Deus Misereatur

This evening in family worship we sang this hymn. What warm, heartfelt thoughts flow through this hymn! Listen to the organ music while you sing or meditate on the words. O Lord, How Shall I Meet You  Trinity Hymnal (rev. ed.) #156  By: Paul Gerhardt   Organ Music O Lord, how shall I meet you,  How welcome you aright?  Your people long to greet you,  My hope, my heart's delight!  Oh, kindle, Lord most holy, Your lamp within my breast To do in spirit lowly  All that may please you best. Love caused your incarnation;  Love brought you down to me.  Your thirst for my salvation  Procured my liberty.  Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace  In love, all love excelling,  Our lost and fallen race. Rejoice, then, you sad-hearted,  Who sit in deepest gloom,  Who mourn your joys departed  And tremble at your doom.  Desp...

The Keys of the Kingdom “ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ”” (Matthew 16.18-19). As I prepare for this Sunday morning’s sermon, I struggled with how to explain what Jesus is promising he will give to Peter and the Church the “keys of the Kingdom” (Matthew 16.19). In the present situation in the church in North America, we don’t often talk about the keys of the Kingdom, either because the subject is no longer important to a voluntarist country with voluntarist churches, or because we don’t understand the subject very well, or because it sounds too Roman Catholic, or a combination of all three. So what are the keys of the Kingdom? First off keys are about opening doors, and locking them shut; making things accessible and...

Almighty and Ever living God, you who are more ready to hear than we are to pray, and are willing to give far more than either we desire or deserve, hear us and for Christ‘s sake answer us. Most loving Father, who has called us into your family by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by the working of your Holy Spirit, give us strength and desire to walk worthy of our calling, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity produced by the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4.1-3). We ask you to aid and support Dan and Carole Iverson - MTW Japan. Grant to them peace, protection, trustworthy co-laborers and all the financial resources they need in their mission work. Look upon your Church throughout the world, including Clark Memorial United Methodist Church; Cleg Memorial UMC; Crown Heights UMC; Douglas Blvd UMC; and Epworth UMC. Give your approval and aid, and (where needed) alter their feeble attemp...