Hello OCBC family!
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First, let me share a passage with you. “The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” He Himself will deliver you from the hunter’s net, from the destructive plague. He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield” (Psalm 91:1-4 – HCSB).

Maybe you are familiar with the old hymn “Be Not Dismayed Whate’er Betide” but, do you know that it was a child’s comment that prompted this song?

Pastor W. Stillman Martin had been invited to preach in a church that was a few hours away from his home.  His wife became ill that Sunday morning and he was ready to cancel his preaching, but then his young son said to him, “Father, don’t you think that if God wants you to preach today, He will take care of mother while you are away?”  Pastor Martin made the trip and when he came back home, he found out that his wife wrote the lyrics for this hymn in his absence.  In the evening, Pastor Martin composed the music.

This hymn is full of hope and perhaps Mrs. Civilla Martin was thinking of Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God” (NIV 1984).  Sing this hymn, read it, use it as a prayer, it will be a help to your soul.

Be not dismayed whate'er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.

God will take care of you,
Through every day,
O'er all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you.

No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one upon His breast,
God will take care of you.

In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family!

Let me share a passage from the Bible with you.  “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me” (Psalm 31:3 – ESV).  2016 is here and I want to share about a hymn that will give you comfort and hope for this New Year.  The hymn’s name is “He Leadeth Me!”

It was written by Joseph Gilmore, a pastor of Philadelphia’s First Baptist Church.  He was the
pastor of this church during the Civil War, and people in his congregation and everywhere else had a hard time to find peace.  Because of that, pastor Gilmore prepared a sermon based on Psalm 23, with the lesson that no matter how bad the situation might looks around us, He will lead us.

After the service, he went to visit a deacon where they have a good conversation about the blessingS of being led by God.  As others went on talking, pastor Gilmore took a pencil and wrote the lyrics of this beloved hymn, gave them to his wife and forgot about it.

Three years later, he was a candidate for a pastoral position in a new church.  He was not familiar with the hymnal that this church used for its worship time, and while he was looking through its pages he found the hymn “He Leadeth Me” – his own hymn!  Secretly, Mrs. Gilmore had sent the words to a Christian periodical, which had them set to music.  Pastor Gilmore said once, “That was the first time I knew that my hymn had found a place among the songs of the church.”
If we let God lead us, He will give us delightful surprises.

He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

Refrain:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful foll’wer I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.

Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

​In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family!

Last Sunday, for our invitation song, we sang the lovely hymn called “Trusting Jesus” and I thought it would be good to share with you the background of it.  The author of this hymn was a man named Edgar P. Stites (1876).  He was a direct descendent of John Howland, one of the Mayflower’s passengers.  We do not know too much about Stites, only that he was active in the Civil War, that he was later a riverboat pilot and then a missionary to the frontier churches in South Dakota.

He wrote this poem which appeared in a newspaper, a newspaper that was handed to D. L. Moody.  He read those lyrics and passed it to his music leader, Ira D. Sankey, thus he can put music to them.  Then, this hymn became popular in Moody’s revival meetings.
There is a powerful testimony of how God used this hymn to save the soul of a woman. This is the story: About two years ago, writes a minister, “I visited a woman who was suffering from an incurable disease; but as great as was her agony of body, her distress of mind was greater still. One day she said: ‘The future is so dark, I dare not look forward at all.’

“To my question, ‘Can’t you trust yourself in God’s hands?’ She replied: ‘No, I can’t leave myself there.’

“I repeated the hymn, ‘Simply trusting every day,’ and especially dwelt on the refrain, Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by. Ah, she said, I can trust him this moment; is it like that? I then sang the hymn to her, and the change that came over her was wonderful. She never lost this trust, and she had the page in her hymn-book turned down, that she might have the hymn read to her. After many months of intense suffering she passed away, simply trusting, to the land where there shall be no more pain.”

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Brightly does His Spirit shine
Into this poor heart of mine;
While He leads I cannot fall;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

In His service,
Israel