They say prides goes before a fall
God will humble the pride of all
Before Him show humility
Come and acknowledge your frailty
Confess your sin, seek His mercy
Exalt your God, He is worthy
Walk in His light, His Word obey
Seek Him, trust Him, do it His way
– From a sermon on Isaiah 2:6-22
Praise God who will be lifted high
Praise Him whose presence will be nigh
Praise Him who will teach us His way
Who brings the latter, peaceful day
Come let us walk in the Lord’s light
Rest in his presence in the night
Put first the Lord, His Word obey
Walk in his peace and hope today
– From a sermon on Isaiah 2:1-5
Praise God who smelt away our dross
To Him who poured his grace on me
Praise Him who died upon the cross
To save, redeem, to set us free
– From a sermon on Isaiah 1:21-31
Flee religion that is empty
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right
Worship the Lord with purity
Repent, believe, be clean – snow white
– From a sermon on Isaiah 1:10-20
Come know the Lord, the Almighty
Come now and flee from temptation
Come see that sin is great folly
Come look to him for salvation
– From a sermon on Isaiah 1:1-9
I wrote the following (adapted from Charles Wesley) for a closing hymn after preaching about Prayer and the Holy Spirit (see last post).
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood
Applied to me by God’s Spirit
Who makes me now a child of God
Bold I approach the Father’s throne
For he, in love, made me, his own
Amazing love, Bless’d Trinity
For my great God adopted me
And in my prayers, I am so weak
But the Spirit helps me endure
Adds fervency, conforms my prayers
To his great will forever sure
So for his help, I’ll ever seek
And pray, though I, hardly, can speak
Amazing love, Spirit Holy
Now groans and intercedes for me
The Spirit guides, he gives us strength
In love and joy he helps us grow
Empowers us for ministry
And grants boldness for us to go
We’ll plead with him now to shower
His great goodness, his strong power
Amazing love, his blessings free
Now we’ll give thanks eternally
Some lines in the first verse adapted from the hymn And Can It Be That I Should Gain? by Charles Wesley. To the same tune by Thomas Campbell, Public Domain. Adaptations and new words by Brian Mikul, © Copyright 2011.
As I preached about praying together for two weeks, I needed a closing song that spoke of corporate prayer. Alas, I couldn’t find one. So I took a familiar hymn and wrote new words that gave us an opportunity to commit ourselves to pray together. Here it is:
Have your own way Lord, have your own way
For our neglect please, forgive today
Whiter than snow Lord, wash us just now
As in your presence, humbly we bow
Have your own way Lord, have your own way
Your expectation, we must obey
Mold us and make us, with your grace fill
Grant us desire to, live out your will
Have your own way Lord, have your own way
Help us commit to, corp’rately pray
Rid our excuses, unity bring
Praying together, seeking our King
Have your own way Lord, have your own way
Like those before us, make us to pray
Gath’ring together, Lord may we see
Your awesome power, and your glory
Have your own way Lord, have your own way
No more dead programs, hear us we pray
Fill with your Spirit, no more the same
Work through your people, for your great name
First lines of each verse and third and fourth lines of verse one adapted from the hymn Have Thine Own Way, Lord! by Adelaide A. Pollard. To the same tune by George C. Stebbins, Public Domain. Adaptations and new words by Brian Mikul, © Copyright 2011.
Now Marriage Is A Picture
The Church’s one foundation, is Jesus Christ her Lord
She is His new creation, by water and the Word
From heaven He came and sought her, to be His holy bride
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.
Now marriage is a picture, of Jesus and his bride
May our vows remain secure, may we in love abide
For Christ will never leave us, forsake us never he
As he is faithful to us, so faithful we must be
May sacrificial giving, be in our homes today
And true humble forgiving, and grace in all we say
For Jesus died to save us, forgive those gone astray
He pours his grace upon us, with more grace every day
Each husband love his own wife, and leading for her best
As Jesus gave his own life, to give us hope and rest
Each wife respect her husband, and joyfully submit
As we before the Lord stand, and gladly do commit
May each and every marriage, shaped by the gospel be
Forsake the gods of this age, worship the Lord only
All praises we would give you, for all that you have done
Forever we’ll adore you, Great God the Three in One
(First verse by Samuel J. Stone from the hymn The Church’s One Foundation, to the same tune by Samuel S. Wesley, Public Domain. I wrote verses 2-5 to go with the Gospel Shaped Marriage sermon which I just blogged. All rights reserved. Copyright 2010.)
Brian J. Mikul 