Hello OCBC family,
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

“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.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.”

                These words are the first stanza of the very familiar hymn, “Day by Day”, a powerful hymn written by Caroline V. Sandell-Berg, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She was born in Frvderyd, Sweden, on October 3, 1832. She was a little fragile in health but very strong in her spirit. She would rather be in her father’s studio than playing outside with her friends.

                She started to write hymns when she was very young, but she became more productive to create hymns after a sad and traumatic experience.

                “Lina” as her relatives called her, was very close to her father and going places with him when he had to preach or minister to people. But one day, Lina and her father were enjoying a boat trip on the east coast of Sweden near Gothenburg when the boat suddenly lurched and she witnessed her father die.

                After this event, Lina processed her grief through Scripture and writing poetry. Many of these poems became hymns. Seven years later, she wrote her best-known hymn, “Day by Day.”

“Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.”

                She wrote 650 hymns and that is why people started to call her the “Fanny Crosby of Sweden.”

Lina was married to a Stockholm merchant, C. O. Berg in 1867. Sadly, she passed away in 1903 in Stockholm, Sweden.

                You might have a hard time right now, but you can find strength in the Word of God as Lina did, and you can also take this grand old hymn into the day with you.

“Help me then in ev'ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.”
​
                In His service,
                Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah” (Psalm 46:1-3)

                This powerful and beautiful psalm was written by the sons of Korah and it became the inspiration for Martin Luther to write his famous hymn, “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” – “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, November 10, 1483, and went to the University of Erfurt, 1501 (B.A. 1502, M.A.. 1503); became an Augustinian monk, 1505; ordained priest, 1507; appointed Professor at the University of Wittenberg, 1508, and in 1512. Because of his titles and education, normally we think of Luther as a Bible translator, political leader, and theologian, we forget that he was also a great musician. Young Martin grew up listening to his mother singing all the time. He was part of a boys’ choir that sang at weddings and funerals. He became proficient with the flute (recorder).

Before the Protestant Reformation, congregations couldn’t participate in worship, because it was dominated by professional singers and it was in Latin, therefore most of the congregation didn’t know what they were doing during worship time. Martin Luther was determined to restore worship to the German Church. His desire was for the congregation to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to be sung in the vernacular. People now can sing,
“A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow'r are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not His equal.”

                Some people called this hymn “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation” but Martin Luther called it “Ein Trost Psalm,” meaning “a psalm of comfort.” He said, “We sing this psalm to praise God for being with us. He miraculously preserves His Word and Christendom against the gates of hell.”

                The melody is very easy to follow, and this is because Luther “borrowed” popular secular melodies for his hymns, and “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is not an exception.

“Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And tho' this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thro' us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.”

                “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” became very popular among churches, and it became a big influence in classical music. Johann Sebastian Bach, the famous Lutheran classical composer,  wrote a whole cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra, based on Luther’s hymn to celebrate Reformation Day. Georg Telemann wrote a choral arrangement based on the melody of Luther. Felix Mendelssohn used this melody in the last movement of his Symphony No. 5, that he called Reformation.  Giacomo Meyerbeer quoted it in his five-act grand opera Les Huguenots, a sweet drama about the love between a catholic lady and a protestant young man. This drama ended with the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572.

                This hymn is a powerful testimony of trusting in God as our refuge for hard moments. Christian, sing this hymn at church, at home, alone, with your family, with all your strength, and trust in God’s words when he says to us,

“‘Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!’
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah” (Psalm 46:10-11)
“That word above all earthly pow'rs,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Thro' Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.”

                In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.” (Psalm 46:4).

We are very familiar with this psalm, especially because this psalm was used by Martin Luther to create his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” But it was another person, another believer, that used this hymn to create another beautiful hymn, her name was Frances R. Havergal, and the hymn is “Like a River Glorious.”

Frances R. Havergal was the daughter of W. H. Havergal, a pastor in Astley, Worcestershire. She was born on December 14, 1836. In August 1850, she entered Mrs. Teed's school, whose influence over her was most beneficial. In the following year she said, "I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed brighter from that moment."

In 1876, while she was on vacation in the south of Wales, she became sick and suffered inflammation of the lungs. Somebody told her that she might die, and her answer was, “If I am really going, it is too good to be true.” Her hope was always in her Lord. The same year she wrote these lyrics,

“Like a river glorious
Is God's perfect peace,
Over all victorious
In its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth
Fuller ev'ry day;
Perfect, yet it groweth
Deeper all the way.”

Let me share about her last days on this earth from the book “Then Sing My Soul” by James Robison.

