughout the United States, Canada, and Northern Europe, and served as editorial consultant for several hymnals. He headed the publication committee of the Choristers Guild from 1970 to 1974. After serving as music director at the Grace Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco from 1973 to 1974, he was appointed executive editor for The Sacred Music Press, a position he held from 1975 to 1996. He served as editor emeritus of The Sacred Music Press from 1996 until 2001. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) honored Dale Wood annually from 1967 for his work. In April 1993 Dale was honored with the prestigious Exemplar Medallion from California Lutheran University for his "more than forty years of joyful service to the church and humanity through the inspiration of his music.” Hymns and canticles composed by Dale Wood are found in the Lutheran Book of Worship, Worship II (a Roman Catholic hymnal), Seventh Day Adventist Hymnal, The Presbyterian Hymnal, The United Methodist Hymnal, the Agape Hymnal Supplement, the Moravian Book of Worship, the Chalice Hymnal, and several hymnal supplements.
Wood's musical activities were not limited to sacred music. While still a college student, he entertained as organist at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles and appeared on television shows produced in Hollywood. In 1975 he was employed by the Royal Viking Line to entertain passengers on a 70-day cruise of the South Pacific and Orient. For many years Dale maintained his home and studio at The Sea Ranch, California, 115 miles north of San Francisco. It was here, amidst acres of redwood trees and gentle meadows on the rural and spectacular coastline of Northern California, that he composed most of his organ works, using a three-manual electronic theatre organ. Dale had a strong theatrical streak in him, and he maintained close ties with the American Theatre Organ Society. In his later years he collaborated with his partner, Ivan de la Garza, in designing the ATOS website.
Most of his pieces were conceived with a three-manual organ in mind but are readily adaptable to smaller instruments. He gave general suggestions for registrations, but he always trusted in the performer's own imagination ("The printed music is just a blueprint, and it is the performer's job to complete the project," he liked to say). His hymn arrangements were not all easy. Cautioned about a piece in six flats he planned to include in an upcoming volume, suggesting that some organists would find it overly challenging. He responded, "Well, then, they'll just need to practice!”
A Mighty Fortress - Vaclav Nelhybel
(c.1977, Agape)
Yesterday was Reformation Day, celebrating October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany). We celebrate with a postlude on “A Mighty Fortress”
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (“Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott”) is one of the best known of Martin Luther's hymns. Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. It has been translated into English at least seventy times and also into many other languages. The words are a paraphrase of Psalm 46. "A Mighty Fortress" is one of the best loved hymns of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions. It has been called the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation" for the effect it had in increasing the support for the Reformers' causeHeinrich Heine states that it was sung by Luther and his companions as they entered Worms on 16 April 1521 for the Diet.
The earliest extant hymnal in which it appears is that of Andrew Rauscher (1531), but it is supposed to have been in Joseph Klug's Wittenberg hymnal of 1529, of which no copy exists. Its title was “Der xxxxvi. Psalm. Deus noster refugium et virtus.” Before that it is supposed to have appeared in the Hans Weiss’ Wittenberg hymnal of 1528, also lost. This evidence would support its being written in 1527–1529, since Luther's hymns were printed shortly after they were written.
Tradition states that the third Protestant King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, had it played as his forces went to battle in the Thirty Years' War. The hymn had been translated into Swedish already in 1536, presumably by Olaus Petri, with the incipit, “Vår Gud är oss en väldig borg.” In the late 19th century the song also became an anthem of the early Swedish socialist movement.
It was first translated into English by Myles Coverdale in 1539 with the title, “Oure God is a defence and towre.” The first English translation in common usage was “God is our Refuge in Distress, Our strong Defence” in J.C. Jacobi's Psal. Ger. in 1722. The most popular English version is “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing” and was translated by Frederick H. Hedge in 1853.
The hymn's enduring popularity in Western Christendom has breached boundaries set in the Reformation as it is now a suggested hymn for Catholic Masses. It currently appears in the second edition of the Catholic Book of Worship, published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, though its adoption is not without controversy.
Luther composed the melody, named "Ein feste Burg" from the text's first line, in meter 87.87.55.56.7. This is sometimes denoted "rhythmic tune" to distinguish it from the later isometric variant, in 87.87.66.66.7 meter which is more widely known and used. In 1906 Edouard Rœhrich wrote, "The authentic form of this melody differs very much from that which one sings in most Protestant churches and figures in (Giacomo Meyerbeer's) The Huguenots. ... The original melody is extremely rhythmic, by the way it bends to all the nuances of the text ..." While 19th-century musicologists disputed Luther's authorship of the music to the hymn, that opinion has been modified by more recent research; it is now the consensus view of musical scholars that Luther did indeed compose the famous tune to go with the words.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing.
You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same;
and he must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever!
Václav Nelhýbel (1919-1996) was a Czech-American composer, who received his early musical training in Prague, going to both Charles University in Prague and Prague Conservatory. In 1942 he went to Switzerland, where he studied at University of Fribourg; after 1947 he taught there. In 1957 he came to the United States, where he taught at several schools, including Lowell State College. He served as composer-in-residence at University of Scranton for several years until his death. The university's Department of Performance Music continues to house his full collection of works.
