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Text: John Newton (1725-1807) Tune: New Britain, anonymous Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believ'd!

Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine REFLECTION This is the hymn suggested for the man born blind account in John 9. "I once was blind, but now I see." John Newton was referring to himself, of course, in the hymn, but he was speaking as someone with a thorough knowledge of Scripture. He knew well how the man born blind must have felt when, suddenly, at the touch of Jesus’ hand and the mud, dust from the earth made wet by Jesus’ spittle, he could see. The account is filled with ironies: Jesus heals the man and then people are outraged. How odd! Wouldn’t you be happy if your son who was born blind was healed? But the parents were afraid of being cast out of the synagogue. So they panicked and shunted the questioners off to their son, “Ask him!” The religious scholars do not come off very well in the story either. Their rather dim comment that no one had ever healed someone born blind. Well, duh, maybe this is a sign to which attention should be paid. The formerly blind man knows the answer: “only someone come from God would do such a blessed thing.” Out of the mouths of babes comes the truth, only God can heal our blindness. Being a seminary professor can be dangerous for one’s faith, as this story tells us. We are scandalized by things that have not been dreamt of in our minds at the same time we can dream up a lot of fantastical interpretations of Scripture. Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3 says the time would come when "people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears .... will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Even scholars and intellectuals can be blinded by their own passions. Jesus coming into the world brings judgment. His judgment comes in his very presence, causing a division between believers and non-believers, the blind will see and the seeing will be blind. One thinks of the phrase “blinded by the light.” Newton knew that within the veil, that is this world, he would possess a life of joy and peace and one day live forever with God. Or as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "Now we see as in a mirror darkly, but then will see face to face." John Newton was a wretched sinner—no one could swear as violently as he. He was a reprobate at home and at sea. He captained a slave ship, and even continued after his conversion. As grace worked on him, and truth (sound teaching) became clear, he repented of his ways. He made amends for the rest of his life working to abolish the trafficking of slaves by the British empire. He, along with many evangelical Christians like William Wilburforce, having seen the light, finally got a law passed in parliament to prohibit British vessels and men from the awful trade of human beings to one another. A true wretch, saved by God’s "Amazing grace." Some would like to change “wretch” to “soul” or something less noxious than wretch. People don’t like to be called wretches or even sinners today. A brief listen to the news of an evening should change our minds. We may not think we are bad, but as Agatha Christie, the great mystery writer knew well, every single person is capable of great evil, even murder. The only claim we have to stand before the living God is as repentant and grief stricken sinners, broken hearted wretches ashamed of our disobedience and sin. God has done this to bring us into communion with him so we can be with him forever. Now that's amazing! HYMN INFO The last two stanzas of Newton hymn are not very well known today. The Southern Harmony added the stanza “Though we’ve been there a thousand years/Bright shining as the sun/We’ve no less days to sing his praise/than first we eer begun.” That is the preferred ending of the hymn today. For more information on the hymn, see below. LINKS The Story of Amazing Grace/15 minutes well worth your time https://youtu.be/8m8AHHduTM0 Judy Collins and choir/ some 80 million views https://youtu.be/CDdvReNKKuk Swedish congregation singing Swedish version https://youtu.be/XcfGR_7W3aQ

Danish: Komm, regn av det høie German: Komm Himmlische regen Norwegian: Komm regn fra det høye Text: Josua Stegmann (1588-163 Tune: Johan Peter Emmanuel Hartmann 1805-1900 Tr. Hans Adolph Brorson (1694-1764) Tr. P. C. Paulsen and Gracia Grindal 1. Come rain from the heavens! Let earth now be nourished Like lily shades, So as our Lord Jesus has promised, they flourish In thousands of ways. He wishes the poor and the drought stricken land Refreshed and made fertile With heavenly waters From paradise’ streams, From Paradise’ streams. 2. Come springs out of heaven, your waters come flow here On this your own land. That flowers and fruit from your gardens may prosper And grow in their stand. See also my heart so abandoned and sore It wishes so dearly With sighs and with weeping To hold to your wealth. To hold your wealth. 3. Come, Soul’s living Spirit, with new life it quickens, O heavenly wind! Give fearful and sinful old hearts that are dying A heavenly sense. Each heart that is lying in muck and in sin In pleasure’s morass Send warmth from your place So they can stand up. 4. Come, Spirit, our Comfort, the strength of our senses O heavenly friend, Like dew that in deserts refreshment dispenses Our needs do attend. That we to the Father may fervently pray And, upward progressing Sustained by his blessing, May prosper always, May prosper always. 5. Come, heavenly balsam, anoint our poor spirits With pow’r from above, That all we achieve may arise from the merits Of Christ and his love; The fruits of the Spirit with us let remain In verdant condition All sinful ambition And lust do restrain, And lust do restrain. 6. Come, Dove out of heaven, our hearts to embower With brotherly love, That Christians who know you may husband the power Of grace from above. Oh, help us to draw from this plentiful source, That we may not falter, Nor ever may alter Our heavenward course, Our heavenward course. 7. Help, Spirit of Jesus, the name of our Father As children to speak. Establishing our hope in his kingdom to gather Its treasure to seek. Oh, make us to grow in the faith of the Son And strive by his merit The crown to inherit That he for us won, That he for us won. REFLECTIONS Contrary to all expectations, most of the U.S. is being deluged by rain or snow this year. California has gone from suffering the most severe drought in ages to being flooded with rain and snow towering in the mountain passes. The thirst of the Samaritan woman for living water could be compared to the thirsty earth. Nothing can grow and flourish without the springs gushing out of our Savior’s being. The Samaritan woman wants to live abundantly and has suffered much from life, something Jesus knows and tells her. This makes her eager to know more. She is thirsty both for water in the semi desert where she lives and in the spiritual desert where she is dwelling. There are surprisingly few hymns with the theme of rain or living water. When the Samaritan woman after her conversation with Jesus hears of the living water, she says almost greedily, give me some of that water! We cannot live without water for very long. As people age, they are advised to drink more water since many seem to forget to do so and become dehydrated. A friend of mine said that she remembered one day when she was feeling punk to drink a glass of water and felt her body blossom almost. It felt healing. Some commentators think that the reason the Samaritan woman has had five husbands is that she is barren and thus easily cast off by her husbands. She must have been desirable given her many husbands. If that is true, her thirst for life and wholeness after so much hurt must have been overwhelming. Jesus told her the truth, telling her he knew everything about her. He wanted to give her the water of life, something she must have been dying for. No wonder she ran into the village and bid them come to meet him. In a way, given the water of life, she now had the joy and strength to go to others and tell them they could also have this same water that would parch their thirst forever and make them glad. It is for you to drink as well. Quench your thirst and live. HYMN INFO Josua Stegmann live in the years just after Luther and wrote many hymns. The Danish hymnwriter Hans Adolph Brorson, a pastor in Tønder, near the German border, wanted to bring the best of Lutheran hymnody into Danish so he translated this hymn into Danish where it became a cherished hymn. The Danish American church translated it into English and it was also used by the American Lutherans in their hymnal of 1930, but it did not last in its English version. J. P. E. Hartmann, founded the Romantic movement in Denmark. He was a Danish organist and musician who wrote many popular hymn tunes that are still cherished. The Norwegians love the folklike tune and use it in popular settings often. LINKS Henning Sommerro https://youtu.be/-Z4SKO8xbP0 Oslo Domkor https://youtu.be/ju3dBQXvNiM Jo Asgeir Lie/a folk setting https://youtu.be/0WvxGnxLxQs Iver Kleive https://youtu.be/EJnvKutldi0 Solveig Palmqvist/Danish version https://youtu.be/c77ttnHKtYs NB A favorite of mine on John 4

