Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Church

  • We Gather Together

    We Gather Together

    Perhaps you know the Thanksgiving hymn, “We Gather Together.”

    Look to the lyrics of the hymn of thanks and give thought to them:

    1.	We gather together 
	to ask the Lord's blessing; 
	he chastens and hastens 
	his will to make known.  
	The wicked oppressing 
	now cease from distressing.  
	Sing praises to his name, 
	he forgets not his own.

2.	Beside us to guide us, 
	our God with us joining, 
	ordaining, maintaining 
	his kingdom divine; 
	so from the beginning 
	the fight we were winning; 
	thou, Lord, wast at our side, 
	all glory be thine!

3.	We all do extol thee, 
	thou leader triumphant, 
	and pray that thou still 
	our defender wilt be.  
	Let thy congregation 
	escape tribulation; 
	thy name be ever praised!  
	O Lord, make us free!
e
source: We Gather Together lyric

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. Yes, that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Yet dig deeper into the text of this formerly well-known Thanksgiving hymn (many churches no longer offer a service of Thanksgiving) and find more for which to be thankful.

To begin, here is an interesting looking a probable emergence of the hymn: The Surprising Origins of "We Gather Together"

    “We gather together” is cherished as yearly opportunity for family gatherings; however further examination of the lyrics suggest an occasion of worship “to ask the Lord’s blessing.”

    Do you gather together with other Christians (not just family) regularly to ask the Lord’s blessing? And if you do not bless God, would it not be appropriate for God to curse you? Therefore, let us always give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    And if we receive blessings from the Lord day by day (and we do, if you will take note of these), should we not thank the Lord each and every day even as was ask the Lord’s blessing on the food and full provision for our lives?

    “He chastens…”

    Chaste: there’s a word you don’t see in the Christmas ads on T.V. or anywhere else.

    Chasten:

    1. to be instructed or taught or learn, correct,
    2. of those who are moulding the character of others by reproof and admonition
    3. of God to chasten by the affliction of evils and calamities

     Revelation 3:19

    As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

    What does it mean that the Lord rebukes and chastens his beloved (you an me, dear brothers and sisters in Christ)?

    Perhaps you think that Thanksgiving is not a time for ‘rebuke’ from the Lord. Yet if we are unrepentant in our relationship to the Lord and in our relationships to each other, I can think of no better time for a loving Father to rebuke and correct His children, even adopted children through the Cross of our Lord, His only Son, Jesus Christ.

    He chastens AND…

    “… and hastens His will to make known.”

    “Thy will be done,” is the prayer we all pray.

    What is God’s will for you? Do you want to God’s will when you finally get around to it? Or if we listen to the lyric, it would seem that God would make haste in our measured days to make His will know to us.

    “The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.”

    A definition (as if we need a reminder): oppression – prolonged cruel or unjust treatment, mental pressure or distress

    The world surrounds us with wicked oppressing; but thank be to God for redeeming us from oppression of our our sin. Is anything more oppressing than sin? Yet by grace we may cease from distressing over the punishment of the Father we truly deserve.

    And what should be our response to the lifting of our oppression from us by the grace of the Cross?

    “Sing praises to his name…”

    Indeed, Thanksgiving is all about worship of God our Father and Christ Jesus.

    Thank God; for:

    “… he forgets not his own.”

    Colossians 1

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

    Verse 2.

    Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining…

    Encouraged?  You know this from the Christmas message:

    Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

    “… ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;”

    Jesus began the Kingdom. Jesus maintains His Kingdom. Jesus will return for His subjects… His family.  He will reign.

    We thought that we were losing out on life, but by accepting Jesus as our King we cannot be defeated.

    Hebrews 12: 1b-2 NKJV

    … let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    “so from the beginning the fight we were winning; thou lord wast at our side,”

    Isn’t it comforting to know in our daily struggles that Jesus stands right there with us? It’s just one more reason to praise him.

    “all glory be thine!”

    Verse 3

    “We all to extol thee, thou leader triumphant,”

    ‘Extol.’ It’s an old word that has fallen from our vocabulary. It means to praise enthusiastically. Furthermore, it is appropriate to make mention of another old English usage that has fallen by the wayside. The King James Version of the Bible remains popular with many because of its use of ‘thee and thou.’ It is a proper reverence for God and Christ, lost in familiarity of worshipers bordering on disrespect. Our attitude of worship (as a church and in our family and personal life) should at the very least show God the respect due a father. Often, it does not.

    Jesus has triumphed over death… and He did it for us. IF Jesus is our Lord, He IS our leader triumphant.

