Archive for September 2011
Above: Sunset
Image Source = Geraldbrowne
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knysnasunset.jpg)
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), an English priest
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962)
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1. The hours of the day are over,
The evening calls us home;
Once more to Thee, O Father,
With thankful hearts we come.
For all Thy countless blessings
We praise Thy holy Name,
And own Thy love unchanging,
Through days and years the same.
2. For this, O Lord, we bless Thee,
For this we thank Thee most:
The cleansing of the sinful,
The saving of the lost,
The Teacher ever present,
The Friend for ever nigh,
The home prepared by Jesus
For us above the sky.
3. Lord, gather all Thy children
To meet Thee there at last,
Where earthly tasks are ended,
And earthly days are past;
With all our dear ones round us
In that eternal home,
Where death shall no more part us,
And night shall never come.
Above: A Church Building and the Adjacent Graveyard
Image Source = Wikipedia
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), an English priest
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962)
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1. Now the laborer’s task is o’er;
Now the battleday is past;
Now upon the farther shore
Lands the voyager at last.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
2. There the tears of earth are dried,
There its hidden things are clear,
There the work of life is tried
By a juster Judge than here.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
3. There the ransomed souls, that turn
To the Cross their dying eyes,
All the love of Christ shall learn
At His Feet in Paradise.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
4. “Earth to earth, and dust to dust,”
Calmly now the words we say,
Left behind we wait in trust
Till the Resurrection day.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
At sea the following should be sung instead of the last stanza:
5. Laid in ocean’s quiet bed,
Calmly now the words we say,
“Till the sea gives up her dead;”
Till the Resurrection day.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
Above: Funeral Procession
Image Source = Wikipedia
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), an English priest
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962)
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1. God of the living, in Whose eyes
Unveiled Thy whole creation lies,
All souls are Thine; we must not say
That those are dead who pass away,
From this our world of flesh set free;
We know them living unto Thee.
2. Released from earthly toil and strife,
With Thee is hidden still their life;
Thine are their thoughts, their works, their powers,
All Thine, and yet most truly ours;
For well we know, where’er they be,
Our dead are living unto Thee.
3. Not split like water on the ground,
Not wrapped in dreamless sleep profound,
Not wandering in unknown despair,
Beyond Thy voice, Thine arm, Thy care;
Not left to lie like fallen tree;
Not dead, but living unto Thee.
4. Thy Word is true, Thy will is just;
To Thee we leave them, Lord, in trust,
And bless Thee for the love which gave
Thy Son to fill a human grave,
That none might fear the world to see
Where all are living unto Thee.
5. O Breather into man of breath,
O Holder of the keys of death,
O giver of the life within,
Save us from death, the death of sin;
That body, soul, and spirit be
For ever living unto Thee!
Above: Sunset
Image Source = Chad Teer
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sunset_in_Coquitlam.jpg)
Words by John Ellerton, an English priest
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962)
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1. O Strength and Stay upholding all creation,
Who ever dost Thyself unmoved abide,
Yet day by day the light in due gradation
From hour to hour through all its changes guide;
2. Grant to life’s day a calm unclouded ending,
An eve untouched by shadows of decay,
The brightness of a holy death-bed blending
With dawning glories of the eternal day.
3. Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving,
Through Jesus Christ, Thy co-eternal Word,
Who, with the Holy Ghost, by all things living,
Now and to endless ages art adored.
Above: St. Julian’s Episcopal Church, Douglasville, Georgia, September 12, 2010
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StJulianSDouglasville#5516164870436850450)
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), an English priest
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962)
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1. This is the day of light:
Let there be light today;
O Dayspring, rise upon our night,
And chase its gloom away.
2. This is the day of rest:
Our failing strength renew:
On weary brain and troubled breast
Shed Thou Thy fresh’ning dew.
3. This is the day of peace:
Thy peace our spirits fill;
Bid Thou all ill and discord cease,
The waves of strife be still.