John 3:1-21 Text: Rhea F. Miller (1894-1966) Tune: George Beverly Shea (1909-2013)

1. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold
I'd rather be His than have riches untold I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

/RThan to be the king of a vast domain And be held in sin's dread sway
I'd rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today

2. I'd rather have Jesus than worldly applause
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame Yes, I'd rather be true to His holy name
R/ 3. He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom; He's sweeter than honey from out the comb; He's all that my hungering spirit needs. I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead
R/

REFLECTIONS
Today’s Bible passage is the story of Jesus meeting by dark of night with Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, comes to ask him who he is. He is fairly sure Jesus comes from God, but doesn't know what that means. In his answer, Jesus utters the great Bible verse that is the gospel in a nutshell: John 3:16. Nicodemus knows Jesus represents God, but can't imagine how, partly because he can't imagine another reality, or dimension to life, than what he already knows. Yet, Nicodemus will follow, finally, as he is drawn to the light Jesus shines. What Jesus is preaching involves a change so drastic that it involve rebirth. A completely new life. And that new life changes everything about how one lives. St. Augustine, the early Christian father, talked about the life of faith in terms of means and ends, or ultimate and penultimate goals. God has given us the means for the good life in his creation: something Luther describes in his explanation to the First Article: "food and clothing, home and family, and all my property. Every day, he provides abundantly for all the needs of my life, protects me from all danger, and guards and keeps me from all evil." Those are means to a good life. They help us reach our goals, the ultimates, like salvation, life in Christ, and heaven. Should we make any of these means our goals, we become idolators. Nicodemus isn't so much an idolator as he is blind. He comes by dark of night, he is puzzled by Jesus' talk of another reality. Many of the paintings of this scene have Nicodemus looking down while Jesus is pointing up. Later he will bring 70 pounds of myrrh to embalm Jesus, a sign of his love, or at least regard. The hymn was written by a pastor’s widow who had dedicated her life to teaching pastors’ children how to play the piano so they would be able to help in congregations when a musician was needed. While her mother was a sturdy and faithful Christian, her father was an alcoholic who stole money from everyone in the family to get money to support his habit which had become his life.

One day he was taken by the Gospel and his life turned around completely. The family was stunned and thankful. Rhea heard her father’s testimony one day that he now understood that he would rather have Jesus than anything, wealth, riches, fame or power. As he spoke, she realized that his testimony was a hymn, and she wrote it down, making it into poetry.

George Beverly Shea, a pastor’s son from Canada, was 23 and at home briefly. A student of music, who was finding his way in the musical world, he saw this poem his mother had put on the keyboard. As he read it, this tune came to him. As they say, the rest is history. It became a favorite first with the Billy Graham association and its Hour of Power, and then in the hundreds of revivals Billy led all over the world.

Jesus is all that our hungering spirits need. HYMN INFO
This is a big favorite in the repertoire of the Gospel songs in America. Many a Lutheran attending Sunday evening services, or Wednesday night Bible study, probably heard it several times a year, sung by the local soloist.

Shea sang it thousands of times with his rich bass baritone. After How Great Thou Art it is probably his song—especially since he wrote the tune. He probably is the singer who sang before more people than any other singer in history. His records sold in the millions. He won a Grammy for his Lifetime Achievement Award

LINKS
George Beverly Shea, singing and telling about his finding it
https://youtu.be/oHg-o2eGzM4

George Beverly Shea telling the story of the song
https://youtu.be/PRDyUSp6u8Y

Selah
https://youtu.be/Bt_1sAg-Q40

The Gaither Family
https://youtu.be/PwZWTKjguX0

Another Gaither version with a basso profundo!
https://youtu.be/LO3rCAbdxRI


Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir/riffing on the old tune
https://youtu.be/tGiL9O-OXL4

