To God be the Glory, Great things He hath done!
So loved he the world that He gave us His SON,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in.
Great things He had taught us,
Great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son,
But purer, and higher, and greater will be,
Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
And give HIM the glory, great things He hath done!
Credits to--
Fanny Jane Crosby, 1875 and William Howard Doane, 1875
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
This Lovely Winter Weather
FYI...SERVICES FOR FEBRUARY 6TH ARE CANCELED...!
Communion will be on the 13th as well as "Soup for Crosslines". Following the Worship Service on the 13th with be the youth program with the congregation invited. "Hotdogs and Hugs". This sounds interesting...ya'll better come and see just what is goin' on...!
Communion will be on the 13th as well as "Soup for Crosslines". Following the Worship Service on the 13th with be the youth program with the congregation invited. "Hotdogs and Hugs". This sounds interesting...ya'll better come and see just what is goin' on...!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
February 2nd-The day after
Today is the "day after" the blizzard. Have you noticed how clean everything looks? All the dead leaves are covered and it is as if they were gone forever---"whiter than snow". Remember the passage from Isaiah, 1:18 ?? "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow." This is a wonderul reminder of the work Christ accomplished-fulfilled on the cross. The beauty of this snowfall is apparent everywhere we look. Everything is covered with a blanket of glittering snow. Only after our lives continue and we go about our daily routines do we see the blackened areas where the snow has been grated and is piled high. But God has given us a reminder (and in Missouri it is usually every winter) --a snow that covers everything! How often we forget.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sing to the Lord a new song...
This past Sunday was Presbyterian Heritage Sunday. The following is a reprint from our bulletin...
For most Protestants, singing praises to God has taken the form of psalms or hymns. Early Presbyterian governing bodies in America left the decision of what to sing up to individual congregations. As a result, Presbyterian churches across the young United Sttes used a variet of psalters and hymnals in their worship.
Early Presbyterian governing bodies overtrned all efforts to form a sanctioned hymnal commitee, but in 1918 the PCUSA General Assembly finally granted approval. After much work and several revisions, Psalms and Hymns Adapted to the Public Worship became the first official American Presbterian hyumnal in 1831. Other Presbyterian denominations continued to sing only psalms.
As musical tastes and worship practices changed, new hymnals and collections of sacred songs were compiled and used, providing Presbyterians with a rich heritage of ways to "sing to the Lord a new song." (Psalms 96:1)
The order of service for October 31 was based on John Calvin's liturgy of 1545, (although Rodney assured us that his sermon would not be as long as John Calvin's which was about 2 hours long!)
We had BAGPIPES on Sunday! It was wonderful.
The sermon was from Habakkuk: 1:1-4 and 2:1-4 and Luke 19:1-10.
The words from Habakkuk could have come from any of us...
"O Lord, how long shall I cry and You will not hear?
But God answers the tough questions. He invites us to probe and ask about things that trouble us. The book of Habakkuk ends with a wonderful prayer, full of hope, trust and reliance--
"...yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
"The LORD GOD is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills."
For most Protestants, singing praises to God has taken the form of psalms or hymns. Early Presbyterian governing bodies in America left the decision of what to sing up to individual congregations. As a result, Presbyterian churches across the young United Sttes used a variet of psalters and hymnals in their worship.
Early Presbyterian governing bodies overtrned all efforts to form a sanctioned hymnal commitee, but in 1918 the PCUSA General Assembly finally granted approval. After much work and several revisions, Psalms and Hymns Adapted to the Public Worship became the first official American Presbterian hyumnal in 1831. Other Presbyterian denominations continued to sing only psalms.
As musical tastes and worship practices changed, new hymnals and collections of sacred songs were compiled and used, providing Presbyterians with a rich heritage of ways to "sing to the Lord a new song." (Psalms 96:1)
The order of service for October 31 was based on John Calvin's liturgy of 1545, (although Rodney assured us that his sermon would not be as long as John Calvin's which was about 2 hours long!)
We had BAGPIPES on Sunday! It was wonderful.
The sermon was from Habakkuk: 1:1-4 and 2:1-4 and Luke 19:1-10.
The words from Habakkuk could have come from any of us...
"O Lord, how long shall I cry and You will not hear?
