Sunday Worship at Home
Bethel UMC Columbia | Rev. Julie Songer Belman
August 16, 2020
Preparation: Find a spot in your home for yourself/your family to engage in worship. Include your Bible, a candle, and a lighter or matches (or battery operated candle or low wattage table lamp), if possible. You might consider a small cross as well.
Welcome: Thank you for joining us! We pray you will be blessed by your time of worship with us today.
Prelude: “Trumpet Tune” by Giamanco
While Bill plays the prelude, we invite you to light or turn on the candle/lamp to acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit in your worship. Take a deep breath and give thanks for God’s presence.
Offertory: “Prayer” by Beethoven
Your continued support of God’s ongoing work at Bethel UMC is sincerely appreciated. Contributions to the mission of Bethel {Knowing, Loving, Serving: so the world may experience Christ’s Love!} may be made by mailing a check to 4600 Daniel Drive, Columbia SC 29206, or giving online at: bethelmethodistcolumbia.com. You may also contact your bank to have them draft a check on your behalf.
Pastoral Prayer: Please join with Pastor Reggie as he prays today. Pray for yourself, your family, your church community, your city, your state, your country, our world. Pray for the global health situation, particularly for those who are sick, those who are lonely, those who are gripped by fear, those who are facing financial hardship, those without safe shelter, those who are hungry, our healthcare workers, our leaders in every realm. Give thanks, once again, for God’s faithfulness and seek God’s guidance for ways to offer love and grace in the world right now.
The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Anthem: “Come Down, Lord” by Pethel Enjoy this beautiful piece sung by our Bethel Choir.
Scripture: This is week three on our year long journey through the Gospel of Mark.
Today Pastor Julie is preaching on Mark 1:16-20.
We invite you to open your Bibles (or the Bible app on your phone!) at home and read along.
Sermon: “Are You All In?” Rev. Julie Songer Belman
Hymn Meditation: “I Am Thine, O Lord” Text by Fanny Crosby and Music by William Doane
(Thank you to Marian Scullion for providing our weekly Hymn Meditations!)
Two people collaborated to write “I Am Thine, O Lord” – a song that quickly became a favorite in Christian circles, and remains so in many places today. Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) wrote the words and William Doane (1832-1915) composed the music.
Doane was a successful businessman who served as the president of a Cincinnati company that produced woodworking machines. He also held a number of patents for the machines that they produced. While he enjoyed his business, Doane enjoyed Christian music even more. During his lifetime, he composed the music for hundreds of hymns, and edited a number of hymn collections.
Crosby’s story was even more dramatic. Blinded in infancy, she had the good fortune to have a grandmother and a caretaker who dedicated themselves to helping her memorize the Bible. They assigned weekly goals for memorization, and drilled Crosby to help her reach those goals. As an adult, Crosby tapped that rich reservoir of memorized Bible verses to write her hymns.
“I Am Thine, O Lord” grew out of a conversation that Crosby had with Doane while visiting his home. They were talking about the nearness of God when Crosby was seized by inspiration. Soon she was reciting the verses and choruses – very much as we find them in hymnals today. Doane set her words to music, and the song that they produced has blessed generations of Christians. Like so many of Crosby’s hymns, “I Am Thine, O Lord” is written in the first person – a personal testimony of her relationship with Christ.
Stanza one begins with a total surrender to Christ, “I am thine, O Lord,” and the desire to “be closer drawn to thee.”
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
The second stanza appropriately draws upon the closeness of this relationship as an impetus of service: “Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine.”
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
Stanza three defines the relationship further as one forged in prayer: “When I kneel in prayer, and with thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend!”
Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
In the final stanza, Crosby acknowledges that her relationship will not be complete until she reaches heaven (“cross the narrow sea”) and then she will find “rest in peace with thee.”
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
The refrain is the theological hub around which the spokes of the stanzas all connect: “Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side.”
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Material for the hymn meditation comes from both Dr. Hawn’s UMC Discipleship Ministries History of Hymns article (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-i-am-thine-o-lord) and Richard Niell Donovan’s Sermon Writer Hymn Story article (https://sermonwriter.com/hymns/hymn-stories/thine-o-lord/).
Benediction: Say these words aloud:
God has called us by name
And promises to be with us always.
Let us enter this week in peace,
And know that God goes with us! AMEN.
Go in Peace: Check on someone you love today.