German: Herzlich lieb hab' ich dich, o Herr Text: Martin Schalling (1532-1608) Tune: B. Schmid 1577 1 Lord, Thee I love with all my heart; I pray Thee, ne'er from me depart, With tender mercy cheer me. Earth has no pleasure I would share, Yea, heav'n itself were void and bare If Thou, Lord, wert not near me. And should my heart for sorrow break, My trust in Thee can nothing shake. Thou art the portion I have sought; Thy precious blood my soul has bought. Lord Jesus Christ, My God and Lord, my God and Lord, Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word. 2 Yea, Lord, 'twas Thy rich bounty gave My body, soul, and all I have In this poor life of labor. Lord, grant that I in ev'ry place May glorify Thy lavish grace And help and serve my neighbor. Let no false doctrine me beguile; And Satan not my soul defile. Give strength and patience unto me To bear my cross and follow Thee. Lord Jesus Christ, My God and Lord, my God and Lord, In death Thy comfort still afford. 3 Lord, let at last Thine angels come, To Abram's bosom bear me home, That I may die unfearing; And in its narrow chamber keep My body safe in peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing. And then from death awaken me, That these mine eyes with joy may see, O Son of God, Thy glorious face, My Savior and my fount of grace. Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend, And I will praise Thee without end. Tr. Catherine Winkworth REFLECTION While this hymn is not suggested for Lent I, it fits it very well. It is most often suggested for funerals. Based on the Great Commandment to love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves, it can remind us of Satan's efforts to make Jesus not love God his Father above all things. Without Jesus’ victory in this cosmic battle, Satan might rule the world and no holy angels would hover over us as we live each day and rest at night. Satan, while crafty, is pretty conventional. His values are completely of this world—food, power, and daring. He can quote Scripture but doesn’t understand it quite. Of course, he knows Jesus is hungry and that he could create bread out of stones. Satan believes the highest human ambition is power and understands the playground power of a double dare. Don’t you believe that the angels will catch you as promised in Psalm 91? While these temptations would loom large for us, they must be trivial to the Son of God. We do know that Esau gave up his inheritance for a mess of pottage, but Jesus is not going to make that mistake. And the temptation to rule the world must have seemed almost comical to Jesus, Son of the Creator of all things. Would giving it all up for temporal rule be a fair trade? Hardly! Then being dared to test the promises of God by casting himself down from the heights? What? Jesus will love his Father above all things so he can serve us. It is why he was born. We can learn from him how trivial these temptations ultimately are in the face of death. As the hymn has it, Jesus is the portion we have sought, all else fades before his face. The hymn revels in the joy that we have in Jesus, now and forever. Being wakened from our sleep to see the face of Jesus, the fount of grace, is a hope the hymn pictures for us so simply it brings a tear to our eyes. Because Jesus beat the devil here and throughout his ministry, and then, finally, on the cross and the grave, we live in heavenly joy even now as we look forward to spending eternity in great joy! HYMN INFO Schalling was the son of an early follower of the Reformation in Strassbourg. He became a pastor, studying at Wittenberg University after Luther’s death. Philip Melanchthon, Luther’s colleague, was his tutor. He worked with him on the Book of Concord, although later withdrew. He ran into trouble with the rulers of his day for his theological convictions. After some difficulties with Frederick III in Amberg, he left, but returned to serve as Court Preacher and Superintendent for Frederick's son, Louis VI. He ended up serving the congregation in Nürnberg for twenty years until his death. The poem with its twelve lines is unusually long, but the melody is well crafted to fit the text. Some attribute the tune to Balthazaar Schmid from 1577. The hymn was beloved and used by Buxtehude, Schütz and Bach in his St. John's Passion. LINKS English, Concordia Publishing House https://youtu.be/GK6TdX7QME4 Bach’s setting BWV 340 https://youtu.be/00kZkK9gjYI the last stanza of the hymn in Bach's St. John's Passion https://youtu.be/apWYzBxtT9M Buxtehude’s Cantata on the hymn/lovely BuxWV 41 https://youtu.be/HYlu7YfFqSw Heinrich Schütz Motet 387 https://youtu.be/O3ekKLKkEYw

Text: John Newton (1725-1807) Tune: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) or Cyril Taylor (1907-1991) 1 Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Form'd thee for his own abode:
On the rock of ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.

2 See the streams of living waters
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows thy thirst t' assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.

3 Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a covering,
Shewing that the Lord is near:
Thus deriving from their banner,
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which he gives them when they pray.

4 Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Wash'd in the Redeemer's blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priest to God:
'Tis his love his people raises
Over self to reign as kings,
And as priests, his solemn praises
Each for a thank-offering bring.

5 Savior, if of Zion's city
I thro' grace a member am;
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in thy name:
Fading is the worldling's pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show!
Solid joys and lasting treasure,
None but Zion's children know. REFLECTIONS Transfiguration Sunday is the brightest Sunday in Epiphany. The light from the manger and the wisemen seems to grow brighter and brighter through the season. Now Jesus is standing on a mountain with Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, shining brighter than anything the disciples have seen. Luke has it that they were heavy with sleep, like they were in Jesus’ darkest moment as he is praying in Gethsemane. We can imagine the terror that must have leveled the disciples. Although they had hints of Jesus’ divinity, now they saw it in the fullest glory flesh could bear. Peter speaks of building booths for the three of them, but before he is able to finish his sentence, suddenly, a cloud “overshadows them” and they hear the voice of God thundering from the cloud as it did at Jesus’ baptism. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” I always wonder, will they, while watching their Lord be treated like the lowest of criminals, remember this is God’s Son they are punishing? It doesn’t seem to look like that. They continue to be questioning as they watch, and then after the arrest in Gethsemane they disappear into the crowd. They are fearful for their own skins and seem to forget who Jesus is. We grow fearful when we see our faith getting us into trouble in the world. If we read our Old Testament closely, we know the cloud is the glory of the Lord. It followed the Israelites in the wilderness. When Moses is on Mount Sinai, he is swathed in a cloud, the glory of the Lord. John Newton expands on that glory in the hymn for today. “See the cloud and fire appear!/For a glory and a covering,/Shewing that the Lord is near.” When it lifted, the disciples saw Jesus only. He is in the flesh the glory of the Lord for believers. John 11:40 So we can sing in John Newton’s words “Solid joys and lasting treasure,/None but Zion's children know." HYMN INFO John Newton, the writer of "Amazing Grace," had been a reprobate child sent to sea early in life. He left his career as ship captain in which he had even sailed with slaves from Africa, to become an Anglican rector. He moved to Olney where he took care of William Cowper, another hymn writer who suffered great mental pains. He and Cowper published a famous collection of hymns named for the parish, Olney Hymns in 1779 in which this appeared. Deeply repenting of his slaving days, he joined forces with William Wilberforce to fight slavery in the British Empire. Their ultimate goal, the Slavery Abolition Act, was made law in 1833. The tune by Joseph Haydn "Gott erhälte Franz den Kaiser"in 1922 became the tune for the national anthem of Germany, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles." The British, understandably, prefer the Cyril Taylor tune, Abbott's Leigh, written in 1941 by Taylor to avoid the Haydn tune. LINKS University of North Carolina Chapel choirs https://youtu.be/RTpaIi6Uhi4 East Liberty Presbyterian Church https://youtu.be/xQAB40D5trc Global Praise Mission, John Hong https://youtu.be/gweYrn_3QBA New Worship Band Version Scottish https://youtu.be/uDJMinJQ63c Choirs of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal Queen’s Jubilee/to Abbot’s Leigh, by Cyril Taylor https://youtu.be/Bm-8RCn6k9g NB: The season of Lent is soon upon us and you might consider the book Jesus the Harmony. It has a poem for every day of the year and Bible references for each poem that put Jesus in what has been called "the red thread of salvation." The poems on the passion have been called the best ones. Many have been using it for daily devotions; others in group Bible studies. Click here to check it out. https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Harmony-Gospel-Sonnets-Days-ebook/dp/B08L9S4Z1T/ref=sr_1_3_nodl?dchild=1&keywords=Grindal&qid=16145

