Sunday March 14th, 2010

Set List:

“Run” – Hillsong United

“Wholly Yours” – David Crowder Band

“How Great Is Our God” – Chris Tomlin

“O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” – David Crowder Band

Charles Wesley was an english leader of the methodist movement and is more commonly known for being a writer of hymns. He actually wrote Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. He was obviously for most of his life, a man of faith but in 1738 he was dealing with some sickness and also having major doubts about what he believed in. He became so ill that he was bed ridden. While he was sick a group of christians came and took care of him. They shared their own testimonies with him while giving him basic care for his sickness and this really affected his heart. So he bagan reading his Bible and became even more affected by the words which he read. He had found reason to believe again. He very quickly became healthy again. He wrote about his experience counting it as a renewal of his faith. Very soon after this he found out his brother had shared a similar experience and they got together and sang a hymn that Wesley  had written about the experience. A year later he felt he needed to write a song in remembrance of this amazing renewal of his faith and the hymn that followed was a longer version of “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” The title and the first line of our song actually came from a quote from a london scholar that Wesley had been studying under that said “Had I a thousand tongues I would praise Him with them all.”

Its amazing to me to learn the stories behind the songs we sing. This man was sick and in despair doubting something he had obviously based a large portion of his life on. But because of the service of people like ourselves and because of what he read in God’s word, which coincidentally we are talking about the importance of this series, he was able to find a renewal of his relationship with God and go on to write a hymn that is possibly one of my favorite songs we have ever sang. I would encourage you to read the lyrics because they explain about who God is.

I am just so glad to serve a God that can inspire such amazing songs and all other forms of art. “Had I a thousand tongues I would praise Him with them all.”

be blessed,
Brendan

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~ by branonplacid on March 15, 2010.