Bless Now, O God, the Journey
1 Bless now, O God, the journey
that all your people make,
the path through noise and silence,
the way of give and take.
The trail is found in desert
and winds the mountain round,
then leads beside still waters,
the road where faith is found.
2 Bless sojourners and pilgrims
who share this winding way;
your hope burns through the terrors,
your love sustains the day.
We yearn for holy freedom
while often we are bound;
together we are seeking
the road where faith is found.
3 Divine eternal lover,
you meet us on the road.
We wait for land of promise
where milk and honey flow,
but waiting not for places,
you meet us all around.
Our covenant is written
on roads, as faith is found.
Tag: God
Restore in Us, O God
Restore in Us, O God
1 Restore in us, O God,
the splendor of your love;
renew your image in our hearts,
and all our sins remove.
2 O Spirit, wake in us
the wonder of your pow’r;
from fruitless fear unfurl our lives
like springtime bud and flow’r.
3 Bring us, O Christ, to share
the fullness of your joy;
baptize us in the risen life
that death cannot destroy.
4 Three-personed God, fulfill
the promise of your grace,
that we, when all our searching ends,
may see you face to face.
O God of Every Nation
O God of Every Nation
1 O God of ev’ry nation,
of ev’ry race and land,
redeem your whole creation
with your almighty hand;
where hate and fear divide us
and bitter threats are hurled,
in love and mercy guide us
and heal our strife-torn world.
2 From search for wealth and power
and scorn of truth and right,
from trust in bombs that shower
destruction through the night,
from pride of race and station
and blindness to your way,
deliver ev’ry nation,
eternal God, we pray.
3 Lord, strengthen all who labor
that all may find release
from fear of rattling saber,
from dread of war’s increase;
when hope and courage falter,
Lord, let your voice be heard;
with faith that none can alter,
your servants undergird.
4 Keep bright in us the vision
of days when war shall cease,
when hatred and division
give way to love and peace,
till dawns the morning glorious
when truth and love shall reign,
and Christ shall rule victorious
o’er all the world’s domain.
Great God, Your Love Has Called Us
Great God, Your Love Has Called Us
1 Great God, your love has called us here
as we, by love, for love were made.
Your living likeness still we bear,
though marred, dishonored, disobeyed.
We come, with all our heart and mind
your call to hear, your love to find.
2 We come with self-inflicted pains
of broken trust and chosen wrong,
half-free, half-bound by inner chains,
by social forces swept along,
by powers and systems close confined
yet seeking hope for humankind.
3 Great God, in Christ you call our name
and then receive us as your own
not through some merit, right, or claim,
but by your gracious love alone.
We strain to glimpse your mercy seat
and find you kneeling at our feet.
4 Then take the towel, and break the bread,
and humble us, and call us friends.
Suffer and serve till all are fed,
and show how grandly love intends
to work till all creation sings,
to fill all worlds, to crown all things.
GOD OF THE WOMEN
GOD OF THE WOMEN (sung to tune of #793, Be Thou My Vision)
1. God of the women who answered your call,
Trusting your promises, giving their all,
Women like Sarah and Hannah and Ruth —
Give us their courage to live in your truth.
2. God of the women who walked Jesus’ Way,
Giving their resources, learning to pray,
Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and more —
May we give freely as they did before.
3. God of the women long put to the test,
Left out of stories, forgotten, oppressed,
Quietly asking: “Who smiled at my birth?” —
In Jesus’ dying you show us our worth.
4. God of the women who ran from the tomb,
Prayed with the others in that upper room,
Then felt your Spirit on Pentecost Day —
May we so gladly proclaim you today.
5. O God of Phoebe and ministers all,
May we be joyful in ans’ring your call.
Give us the strength of your Spirit so near
That we may share in your ministry here.
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy
1 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heav’n.
There is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgment giv’n.
2 There is welcome for the sinner,
and a promised grace made good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.
3 For the love of God is broader
than the measures of our mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
But we make this love too narrow
by false limits of our own;
and we magnify its strictness
with a zeal God will not own.
4 ‘Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
it is something more than all:
greater good because of evil,
larger mercy through the fall.
Make our love, O God, more faithful;
let us take you at your word,
and our lives will be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
1 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:
2 Under the shadow of your throne
your saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is your arm alone,
and our defense is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting you are God,
to endless years the same.
4 A thousand ages in your sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all our years away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.
6 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
still be our guard while troubles last
and our eternal home.
God Is Here!
God Is Here!
1 God is here! As we your people
meet to offer praise and prayer,
may we find in fuller measure
what it is in Christ we share.
Here, as in the world around us,
all our varied skills and arts
wait the coming of the Spirit
into open minds and hearts.
2 Here are symbols to remind us
of our lifelong need of grace;
here are table, font, and pulpit;
here the cross has central place.
Here in honesty of preaching,
here in silence, as in speech,
here, in newness and renewal,
God the Spirit comes to each.
3 Here our children find a welcome
in the Shepherd’s flock and fold;
here as bread and wine are taken,
Christ sustains us as of old.
Here the servants of the Servant
seek in worship to explore
what it means in daily living
to believe and to adore.
4 Lord of all, of church and kingdom,
in an age of change and doubt,
keep us faithful to the gospel;
help us work your purpose out.
Here, in this day’s dedication,
all we have to give, receive;
we, who cannot live without you,
we adore you! We believe!
Sent Forth by God’s Blessing
Sent Forth by God’s Blessing
1 Sent forth by God’s blessing,
our true faith confessing,
the people of God from this dwelling take leave.
The supper is ended.
Oh, now be extended
the fruits of this service in all who believe.
The seed of Christ’s teaching,
receptive souls reaching,
shall blossom in action for God and for all.
Your grace shall incite us,
your love shall unite us
to work for your kingdom and answer your call.
2 With praise and thanksgiving
to God ever-living,
the tasks of our ev’ryday life we will face—
our faith ever sharing,
in love ever caring,
embracing God’s children, the whole human race.
With your feast you feed us,
with your light now lead us;
unite us as one in this life that we share.
Then may all the living
with praise and thanksgiving
give honor to Christ and his name that we bear.
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
1 A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper frees us from the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe,
forsworn to work us woe,
with guile and dreadful might
is armed to wage the fight:
on earth there is no equal.
2 If we in our own strength confide,
our striving turns to losing;
the righteous one fights by our side,
the one of God’s own choosing.
You ask who this may be:
Christ Jesus, it is he,
the Lord of hosts by name.
No other God we claim!
None else can win the battle.
3 Though all the world with devils fill
and threaten to devour us,
we tremble not, we trust God’s will:
they cannot overpow’r us.
Though Satan rant and rage,
in fiercest war engage,
this tyrant’s doomed to fail;
God’s judgement must prevail!
One little word shall triumph.
4 God’s Word shall stand above the pow’rs,
shall end all their thanksgiving.
The Spirit and the gifts are ours,
for God with us is living.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
though all of these be gone,
they yet have nothing won.
The kingdom’s our forever!
Hymn Lyric Archive By Charles Ghose 