Weekly Update 6/14

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been quite busy for me.  Bible study went very well on Tuesday night; we looked at nineteen attributes of God.  It was beautiful to see believers expressing their love for their Creator as we explored who He is.  Wednesday night, in Summer Spirit, I was reminded that the resurrection is central to my faith.  If Christ had not rose from the dead, then we would all be liars, and our faith would be worthless.  I was able to spend some fun time with my cousin this weekend as well.  Please be praying for Stephanie as she goes to Pittsburgh for a hip surgery on Wednesday.  This upcoming week in Bible study we are going to read chapters three and four of the first section of Why God Created the World.  We are going to see that God has revealed Himself throughout creation.  In fact, we will argue that creation exists to display God, and this argument will help us begin to understand and define our role in His world.  During Summer Spirit we will look into a miracle that Jesus performed that no one took notice of.  We will find out that people were too busy being picky about their religion to rejoice at the fact that God had healed someone, and take time to make sure that we don’t overlook the things that God is doing in our lives.

This week’s hymn author is someone with whom you are probably already familiar.  Her hymns have been published in nearly every hymnal since her writing career began.  Fanny J. Crosby composed over eight-thousand poems throughout her lifetime.  Her story is truly amazing when you consider that she was able to use visually stimulating language to create such vivid word pictures even though she was blind from the age of six weeks.  Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in Putnam County, New York.  When she was only six weeks old she was treated by an unqualified physician for an eye infection.  This doctor’s treatment left her blind for life.  Soon after this tragedy, her father died of pneumonia leaving her mother a working widow.  Because of her condition, Crosby was able to attend the New York Institution for the Blind.  Although her circumstances were tragic, they enabled her to receive a good education which would prepare her to be a prolific hymn writer.  Her poetic words have touched many hearts throughout the centuries.  One of my favorite hymns that she wrote is “Redeemed.”  It offers a wonderful chance to celebrate the redemption that Christ has offered us through His death and resurrection.  

Here is a link to Hymnary.org’s page on Fanny J. Crosby: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Crosby_Fanny?tab=texts

This week I would like to introduce you to one (there are three) of Isaac Watt’s versions of Psalm 32.  This is the passage that I am preaching on, so I found it helpful to sing through this passage.  The setting is in common meter, so it can be sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”  

Happy the man to whom his God

No more imputes his sin,

But wash’d in the Redeemer’s blood,

Hath made his garments clean!

Happy, beyond expression, he

Whose debts are thus discharg’d;

And from the guilty bondage free,

He feels his soul enlarg’d.

His spirit hates deceit and lies,

His words are all sincere;

He guards his heart, he guards his eys,

To keep his conscience clear.

While I my inward guilt suppressed,

No quiet could I find;

Thy wrath lay burning in my breast,

And rack’d my tourtur’d mind.

Thin I confess’d my troubled thoughts,

My secret sins reveal’d;

Thy pardoning grace forgave my faults,

Thy grace my pardon seal’d.

This shall invite thy saints to pray,

When like a raging flood,

Temptations rise, our strength and stay

Is a forgiving God.