    “and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.”

    We will be raised up with Him at the Judgment.

    1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

    “Let thy congregation escape tribulation;”

    Do you know what tribulation is really? According to the Oxford Dictionary, its a cause of great trouble or suffering.

    First century Christians suffered much tribulation from evil men opposed to Christ. Last century Christians will suffer a worse tribulation under the oppression of the Antichrist and the persecution by all those opposed to Jesus Christ as Lord. Yet we are victorious in Christ Jesus, who has overcome death, will defeat Satan, and rule a new heaven and a new earth. We will reign with Jesus our Lord!

    For this we ought to have much thanks giving.

    “thy name be ever praised!”

    And one final plea of the hymn (only it is not for freedom from tyrants):

    “O, Lord, make us free.”

     Are you part of the family of God? Or do you remain a slave to your sin?

    John 8: ““Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

    You may gather with ‘family’ and give brief thanks for too much food; but Thanksgiving is much more than this.

    Psalm 102:18-22

    Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:

    that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

    to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,

    that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,

    when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

     Happy Thanksgiving.

    Praise the Lord.

    Jesus IS Lord.

  • Nun danket alle Gott

    Nun danket alle Gott

    “Now thank we all our God” is a popular Christian hymn. It is a translation from the German “Nun danket alle Gott”, written circa 1636 by Martin Rinkart (1586–1649), which in turn was inspired by Sirach, chapter 50 verses 22–24, from the praises of Simon the high priest. It was translated into English in the 19th Century by Catherine Winkworth.

    Modern Christian songs of praise and worship paint a joyful enough picture of Christianity for us and focus well on the grace of Christ and the joy of heaven to come. Now thank we all our God is a 17th century text that comes to us from a time of religious wars resulting from the Protestant Reformation.

    Giving thanks to God in all circumstances is not always easy. Worship of God is not always our first reaction to difficulty. Rinkart experienced such difficulties, as have many faithful Christians of all denominations throughout these last centuries.

    You do not need the word of a Pope, a Bishop or other authority to understand that the Bible, God’s Word, is often at the center of religious controversies and even wars. Some Protestants will not even recognize the source of this popular hymn as one inspired from the Canon and Apocrypha of the Bible of some churches; however none will dispute the truth of the worship in these verses.

    Apocrypha: Sirach Chapter 50

    22 Now therefore bless ye the God of all, which only doeth wondrous things every where, which exalteth our days from the womb, and dealeth with us according to his mercy.

    23 He grant us joyfulness of heart, and that peace may be in our days in Israel for ever:

    24 That he would confirm his mercy with us, and deliver us at his time!

     

    German pastor Martin Rinkart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkart officiated at the funerals of the other two. As the only pastor left, he often conducted services for as many as 40 to 50 persons a day—some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.

    Pastor Rinkart’s text was once well-known in many languages and musical settings. It is well worth our consideration in this season of Thanksgiving, a thankfulness for God’s harvest and our very souls by the mercy and grace of Christ Jesus.

    German Text (verses in bold print set by Bach)

    English Translation – source: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale134-Eng3.htm

    1

     

    Nun danket alle Gott
    Mit Herzen, Mund und Händen,
    Der große Dinge tut
    An uns und allen Enden,
    Der uns von Mutterleib
    Und Kindesbeinen an
    Unzählig viel zu gut
    Bis hier her hat getan.

     

    Now all thank God
    with heart, mouth and hands;
    He does great things
    for us and all our purposes;
    He for us from our mother’s womb
    and childish steps
    countless great good
    has done and still continues to do.

    2

     

    Der ewig reiche Gott
    Woll uns bei unsrem Leben
    Ein immer fröhlich Herz
    Und edlen Frieden geben,
    Und uns in seiner Gnad,
    Erhalten fort und fort
    Und uns aus aller Not
    Erlösen hier und dort.

     

    May God who is forever rich
    be willing to give us in our life
    a heart that is always joyful
    and noble peace
    and in his mercy
    maintain us for ever and ever
    and free us from all distress
    here and there (both on earth and in heaven).

    3

     

    Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott,
    Dem Vater und dem Sohne
    Und dem, der beiden gleich
    Im höchsten Himmelsthrone,
    Dem einig höchsten Gott,
    Als er anfänglich war
    Und ist und bleiben wird
    Jetzt und immerdar.

     

    Glory, honour and praise be to God,
    to the Father and to the Son
    and to Him, who is equal to both
    on heaven’s high throne,
    to the triune God,
    as he was from the beginning
    and is and will remain
    now and forever.