                Three years later, while meeting some boys to talk with them about the Lord, she ran into cold, wet weather and became chilled. As her fever grew worse, her family became alarmed. It gradually became apparent that Frances was dying. On Whitsunday, as one of her doctors left the room, he said, “Goodbye, I shall not see you again,”
                “Then you really think I am going?” asked Frances.
                “Yes.”
                “Today?”
                “Probably.”
                “Beautiful,” said Frances. “Too good to be true.”
                Soon afterward she looked up smiling and said, “splendid to be so near the gates of heaven!” She asked her brother to sing some hymns to her, then he said to her, “You have talked and written a great deal about the King, and you will soon see Him in His beauty.”
                “It’s splendid!” she replied. “I thought He would have left me here a long while; but He is so good to take me now.”
                A little later she whispered, “Come, Lord Jesus, come and fetch me.”

Frances Havergal died when she was 42 years old, and she wrote several books and hymns. Beside “Like a River Glorious” she wrote also, “Take My Life and Let It be Consecrated,” “Lord, Speak to Me, that I May Speak,” and “I Gave My Life for Thee.”

“Like a River Glorious” is an example that even during hard times, God gives peace, comfort and inspiration to create words of worship for his glory through weak people.

“Ev'ry joy or trial
Falleth from above,
Trac'd upon our dial
By the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully
All for us to do;
They who trust Him wholly
Find Him wholly true.
Stayed upon Jehovah,
Hearts are fully blessed;
Finding, as he promised,
Perfect peace and rest.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family, 
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4).

We are very familiar with the hymn “Amazing Grace” and its author John Newton, but perhaps you don’t know that John Newton has more hymns that he wrote while he was a pastor in his local church. One of those hymns is “I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow.”

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and ev'ry grace,
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.

'Twas he who taught me thus to pray,
And he, I trust, has answered prayer,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once he'd answer my request,
And by his love's constraining power,
Subdue my sins and give me rest.

John Newton used various passages to write this hymn, especially James 1:2-4, where we learn that affliction brings maturity to every believer. James is telling us that trials are a normal part of the Christian life, and John Newton knew about this in his very personal life.

Let me just repeat some parts of Newton’s life just to make the point about this passage and his hymn. John Newton was born in a Christian home, but his mother died when he was very young, and he joined his father at sea when John was 11. When he grew up, his life changed, and he became a very unchristian person. He became ungodly that he was a captain of a slave ship. He heard the gospel and his life changed, he accepted the call to be a pastor, proving that his affliction helped him to have joy in his new life.

Instead of this, he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more with his own hand he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe,
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low.

Lord, “Why is this?” I trembling cried,
“Will you pursue your worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” The Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”

In the Holman Illustrated Commentary we can read about James’ passage in these words. “Endurance indicates that further work must be done for the purpose of making the believer mature and complete, lacking nothing. Immaturity and incompletion are not acceptable long-term states for the Christian disciple.”

The melody that we are familiar with, people called it an American melody, but its origin is Irish and Scottish, but became popular in the Appalachia, because of immigrants.

Be faithful to the Lord all the time, because He is faithful all the time, and He will help you during your trials.

“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set you free
And break your schemes of earthly joy
That you would seek your all in me.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11)

The Lord is our guide, that is what the Bible tells us, and as believer we can testified that every single day. As a congregation, we just celebrated our church 40th anniversary and we can say that the Lord guided us with his powerful hand.

This passage reflects the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” a very well-known Wales hymn. But let me tell you some of the background about this hymn and its author.

The Great Awakening was a revival that affected many parts of the world. In America, the preaching of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwardas renewed Christian zeal and swept multitudes into the kingdom of God. In England, the open-air evangelism of Whitefield and the Wesley brothers did the same. And in Wales, we had the powerful preaching of Howell Harris and his convert, William Williams.

Rev. William Williams was the son of a farmer, and he was able to graduate as physician, but his life changed when he heard the preaching of Harris, and Williams knew that God was calling him into ministry. He studied for ministry, but refused to take the orders, and started his ministry as an itinerant evangelist. And he traveled many miles during his ministry, and it was not surprising that he wrote these lyrics,

“Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy pow'rful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more,
Feed me till I want no more.”

His ministry was 43 years long, but now he is remembered more for his hymns than for his sermons. He wrote over 800 hymns, and people started to call him, “ Sweet Singer of Wales” and the “Watts of Wales.”

If you read this hymn, you can see that Williams was using the story of Exodus and the deliverance of the people of Israel by God, and as them, we are pilgrims in this world.

“Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through;
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my strength and shield,
Be Thou still my strength and shield.”

When President James Garfield was dying of an assassin’s bullet, his wife started to sing this hymn, and he found comfort on these words with tears in his eyes.

This hymn was sung during the funeral of Princess Diana of England.

Williams passed away when he was 74 years old, but the legacy of his hymn is still touching many lives until now.

Read this hymn during your quiet time and find comfort for hard times.

“When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me thro' the swelling current,
Land me safe on Canaan's side;
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee,
I will ever give to Thee.”
​
In His service,
Israel