Danish: Om dagen står de store stille træer Text: Lisbeth Smedegaard Andersen Tune: René A. Jensen/Christian Præstholm 1. By day the giant trees stand still and quiet
And bear the light of heaven in their branches,
While all around is stillness
In these bright winter days of bitter cold
As hoarfrost breathes its rime on woodland pathways.

2. These brief short days pass by with measured steps
And move around the people with cold fingers
Who walk all by themselves;
As midnight shades the trees of heaven white
With images of stars within their branches.

3. But now beneath our feet, the crust of winter,
The seed we thought was dead begins to flourish
And send out tiny rootlets.
They know the light will soon be moving north
Hear! Life is pulsing underneath our footsteps!

4. It speaks with our dear Lord’s own precious words,
A parable of fields and waiting farmland
In quiet rest through winter.
The seed is growing deep within the earth
And like God’s kingdom, hidden from our vision.

5. Invisible, but yes, it’s there in all
Like summer in your senses in these mornings.
The winter world is ending
So you can be the salt to all the earth
And in your hands bear all the light of heaven.
Tr. Gracia Grindal REFLECTION The Sermon on the Mount begins with blessings and then moves through the Law which Jesus teaches without trying to make it less difficult. He removes some of the casuistry the legal scholars used to get around the jots and tittles of it. Jesus' words are descriptive. Breaking these laws can result in consequences we have to live with for the rest of our lives. He is not telling us these things to make our lives miserable, but teaching us a better way to live. He has told us we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. When we strive, as sinners, which we all are, to live up to these words, the light shines brighter, the salt works more effectively. Think of that: Jesus entrusts his work to sinners! Regardless, we are salt and light. He has told us that. You can't really live these words from Jesus without remembering his previous blessings and affirmations. Jesus sees more deeply into the roots of sin than we do. Murder begins with anger and hate. Forgive one another! Lust begins in the eye, long before the act of adultery, to avoid it, cut off your hand. Divorce, swearing falsely, revenge, all cause terrible suffering. Who would disagree with this? Bring the light of God and the salt to these events and speak the truth. Even if we follow these laws to a T, that will not save us. Only our Lord can do that. Still he wants us to thrive here on earth. Even as a miracle is moving in the ice and snow beneath our feet, so a miracle is moving in our spiritual lives as we hear the word, feel the salt working on the ice of our sins, like the salt on the sidewalks melts the ice which can kill or maim us as we venture a walk or drive on it. Underneath it all, life is growing invisibly, but powerfully. Lisbeth uses the images of the earth around her to tell how the Gospel works. In doing so she helps us understand the mystery of the kingdom of God. It is invisible, like the the seed growing overnight, or yeast in the loaf.

Lisbeth’s hymn brings heaven down to earth. These images of seed, light, farmlands, and salt make visible the invisible happening around us in our daily lives. Christ is here among us, bringing us the kingdom of God. God sent Jesus into the world to give us life and make us holy. Does it not change your walk on these days when nature seems dead to think of the miracles occurring all around you as the snow crunches under your feet? We have a vocation to serve the world, to be the salt of the earth, to hold up the light of the world, heaven, in our hands so all can live.

HYMN INFO This hymn was written in 2008 for a collection of hymns on the months, Himlens lys i dine hender/Heaven's Light in your hands. René Jensen set them, but the texts are attracting other composers. Lisbeth, a retired pastor in the Danish church, continues her writing. She has just finished a book on women in the Bible. LINKS
Dania Koret, Kirsten Milters, director
https://youtu.be/RVp8W84LYwM