    1 Peter 1:

    Born Again to a Living Hope

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

    6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

    8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

     

  • The Good Galilean

    The Good Galilean

    Mark 10:17-18 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

    And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

     Luke 9: 

    A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

    51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.

    Luke 10

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

    10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

    Jesus, as we know was born in Bethlehem, which makes Him technically, a Judaean. The Jews, knowing He was raised and lived in Nazareth would call Him a Galilean (in a derogatory manor) or a Nazarene.  Judaeans loved their heritage and their city of Jerusalem. Many looked down on outsiders from anywhere else in this world (not unlike we look upon ‘outsiders’ or ‘foreigners’ in this present day).

    Jesus appoints twelve Apostles, teaches throughout Galilee, Judea and other states (all under Roman government and rule) for three years and sets out to completion of His earthly destination of the Cross in Jerusalem.

    He then appoints and sends out not just twelve, but seventy two disciples to go into ALL of the towns and villages along His way to Jerusalem to announce the Good News to ALL (seventy-two evangelists, if you will: advance men for the soon-to-come Messiah, God Incarnate, coming to your very town – He IS sent by God.)

    Jesus tells His audiences in these towns, synagogues, and on the mountaintops thousands of stories and hundreds of parables, not all recorded in the Bible (as the Apostle John points out to us.)  Imagine for a moment a parable with a familiar ring to it, yet not recorded in the Gospels; even as if in a more familiar context of our twenty-first century life as followers (disciples) of Jesus:

    Parable of the Man Who Needed Help

    A man had left his hometown on a journey to a new place through a hostile land when he was attacked and robbed. He was left alone in a place where no one from his home or the place to which he was sent would see the extent of his suffering.

    Because in this day, when a man may ‘reach out and touch’ anyone, anywhere, from any place (without really touching them or reaching them), the man took out his cell phone and texted five friends. (Jesus often used humor in His stories.)

    The man’s text read: Would you pray for me?

    Immediately the man’s pastor answered: I will pray for you now.

    After a short time, one friend from another church called the man, talked with him and then asked if he and his wife could pray for the man over the phone (for they lived in another town).

    A third man texted the next day that his friends had prayed for him in their men’s prayer group the previous day.

    A fourth man never called, texted or encouraged him in any way, as also his christian wife had not.

    Which of these five, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who needed help?”

    Sometimes we do not think of Jesus’ stories or parables in terms of the immediate needs of the people. We might think of His parable of the good Samaritan:

    We have cell phones now. That could never apply to me in this twenty-first century. OR

    Jesus pointed out that Pharisees, Priests, Levites and the like were not very nice people (even though they were the leaders of the “religious” establishment) and that Samaritans treated people better than the religious people treated their own. BUT that doesn’t apply to me. I have never run across a Pharisee, Levite or Samaritan.

    The Bible, and specifically the Gospel, is not just a collection of stories from history of little relevance to us. In fact, the stories and parables of Jesus should always be heard and seen in the light of these times and heard with our heart broken by the Cross of Christ.

    Do you see a face you know in the parable? When you have been the man beaten on the road, whose faces do you see pass you by?

    When you see the beaten man on the road, which of the five or ten or thousands (or even just three) are you?

    Now look to Jesus question:  Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man…?

    Now look to your neighbor’s and your own face and read the too-familiar parable from Luke 10:

    The Parable of the Good Samaritan

    25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

    29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

    Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

    Note that the good neighbor first saw to the man’s immediate needs.  It did not matter to the beaten man who needed help that he was a Samaritan, Galilean, Judaean, American, Englishman, Indian, African or any other. It did not matter what race or perceived station in life was the man who was beaten: the Samaritan man (he was just one man like me or you) just helped him, because the man needed mercy in his present situation.

    Secondly, note that the man who was a good neighbor to the beaten man saw to his needs beyond his immediate circumstances. Though the story of the five neighbors remains incomplete in this day, I ask:

    Which of you have seen to “take care of him” and has shown the mercy of hope that indeed you will continue your mercy for the man?  (“I will repay you when I come back.)

    Are you a good Samaritan? Do you show mercy to your neighbor and grace to your loved ones?

    Is the Cross of Christ a convenience for you in your weekly life? Or is your cross one of sacrifice of love and compassion for others – a sacrifice of your time and grace for our neighbors along this rough road of a path through unknown times to a reward or a Judgment where He could say: “I never knew you.” – which neighbor are you?

    For our Lord has commanded:

    Love your neighbor as yourself and love one another as I have loved you.