Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Greetings, Redeemer Family!

Throughout the month of October we will be highlighting the five “solas” of the protestant reformation in the early portion of our worship service. Though these five brief statements cannot serve as an accurate summation of the reformed faith, they do help us to keep focused on some of the essentials of our faith.

This week our focus is Sola Gratia –by grace alone

Our Call to Worship is Eph. 2:4-8a, a passage of Scripture which reminds us of our position in Christ- by grace alone.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…

We’ll also use a statement from the Cambridge Declaration as an affirmation that is is by grace alone that we have been saved.

Sola Gratia (Grace alone)
We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God’s wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life.

We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human method, techniques, or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature. from The Cambridge Declaration

One of the hymns we’ll sing this Sunday in Worship is a hymn of praise to the Lord for his saving grace. This hymn helps me to think about the ways that grace has invaded my life and heart- I pray it will be a similar blessing for you in this way. Here’s a brief study I’ve written on this hymn- perhaps spending some time with this text will help you to get ready for worship this Sunday

Lord, With Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee
Five years after he composed The Star Spangled Banner, lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key wrote the hymn Lord, With glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee. Key, an Episcopalian Sunday School teacher and later president of the American Sunday School Union. The hymn has been sung to a number of tunes through the last 175 years; in the Trinity Hymnal it is set to the familiar and singable tune RIPLEY which is also used for the hymn Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul. (Note that in this hymn tune, the first, second, and fourth lines of music are identical- this is by design, so that we can more fully concentrate on the text.)

1. Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee
for the bliss Thy love bestows,
For the pard’ning grace that saves me,
and the peace that from it flows.
Help, O God, my weak endeavor;
this dull soul to rapture raise:
Thou must light the flame or never
can my love be warmed to praise.

In the first verse we hear the petitions of a believer who wants to praise the Lord with all of his heart- to thank the Lord for the joy of his love and the peace that comes from grace. As we sing, we ask the Lord to help us to praise- his Spirit alone can light the flame of all-consuming praise.

2. Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,
wretched wand’rer far astray;
Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee
from the paths of death away.
Praise, with love’s devoutest feeling,
Him who saw thy guilt-born fear,
And, the light of hope revealing,
bade the blood-stained cross appear.

In verse two we sing of God’s work in bringing us to Christ. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) Here is a picture of one who is lost, wretched, and far from God- and who needs the intervention of the cross.

3. Praise thy Savior God that drew thee
to that cross, new life to give,
Held a blood-sealed pardon to thee,
bade thee look to him and live.
Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee,
roused thee from thy fatal ease;
Praise the grace whose promise warmed thee,
praise the grace that whispered peace.

Verse three sings of the blood of Christ and the power of grace in our lives. Here are wonderful things for us to meditate on: What are the ‘threats’ of grace? What are the ‘promises’ of grace?

How easily we can become caught in the ‘fatal ease’ of life without Christ. Praise the God who opened our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to believe the precious promises of the Gospel.

4.Lord, this bosom’s ardent feeling
vainly would my lips express:
Low before Thy footstool kneeling,
deign Thy suppliant’s pray’r to bless.
Let Thy love, my soul’s chief treasure,
love’s pure flame within me raise;
And, since words can never measure,
let my life show forth Thy praise.

Since verse 4 contains language which may be a bit obscure, I’m going to attempt to paraphrase it for you, without an attempt to retain the poetic form. (This can be a helpful tool for making hymns more meaningful, particularly for young children.)

4. Lord, the deep feelings of my heart
I try, but cannot put into words.
I come to You, kneeling in worship before You
and ask You to hear and answer my prayer:
May Your love, the most precious treasure of my soul,
Work in my heart so that my worship would be pure
And since talk is cheap
Let my life be a demonstration of worship.

Another hymn we will be singing is a contemporary prayer of adoration, inspired by a Puritan prayer from the book The Valley of Vision. ( Next to a good hymnal, I highly commend this book as one to keep with your Bible for your personal study and devotions.) Verse two speaks particularly to the way that grace invades our lives.

O Great God

O great God of highest heav’n,
occupy my lowly heart.
Own it all and reign supreme,
conquer every rebel pow’r.
Let no vice or sin remain
that resists Your holy war.
You have loved and purchased me,
make me Yours forevermore.

I was blinded by my sin,
had no ears to hear Your voice,
did not know Your love within,
had no taste for heaven’s joys.
Then Your Spirit gave me life,
opened up Your Word to me
through the Gospel of Your Son,
gave me endless hope and peace.

Help me now to live a life
that’s dependent on Your grace.
Keep my heart and guard my soul
from the evils that I face.
You are worthy to be praised
with my every thought and deed.
O great God of highest heav’n,
glorify Your Name through me.

©2006 Sovereign Grace Praise. Words and Music by Bob Kauflin.
Text based on The Valley of Vision prayer “Regeneration”

Mike will be preaching on II Kings 2:1-18 in a sermon titled “The Mantle.” Please read this portion of Scripture in preparation for our corporate worship.

And together, may we give thanks for the work of grace in our hearts.

John Bennetch

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John H. Bennetch
Director of Worship
Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Lynchburg, Virginia