Christian Præstholm’s anthem on the text
https://youtu.be/c-S-ipLsfJE

Christian Præstholm’s anthem on the text
https://youtu.be/MtpghM6rYtM

Text: Zulu folk Tune: Zulu folk, arr. Anders Nyberg We are marching in the light of God, We are marching…. (For copyright reason the text cannot be put here, but you will find it at any of the links) below). REFLECTION Salt and light. These are two images Jesus uses to describe the vocation of the Christian in the world. To season, to cleanse, to heal, is the work of salt. Light changes everything. While darkness fills us with fear (or gives us a place to hide), light chases away the shadows and we can see what is really there. In the dark, normal shapes like a bed or dresser can take on aspects of evil, lurking in the corners to attack us. Children call to us from their bedrooms for light, to be comforted and assured there are no monsters under the bed or in the closets or dark corners of the room. Martin Luther knew this when he wrote his prayers for morning and evening. The evening prayer especially, in its petition to the Lord to send his holy angel to watch over us, has always been a comfort for the little child. And even for those of us growing long in the tooth. Send your holy angel, we cry out, when terror seems to take on shape in the darkness. In this passage, Jesus sees us bringing God’s salt and light with us wherever we go and in whatever we do. We do this by our words and deeds. People can see in the work of believers who bring healing and comfort a light that shines from God. They can hear in the words they speak the truth a cleansing light the reveals the hobgoblins in the darkness to be toothless giants. There are some who hate this light because it reveals their sin, the twisted and demonic ways they are going for their own advantage or the work of Satan himself. There is a lot of darkness out there in our commonwealths today. Those who speak truth to power as the phrase goes risk a lot. But it is our calling to do so—in fact, as faithful followers of the light we cannot turn off this light switch. It is there shining even when we deny it, as Peter tried to do on Holy Thursday evening. Even in his denial, Peter still seemed a witness to the light. When Jesus looked at him, his sin was revealed to him and he fled in shame and disgust at himself for denying what shone so fully before him even in the terror of the night. Early Christians, on telling the story of Peter, reported that for the rest of his life, every morning when the cock crew, Peter was reminded of his cowardly denial and wept bitterly once again for his sin. Now, however, he fled toward the light, the only place he could go to find relief--the strong medicines of salt and light--forgiveness, healing and wholeness. HYMN INFO This hymn has traveled the world since its arrangement by Anders Nyberg (b. 1955), a Swedish church musician who traveled with Fjedur, a group of Swedish singers to South Africa in the early 1980s. There they heard songs by South Africans as they were seeking to bring the light of truth to the nation plagued by apartheid. They produced an album called Freedom is Coming which contained many such songs and brought them north. They were premiered at the LWF Assembly in 1984 in Budapest. From there they swept across the world and became part of global hymnody and are included in most main line hymnals today. LINKS Angel City Chorale https://youtu.be/QGOiANtGmhE Mississippi Baptist All State Youth Choir and Orchestra https://youtu.be/vNQhhFEvlLs Marianne Kim Music, jazz piano https://youtu.be/pKa-cOQAukw Nouvel Album Chorale Sainte Familie (Congo Brazzaville) https://youtu.be/Fi-zd2k8wgQ Quinteto Angolano https://youtu.be/XbiEeK4xbAY

Text: Isaac Watts (1674-1748) Tune: There are many/see below 1 Bless'd are the humble souls, who see
Their ignorance and poverty:
Treasures of grace to them are giv’n,
And crowns of joy laid up in heav’n.

2 Bless'd are the men of broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
For them divine compassion flows,
A healing balm for all their woes.

3 Bless'd are the meek, who stand afar
From rage and passion, noise and war:
God will secure their peaceful state,
And plead their cause against the great.

4 Bless'd are the souls who thirst for grace
Hunger and long for righteousness:
They shall be well supplied and fed
With living streams and living bread.

5 Bless'd are the men, whose hearts still move
And melt with sympathy and love;
They shall themselves from God obtain
Like sympathy and love again.

6 Bless'd are the pure, whose hearts are clean
From the defiling pow'r of sin:
With endless pleasure they shall see
A God of spotless purity.

7 Bless'd are the men of peaceful life,
Who quench the coals of growing strife;
They shall be call'd the heirs of bliss,
The sons of God, the God of peace.

8 Bless'd are the suff’rers who partake
Of pain and shame for Jesus’ sake:
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord;
Glory and joy are their reward. REFLECTIONS The Beatitudes are supremely rich and beautiful to hear, but fairly difficult to preach. Maybe it is simply too much to cover the breadth of all eight in one sermon. It is almost as if the Lord is pouring the good news and its blessing over us from a river filled to overflowing. Maybe more like one at a time to savor small sips from this gusher. Books by the hundreds have been written on them, a twenty-minute sermon will barely scratch the surface. I like the present tense of Jesus' words. He is not saying go out and strive to be peacemakers, or mourners, or meek. He says that those who fit that description are indeed blessed. We can look around and see people who do fulfill those virtues and ascribe to them the blessings Jesus announces as he begins his great Sermon on the Mount. And in his list he is giving us a list of the kind of virtues he values in his kingdom. Then, I cringe. Lord, have I been any of these things? Can you bless me if I haven’t? Maybe this is of the devil—to turn these rich words into condemnations? Especially of ourselves. Isaac Watts does a nice job with the beatitudes in this now forgotten hymn. He doesn’t use Jesus’ pronouns, blessed are you, but describes the one who is meek and what he or she receives from the Lord. Those “who see/Their ignorance and poverty: Treasures of grace to them are giv’n, And crowns of joy laid up in heav’n.” What Watts does is give us more concrete examples of what is means to receive the ”kingdom of heaven.” It is an old rhetorical convention—to make clear by adding, or elaborating, on a theme. Feel these blessings pour down from our Lord. He comes with blessings for all his children and these beatitudes show us how faithful Christians live. HYMN INFO Watts, the son of a Non-conformist minister, was very bright but could not attend Oxford or Cambridge because Non-conformists were outside the established church. Watts did very well for himself at the schools for such students, and became a distinguished scholar of rhetoric, a poet, and reformer of English hymnody which ever since has borne his stamp—economical, and without any bumps. Furthermore, he rebelled against the Calvinist rigors of exact paraphrases of the Psalms, thinking that many of those he sang as a boy were rough hewn and to some extent not Christian because they were not informed by the New Testament. This did not keep him from using the psalter as a source. His great hymn “O God our help in ages past,” is a peerless paraphrase of Psalm 90. He did what all innovators do—used what he had grown up with, mastered it, and then expanded what the form could say. It is still true today that when a young person is asked to write a song, they use some form of the ballad stanzas—this one in Long Measure LM (eight syllables per line)—that Watts used for so many of his hymns. Even today, one can feel him on one’s shoulder tsk tsking if you have composed an inelegant line. As an English classicist, he sought to make his seemingly simple lyrics as economical, graceful and clear as possible. Those who follow him will hear those bumps in their own verse because they have been so well schooled by Watts without even knowing it. An interesting book Hymns Unbidden argues that both William Blake and Emily Dickinsen learned from Watts how to write their poems as they whiled away the long sermons of their day by reading Watts in their hymnals. I have no doubt that is true. In these libertine days when forms and strictures are regarded as keeping us from the truth, I would challenge the young to master these forms so they can effectively communicate with those around them the “endless pleasures they will see/A God of spotless purity.” Something to be longed for, yea hungered and thirsted after for righteousness’ sake. Watts’ hymns are so many that we do not have their stories; he just wrote and wrote. As he lived, his health declined and he was taken in by friends who took care of him for many years. This is a metrical paraphrase like those encouraged by the Calvinists, except only for the Psalms, not the Gospels. It first appeared in Watts’ collection Hymns and Sacred Songs in 1709 with these eight stanzas. It can be sung to most any LM tune. It has not remained as popular as his greatest hymns such as "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," or "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," but it is a worthy piece. This hymn is not very well known today, but there are hundreds of hymns on the Beatitudes as you will see below, including my version. LINKS Graham Kendrick
https://youtu.be/tWm2TpiqRUc David Haas https://youtu.be/AwaK5h8Dhac Chris Brunelle https://youtu.be/bcUJyBKgp64

