How Great Thou Art

How Great Thou Art (youtube)
Words translated by Stuart K. Hine, Music from Swedish Folk Song
Performed by Bethany Children's Choir from Tanzania

"How Great Thou Art," one of the most beloved hymns of all time, had quite a history to reach the form in which we sing it today. The text is based on a tune written by Swedish poet Carl Gustav Boberg (1859-1940) in 1885. Boberg was inspired to write the poem while walking home from church one day, experiencing a powerful storm, and then listening to the church bells in the calm following the thundershower. Between 1886 and 1890, the poem was published, paired with a Swedish folk tune, and first sung in a church setting.

In the first half of the 20th century, Boberg's poem was translated into several languages, with our current paraphrase written in 1949. Stuart K. Hine (1899-1989), a British Methodist missionary, first encountered the hymn in the Russian translation of the German version while working in Ukraine. In addition to translating several of Boberg's verses, he also wrote new stanzas (our verses 3 and 4).

The video featured this week was the inspiration for the style in which we sing this hymn on Sunday mornings. The song is performed by the children's choir from the Bethany Project, a Christian children's home and education center in Tanzania.

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My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness

My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness (iTunes)
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
From the album The Ultimate Collection (Integrity Music)

For this week's featured hymn, I am going to share the story of the song by one of the authors, Keith Getty, as included on gettymusic.com:

"If we examine our personal devotions, or listen in on a prayer meeting, our thanksgiving often focuses on health and position, family and friends, home and belongings, (and all these are right and good -- the bible tells us to give thanks in every situation).

But the prayers of the early church in the New Testament never follow this pattern. The strong emphasis there is on giving thanks to God for spiritual blessings -- the blessings that have true value beyond life on earth.

In "My heart is filled with thankfulness" we give thanks to God for spiritual blessings -- past, present, and future. What Christ has done for us -- for forgiveness and new life, which only he could bring by coming here to earth and suffering for us. How he walks beside us each day and having lived, breathed and walked here on earth, how he promises to be with us whatever our future hold."

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Adult Education Update

Fall Adult Education & Children’s Sunday School classes began last Sunday, September 7. Pilgrim Theology will be taught in the Church Office (130 Prospect St., Suite 201), while Discovering CTK will take place in the social hall. 

He Leadeth Me

He Leadeth Me (iTunes)
Words by Joseph Gilmore, Music by William Bradbury
From the album I'll Fly Away: Country Hymns and Songs of Faith (Sparrow Records)

Joseph Gilmore (1834-1918) was born in Boston and studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, then Brown University and Newton Theological Seminary. Here is what he had to say about the writing of this week's hymn, as shared on songsandhymns.org:

As a young man... I was supplying for a couple of Sundays the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At the mid-week service on the 26th of March 1862, I set out to give the people an exposition of the Twenty-third Psalm... but this time I did not get further than the words "He leadeth me." Those words took hold of me as they had never done before, and I saw them in a significance and wondrous beauty of which I had never dreamed...

At the close of the meeting a few of us in the parlor of my host, good Deacon Wattson, kept on talking about the thought which I had emphasized; and then and there, on a blank page of the brief from which I had intended to speak, I penciled the hymn, talking and writing at the same time, then handed it to my wife and thought no more about it. She sent it to "The Watchman and Reflector," a paper published in Boston, where it was first printed. I did not know until 1865 that my hymn had been set to music by William B. Bradbury. I went to Rochester to preach... Going into their chapel on arrival in the city, I picked up a hymnal to see what they were singing, and opened it at my own hymn, "He Leadeth Me."

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Fall BBQ Meal Team

Join the volunteer team for the Fall Kick-off Sunday BBQ on September 7th! Help is needed with set-up, clean-up, and cooking alongside the portuguese volunteers, who are graciously preparing the meal. If you are willing to serve in any of these ways please email the Church Office.

Women's Fellowship Groups Update

Women’s Fellowship Groups are meeting throughout the city and exist to provide mid-day opportunities of fellowship, discipling and growing in faith with other women. If you want more general information or would like to start a group near you, please contact Cat Sherrill.

• MGH/Beacon Hill: Meets weekly at 12 noon in the Yawkey Cafeteria, day of the week varies. Contact Rosemary Boyle 
• Longwood: Starting again in September, day and time TBD. Contact Cat Sherrill
• Kendall: Starting in September, Fridays at 7:30-8:30 am at Clover Restaurant in Kendall Square and meets weekly. Contact Katherine Ong
• Davis Square: Starting in September, day and time TBD. Contact Emily DeBaun

Children Sunday School Teachers Needed

Children Sunday School Teachers Needed to teach during the upcoming school year.  The fall session starts September 7 and classes run Sundays from 9:15 - 10:20am for children aged 2 1/2 years through youth (curriculum materials provided). Please contact Dana for more information.

