Music for Fathers Day – Sunday 20 June 2010

Sunday 20 June 2010 is Fathers Day. Cradley Heath Songsters of The Salvation Army will use their music on this day to remind the listeners of God the Father’s love for each one of us.

We will be invited to be still and ponder the wondrous love of God in its many forms.

Prior to our worship on Sunday morning, the Songsters will sing a beautiful prayer written by Eric Ball, Morning Song.

Morning Song was originally written for girls voices, but was reworked for adult voices in four parts by the composer for the Salvation Army’s premier choir, the International Staff Songsters.  Eric Ball was a Salvationist known around the world both in the Salvation Army and in the wider brass band scene as a composer of fine brass band music. But he also turned his hands to choral music, producing much loved classics, including this song, a wonderful prayer by which to start any day:

You are here, Lord,
And the morning sun shines with promise of a wonderful day.
I shall walk upright in the power of your love
And your light shall illumine my way.
You are here, Lord Jesus,
Christ of my every day.

You are here, Lord,
Though the clouds are dark
And the day may bring some burden to share;
I shall walk by faith with my head held high,
Never doubting your love or your care.
You are here, Lord Jesus,
Christ of my every day.

You are there, Lord,
In the future years, love eternal holding all I shall need.
In your likeness growing, transformed by your power,
Spirit guided in thought, word and deed.
I shall know your presence,
Christ of my every hour.

In our morning worship, the Songsters will sing, Be still and know. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote this song while on a 17-hour flight with his family to South Africa.  He writes the trip was a profound experience which greatly impacted on his songwriting.

On the flight over, Steven began to feel disappointed because he thought that once he left for South Africa he would be at rest and feel God’s pleasure.  Instead, he found himself just as restless as he was in his home of Franklin, Tennessee.

God began to speak to his heart saying, “What you need is to still your heart, turn the noise off, and know that I am God”.

Steven writes, “When you’re still, you quickly realise how un-Godlike you are and how much you need him.

In our evening worship, the Songsters will sing a new song for the first time.

This song was made popular by one of Southern Gospel’s greatest groups, The Cathedrals.  Boundless Love is one of their most treasured hits.  The song was written by Dianne Wilkinson who has been writing Southern Gospel music since the 1970s. Her first recorded song was “Behold the Lamb” by the Song Masters in 1976, which was recorded by many groups…as late as 2001 by the Dove Brothers.  Gospel quartet singing remains her favorite music even today and continues to be her signature writing style.

Dianne had a close relationship with the Cathedrals for two decades, beginning in the early 1980s and continuing until they retired in 1999. They recorded 16 of her songs during those years, including Boundless Love, Master Builder, There is a Haven, Goin’ in Style, High and Lifted Up and Homeland.  Her songs have been recorded by most of the groups touring today including the Kingdom Heirs, Legacy Five, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, Gold City, the Hoppers, Greater Vision, The Dove Brothers, the Kingsmen, the Inspirations, Brian Free and Assurance, the Talley Trio, the Booth Brothers, Karen Peck & New River, Triumphant, the Collingsworth Family, the Whisnants, the Mike LeFevre Quartet, HisSong, the Mark Trammell Trio, Paid in Full, Crossway, Ricky Atkinson and Compassion, the Pfeifers, and the Ball Brothers.

There is not a mother, sister, friend or brother loves the way that Jesus can.
He proved His love for me when He died on Calvary;
He gave His life for fallen man.

His love, His love is a boundless love, and it reaches down and touches me;
His love, His love is an endless love, that will last through all eternity.

Jesus wants to love you; there is none above you, You are precious in His sight.
He will never fail you when the doubts assail you; He’ll be with you day and night.

I guess being Father’s Day, perhaps we should change the first line to There is not a FATHER, sister, friend or brother loves the way that Jesus can!

Why not join us to celebrate the Father’s love for us at our worship meetings at 10:30am and 6:00pm at The Salvation Army, Meredith Street, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64 5EP.
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