|
"Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," 1758
There is a cancer update at the end of this message. CHIP STAM STEM CELL DRIVE: BE THE MATCH www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== Today's WORSHIP QUOTE is one of the great eighteenth-century hymns that has remained popular in most modern congregations. I'm quite sure that you have not sung it in this original five-stanza version. Hymnal editors have usually reduced it to three stanzas. Some have unwisely eliminated "Here I raise my Ebenezer" (1 Samuel 7), thinking that worshipers don't know the story of God's miraculously delivering Samuel and the Israelites from the mighty Philistine army. That narrative, friends, is a great story of God's providence and care, ready to encourage and instruct both children and adults. Try reading this out loud. COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love. Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, Yet from what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I’ll begin; Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood; How His kindness yet pursues me Mortal tongue can never tell, Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me I cannot proclaim it well. O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above. O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face; Clothèd then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace; Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, Take my ransomed soul away; Send thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day. — Robert Robinson (1735-90), 1758, as it appeared in his A Collection of Hymns Used by the Church of Christ in Angel Alley, Bishopgate, 1759. Every morning I read a short e-mail devotional from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Jill Cantini wrote this for today's issue: http://ls.egen.net/MessageView.aspx?sid=167787926&cid;=167773546&textonly;=0 Blessings to all! Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Ministries The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.wqotw.org www.sbts.edu/icw ==================== THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 1 (Ed Willmington): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-05 THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 2 (Carl Stam): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-12 THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 3 (Donald Hustad): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-19 THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 4 (Ron Man): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-26 ==================== ===================================== HEALTH UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST FOR CHIP STAM, CANCER PATIENT www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== July 8 Hospital Update Dear friends and family, Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. There is a longer update (June 25) with pictures of the infusion day at www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam. JULY 8 — DAY TWENTY-FOUR IN THE HOSPITAL The infusion with my brother's stem cells was on Thursday, June 24. Everything seems to be going exactly the way the doctors want them to go. My daily blood tests reveal that my body is slowly beginning to produce blood (white cells 0.9 yesterday and 5.0 today--quite a jump). I had to have a bag of blood today because the red cells were low, but this what they expect to see until things even out. These days are crucial to the success of the transplant. To be honest, I have felt really lousy the last ten days or so. I have no pain, but nothing tastes good, and I am struggling (not always winning) in the nausea department. I have an Olympic version of the YUCKS. My job is to rest. Wimbledon and the World Cup have been helpful. Today is a bit better than yesterday. Thank God! Many thanks to all for praying for us. We feel deeply blessed to be in the Lord's care and hugely supported by so many followers of Jesus during these hard days. I have no idea when they will send me home from the hospital, certainly not before my body has a reasonable ability to fight infection. God is sufficient. Chip www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam =========================== WORSHIP QUOTE OF THE WEEK: To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view a complete index of worship quotes, please visit http://www.wqotw.org. =========================== |