Sunday Morning Worship (3/22/2020)

Admittedly, I am the absolute worst when it comes to remembering to make a new entry into a blog. Four years ago I actually started one on my professional musician website, but I’m still only on entry number three. Kind of thinking I might need to rethink my strategy! Nevertheless …

Yesterday was Sunday #2 — of what is likely to be many — that we aren’t meeting collectively to worship. For the remainder of the month, we will posting our pre-recorded sermons and music, but starting in April we will begin live streaming our services so that we can celebrate Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday in real time—well, virtually in real time. (Does that sound odd to anyone else??)

Here’s the thing.

You might be disheartened that we aren’t meeting as a congregation to worship, and I would even validate those feelings by saying that I have felt the same way. But if there’s one thing we know about our God, it’s that He meets us where we are. Joshua 1:9 tells us to be strong and courageous—to not be afraid—because He is with us wherever we go. This means that even in our living rooms watching the sermons and listening to the music online, He is right there with us.

Yesterday morning I decided to go LIVE on our church’s facebook page to livestream 30 minutes of worship music from the piano before posting Pastor Skip’s sermon on our website. Which …

SIDE NOTE:
If you have not yet visited our church’s
Facebook page, click here to see it.

Next week I plan to go LIVE again to broadcast a Hymn Sing that you can participate in from your own living room! More on that to come later in the week. But I put together a medley of classic hymns and worship songs that have been stirring in my head throughout the week. I’m not going to post all of the lyrics to these songs below, but I encourage you to click on each individual song and read the lyrics. Take them in; let them speak to you.

But before I post these songs, let me tell you a quick story.

Saturday, I was talking with a friend who was celebrating the final day of her 20s. Today she turns 30—bless her heart. As we were texting, she told me that most days she was “ridiculously tired” and that she hardly ever felt pretty. She felt like she yelled at her boys too much and that she didn’t do enough for her husband. She said that she was constantly changing her mind about things that she wanted and that she was not where she wanted to be physically, mentally, or even spiritually.

But then she said this, “But you know, Sar, I’m human. And I’ve just recently learned in these 29 years that it’s okay to not be completely put together. I don’t need to be perfect. I just need to be my true self. Although I have a long way to go, I just thank God for giving me 29 years of living. I’m even crazy enough to believe that he has so much more in store for me—so many things He wants me to do & I’m going with Him all the way!” I just sat there and said to myself, “YOU GO BEONCA, YES!”

Because, friends, we don’t have to have all of the answers to everything. All we have to do is trust God and know that He will always deliver us from every situation in His own perfect time—we don’t have to have it all figured out. We may not understand why we go through the things that we do, but when we trust Him we don’t have to understand.

That conversation with Beonca just put back into focus the songs I leave you with now. I pray that you’ll click on each song, read the lyrics and let them be an encouragement to you. Even though we are entering another week of uncertainty and quarantines, one thing is for certain:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives! 

SUNDAY MEDLEY:

• When Morning Gilds the Skies

• God of Wonders

• This Is My Father’s World

• Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

• Blessings

• It Is Well With My Soul

• Be Thou My Vision

• The Heart of Worship

• Brethren, We Have Met to Worship

• Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty

• There Is Power in the Blood

• Nothing But the Blood

• Blessed Assurance

• Thy Word

• Oh, How He Loves You and Me

• The Perfect Wisdom of Our God

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

— Romans 7: 16-17

This hymn, originally for children, first appeared in an 1836 volume entitled Hymns for the Young, compiled by Dorothy A. Thrupp. Many hymnologists have attributed the words to Mrs. Thrupp, but her authorship is uncertain. One early hymnbook attributed it to Henry Francis Late; but that, too, is doubtful.

There’s no doubt, however, about the composer of the music. It was the famous William Bradbury, one of the most prolific hymnodists of the nineteenth century. A native of York, Maine, William moved to Boston at age fourteen to enroll in the Boston Academy of Music. There he joined Lowell Mason’s choir at the Bowdoin Street Church.

Lowell Mason was a banker-turned-composer who became the first American to receive a Doctorate in Music from an American university. A dedicated Christian, he had written the tunes for such hymns as:

Joy to the World!
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Nearer, My God, to Thee
From Greenland’s Icy Mountains

Mason was passionate about training children in sacred music.

Recognizing that young William Bradbury had an inborn talent, Mason sought to encourage him at every turn. Soon William was playing the organ under Mason’s watchful eye, and earning a whopping $25 a year in the process.

William was so inspired by his mentor that he moved to New York City to do there what Mason had been doing in Boston — encouraging the Christian musical education of children. He organized and led children’s singing conventions, encouraged music in the New York school system, and publishing Sunday school songbooks. During his lifetime, fifty-nine separate books appeared under his name.