Text and tune: African American spiritual or Harry Dixon Loes, (1895-1965) This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, Let it shine, I’m going to let it shine, Let it shine, let it shine, All the time. REFLECTIONS This is one of those children’s songs that has captured the attention of Sunday school teachers for many reasons--not only is it pure Scripture, but its actions are fun to use with children. It is a sweet and innocent thing to watch children sing it, gesturing with their hands about how they are going to let the light shine, not hide it under a bushel, nor let Satan blow it out and let it shine all around the neighborhood. It is a sweet teaching of mission work that we hear about in the text for Sunday, when Jesus calls the disciples Andrew and Peter, and James and John, from their fishing boats, telling them he is going to make them fishers of people. And for some reason, immediately, they left their nets, and followed him. I have often wondered whether I would have reacted the way they did and just put everything by and followed. His voice must have been irresistible. Did they hear their creator’s voice in it, reimagining their future? It certainly opened a door for them that they could not have imagined that morning as they left for their work. As they followed this man, did they realize that one day they would be made into people who would have the guts to go to the uttermost part of the world with their teacher’s message? If asked the day they said yes, they may not have been able even to conceive of the new world they were entering or what it would mean for them as they brought the light of Jesus to parts of the world they had probably never even heard of? Could they imagine that their call was what Bonhoeffer would say was a call to die? Could they imagine they would be martyred in cruel and terrible ways for their witness? Life with Jesus always means a profound change for us. We are going down the road in our conventional ways, and then, we hear a voice to which we say yes, and suddenly everything changes. Jesus first of all changes us—his new birth in us turns us around and makes us fit for heaven, and then he changes us into disciples who will be able to carry his word to all people and bring them into the kingdom. They too will be changed because of the word we have brought them. We are not bringing ourselves to the world, but bringing Jesus. Nothing is more tiresome than the narcissism so rampant today. Not very many people are interesting enough to change us. Mission is bringing Christ, and his light, to others, bringing God into the world through our voices, speaking his name and substance into the people around us. They are dying for new life, a new vocation and a new sense of purpose. Thus, we look at the children gesturing about what Christ has called us to do in the world: shine his light. It is really very simple. He promised us that wherever we meet in his name, and speak it, he will be there. “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” Listen to his voice, see his light, and pass it on. HYMN INFO Some say this was written by Avid Burgeson Christiansen, a native of Chicago who wrote gospel songs. The song was arranged by Harry Dixon Loes, another composer of the day. It was included in the hymnal Songs of Redemption in 1920. Other creditable sources say it is an African American spiritual. It may be all of those. In any case, the song has been sung for generations by children and adults all reveling in their calling to bring Christ to the nations. My hymn at the end meditates on what it is like to hear the voice of Jesus calling us today. LINKS Sangah Noona--some piano! https://youtu.be/r0uAM8jo898 Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows and George Beverly Shea/really fun! several years apart https://youtu.be/lSvQzMpe5Q0 https://youtu.be/hvTldSREDdA Soweta Gospel Choir https://youtu.be/1yUK0S_cEXY Cedarmont Kids—charming https://youtu.be/yRhDi2aK5ac BONUS HYMN YOUR VOICE, LORD, IS THE WORLD TO ME 86 86 86 (can be sung to Brother James Air) Your voice, Lord, is the world to me. It made the floating spheres And moves within my deepest parts To take away my fears. For when you speak, I hear the truth; Its power draws me near. O Jesus, Savior, change my heart And make me yours alone, For I am caught in dreadful things— You know what I have done. My lusts entangle me in sin; My faults are all my own. And still you call me to your side, Where you can make me new. Lord Jesus, heal me, change my heart, So I can follow you And speak to those who need to hear And what you say is true. As once you spoke in Galilee To simple fishermen, Call me to put my troubles by, To follow you again, So one day I can praise your name In heav’n above. Amen. NB: Lent is approaching. There is still time to order this classic of Lenten poetry and hymnody by Iceland's greatest Lutheran hymn writer. A link to my translation of the Passion Hymns https://kiNBNBIt It rkjuhusid.is/products/25576-hymns-of-the-passion-passiusalmar-in-english?_pos=2&_sid=6de747994&_ss=r

