The Church’s One Foundation - Marc's Music Notables

If you had known Samuel Stone, chances are that you might have admired him on one hand and been distressed by his behavior on the other. A priest of the Church of England, he devoted himself to serving the poor and vulnerable, but his athletic build and intense passion sometimes led him afar. It is said that, on one occasion, he gave a thorough beating to a man whom he found mistreating a little girl.

Stone served as a passionate defender, not only of the poor and vulnerable, but also of the faith. He was inspired to write “The Church’s One Foundation” in response to a church controversy nearly half a world away.

In South Africa, Bishop John Colenso had begun to question whether Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. Bishop Robert Gray moved to discipline Colenso, and the resulting controversy reverberated throughout the denomination.

Stone wrote “The Church’s One Foundation” as one of twelve hymns based on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles Creed. He hoped that these hymns would help people to better comprehend the creed that they oft recited but seldom understood. He also hoped that they would support the conservative side of the controversy that was rocking the church.

“The Church’s One Foundation” is the only one of those hymns that is still widely sung today— and widely sung it is!

Samuel Wesley, the grandson of Charles Wesley, wrote the music for this hymn.

End of Summer - Kayla's Korner

Proverbs 6:8 “Yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”

I can’t believe summer is coming to an end! I have enjoyed my summer this year, but I’m excited for fall. I would have to say my favorite season of the year is fall. I enjoy the fall themed food and the weather is always perfect for carving pumpkins. I also like to spend my time learning more about God and the summer was a great time to rest before I’m ready to put in the work to build my relationship with God. I hope you are also.

As we enter the last month of summer, prepare to build your relationship with God, as it becomes too cold to go outside. Give God more time this fall and watch your life change.

Blessings, Kayla

What was Christianity like before the Bible? - Reece's Peace's

               The Bible has long been a central part of the Christian faith. We read it each week in worship, we listen to a message based on its teachings, and we hear segments of it read at weddings and funerals. It can be hard to imagine what Christianity would be like without the gospels or the letters, but for the early Christians that was a reality.

               For almost 400 years Christian worshiped, lived, celebrated, and praised God without the Bible. The books we know as the bible were not “dropped from the heavens” in one complete volume written neatly in the King’s English. More than 1,500 years separate the writing of Genesis and the writing of the Book of Revelation. Additionally, no letter or gospel in the New Testament was written until at least 45 A.D., with many not being written until after 70 A.D. It wasn’t until 397 A.D., close to 400 years after the death of Christ, that the list of books we know as the New Testament was officially canonized as part of the Bible.

               Many Christians would have lived and died without ever reading or even knowing about the New Testament. This makes you wonder how they could be Christians without the Bible.    

               The answer is fairly simple: they learned from the people that wrote the Bible or from people that learned from those early apostles.

               In the same way as we listen to sermons today, early Christians would listen to teachings too. However, their teachings may not have been based on texts as much as oral teachings. Their teachers were connected with someone who learned directly from Jesus.

               We know from various writings of the time that early Christians practiced their faith much as we do today. They had moments of teachings, shared communion, sang hymns, prayed, and practiced baptism. They would occasionally read scripture, but only from what we would call the Old Testament. Eventually they began to read the letters of Paul and the other apostles aloud, but it was many years until these letters were accepted as part of scripture.

               In fact, when Paul talks about the scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work,” he wasn’t referring to the New Testament. Much of it wasn’t even written yet! The scripture he was referring to was what we would call the Old Testament.

               So, while it might be foreign to us to practice our faith without the Bible, those early Christians, who still had the authors of the letters and Gospels to teach them, were able to practice their faith even without a reading from the gospels on Sunday morning.

Revival Hymns - Marc's Music Notable

 Revival Hymns by Scott Pauley

Certain songs have become old standards in most revival meetings. The one I hear sung more than any other is the great hymn “Revive Us Again.” Just this week a friend told me that Harold Sightler would never have a revival meeting without singing “Come Thou Fount.” The truth is that any song that brings us into a spirit of prayer and lifts us to Christ is a good song for a revival meeting. There is something truly thrilling about hearing people lift their voices in enthusiastic, evangelistic singing.

Because I am in revival meetings week after week I often hear the same songs. My favorite hymn is Charles Wesley’s “And Can It Be?”.  But my favorite revival hymn is one that searches my heart every time I hear it…

Charles Tindley was the son of a slave woman. His mother died when he was a young child and Charles had a difficult time in his youth. He went to Philadelphia to attend college and said he made it his goal to learn one new thing every day. While there he served for several years as a janitor in a downtown church. God would later make him the pastor of that same church.

God used Tindley as a preacher but he was also a prolific songwriter, becoming one of the father’s of American gospel music. During a challenging time in his pastorate he was sitting in his study writing when a blast of wind came through the open window and scattered his notes on the ground. As he gathered them he thought, “Let nothing between.” In a few moments Charles had penned one of the most convicting revival hymns ever written.

Read through the text slowly and ask yourself if these words are true of your life:

Nothing between my soul and the Savior, Naught of this world’s delusive dream;

I have renounced all sinful pleasure; Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.

Refrain:

Nothing between my soul and the Savior,

So that His blessed face may be seen;

Nothing preventing the least of His favor;

Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;

Habits of life, though harmless they seem,

Must not my heart from Him ever sever;

He is my all, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, like pride or station;

Self or friends shall not intervene;

Though it may cost me much tribulation,

I am resolved, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,

Though the whole world against me convene;

Watching with prayer and much self-denial—

Triumph at last, there’s nothing between.

Revived people sing differently. Sin closes people up but God opens them up! When we get “in tune” with the Lord it comes out in our singing. I think we should do more singing after the preaching of God’s Word and seasons of prayer because then we are truly singing out of revived hearts. Some of the best singing I have ever heard in revival meetings was done at the end of the meeting. Awakened hearts cannot help but sing.

Strength in Summer - Kayla's Korner

Proverbs 30:25

“Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;”

I want you to take a minute and think of a creature that is weak. For me, I think of an ant. Probably because they are so small and I’m a lot bigger than they are. According to pest word for kids, “Ants can lift 20 times its own body weight” This basically means, if a second grader was as strong as an ant, they could lift a car! I don’t know about you, but if I saw a second grader lifting a car, I would be both amazed and probably confused. My point is, Ants are wise, and we think that they are the weakest creatures, when they have more wisdom than most of us. Ants work hard during the warm months so that they can save most of their food for the colder months. We should be reading our Bibles, and praying daily, building our relationship with God. Just coming to church and being present isn’t enough. You have to put in the work! You have to build up your strength in Christ and be prepared.