Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Greetings Redeemer Family!

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,

For the bliss Thy love bestows,

For the pardoning 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.

The weather change is starting to roll through, and Fall is definitely upon us.  Having just recently moved from Florida to Lynchburg, this is a renewed experience for me.  It was a little shocking to walk outside this week and feel that early autumn chill in the air.  It seems silly to say it, but the weather isn’t like it was last week.  It’s changing.  I’ve started to pull out my jeans and light sweaters and put away my flip flops.  By contrast, it’s still in the mid 80s with high humidity back in Orlando, and it’s probably going to stay that way for another month yet.  This new life is different from the one I’d become accustomed to.  And I like it!

An unexpected thing accompanied this seasonal change: the desire to talk about it.  Many of you are probably wondering why I’m starting the Worship Notes talking about something so banal as the weather.  The honest answer is: I can’t help it! I’m constantly amazed by it.  Every time I walk outside I’m surprised anew.  This consistent shock is always on my mind, and thus is one of the first things I find myself talking about.  And that is very analogous to our church’s current study of the woman at the well in John 4.  She had an encounter with Christ, and the immediate response to that encounter for the woman was to go and tell the other Samaritans about Jesus, and many believed (v. 39).

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim,

To spread through all the earth abroad

The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease;

‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears,

‘Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of reigning sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,

New life the dead receive,

The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,

The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Savior come,

And leap, ye lame, for joy.

As I looked over the text for this hymn, I was surprised to see a developed theme in the words of Charles Wesley I hadn’t noticed before.  The first stanza is a call to worship, stating that the worth of God is greater than can be expressed by the writer’s own voice; he would need a thousand tongues to begin to express God’s greatness.  The latter verses speak of the power of Christ for the deliverance of his people, and the singer in particular (“His blood availed for me”).  And this encounter with the saving work of God is immediately accompanied with a desire “to spread through all the earth abroad / the honors of Thy name.” This theme of being amazed by the power of God, and that amazement overflowing into testimony of His greatness causes me to think about what blocks that sense of amazement in my own life and heart.
I find at times that my lack of evangelistic zeal is connected with the “elder brother syndrome” that Marc Corbett preached about this past Sunday.  I become cold and familiar towards the blessings that God has placed in my life.  I get complacent about the work of grace that He continues in the present, and I underestimate the work that is still to be completed.  What was so personal and vibrant for the woman at the well can become something academic and distant for me.  In my cynicism, I brazenly assume that God is just as detached as I am. 

But this is not the end.  God is at work.  He will not leave us in our disconnected complacency.  He powerfully seeks His wayward and uninspired children in the workings of His grace, by His Spirit and His Church.  Our corporate worship each week is a potent opportunity to challenge that spiritual deadness.  A crucial part of our time together each week is to remind one another of the power of God’s kingdom renewal among us.  This restoration is a gift of the Sabbath that God provides His people.

Let the weak say I am strong,

let the poor say I am rich,

let the blind say I can see,

it’s what the Lord has done in me;

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain;

Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again;

Into the river I will wade,

there my sins are washed away;

from the heavens, mercy streams

of the Savior’s love for me;

I will rise from waters deep into the saving arms of God;

I will sing salvation songs;

Jesus Christ has set me free.

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain;

Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again;

As His renewed people, we are charged with a lofty mission in this time and place: to be the ordinary means by which the good news of the Kingdom goes out to the world.  The point of the Great Commission is not that we would come to a place of perfection and then sell others the secrets of our success.    Rather, the Great Commission is part of the discipleship process for the one who speaks as well as for the one who hears.  Christ calls us to share the good news that we would be reminded again of the news’ goodness.  As we see more and more our need for the Gospel, and as His power meets with our present wounds, our amazement at His work will overflow into celebratory exclamation to the waiting world around us.  The Kingdom is coming.  Christ is on the move.  Come, let us adore Him.

O Church, Arise, and put your armor on;

Hear the call of Christ our Captain.

For now the weak can say that they are strong

In the strength that God has given.

With shield of faith and belt of Truth

We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;

An army bold, whose battlecry is love,

Reaching out to those in darkness.

So Spirit come, put strength in ev’ry stride,

Give grace for ev’ry hurdle,

That we may run with faith to win the prize

Of a servant good and faithful.

As saints of old still line the way,

Retelling triumphs of His grace,

We hear their calls and hunger for the day

When with Christ we stand in glory.

Living in renewed awe of Christ our King,

Tim Sharpe

Worship Director