Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Text (1893) by Somerset Corry Lowry (1855-1932)

Hymn Source = The Church Hymnary–Revised Edition (1927), Presbyterian

This hymn, originally entitled “For Unity,” debuted in the February 1894 issue of Goodwill then graced The Christian Social Union Hymnbook (1895).

Lowry wrote more than 60 hymns, but this text has become the most popular and enduring one.

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Son of God, eternal Saviour,

Source of life and truth and grace,

Son of Man, whose birth incarnate

Hallows all our human race;

Thou, our Head, who, throned in glory,

For Thine own dost ever plead,

Fill us with Thy love and pity,

Heal our wrongs and help our need.

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As Thou, Lord, hast lived for others,

So may we for others live;

Freely have Thy gifts been granted,

Freely may Thy servants give.

Thine the gold and Thine the silver,

Thine the wealth of land and sea,

We but stewards of Thy bounty,

Held in solemn trust for Thee.

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Come, O Christ, and reign among us,

King of love, and Prince of peace;

Hush the storm of strife and passion,

Bid its cruel discords cease.

Ah, the past is dark behind us,

Strewn with wrecks and stained with blood;

But before us gleams the vision

Of the coming brotherhood.

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See the Christlike host advancing,

High and lowly, great and small,

Linked in bonds of common service

For the common Lord of all.

Thou who prayedst, Thou who willest

That Thy people should be one,

Grant, O grant our hope’s fruition:

Here on earth Thy will be done.

Above:  A World Map from 1570

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1928) by Frank Mason North (1850-1935)

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal (1935), Methodist Episcopal Church; Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and Methodist Protestant Church

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O Master of the waking world,

Who hast the nations in Thy heart–

The heart that bled and broke to send

God’s love to earth’s remotest part:

Show us anew in Calvary

The wondrous power that makes men free.

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On every side the walls are down,

The gates swing wide to every land,

The restless tribes and races feel

The pressure of Thy pierced hand;

The way is in the sea and air,

Thy world is open everywhere.

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We hear the throb of surging life,

The clank of chains, the curse of greed,

The moan of pain, the futile cries

Of superstition’s cruel creed;

The peoples hunger for Thee, Lord,

The isles are waiting for Thy word.

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Thy witness in the souls of men,

Thy Spirit’s ceaseless, brooding power,

In lands where shadows hide the light,

Await a new creative hour:

O mighty God, set us aflame

To show the glory of Thy Name.

Loving God, we remember the enduring and faithful witness of N.

and of all others who have steadfastly refused to condone or commit violence during times of war,

and who have become martyrs rather than betray their principles.

In our own day, we pray for those who continue to suffer for this reason,

and for those who persecute them.

May oppressors recognize the errors of their ways and cease to oppress.

May mutual respect and forbearance triumph over intolerance, anger, and hatred.

May divine love prevail.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Jeremiah 38:1-13

Psalm 141

Revelation 7:9-17

Luke 6:20-26

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 7, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMITIAN OF HUY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

THE FEAST OF HARRIET STARR CANNON, FOUNDRESS OF THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT MARY

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH ARMITAGE ROBINSON, ANGLICAN DEAN, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROSA VENERINI, FOUNDRESS OF THE VENERINI SISTERS; MENTOR OF SAINT LUCIA FILIPPINI, FOUNDRESS OF THE RELIGIOUS TEACHERS FILIPPINI

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Above:  Riverside Church and Grant’s Tomb, New York, New York

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn (1930) by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), for the opening of the Riverside Church, New York, New York, in 1930

Hymn Sources = The Hymnal (1941), Evangelical and Reformed Church; Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969), Moravian Church in America

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God of grace and God of glory,

On Thy people pour Thy power;

Crown Thine ancient church’s story;

Bring her bud to glorious flower.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the facing of this hour,

For the facing of this hour.

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Lo! the hosts of evil round us

Scorn Thy Christ, assail his ways!

From the fears that long have bound us

Free our hearts to faith and praise:

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the living of these days,

For the living of these days.

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Cure Thy children’s warring madness,

Bend our pride to Thy control;

Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,

Rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

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Set our feet on lofty places;

Gird our lives that they may be

Armored with all Christlike graces

In the fight to set men free.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

That we fail not man nor Thee!

That we fail not man nor Thee!

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Save us from weak resignation

To the evils we deplore;

Let the search for Thy salvation

Be our glory evermore.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage

Serving Thee Whom we adore,

Serving Thee Whom we adore.

Above:  Apotheosis of War, by Vasily Vereshchagin

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnbook of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Text (1937, 1939) by Robert Balgarnie Young (R. B. Y.) Scott (1899-1987)

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O day of God, draw nigh

in beauty and in power;

come with thy timeless judgement

now to match our present hour.

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Bring to our troubled minds,

uncertain and afraid,

the quiet of a steadfast faith,

calm of a call obeyed.

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Bring justice to our land,

that all may dwell secure,

and finely build for days to come

foundations that endure.

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Bring to our world of strife

thy sovereign word of peace,

that war may haunt the earth no more

and desolation cease.

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O day of God, draw nigh,

as at creation’s birth;

let there be light again, and set

thy judgements in the earth.

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Above:  Landscape with the Parable of the Sower, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1897) by Washington Gladden (1836-1918)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

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Behold a Sower!  from afar

He goeth forth with might;

The rolling years his furrows are,

His seed the growing light;

For all the just his word is sown,

It springeth up alway;

The tender blade is hope’s dawn,

The harvest, love’s new day.

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O Lord of life, to thee we lift

Our hearts in praise for those,

Thy prophets, who have shown thy gift

Of grace that ever grows,

Of truth that spreads from shore to shore,

Of wisdom’s widening ray,

Of light that shineth more and more

Unto thy perfect day.

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Shine forth, O Light, that we may see,

With hearts all unafraid,

The meaning and the mystery

Of things that thou hast made:

Shine forth, and let the darkling past

Beneath thy beam grow bright;

Shine forth, and touch the future vast

With thine untroubled light.

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Light up thy Word; the fettered page

From killing bondage free;

Light up our way; lead forth this age

In love’s large liberty!

O Light of light!  within us dwell,

Through us thy radiance pour,

That word and life thy truths may tell,

And praise thee evermore.

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Above:  Donations for Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Decatur, Georgia, June 11, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Text (1812) by James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) (1923), Moravian Church in America

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Jesus, our best beloved Friend,

Draw out our souls in pure desire;

Jesus, in love to us descend,

Baptize us with Thy Spirit’s fire.

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On Thy redeeming Name we call,

Poor and unworthy though we be;

Pardon and sanctify us all;

Let each Thy full salvation see.

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Our souls and bodies we resign,

To fear and follow Thy commands;

O take our hearts, our hearts are Thine,

Accept the service of our hands.

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Firm, faithful, watching unto prayer;

May we Thy blessed will obey;

Toil in Thy vineyard here, and bear

The heat and burden of the day.

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Yet, Lord, for us a resting-place

In heaven, at Thy right hand prepare;

And till we see Thee face to face,

Be all or conversation there.