Ellers

I was flipping through the indexes in my hymnal (The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration), when something caught my eye. In the index of tunes, there was a tune with my name on it. Cool! I'm still not sure why it has my name on it, but the song is "Jesus Is All The World To Me". I'll take it! While still looking at the tune index, I saw a name that made me look twice: there was a tune with the name "Ellers". Two different songs went with it. So I looked them up. Wow... Now I realize that hymns are usually about Jesus, and Ellerslie is about Jesus, so it makes sense for hymns to relate to Ellerslie, but I thought these two songs particularly captured what happened there, especially the first one.

439 - Cleanse Me by J. Edwin Orr

Search me, O God, and know my heart today; Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray: See if there be some wicked way in me: Cleanse me from ev'ry sin, and set me free.

I Praise Thee Lord. for cleansing me from sin: Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within; Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame: Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine: Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine; Take all my will, my passion, self and pride; I now surrender: Lord in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee: Send a revival start the work in me: Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need: For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

 

604 - Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name by John Ellerton

Savior, again to Thy dear name we raise
With one accord our parting hymn of praise;
Once more we bless Thee ere our worship cease;
With eager hearts we wait Thy word of peace.

Grant us Thy peace upon our home-ward way;
With Thee began, with Thee shall end the day;
Guard Thou the lips from sin, the hearts from shame,
That in this house have called upon Thy name.

Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs... but mostly hymns.

A month or two ago, our church gave away all the hymnals to whoever wanted one. Now lest you think that our church doesn't sing hymns: that isn't true. Most weeks we sing a couple familiar ones. It kind of depends on who's on the worship team that week. And because we have the projector screen, the hymnals just aren't needed anymore. As it turns out, I had been wanting (praying for) a psalter or a hymnal for a long time (they don't exactly stock them at the library), so I was delighted to take a copy. And it's been such a blessing to me. As it turns out, it is the exact same hymnal that my other church used to use, and I knew quite a few of the songs in it.

My favorite way to use it is to just go through it and play the songs on the the violin while taking in the lyrics. Songs I knew, songs that looked familiar, songs that I'd never heard before. Good practice for my violin and my music-reading, but the songs themselves were the real treasures. Did you know there are songs about how to be holy? ("Take Time To Be Holy") There are songs on prayer, and missions, and service, and pretty much every aspect of the Christian life. Why don't we hear these songs anymore? There are songs of peace, security, and comforting. There are songs about God's majesty, and lots of songs about Jesus' incredible sacrifice. And then of course there are the Christmas songs. :) But I'll leave you with this one.

Come, all Christians, be committed
To the service of the lord;
Make your lives for him more fitted,
Tune your hearts with one accord.
Come into His courts with gladness,
Each his sacred vows renew,
Turn away from sin and sadness,
Be transformed with life anew.

Of your time and talents give ye,
They are gifts from God above;
To be used by Christians freely
To proclaim His wondrous love.
Come again to serve the Savior,
Tithes and off'rings with you bring.
In your work, with Him find favor,
And with joy His praises sing.

God's command to love each other
Is required of every one;
Showing mercy to one another
Mirrors His redemptive plan.
In compassion He has given
Of His love that is divine;
On the cross sins were forgiven;
Joy and peace are fully thine.

Come in praise and adoration,
All who in Christ's name believe;
Worship Him with consecration,
Grace and love you will receive.
For His grace give Him the glory,
For the Spirit and the Word,
And repeat the gospel story
Till mankind His name has heard.

"Come All Christians, Be Committed" Words by Eva B. Lloyd