4. This is the first of days:
Send forth Thy quickening breath,
And wake dead souls to love and praise,
O Vanquisher of death!
Above: St. Matthias Episcopal Church, Toccoa, Georgia, May 15, 2011
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StMatthiasToccoa#5607407785186512898)
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), an English priest
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962)
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1. Shine Thou upon us, Lord,
True light of men, today,
And through the written Word
Thy very self display;
That so from hearts which burn
With gazing on Thy face,
Thy little ones may learn
The wonders of Thy grace.
2. Breathe Thou upon us, Lord,
Thy Spirit’s living flame,
That so with one accord
Our lips may tell Thy Name;
Give Thou the hearing ear,
Fix Thou the wandering thought,
That those we teach may hear
The great things Thou has wrought.
3. Speak Thou for us, O Lord,
In all we say of Thee;
According to Thy Word
Let all our teaching be;
That so Thy lambs may know
Their own true Shepherd’s voice,
Where’er He leads them go,
And in His love rejoice.
4. Live Thou within us, Lord;
Thy mind and will be ours;
Be Thou beloved, adored,
And served with all our powers;
That so our lives may teach
Thy children what Thou art,
And plead, by more than speech,
For Thee with every heart.
Above: St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, Good Friday, 2011
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StDunstanSGoodFriday#5598532719721683490)
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church of England
Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America
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1. Throned upon the awful tree,
King of grief, I watch with Thee;
Darkness veils Thine anguished face,
None its lines of woe can trace,
None can tell what pangs unknown
Hold Thee silent and alone.
2. Silent through those three dread hours,
Wrestling with the evil powers,
Left alone with human sin,
Gloom around Thee and within,
Till the appointed time is nigh,
Till the Lamb of God may die.
3. Hark that cry that peels aloud
Upward through the whelming cloud!
Thou, the Father’s Only Son,
Thou, His own Anointed One,
Thou dost ask Him–can it be?
“Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
4. Lord, should fear and anguish roll
Darkly o’er my sinful soul,
Thou, Who once was thus bereft
That Thine own might ne’er be left–
Teach me by that bitter cry
In the gloom to know Thee nigh.
Above: Church of the Good Shepherd, Covington, Georgia, August 28, 2011
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/ChurchOfTheGoodShepherd#5646011760934580018)
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church of England
Hymn Source = Hymnbook for Christian Worship (1970), of the American Baptist Convention and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
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1. Behold us, Lord, a little space
From daily tasks set free,
And meet within thy holy place
To rest awhile with thee.
2. Around us rolls the ceaseless tide
Of business, toil, and care,
And scarcely can we turn aside
For one brief hour of prayer.
3. Yet these are not the only walls
Wherein thou mayst be sought:
On homeliest work thy blessing falls,
In truth and patience wrought.
4. Thine are the loom, the forge, the mart,
The wealth of land and sea,
The worlds of science and of art,
Revealed and ruled by thee.
5. Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought
As thou wouldst have it done;
And prayer, by thee inspired and taught,
Itself with work be one.
Above: St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, October 31, 2010
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/BishopWhitmoreVisitsStGregorySAthens#5534764452986299618)
Words by John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church and England, and a writer and translator of hymns
Hymn Source = Hymnbook for Christian Worship (1970), of the American Baptist Convention and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
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1. Savior, again to thy dear name we raise
With one accord our parting hymn of praise;
We stand to bless thee ere our worship cease,
Then, lowly kneeling, wait thy word of peace.
2. Grant us thy peace upon our homeward way;
With thee began, with thee shall end the day;
Guard thou the lips from sin, the hearts to shame,
That in this house have called upon thy name.
3. Grant us thy peace, Lord, through the coming night;
Turn thou for us its darkness into light;
From Harm and danger keep thy children free,
For dark and light are both alike to thee.
4. Grant us thy peace throughout our earthly life,
Our balm in sorrow, and our stay in strife;
Then, when thy voice shall bid our conflict cease,
Call us, O Lord, thine eternal peace.
GATHERED PRAYERS 
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