Some of his music is for wind instruments or concert band, and most of his published music is designed for student performers. He used non-functional modal writing, pandiatonicism, and motor rhythms extensively.
Nelhýbel received numerous prizes and awards for his compositions, which include a prize at the International Music and Dance Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, for his ballet "In the Shadow of the Limetree". In 1954, he was also awarded the first prize of the Ravitch Foundation in New York for his opera A Legend, and in 1978 he won an award from the Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts. Four American universities honored him with honorary doctoral degrees in music. In addition to his works for winds, he wrote three ballets, three operas, a symphony, choral music, and a small number of works for organ.
About the Choral Music:
We Are Surrounded - Joseph Martin
(c.1997, Harold Flammer, div. of Shawnee Press)
Joseph Martin (b. 1959 ), a native of North Carolina, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Subsequently he earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas, Austin. Joseph taught for five years in the Piano Pedagogy Department of the University of Texas.. He is a member of the staff of Shawnee Press as Director of Sacred Publications, with responsibilities for overseeing the editorial and creative direction of the company’s sacred publications and also coordinating the recording and production aspects of future sacred publishing efforts. Joseph has performed solo piano recitals and has been the featured artist with symphony orchestras in the United States and Mexico. As winner of the Nina Plant Wideman Competition, he performed with the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. His solo recital in Ex-convento del Carmen was broadcast nationally throughout the country. Though he continues to perform in concert, he now devotes his efforts to playing in churches and for conferences of church musicians Recognized throughout the United States for his many choral compositions, over 1200 compositions are currently in print and the list continues to grow.
"We Are Surrounded (By a Great Cloud of Witnesses)" by Joseph Martin draws inspiration from Hebrews 12:1-3, inviting listeners to envision a great cloud of witnesses and saints encouraging them to persevere in faith, laying aside every hindrance and fixing their eyes on Jesus, with the assurance that, despite life’s challenges, we are never alone as we run the race set before us.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,
looking on, encouraging us to do the will of the Lord!
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
Let us stand worthy and be faithful to God’s call.
We must not grow weary doing what is right;
as we run with joy the race, we must run with all our might.
We must lay all earthly things aside that would hold us down.
We must claim the victory if we would win the crown.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,
looking on, encouraging us to do the will of the Lord.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
Let us stand worthy and be faithful of God’s call. Amen.
About the Hymns:
For All the Saints
“For All the Saints” is the quintessential hymn for All Saints’ Day, with its uplifting text and triumphant music. It was written as a processional hymn by the Anglican Bishop of Wakefield, William Walsham How (1823-1879). How was educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford (B.A. 1845). Taking Holy Orders in 1846, he became successively Curate of St. George's, Kidderminster, 1846; and of Holy Cross, Shrewsbury, 1848. In 1851, he moved to the Rectory of Whittington, Diocese of St. Asaph, becoming Rural Dean in 1853, and Hon. Canon of the Cathedral in 1860. In 1879. he was appointed Rector of St. Andrew's Undershaft, London, and was consecrated Suffragan Bishop for East London, under the title of the Bishop of Bedford, and in 1888 Bishop of Wakefield. In 1854, he published Psalms and Hymns, Compiled by the Rev. Thomas Baker Morrell, M.A., . . . and the Rev. William Walsham How, M.A. This was republished in an enlarged form in 1864, and to it was added a Supplement in 1867. To this collection Bishop How contributed several hymns, and also to the S. P. C. K. Church Hymns , of which he was joint editor, in 1871. Nearly 60 of Bishop How’s hymns are still in common use, the most popular of which are "For all the Saints who from their labors rest" and "We give Thee but Thine own”.
Originally in eleven stanzas, “For All the Saints” was published in Earl Nelson's Hymns for Saints' Days (1864) with the heading, "Saints' Day Hymn. A Cloud of Witnesses. Heb. 12:1." The hymn was sung to the melody Sarum, by the Victorian composer Joseph Barnby, until the publication of the English Hymnal in 1906. This hymnal used a new setting by Ralph Vaughan Williams which he called Sine Nomine (literally, "without name") in reference to its use on the Feast of All Saints, 1 November (or the first Sunday in November, All Saints Sunday). It has been described as "one of the finest hymn tunes of [the 20th] century."
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee: Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify. Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong. Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia, Alleluia!
For All the Saints (John Bell)
(c.1996, WGRG The Iona Community, admin GIA)
The hymn “For All the Saints,” written by John Bell (b. 1949) and Graham Maule (b. 1958), is part of the ever-expanding, modern-day hymnody coming from Bell and the Iona Community in Scotland. Bell describes the assumptions of his hymn writing as “Scottish, incarnational, and biblical.”
John Bell (b. 1949) was born in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, intending to be a music teacher when he felt the call to the ministry. But in frustration with his classes, he did volunteer work in a deprived neighborhood in London for a time and also served for two years as an associate pastor at the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam. After graduating he worked for five years as a youth pastor for the Church of Scotland, serving a large region that included about 500 churches. He then took a similar position with the Iona Community, and with his colleague Graham Maule, began to broaden the youth ministry to focus on renewal of the church’s worship. His approach soon turned to composing songs within the identifiable traditions of hymnody that began to address concerns missing from the current Scottish hymnal:
"I discovered that seldom did our hymns represent the plight of poor people to God.