Music, Sound & Projector Team Volunteers

CTK’s Music, Sound, and Projector Teams are looking for new volunteers to serve on Sunday mornings. Volunteers participate on a rotating schedule, based on need and availability. Training is available for the sound board and projector. To sign up and/or gain more information, please contact Amanda Holley or visit www.ctkcambridge.org/music.

Come, Christians, Join to Sing

Come, Christians, Join to Sing (iTunes)
Words by Christian H. Bateman, Music from traditional Spanish melody
From the album Simple Hymns (Wider Sky)

Christian Bateman (1813-1889), an English minister, served in the Moravian church, the Congregational church and, later, the Church of England. He wrote this week's hymn as a Sunday School song for children. He originally entitled the text, "Come, Children, Join to Sing." It was first published in 1843 in a volume called Sacred Melodies for Sabbath School and Families. Bateman later changed the title to include all "Christians," as adults benefited from singing the hymn as much as children. The text includes simple language and the repeated phrase, "Alleluia! Amen!", making it easy for singers to learn. The tune usually paired with the text, known as SPANISH MELODY, is also simple and repetitive in nature. Together, text and tune call believers to raise their voices in praise, echoing the opening verses of Psalm 95: "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!"

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All I Have Is Christ

All I Have Is Christ (iTunes)
Words and Music by Jordan Kauflin
From the album The Gathering: Live from Worship God11 (Sovereign Grace Music)

This week's featured song is new to our congregation in Cambridge. It was written in 2008 by Jordan Kauflin, who is now the assistant pastor at Redeemer Church of Arlington (VA). His father, Bob Kauflin, is also a songwriter and one of the leaders of Sovereign Grace Music.

Unlike many of the hymns we sing at CTK, "All I Have Is Christ" is written from the first person point of view. While some contemporary worship songs focus too much on the singer, instead of who God is and what he has done, this song is a personal prayer and meditation on the gospel. The verses tell the universal story of all believers - that we were lost and dead in our sins, rebelling against a holy God, but Jesus suffered in our place so that we might know the fullness of God's salvation and grace. The refrain serves as a joyful burst of praise: "Hallelujah! All I have is Christ! Hallelujah! Jesus is my life!"

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Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah

Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah (iTunes)
Words from The Psalter, 1912, Music by Darwin Jordan
From the album By Thy Mercy: Indelible Grace Acoustic (Indelible Grace Music)

The text for "Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah" is a setting of Psalm 146 as printed in The Psalter, 1912.  This volume, published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, includes all 150 psalms set to music, as well as responsive readings of Scripture passages. Psalters in the vernacular originally sprang up during the 16th century, as the reformers sought to make the Word of God accessible to the common people. These translations of the psalms were usually given metrical settings, meaning the texts were arranged into strophic form (verses) with rhyme and meter. Several of the hymn texts we sing at CTK (ex. "God, Be Merciful to Me," "The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want," "O Worship the King") are examples of metrical psalms. This tune by Darwin Jordan was originally written in 1982 and recorded on Indelible Grace's album, By Thy Mercy, in 2009.

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Women's Fellowship Group

We are planning to start up a Women's Fellowship Group in Davis Square. If you are interested in attending, please email either Cat Sherrill or Emily DeBaun for more information.

Ancient of Days

Ancient of Days (iTunes)
Words and Music by Jamie Harvill and Gary Sadler
From the album Rocks Won't Cry (Catapult)

Songwriters Jamie Harvill and Gary Sadler got together in the spring and summer of 1991 to collaborate on new worship songs.  The men and their families (totaling four adults and four children) shared a 2-bedroom rental house in Mobile, AL.  In the midst of the crowded living situation, Harvill and Sadler wrote together, finishing "Ancient of Days" in August of that year.

The title of the song comes from Daniel 7, in which the prophet has a vision of God, the "Ancient of Days," sitting on his throne, judging with wisdom, purity, and power.  He is described several places in Daniel as having a kingdom that "shall never be destroyed" and a dominion that "shall be to the end" (6:26).  Harvill and Sadler also take language from the book of Revelation, particularly chapter 5, where the living creatures and elders and angels come together in worship, saying, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (v. 12).  Overall, "Ancient of Days" paints a picture of all of creation bowing in worship before a just, mighty, and living God and invites the congregation to join in the song.

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CTK Sermon Podcasts

Attention CTK Sermon Podcast Listeners! Here's the link to our new iTunes podcast feed. 

New CTK Boston Website

The CTK Boston Website features stories to inform, connect, and encourage CTK members across all eight congregations. Check out for new stories posted throughout each month at www.ctkboston.org. Are you willing to share a story of how the gospel is shaping your life? Email Elizabeth Snyder to learn more.