Bradbury set in motion a great change in American church music. Prior to his work, most hymns were heavy, noble, and stately. William wanted to write lighter melodies that children could sing.

In doing so, William Bradbury helped usher in the era of gospel music. He may not have realized that adults would sing his hymns as readily as children would, but he paved the way for the likes of Fanny Crosby and Ira Sankey. Today Bradbury is remembered as the musical composer of such favorite hymns as:

He Leadeth Me
The Solid Rock
Just As I Am
Jesus Loves Me
Sweet Hour of Prayer

and this one — Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us. Here are the words to this beloved hymn:

Savior, like a shepherd lead us; Much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us; For our use Thy folds prepare.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast bought us; Thine we are.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast bought us; Thine we are.

We are Thine; do Thou befriend us; Be the Guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock; from sin defend us; Seek us when we go astray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray.

Thou hast promised to receive us, Poor and sinful tho’ we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and pow’r to free.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! We will early turn to Thee.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! We will early turn to Thee.

Early let us seek Thy favor; Early let us do Thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior, with Thy love our bosoms fill.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast loved us; love us still.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast loved us; love us still.

Enjoy this arrangement by a dear friend of mine, David S. Gaines.

He Will Hold Me Fast

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ”

— Hebrews 10:23

Many of you know that I work at Western Carolina University. I have two contracts with them. One is in the School of Music where I am the Vocal Director for an ensemble called the Catamount Singers. My other contract is with the School of Stage and Screen where I am the Staff Accompanist and also a Vocal Coach. With everything our nation is currently facing, the last two weeks have been a complete whirlwind at the university to say the least. Here’s a breakdown of our WCU timeline:

TUESDAY, MARCH 3rd.
We are told there was a possibility that following Spring Break (which was to start on 3/9), students would not be returning to campus for a period of two weeks and that classes would be transitioned to online only as a result of the COVID-19 virus that had overtaken the world.

MONDAY, MARCH 9th.
Day One of Spring Break. We we receive an email in which we are told that we should begin a more deliberate approach of figuring out how to transition to alternative online methods.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11th.
The University sends an email to both faculty and students (at the same time) stating that the UNC System has made the decision to suspend all face-to-face classes. We would be extending Spring Break by one week in order to give faculty and staff enough time to make the transition online courses.

THURSDAY, MARCH 12th.
Online plans set in motion for School of Music.

FRIDAY, MARCH 13th.
Online plans set in motion for School of Stage and Screen.

MONDAY, MARCH 16th.
Faculty meetings took place. Confirmed all online courses. School of Stage and Screen confirmed that I would still be getting paid because I was able to work remotely.

TUESDAY, MARCH 17th.
9:00am.
Spoke with my direct supervisor in the School of Music. Everything was set in place. We discussed my new project for my Catamount Singers. We were happy about it, we were excited. I was grateful that I was still going to be getting paid.

1:45pm.
The university sends out a message stating that everyone had to officially leave campus. Students weren’t going to return for the remainder of the semester, and they all had to be completely moved out by Saturday, March 21st. After that time, residence halls would be completely secured and students would not be allowed to retrieve their belongings.

1:50pm.
Received an email from the Department Chair stating independent contracts were being cancelled. The university considers the COVID-19 situation a force majeure and it is simply could no longer justify or even find it possible to pay those types of contracts for hourly employees.

I was one of those employees.

After talking to my mom, the first person I called was our amazing church secretary, Elaine. She’s one of those people that just knows what to say in any situation. As I cried to her on the phone I said, “I know God is in control, but sometimes it’s really hard to hold onto that hope when everything seems like it’s crashing down around you.”

But in that moment, God put a song in my heart. As I hung up the phone, I began to sing:

When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast
I could never keep my hold Through life’s fearful path
For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast
For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast

As I sang those words, I began to cry even harder. Because in the midst of hard times and uncertainty, doubt can creep in and shatter our hope. But even in the darkest of times, we continue to cling to hope because we are a people of hope, a people whose faith is marked by an expectation that we should always be ready for the coming of the Master. 

Even as I wrote that last sentence, the final verse of He Will Hold Me Fast popped into my head:

Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast
Till our faith is turned to sight When he comes at last

One day our faith will be turned to sight because one day He will return for us, and we will be united with our Savior for eternity. So it’s not just words that we proclaim.

Our words point to The Word.
And The Word has a name.
Hope has a name.
Joy has a name.
Peace has a name.
Love has a name.
And that name is Jesus Christ.

We have a true hope in Him, and we can rest well knowing that we are in the good hands of our Savior. Because even in the midst of uncertainty, His promises remain.

UPDATE, 3/18/2020 — My incredible Department Chair reached out to me to say that he was reinstating my contract and would approve me working remotely. THE POWER OF PRAYER IS REAL — as if we ever doubted anything less. God is good, always.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

— Isaiah 41:10