Behind the Hymn: Day by Day

Carolina Sandell Berg: Songs out of Tragedy  - DAY BY DAY

Psalm 46 declares, "God is my refuge, an ever present help in time of trouble." 

There was once a young Swedish woman who, like the Psalmist, learned early in life to trust in the Lord's strength each day to help her overcome her troubles and trials. 

Her name was Carolina Sandell Berg. 

Born October 3, l832, she grew up to become Sweden's most celebrated author of Gospel hymns, and wrote so many that she is often called "the Fanny Crosby of Sweden."*

Like many Christians, Carolina learned that when pain and tragedy strike, God may use that experience to deepen our faith. 

When she was 26, Carolina -or Lina (pronounced Lie-nah) as she liked to be called- experienced a tragedy which profoundly affected the course of her life. She was with her father, a Lutheran pastor, crossing a Swedish lake. Suddenly the ship lurched, and before her eyes, her father was thrown overboard and drowned. 

Lina had written hymns before, but now she poured out her broken heart in an endless stream of beautiful songs. Her hymns mightily influenced the revival that swept across Scandanavia after l850.

The words of Lina Berg's hymns were all the more popular because of the simple, beautiful melodies written for them, especially those of Oscar Ahnfelt who played his guitar and sang her hymns throughout Scandanavia. Lina Berg once said that Ahnfeld sang her songs "into the hearts of the people." Even Jenny Lind, the world-famous concert vocalist, visited factories and sang Lina's beautiful hymns. 

In Matthew l2:34, Jesus said: "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Lina Sandell Berg's voice spoke more than 650 hymns from a heart filled abundantly with love for her Saviour. 

In one of them, "Day by Day," she had this to say:

"Day by day and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear."

https://youtu.be/AzrhqjzQCi4

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* Fanny Crosby was a blind American hymnwriter who wrote the equivalent of seventeen books of hymns.

Bibliography:

1. Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story by Diana Severance, Ph. D.

2. "Karolina Wilhelmina Sandell-Berg." http://www.cyberhymnal.org

Tu B'Av - the Jewish Valentine's Day

Tu B'Av (the fifteenth of the month Av) is a minor Jewish holiday. 

Historical significance

According to the Mishna, Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, marking the beginning of the grape harvest. Yom Kippur marked the end of the grape harvest. On both dates, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem dressed in white garments, and went out to dance in the vineyards (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Ta'anit 30b-31a). That same section in the Talmud states that there were no holy days as happy for the Jews as Tu B'Av and Yom Kippur. The holiday celebrated the wood-offering brought in the Temple (see Nehemiah 13:31). Josephus refers to it as the Feast of Xylophory ("Wood-bearing").

• Various reasons for celebrating on Tu B'Av are cited by the Talmud and Talmudic commentators:     While the Jews wandered in the desert for forty years, female orphans without brothers could only marry within their tribe, to prevent their father's inherited land in the Land of Israel from passing on to other tribes. On the fifteenth of Av of the fortieth year, this ban was lifted. (See Daughters of Zelophehad.)
• That same year, the last of the generation of the sin of the spies, which had been forbidden to enter the Promised Land, found that they were not destined to die. For forty years, every Tisha B'av night, the Jews made graves for themselves in which they slept on Tisha B'Av; every year a proportion of them died. In the 40th year, the fifteen thousand who had remained from the first generation went to sleep in the graves and woke up the next day to their surprise. Thinking they made a mistake with the date, they did this until they reached Tu B'Av and saw a full moon. Only then did they know they were allowed to live.
• The Tribe of Benjamin was allowed to intermarry with the other tribes after the incident of the Concubine of Gibeah (see Judges chapters 19–21).
• Cutting of the wood for the main altar in the Temple was completed for the year.
• King Hoshea of the northern kingdom removed the sentries on the road leading to Jerusalem, allowing the ten tribes to once again have access to the Temple.
• The nights, traditionally the ideal time for Torah study, are lengthened again after the summer solstice, permitting more study.
• The Roman occupiers permitted burial of the victims of the massacre at Bethar during the Bar Kochba rebellion. Miraculously, the bodies had not decomposed, despite exposure to the elements for over a year.

Modern times

Tu B'Av marks an informal "high" to counter the "low" of The Three Weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av. It has become a romantic Jewish holiday, often compared to Valentine's Day, and has been said to be

a "great day for weddings, commitment ceremonies, renewal of vows, or proposing". Also, "It is a day for romance, explored through singing, dancing, giving flowers, and studying."

source: Wikipedia

Introduction to the Gospel of Luke

             

Sermon: Introduction to the Gospel of Luke 

Luke 1:1-4; 2:41 -3:1-20.  

By Pastor Joel McElreath

INTRODUCTION: Each of the four gospels is uniquely different from the others.  From Revelation 4:7, historically, these four symbolize the 4 gospels. 

Matthew is the regal lion. Mark is the ox representing Jesus’ work. Luke is the face of a man representing Jesus’ humanity. John is the eagle representing Jesus’ divinity from above. We begin today in our study of the Gospel of Luke.

 

I.  THE AUTHOR AND STYLE OF THE GOSPEL  1:1-4.

A.     The author. A physician from Antioch where the first church was planted.  He was a Greek of high education.

B.     The style of writing.  This gospel is the most literary book in the New Testament.  The Prologue is written in Classical Greek.

C.      The historical accuracy.  The writer Luke is a historian of the first rank and listed among the best in the ancient world.

D.     The aim of the gospel was to demonstrate especially to Gentile believers the historical facts upon which their faith was based.

II.  THE EARLY LIFE OF JESUS.  2:41-52

A.  Only Luke records the early years of Christ’s life.  Curiosity of later generations resulted in fabricated stoies like in the Apocrypha writings.

B.  The Eternal Son visits His Father’s house in Jerusalem.  The eternal and unique relationship that Jesus had with His Father begins to be revealed.                                                                                                   

                                              

III.  THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.  3:1-20.

       A.  The precise dating of the ministry is established by listing contemporary leaders and is probably set at

26-27 A.D.  John fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy in 40:3-5.

       B.   The five descriptions of John’s ministry:

       1.  The road builder – 3:1-6.  John was both a prophet and the subject of prophecy

       2.  The farmer – 3:7-9.  John is chopping down fruitless trees and watching snakes fleeing burning fields.

       3.  The counselor – 3:10-14.  John took personal time to counsel people and prepare them for baptism and their new faith.

       4.  The witness – 3:15-18, 21-23.  John did not come to talk about himself but to bear witness and point to the “Lamb of God.”

       5.   The martyr – 3:19-20.  Luke does not give the full account of John’s arrest and martyrdom, but Matthew and Mark do.  (Matt. 14:1-12; Mk. 6:14-29).

APPLICATION:

1.  The Gospel of Luke is a Book of unique facts that complement the other three gospels.  It gives us doctrines for our faith and ethics to guide our actions.   The theme of joy sings its way through this book as Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

2.   John the Baptist’s life is a wonderful example for us in both attitude and action.  He was truly great in God’s sight because he was truly small in his own sight. 

3.   John was an effective preacher because it is written, “The word of the Lord came to ..John.” 

He proclaimed God’s message, denounced sin and hypocrisy and stressed repentance and faith.

This sermon was preached at Jerusalem Baptist Church, Jerusalem, on August 6, 2017

The audio file will be published on the JBC website: www.jerusalembaptistchurch.com