“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
In addition to this song, purchase this book to hear Dane Ortlund speak to your heart what Jesus said about himself in the above Bible verse.
One of our congregational songs for this Sunday, September 9, 2018. Are you weary dear saint? Are you fearful that your weariness is too much for Christ to bear? Doubt no longer on how much your Father in heaven loves you and grieves with you. Look to the Cross of Christ and see the deep deep love of Jesus.
Abraham and Sarah are too old, but Christ is greater still
Noah is too weird to build a boat in a desert, but Christ is greater still
Joseph’s pit is too deep, but Christ is greater still
Moses’ mouth is too ineloquent, but Christ is greater still
The Red Sea is too deep, but Christ is greater still
Pharaoh’s Army is too close, but Christ is greater still
The desert is too deserted of water and food, but Christ is greater still
The Giant’s are too big, but Christ is greater still
The Armies are too powerful, but Christ is greater still
The walls of Jericho are too high for Joshua, but Christ is greater still
Gideon’s army is too small, but Christ is greater still
The False Prophets are too demonic, but Christ is greater still
The widow and her son are too poor, but Christ is greater still
Samson is too blind and his hair is too short, but Christ is greater still
Goliath is too big, but Christ is greater still
King Saul is too powerful for David, but Christ is greater still
Daniel’s lions are too hungry, but Christ is greater still
The furnace is too hot for three Hebrew children, but Christ is greater still
The walls are too broken down for Nehemiah, but Christ is greater still
Mary, the Mother of Jesus is too chaste, but Christ is greater still
The storm is too great for the fisherman-turned-disciples, but Christ is greater still
Lazarus is too dead, but Christ is greater still
The back-thrashings are too many for Paul, but Christ is greater still
The death of James is too discouraging for the early Church, but Christ is greater stil
The deaf are too deaf, but Christ is greater still
The blind are too blind, but Christ is greater still
The cripple are too crippled, but Christ is greater still
The lost in sin are too lost in sin, but Christ is greater still
The Cross is too Foolish, but Christ is greater still
The Tomb is too Guarded, but Christ is greater still
The Resurrection is too improbable, but Christ is greater still
And also, for you – my dear mother, Christ is greater still!
Tonight our church will worship with a Passover Meal because God passed over us; his wrath landed on his son, on the cross. And because it did, our physical death no longer has the final word – Jesus rose from the dead and by faith in him as Lord and Savior, my substitution, the consequences of my sin have been removed as far as the east is from the west! This Sunday, we sing this song based on Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” May the Risen Lord be your hope and joy.
“Arise, My Soul, Arise” was written and published in 1742 by Charles Wesley. Though in our hymnbooks, most of the Western Church does not sing it. Unfortunate! Thanks to the Lord, Sovereign Grace Ministries has again resurrected a great song that has nearly died with a music score that matches the emotional longing that the lyrics call for.
We’ll sing this in congregational worship this Sunday, March 13, and again on Resurrection Morning, March 27.
Enjoy!
We’ll sing this tomorrow in worship! Based on Isaiah 6, this song gives our hearts a voice to express humility and wonder for who Christ is – what he has done – and the great mercy that he has shown us. It’s a psalm-like meditation, moving gently and slowly so that we may come quietly before the Lord. Worshiping the Sovereign Lord with his people in his house is the best medicine for the heart after a week like this!
(written and sung by Steve and Vikki Cook)
I Bow Down
Around You such beauty
Your majesty could fill
An endless sky
Holy are You Lord
Transcendent exalted
The heavens cannot contain
Your presence
Holy are You Lord
And as I behold Your glory
I’m undone
CHORUS
I bow down at Your feet
I bow down at Your feet
I bow down at Your feet for
You are my God
My God
VERSE 2
You saved me the sinner
With crimson red You washed me
White as snow
How I love You Lord
You loved me the mocker
With kindness You won my
Heart forever
How I love You Lord
And as I behold this mercy
I’m undone
For God to come to you with the Peace and Joy of Christmas,
he had to spend Christmas alone without his Son.
When the Son of God was growing in the virgin womb of Mary, he was really there – in flesh, by the overshadowing, the equipping of the Holy Spirit. The Son of God was in Bethlehem, not heaven. He was in an animal stable, not with his Father in heaven.
What kind of great love is this that the Father would spend Christmas alone, without his Son, so that you, by faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, could know true joy and peace forever?
Enjoy the song by Sovereign Grace Ministries – we love singing this in worship each year the first Sunday after Christmas.
We sang this song for worship yesterday. It’s a poem written by John Newton in 1779 about how the Lord afflicts us that he might free us from our sin and drive us to himself. It describes what David said in Psalm 119 when he sang,
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word . . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (vss. 65-72).
Like David and John Newton, we have asked the Lord to grow us. Then he brought suffering as an answer to our prayer. Then we asked the Lord to take away the suffering. But the suffering does not go away but what comes is the design of the suffering – to “break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
The song is sung by Sovereign Grace Ministries to the tune, “O Waly Waly.” The lyrics are below.
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and ev’ry grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.
‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He’d answer my request And, by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in ev’ry part.
Yea, more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe, Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Humbled my heart and laid me low.
“Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried;
“Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”
“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
the sound board 