Notes on the worship services of Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino at 8:30 & 10:30 on the morning of Sunday, July 26, 2009. Notes written by Bernard Bell.
Worship leader: James Garcia
Host: Gina Grinis
Preacher: Bernard Bell
Prelude: The Love of Christ is Rich and Free. Words: William Gadsby. Music: Sandra McCracken © 2001 Same Old Dress Music. Track 3 on Sandra McCracken’s The Builder and the Architect (2005); track 5 on Indelible Grace 3: For All the Saints (2003).
| The love of Christ is rich and free; Fixed on His own eternally; Nor earth, nor hell, can it remove; Long as He lives, His own He’ll love. |
Love has redeemed His sheep with blood; And love will bring them safe to God; Love calls them all from death to life; And love will finish all their strife. |
| His loving heart engaged to be Their everlasting Surety; ’Twas love that took their cause in hand, And love maintains it to the end. chorus |
He loves through every changing scene, Nor aught from Him can Zion wean; Not all the wanderings of her heart Can make His love for her depart. chorus |
| Love cannot from its post withdraw; Nor death, nor hell, nor sin, nor law, Can turn the Surety’s heart away; He’ll love His own to endless day. |
At death, beyond the grave, He’ll love; In endless bliss, His own shall prove The blazing glory of that love Which never could from them remove. |
Call to Worship: Romans 8:35-39.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (TNIV)
Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens Adore Him #9. Words: vv 1-2 anon. Foundling Hospital Collection, 1796; v 3 Edward Osler, 1836. Tune: Austrian Hymn, 1797, Franz Joseph Haydn.
| Praise the Lord! ye heavens, adore Him; Praise Him, angels in the height. Sun and moon, rejoice before Him; Praise Him, all ye stars of light. Praise the Lord! for He hath spoken; Worlds His mighty voice obeyed; Laws which never shall be broken For their guidance He hath made. |
Worship, honor, glory, blessing, Lord, we offer unto Thee; Young and old, Thy praise expressing, In glad homage bend the knee. All the saints in heaven adore Thee; We would bow before Thy throne. As Thine angels serve before Thee, So on earth Thy will be done. |
| Praise the Lord! for He is glorious; Never shall His promise fail; God hath made His saints victorious; Sin and death shall not prevail. Praise the God of our salvation! Hosts on high, His power proclaim. Heaven and earth and all creation, Laud and magnify His Name. |
To Christ the Lord. Words: Samuel Stennett (ca. 1727-1795) & Laura Taylor (2d half of v 5). Music: Laura Taylor © 2001 Laura Taylor Music. Track 11 on Beams of Heaven: Indelible Grace 4 (2005).
| To Christ the Lord let every tongue Its noblest tribute bring When He’s the subject of the song Who can refuse to sing? Survey the beauties of His face And on His glories dwell Think of the wonder of His grace And all His triumphs tell |
To Him I owe my life and breath And all the joys I have He makes me triumph over death And saves me from the grave To Heaven the place of His abode He brings my weary feet Shows me the glories of my God And makes my joy complete |
| Majestic sweetness sits enthroned Upon His awful brow His head with radiant glories crowned His lips with grace overflow No mortal can with Him compare Among the sons of men Fairer He is than all the fair That fill the Heavenly train |
Since from His bounty I receive Such proofs of love divine Had I a thousand hearts to give Lord, they should all be Thine A thousand men could not compose A worthy song to bring Yet Your love is a melody Our hearts can’t help but sing! |
| He saw me plunged in deep distress He fled to my relief For me He bore the shameful cross And carried all my grief His hand a thousand blessings pours Upon my guilty head His presence gilds my darkest hours And guards my sleeping bed |
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go #374. Words, 1882: George Matheson (1842-1906). Music: Chris Miner © 1997 Christopher Miner Music. Track 5 on Indelible Grace. Matheson, the beloved blind preacher of Scotland, wrote this hymn at a time of great anguish. He said he wrote it in five minutes because it seemed an inward voice was dictating it.
| O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, That in Thine ocean depths its flow May richer fuller be. |
O Joy, that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain, That morn shall tearless be. |
| O Light, that follow’st all my way, I yeild my flick’ring torch to thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, May brighter, fairer be. |
O Cross, that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; I lay in dust life’s glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red, Life that shall endless be. |
Reading: Ephesians 1:17-21.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that can be invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
King of Glory. Words and Music: Chris Tomlin & Jesse Reeves © 2004 worshiptogether.com songs | sixsteps Music.
Hebrews 11:4, 32-40 (TNIV). The opening and closing verses of the Hall of Faith.
His Love Can Never Fail. Words, 1897: E. S. Hall. Music: Christopher Miner © 2004 Christopher Miner Music. Track 4 on Indelible Grace 4: Beams of Heaven (2005); track 2 on Matthew Smith, All I Owe (2006).
| I do not ask to see the way My feet will have to tread; But only that my soul may feed Upon the living Bread. ’Tis better far that I should walk By faith close to His side; I may not know the way I go, But oh, I know my Guide. |
And if my feet would go astray, They cannot, for I know That Jesus guides my falt’ring steps, As joyfully I go. And tho’ I may not see His face, My faith is strong and clear, That in each hour of sore distress My Savior will be near. |
| Refrain: His love can never fail, His love can never fail, My soul is satisfied to know His love can never fail. My soul is satisfied to know His love can never fail. |
I will not fear, tho’ darkness come Abroad o’er all the land, If I may only feel the touch Of His own loving hand. And tho’ I tremble when I think How weak I am, and frail, My soul is satisfied to know His love can never fail. |
When Innocent Blood is Shed (Genesis 4:8-10) — Bernard Bell. 16th message in the series Our Story of Origins (Genesis 1-11). [Other formats: mp3, pdf.]
I Will Rise. Words and Music: Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, L. Giglio, M. Maher.
The Golden City. Words and music: Ian Blythe & Phil Baggaley © 1997 Little Room Music. Track 2 on The City of Gold.
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Heb 13:20-21)
The numbers given after some of the titles refer to the pew hymnal used at PBCC, The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration (Waco: Word, 1986).
A good source for words, tunes, and histories of hymns is NetHymnal.