Text: John Rowe (1865-1933). Tune: Howard E. Smith (1863-1918) 1 I was sinking deep in sin,
Far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me–
Now safe am I.
R/ Love lifted me,
Love lifted me,
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me;
Love lifted me,
Love lifted me,
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me. 2 All my heart to Him I give,
Ever to Him I'll cling,
In His blessed presence live,
Ever His praises sing.
Love so mighty and so true
Merits my soul's best songs;
Faithful, loving service, too,
To Him belongs.
R/ 3 Souls in danger, look above,
Jesus completely saves;
He will lift you by His love
Out of the angry waves.
He's the Master of the sea,
Billows His will obey;
He your Savior wants to be–
Be saved today.
R/ REFLECTIONS
This old gospel song still speaks to many. Based on a line in Psalm 40:2, “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock.” The hymn is written from a time and place when most people were well acquainted with the dangers of seafaring. England, a seafaring nation, ruled the waves, and its people knew the dangers of the waters. While the psalm has more of quicksand in it than sea, the thought of sinking into the waters was well known by everyone. All of us, whether we are much around lakes or seas, know it too. Peter knew it when he tried to walk on water. Dante begins his great epic with a description of himself almost drowning but being lifted up by Lucia, a messenger from Beatrice who brought the love of God to him. The very physical image of sinking into a mire or deep sea is a great metaphor for our being caught in sin. Especially in a miry bog. The more one tries to get out, the deeper one sinks. There is no way we can get out on our own. The only salvation is when someone comes along with a rope or board that can give us a solid footing. We cannot save ourselves. This is true whether our miry bog is just that or our own sins. All of us know how tangled up we can get by trying to extricate ourselves from our own messes. We need help. Christians learn these lessons over time. We need to look up for help and cry out. The Lord is waiting for that cry and will come at once. He loves to save us. And must be amused at our thrashing around in our own messes as we struggle to free ourselves, waiting for the cry that comes when we realize we cannot save ourselves. His coming to lift us out of the mire or deep waters shows us his very nature: Love. The God of the universe who made worlds on worlds stooping down to lift insignificant souls like us out of sin. That is love. The whole plan of salvation is about love for sinners. God’s whole work is designed to lift us out of the mire and save us and finally bring us into fellowship with him, the Almighty God! Love so amazing, so Divine, all for us! HYMN INFO The hymn was written by James Rowe, an Englishman born in 1865. For some years he worked in the Government Survey Office in Dublin. In 1890 he emigrated to New York where he worked for the railroads, until he became superintendent of the Mohawk and Hudson River Human Society. Not until 1896 did he begin writing hymns, songs and poems. He died in 1933. Over the years the song has become a favorite of the African American church but remains well known in evangelical circles. Almost nothing is known about the composer Howard Smith. LINKS
LA Mass choir
https://youtu.be/5_ckHj0VH18 Kim Hopper/Gaither Music TV
https://youtu.be/YbE3Rmfhtz4 Bebe Winans
https://youtu.be/2btUHZuR_Kc Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers/A classic recording, but not always clear which love it is https://youtu.be/FRyvsFJErCE

Text and tune: anonymous. Chorus
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water
God's a-going to trouble the water

1.
See that host all dressed in white
God's a-going to trouble the water
The leader looks like the Israelite
God's a-going to trouble the water

2.
See that band all dressed in red
God's a-going to trouble the water
Looks like the band that Moses led
God's a-going to trouble the water

3.
Look over yonder, what do you see?
God's a-going to trouble the water
The Holy Ghost a-coming on me
God's a-going to trouble the water

4.
If you don't believe I've been redeemed
God's a-going to trouble the water
Just follow me down to the Jordan's stream
God's a-going to trouble the water REFLECTION Jesus’ baptism in vividly portrayed in all four gospels. It is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In this event we see Jesus fulfilling all righteousness; we hear his Father commending him to the people there as his beloved Son; see the Dove descending—so the Trinity is fully there submitting to John’s baptism, one for the forgiveness of sins. It is a strange moment, if one thinks about it. Why would Jesus, a non sinner, need this baptism? A question that theologians have spilled a great deal of ink to ponder. Luther says it was to experience all human life on earth. The spiritual "Wade in the Water" is rich with interpretations as well. Harriet Tubman, who thought of herself as the Moses of the Underground railroad, would sing this whenever she felt the fugitive slaves she was leading to freedom in the north were in danger. While the references are all biblical, they can also communicate the truth of the flight of slaves to the north. To wade in the water was to go into the river so that the dogs could lose the scent and they could escape. The slaves, like Harriet Tubman, knew Scripture well. The notion of the Exodus of the Israelite slaves from Egypt became their story. So passing through the waters of the Red Sea was an emblem of their passing through he waters on their way out of slavery. The hosts in white, the band in red, the troubling of the waters as we have it in John 5 where the angel troubles the water before people can be healed, the Holy Spirit coming upon one; standing on the edge of the Jordan, all biblical images which teach us what a difference these waters make in our lives. We are baptized into the death of Christ, and in dying with him we are raised up new, changed. And as we stand at the Jordan, we know we are looking beyond it into the heavenly city where the crystal stream of water flows. As the Welsh hymn has it, the verge of Jordan where we see into the new world Christ has come to bring us in the flesh. And in his flesh, he will ultimately bring us into the courts of heaven where we can live in our new resurrected flesh. It will be a world of dimensions we cannot imagine now. All we have are intriguing hints, but they are so beautiful and ravishing that they draw us toward it with faith and hope. Wade in the water, children, go under the waters, die to the old behind you, leave slavery behind, and stand up ready for the new. There is our freedom. HYMN INFO Like all spirituals, we have no idea where this one came from, but we do know that Harriet Tubman used it as she was leading fugitive slaves north. It has been a hit song for such groups as Honey in the Rock and many other artists. LINKS Cynthia Liggins Thomas https://youtu.be/7_euSS86dvE Fisk Jubilee Singers https://youtu.be/2kUfvUDOOxQ Eva Cassidy https://youtu.be/9-hKDYQ6F54

Text: Theoktistus of the Studium (9th century). Tune: Ralph Alvin Strom (1901-1977) 1. Jesus Name all names above,
Jesus, best and dearest,
Jesus, fount of perfect love,
Holiest, tenderest, nearest;
Jesus, source of grace completest,
Jesus, purest, Jesu sweetest,
Jesus, well of power divine,
Make me, keep me, seal me Thine. 2. Jesus, open me the gate,
That the robber entered,
Who in that most lost estate
Wholly on Thee ventured.
Thou whose wounds are ever pleading,
And Thy passion interceding,
From my misery let me rise
To a home in paradise. 3. Jesus, crowned with thorns for me,
Scourged for my transgression,
Witnessing through agony,
That Thy good confession;
Jesus, clad in purple raiment,
For my evil making payment,
Let not all Thy woe and pain,
Let not Calvary be in vain. 4. When I reach death’s bitter sea,
And its waves mount higher,
Earthly help forsaking me
As the storm draws nigher,
Jesus, leave me not to languish
Helpless, homeless, full of anguish;
Jesus, let me hear Thee say,
Thou shalt be with Me today.
Tr. John Mason Neale I JESU NAVN SKAL AL VOR GJERNING SKE