But God answers the tough questions. He invites us to probe and ask about things that trouble us. The book of Habakkuk ends with a wonderful prayer, full of hope, trust and reliance--
"...yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
"The LORD GOD is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills."
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
...........................Part of something bigger
On the table in the elevator entrance to the sanctuary, is a literature table. I picked up a new booklet this past Sunday that I hadn't seen before. Maybe I hadn't taken time to look at that table, but this particular booklet caught my eye. It was a copy of PRESBYTERIANSTODAY.
A bright red banner across the top read, "SPECIAL ISSUE: An introduction to all things Presbyterian".
There's a lot of "good stuff" in this magazine. But as I was reading one article, I thought, "Wow. Maybe we've had a part in this mission." There is an article entitled "Where in the world are Presbyterians?" It is about a mission in Africa. They are part of the fair-trade project.
Do you suppose that maybe, just maybe, we have purchased items in our store in Joplin, Missouri, that have helped farmers and families in Cameroon, Africa? Dried fruit from an Cameroon grower..sounds "sweet" to me..!
A bright red banner across the top read, "SPECIAL ISSUE: An introduction to all things Presbyterian".
There's a lot of "good stuff" in this magazine. But as I was reading one article, I thought, "Wow. Maybe we've had a part in this mission." There is an article entitled "Where in the world are Presbyterians?" It is about a mission in Africa. They are part of the fair-trade project.
Do you suppose that maybe, just maybe, we have purchased items in our store in Joplin, Missouri, that have helped farmers and families in Cameroon, Africa? Dried fruit from an Cameroon grower..sounds "sweet" to me..!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
..................................Thoughts from the past
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN..
HEALTHY things GROW.
GROWING things CHANGE,
CHANGE CHALLENGES us,
CHALLENGE forces us to TRUST God,
TRUST leads to OBEDIENCE,
OBEDIENCE makes us HEALTHY...
HEALTHY THINGS GROW!
In going through some past "note-taking", I ran across words from Rev Jim Logan from a past Wee Kirk session. Maybe you will find this as thought provoking as I have.
HEALTHY things GROW.
GROWING things CHANGE,
CHANGE CHALLENGES us,
CHALLENGE forces us to TRUST God,
TRUST leads to OBEDIENCE,
OBEDIENCE makes us HEALTHY...
HEALTHY THINGS GROW!
In going through some past "note-taking", I ran across words from Rev Jim Logan from a past Wee Kirk session. Maybe you will find this as thought provoking as I have.
Friday, September 3, 2010
September Events..!
September 5th...Labor Day Sunday
... Communion
... New Members welcomed into our church
... Infant Baptism
... Ordinatin of Deacon -- Delbert Swift
... Light Lunch Furnished to welcome new members and officer
What a busy day at Bethany! All of these activities are wonderful happenings in the life of a church, but Infant Baptism...fantastic. This signifies that the parents are wanting this baby, who is dependent on everyone else to see to his needs...the parents are wanting this child to be raised in the nurture and admonition of Christ.
It also comes with responsibilities to the members of the Church. In the baptismal litergy we, as a congregation, promise to pray for this child, to provide Christian education for this child, to live as good role models for this child--among other things. We also need to pray for this entire family as unit that we can provide spiritual support to the entire family at all times.
A former pastor once said "A child crying in the worship service doesn't bother me. That is the sound of the Church growing."
Come an join in an important day in the life of this family and the life of our church.
... Communion
... New Members welcomed into our church
... Infant Baptism
... Ordinatin of Deacon -- Delbert Swift
... Light Lunch Furnished to welcome new members and officer
What a busy day at Bethany! All of these activities are wonderful happenings in the life of a church, but Infant Baptism...fantastic. This signifies that the parents are wanting this baby, who is dependent on everyone else to see to his needs...the parents are wanting this child to be raised in the nurture and admonition of Christ.
It also comes with responsibilities to the members of the Church. In the baptismal litergy we, as a congregation, promise to pray for this child, to provide Christian education for this child, to live as good role models for this child--among other things. We also need to pray for this entire family as unit that we can provide spiritual support to the entire family at all times.
A former pastor once said "A child crying in the worship service doesn't bother me. That is the sound of the Church growing."
Come an join in an important day in the life of this family and the life of our church.
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