Hymns
Grow In Grace
Words: Frances Ridley Havergal
Music: Wilhelm A. F. Schulthes
The featured hymn for this week is “Grow in Grace” by Frances Havergal. This is a very enjoyable hymn about growing in the Lord. I hope that we all may have experiences of the Lord this week that cause us to see Christ more and grow in Him more.
As you will note in each verse and the chorus, there is thought of growing IN GRACE. This phrase comes directly from 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” After writing a letter that was full of warnings to believers of what to be wary of and what not to do, this verse is his conclusion. It’s almost as if the Apostle Peter went through countless ways of how NOT to grow with this final verse of how to grow. We grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All other ways we may try to grow will only cause weeds to sprout at best. I appreciate how the hymn writer picks up on this crucial point and developed the thought in five verses. May we take time to consider each of them.
May the Lord do more of His work deeply in us this week. May He cause the growth (1 Cor. 3:6) that produces the fruit in us that would be so pleasing to Him! May we spend much time this week personally and with others seeking the Lord’s shining face (Psalm 27:8) and spend time in His presence to behold His glory which will transform us to more and more like Him (2 Cor. 3:18). May we not be satisfied with how far we may have come or what we have seen previously: may we press on to lay hold of more that for which we have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus (Phil 3:12)!
— Ian Konopinski
1.
Unto him that hath Thou givest
Ever more abundantly;
Lord, I live because Thou livest,
Therefore give more life to me,
Therefore speed me in the race,
Therefore let me grow in grace.
2.
Deepen all Thy work, O Master,
Strengthen every downward root;
Only do Thou ripen faster,
More and more Thy pleasant fruit;
Purge me, prune me, self abase;
Only let me grow in grace.
Chorus
To grow in grace, to grow in grace,
All Thy riches I partake;
By the shining of Thy face,
Jesus, let me grow in grace.
3.
Let me grow by sun and shower,
Every moment water me;
Make me really, hour by hour,
More and more conformed to Thee,
That Thy loving eye may trace
Day by day my growth in grace.
4.
From Thy fulness grace outpouring,
Show me ever greater things;
Raise me higher, sunward soaring,
Mounting as on eagle-wings.
By the shining of Thy face,
Ever let me grow in grace.
5.
Let me, then, be always growing,
Never, never standing still,
Listening, learning, better knowing
Thee and Thy most blessed will.
Till I see Thee face to face,
Daily let me grow in grace.
I Belong to Jesus
Words: Maud Frazer Jackson
Music: M. A. Sea
There are so many ‘masters’ that try to lay claim to our souls – schools, jobs, health, money, even our ‘self’. None of those things can ever give us true rest, but when we realize we belong to Jesus, we find that we have everything. He has bought us with His precious blood to make us His own, and we can say, “I am not my own. All I have and all I am shall be His alone.” When we realize that Jesus is Lord and King and that He reigns above every earthly circumstance, we can stop struggling and have perfect peace. Jesus is the perfect master who loves us, died for us, keeps our soul, and allows us to say we are His and He is ours.
— Shulamite Konopinski
1.
I belong to Jesus;
I am not my own;
All I have and all I am
Shall be His alone.
2.
I belong to Jesus;
He is Lord and King,
Reigning in my inmost heart
Over everything.
3.
I belong to Jesus;
What can hurt or harm,
When He folds around my soul
His almighty Arm?
4.
I belong to Jesus;
Blessed, blessed thought!
With His own most precious blood
Has my soul been bought.
5.
I belong to Jesus;
He has died for me;
I am His and He is mine
Through eternity.
6.
I belong to Jesus;
He will keep my soul,
If the deathly waters dark
Round about me roll.
O Christ, He Is The Fountain
(for the Lord’s Table Meeting)
1.
O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of life:
Its living streams I’ve tasted
Which save from grief and strife.
And to an ocean fulness,
His mercy doth expand;
His grace is all-sufficient
As by His wisdom planned.
2.
O I am my Beloved’s,
And my Beloved’s mine;
He brings a poor vile sinner
Into His house of wine!
I stand upon His merit;
I know no other stand.
I’m hidden in His presence
And held by His own hand.
3.
The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of grace:
Not at the crown He giveth,
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory,
And my eternal stand!
Children’s Content
Fruit of the Spirit
Coloring Page
Message
“The Need for Spiritual Food—Feeding the Four Thousand”
Message given by Rex Beck for May 24, 2020
Matthew 15:29-38
29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children
A message for your enjoyment throughout the week
visions and revelations: message 10
“The Apostle Peter …”
Marilyn and I were inspired by two things:
1. Even in the midst of God’s glories and miracles, the people still needed to eat. Often in our lives, when God’s working seems to be particularly evident, we could feel like we’re doing quite well, spiritually, and then forget to “eat” our spiritual food. But whether things are going well or seem to be spiritually dry, we need to remember to “eat” everyday!
2. It’s an inspiring picture to see how The Lord will take our gifts / offerings, break it, but then give it back to us, so that we can then give it to others. We cannot truly serve God, meaning, serve other people, without first having our person, our talents, our skills, our desires, and our dreams broken by Him. Then, when they have been broken and perfected by the Lord, He gives them back to us for the purpose of serving His people. It is such a cool picture!
I was touched by the breaking and the mixing of all the loaves together. Sometimes the Lord processes what we bring to him and mixes it with what someone else has.
Praise God for The Message today! I felt The presence of The Holy Spirit during The Message. Jesus touches my heart so whenever he feeds people, heals people, raises people from the dead, or does any other acts of compassion. May God’s Word continue on to always have a free course and may The Lord Bless and keep you Saints.
I thought of all the people that went through so much to make the trip to Jesus. I’m sure many came from a long way. But Jesus wanted to feed the people first, taking what the small amount the disciples had and divided it among the people. I felt so strong that even the food must have healed some of those people. Did the Lord have to do more then this? Taking the few loafs of bread and few fish to divide it among so many thousands of people. He didn’t do this himself, but the disciples were the ones to give it to the people. Oh, what a wonderful picture of how the Lord will operate in us. Thank you Lord for your love toward us. When we come to you and give you the little we have, you will multiply it for so many that are around us.