Text: Johan Fredricksen (1604-1441) Tune: Kingo’s Gradual 1699 1 In Jesus' name
Our work must all be done
If it shall compass our true good and aim,
And not end in shame alone;
For ev'ry deed
Which in it doth proceed,
Success and blessing gains
Till it the goal attains.
Thus we honor God on high
And ourselves are blessed thereby;
Wherein our true good remains. 2 In Jesus' name
We praise our God on high,
He blesses them who spread abroad His fame,
And we do His will thereby.
E'er hath the Lord
Done great things by His Word,
And still doth bare His arm
His wonders to perform;
Hence we should in ev'ry clime
Magnify His name sublime,
Who doth shield us from all harm. 3 In Jesus' name
We live and we will die;
If then we live, His love we will proclaim;
If we die, we gain thereby.
In Jesus' name,
Who from heav'n to us came,
We shall again rise
To meet Him in the skies,
When at last, saved by His grace,
We shall see Him face to face,
Live with Him in Paradise.
Tr. George Rygh (18 MEDITATION (somewhat revised from a previous blog)
Happy New Year! January 1 is Jesus’ Name Day, eight days after his birth. It was customary to give the baby boy his name on the day of his circumcision and Jesus’ parents followed the command of the angels to name him Jesus—Savior: “For he shall save his people from their sins.” Matt 1:21; Luke 1:31. The eighth day has an important resonance throughout the life of Jesus and thus the church. Jesus rose on the eighth day—Sunday is known as the eighth day-- so in celebrating Sunday every week we are remembering the resurrection and the new reality that Jesus established in his resurrection. Christian theology also understood that in the circumcision Jesus shed his first blood for us. Richard Crashaw, a Catholic English poet of the Baroque era, and John Milton, wrote some of their best poetry on the ceremony. The occasion was included as the first of what the medieval church named the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Luther in a sermon on the tradition noted that the name was given by the angels, as well as Joseph, who in giving him the name, officially adopted him, like the Pharaoh’s daughter who named Moses and took him as her own. Luther loved that we received our names when we are christened—made Christians—and we now have names that God knows and can use in calling us. In this rite, “we receive a name that is over all names and a blessing so great that our hearts can be joyful and free.” It was common in the past, and still should be, to begin the year in the name of Jesus. Elisabeth Fedde, the founder of the Deaconess Hospital in Brooklyn and Minneapolis made a practice of doing so, looking back over the previous year and then toward the future. She prayed the prayer of the second hymn, the first hymn in the Norwegian hymnal at the time: “In Jesus Name let all our work be done.” It was the hymn with which many Norwegian institutions began their work and with which they greeted the New Year. Musekgo Lutheran Church began its ministry with this song as did Mindekirken and thousands of Norwegian congregations here and in Norway. It is the motto of Menighetsfakultet in Oslo. So with all the church who celebrate this day as Jesus Name Day, let us begin this New Year in Jesus’ Name! Rejoice in what we have been given by our Savior: a new name, a new life, a new beginning, a wonderful way to begin the New Year! The Circumcision and Naming of Jesus This cut drew the first blood of our Lord, Submitting to the Law, the Holy One, To show the covenant in flesh and blood, Now Son of Joseph, who took him as his own, Naming him Jesus, as Pharaoh’s daughter named Moses, drawing him out of the river Nile. All righteousness fulfilled, our Lord became What he was meant to be, his Father’s child Come to redeem the world, to live with us Obeying all the ordinary rules. For what? To bleed and die upon a cross, To show us how he is the God of fools And sages. A God incarnate, filled with life. And so we watch with wonder, the hand, the knife. from Jesus the Harmony by Gracia Grindal copyright Fortress Press 2021 HYMN INFO The first text is by a rather unknown Greek writer Theoktistus of the Studium, a monk in Constantinople, during the 9th century. John Mason Neale (1818-1866), is the translator. It became part of the gift that the Anglo-Catholic movement gave English speaking Christians with their many translations of early and medieval hymns. The tune by Ralph Alvin Strom, who lived and worked in St. Paul in congregations associated with The Augustana Synod, was composed for this text in the SBH, but used in the LBW for a marriage text. The tune, probably preferred over the text, really got buried in the marriage section, but it is a lovely romantic tune in which one can hear Swedish echoes. "In Jesus Name shall all our work be done" was the first hymn in the Landstad hymnal. Fredricksen wrote it as a hymn for his wedding in 1639. He served as rector in Roskilde. The tune appeared in the Kingo gradual in 1699. It was known and loved, but it is difficult to sing if one does not know it. LINKS Begin your New Year in Jesus' Name by contemplating these hymns and sources for this day At the Name of Jesus--Hymn 62-- https://youtu.be/OK8OhC6roI4 Navnet Jesus--by the Oslo Gospel Choir Hymn 117 https://youtu.be/h3YVeVco8cs Bach has several cantata's for New Year's Day. See the links below) JESUS NAME, ALL NAMES ABOVE Strom’s tune by Gerard Sundberg, lovely version https://youtu.be/BWGLFa1wLP0 Ralph Strom’s tune/bad recording but you can hear the lovely tune https://youtu.be/56OHg55S1Os Jesus Name all names above, another tune St. Theoktistus by F. A. Gore Ouseley (1825-1889) https://youtu.be/kr5qJ-3kik8 St. Theoktistus tune/piano
https://youtu.be/ObsMAmFReF4 IN JESUS NAME, LET ALL OUR WORK BE DONE
Organ playing In Jesus Name shall all our work be done https://youtu.be/8LJ86msA4_I Hans Iversen--the old folk way of singing a tune
https://youtu.be/Vju29GpaPfk BACH CANTATAS The Christmas Oratorio 4-6 Harnoncort directing Four is for New Year's Day, Five, the Sunday after Christmas, Six Epiphany https://youtu.be/5SHDTNy_rUM Bach's Cantata BWV 41 for the New Year https://youtu.be/r6TRChdfdow