Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

The readings for the seventh Sunday after the Epiphany were:
Isaiah 43:18-25
Psalm 41
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Mark 2:1-12
Our introit hymn was O Christ the Healer by Fred Pratt Green. The hymn tune is Erhalt Uns Herr.
O Christ, the healer, we have come
to pray for health, to plead for friends.
How can we fail to be restored,
when reached by love that never ends?

From every ailment flesh endures
our bodies clamor to be freed;
yet in our hearts we would confess
that wholeness is our deepest need.

How strong, O Lord, are our desires,
how weak our knowledge of ourselves!
Release in us those healing truths
unconscious pride resists or shelves.

In conflicts that destroy our health,
we diagnose the world's disease;
our common life declares our ills:
is there no cure, O Christ, for these?

Grant that we all, made one in faith,
in your community may find
the wholeness that, enriching us,
shall reach the whole of humankind.

The first hymn was O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing by Charles Wesley. The hymn tune is Azmon by Carl G. Gläser.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my dear Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim
and spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy Name.

Jesus! the Name that charms our fears and bids our sorrows cease;
'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life and health and peace.

He speaks, and listening to his voice, new life the dead receive;
the mournful broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe.

Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb, your loosened tongues employ;
ye blind, behold, your Savior come; and leap, ye lame, for joy!

Glory to God and praise and love be now and ever given
by saints below and saints above the Church in earth and heaven.

Our second hymn was my all-time number one favorite hymn - How Firm A Foundation by Thomas Rippon. This hymn was sung at the funerals of American presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson as well as General Robert E. Lee.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
to you that for refuge to Jesus have fled?

"Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

"When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
for I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
the flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake."

Our anthem was The Eyes of All Wait upon Thee by Jean Berger. It was difficult, and we didn’t really have enough weeks to rehearse it, but we did ok. It’s a wonderful anthem.

The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season.
Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

The final hymn was The final hymn was Lord of the Dance by Sydney Carter. The hymn tune is Carter’s adaptation of the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts.

I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he
I danced for the scribe
And the Pharisee,
But they would not dance
And they wouldn't follow me.
I danced for the fishermen,
For James and John -
They came with me
And the Dance went on.

Chorus

I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame;
The holy people
Said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me on high,
And they left me there
On a Cross to die.

Chorus

I danced on a Friday
When the sky turned black -
It's hard to dance
With the devil on your back.
They buried my body
And they thought I'd gone,
But I am the Dance,
And I still go on.

Chorus

They cut me down
And I leapt up high;
I am the life
That'll never, never die;
I'll live in you
If you'll live in me -
I am the Lord
Of the Dance, said he.

Chorus

Copyright 1963 Stainer & Bell Ltd. London, England