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou My Vision (iTunes)
Words attributed to Dallán Forgaill, Translation by Mary Byrne and Eleanor Hull
Music from an Irish folk song
From the album WOW Worship (Zomba Recording)

The text of the beloved hymn "Be Thou My Vision" is sometimes attributed to Saint Eochaid "Dallán" Forgaill (ca. 530-598). He become known as Dallán ("little blind one") after he lost his sight, supposedly due to intense study. He was a Christian Irish scholar and the Chief Ollam (poet) of Ireland. Dallán was martyred when pirates overtook the island monastery where he was staying. Over 1600 years later, Irish linguist Mary Byrne translated Dallán's text into English in 1905; Irish writer and scholar Eleanor Hull versified Byrne's translation in 1912, creating the version we sing today.

The tune comes from a medieval Irish folk song entitled Slane, which tells the story of St. Patrick defying the pagan king by lighting a fire on Easter Eve on the Hill of Slane. The hymn text was first married with this tune in 1919 in the Irish Church Hymnal. Together they serve as a prayer, asking that God would help us seek him alone as our vision, our wisdom, our shelter, our treasure, and King of our hearts.

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Sola

Sola (iTunes)
Words and Music by Zac Hicks
From the album Without Our Aid

This week's featured song was written in 2010 by Zac Hicks, the Pastor of Worship at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  Here are some of his words about "Sola," as shared on his website:

I remember several years ago sitting in Christian Ethics class in seminary, hearing the professor ask the group of forty-plus students, "Can anyone name the five solas of the Reformation." Collectively, as a group, we nailed three and squeezed out a fourth at the end... What are the five solas?

Sola fide - faith alone
Sola gratia - grace alone
Solus Christus - Christ alone
Sola scriptura - Scripture alone
Soli Deo Gloria - To God alone be the glory

...I chose to engage in the Christian practice of art-as-education through writing a song that worshiped God through the five solas of the Reformation... In addition to the five solas, I wanted to convey something else at the beginning of worship that I don't see in a lot of worship songs, namely, that Jesus is our worship leader...

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Arise, My Soul, Arise

Arise, My Soul, Arise (iTunes)
Words by Charles Wesley, Music by Kevin Twit
From the album The Hymnsing: Live in Nashville (Indelible Grace Music)

Written by prolific hymnwriter Charles Wesley, "Arise, My Soul, Arise" was first entitled "Behold the Man" and published in 1742 in a collection entitled Hymns and Sacred Poems. The text focuses on the assurance we find in Christ's once-for-all sacrifice for us, his forgiveness of our sins, and his continual intercession with the Father on our behalf. Wesley alludes to numerous Scripture passages, many from the book of Hebrews, including 10:19-23: "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way that he opened to us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience..."

Twit wrote his tune for the text in 1996 and included it on several Indelible Grace albums, most recently, the live recording at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

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Women's Summer Book Study

This summer, women from CTK and their neighbors are invited to join a Short Book Study on Kevin deYoung's, "Taking God at His Word." The book addresses questions many of us ask: "Can we trust the Bible completely? Is it sufficient for our complicated lives?  Can we really know what it teaches?" Please contact Rosemary Boyle or Lauren Easton for details about where we are meeting and how to get the book. The last discussion session will take place on July 22nd (Ch 6-8) at 7:00pm.

O God of Our Salvation

O God of Our Salvation (iTunes)
Words and Music by Matt Boswell and Michael Bleeker
From the album Gravity and Gladness (Doxology and Theology)

This week's featured hymn, published in 2009, is a new addition to the canon of worship music. Michael Bleeker and Matt Boswell, two worship pastors from Texas, got together to write the text and tune to this modern hymn. Here is the story of their collaboration as they shared on thevillagechurch.net:

This song began with a desire to write a modern hymn that would help teach the Trinitarian nature of God. On March 24, 2009, Matt Boswell and I talked through the importance of singing Trinitarian songs and how many church songs center on one person of the Godhead but rarely all three. So, we decided to communicate this through a hymn, the distinct roles of the Godhead in the work of salvation.

Early on, it became clear that writing doctrinally sound verses about the Trinity would be a difficult endeavor, so we consulted the likes of Wayne Grudem ("Systematic Theology"), Isaac Watts, the Bible and prayer. It's always fun to write doctrinally rich words, hear the melody form and watch them fit right into place within a rhyme scheme, all in a day essentially.

Verse one reminds us that the Father is sovereign and reigning over all, and that all blessings come from His providence. Verse two centers on the work of the Son, whose obedience purchased our salvation with His blood. Verse three reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the promise of salvation, and that He is the revealing deity, both revealing himself and glorifying Christ.

When writing the bridge, I found myself drawn to 1 Chronicles 16:29: "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness."

We were then left with a modern hymn that we couldn't wait to introduce to our churches.

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