There was nothing that dealt with unemployment, nothing that dealt with living in a
multicultural society and feeling disenfranchised. There was nothing about child
abuse…,that reflected concern for the developing world, nothing that helped see
ourselves as brothers and sisters to those who are suffering from poverty or persecution."
[from an interview in Reformed Worship (March 1993)]
That concern not only led to writing many songs, but increasingly to introducing them internationally in many conferences, while also gathering songs from around the world. He was convener for the fourth edition of the Church of Scotland’s Church Hymnary (2005), a very different collection from the previous 1973 edition. His books, The Singing Thing and The Singing Thing Too, as well as the many collections of songs and worship resources produced by John Bell—some together with other members of the Iona Community’s “Wild Goose Resource Group,” —are available in North America from GIA Publications.
O WALY WALY is a traditional English melody associated with the song "O Waly, Waly, gin love be bony," the words of which date back at least to Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany (1724-1732), and as the setting for a folk ballad about Jamie Douglas. It is also well known in the Appalachian region of the United States.
For all the saints who've shown your love in how they live and where they move,
for mindful women, caring men, accept our gratitude again
For all the saints who loved your name, whose faith increased the Savior's fame,
who sang your songs and share your word, accept our gratitude, good Lord.
For all the saints who named your will, and showed the kingdom coming still
through selfless protest, prayer, and praise, accept the gratitude we raise.
Bless all whose will or name or love Reflects the grace of heaven above.
Though unacclaimed by earthly powers, Your life through theirs has hallowed ours.
About the Congregational Responses:
Goodness of God - Jenn Johnson, Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, Ben Fielding, and Brian Johnson
(c.2018, Alletrop Music/Shout! Music Publishing Australia/Fellow Ships Music/So Essential Tunes/Bethel Music Publishing)
Jennifer "Jenn" Johnson (b.1982) is an American Christian worship singer, songwriter and worship pastor. She is a co-founding member of Bethel Music, and is one-half of the husband-and-wife worship duo Brian and Jenn Johnson. She is also a senior worship pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California, and a Senior Overseer of WorshipU, an online school of worship sponsored by Bethel.
The story behind Bethel Music's "Goodness of God" centers on Jenn Johnson's personal experience of adopting her fourth child, Ryder Moses.
Johnson related this story: “We had just gotten home from our adoption of our son, Ryder. He was a gift that we never saw coming. We have three kids already. We thought we were done having children. Brian and I were always open to adoption. But, out of the blue, we just felt like the Lord say to us, 'I have this for you if you want this--like a gift. I have a present for you." We knew adoption was the Lord's plan for us; to have a baby again when you've been out of baby season for eight years was such a blessing. Darlene Zschech, who had been with us, told us the translation of the verse 'Here I am, send me' from Isaiah 6:8 says, 'my answer is yes before you even ask.' I was so struck with that phrase. When we had the chance to adopt, I felt myself saying yes before I was even asked. Within the next year, we were matched up. And, we brought our new son home to our family. During the adoption process, I found myself driving on a long country road. I was just singing to the Lord when I recorded a song on my phone about the "faithfulness" and "kindness of God." I wrote and sang most of "Goodness of God" as an overflow of my heart at that moment. That led to finishing and recording this song with Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, and Ben Fielding.”
This unplanned recording session became the foundation for the song, which expresses gratitude for God's unwavering presence and goodness through life's challenges and joys.
I love You, Lord. For Your mercy never failed me.
All my days I've been held in Your hands.
From the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head,
Oh, I will sing Of the goodness of God.
And all my life You have been faithful;
And all my life You have been so, so good.
With every breath That I am able,
Oh, I will sing Of the goodness of God.
I love Your voice, You have led me through the fire.
And in darkest night You are close like no other.
I've known You as a Father; I’ve known You as a Friend.
And I have lived In the goodness of God, yeah.
'Cause Your goodness Is running after, It's running after me;
Your goodness is running after, It’s running after me.
With my life laid down, I’m surrendered now.
I give You everything, ’Cause Your goodness
Is running after, It’s running after me, oh.
May God Bless and Keep You - Jim Strathdee
(c.1994, Desert Flower Music)
Internationally known artists, Jim and Jean Strathdee sing with thousands of people each year as they offer their music in concerts, worship, conferences, reteats, and workshops. Most often they travel throughout the United States and Canada, but over the 40 year span of their ministry they have shared their music in India, New Zealand, Cuba, and Central America. Their music spans a diversity of sound and style and includes use of guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica, African drums, and Native American flute. They see music as an agent of transformation where ecumenical and inter-faith communities come together to make a stand for positive change. Jim and Jean have served on the staff of United Methodist churches in southern and northern California and Hawaii. They have written hundreds of hymns, songs, and anthems.
May God bless and keep you,
May God's loving face now shine on you and be gracious, gracious, Amen.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment