Fifty-eight children participated last week in Wilshire’s annual MusiCamp, led by Sarah Stafford and a team of volunteers. The elementary-age children learned the musical “Old Testament Fast Forward,” which they will present in the Sanctuary tonight at 5:30 p.m. This morning, we hear a vignette from that musical as part of our worship. Our closing hymn today, “God of Grace and God of Glory,” was written in 1930 by the legendary pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick. He wrote the text for the dedication of the magnificent new church where he was about to begin serving as pastor, the Riverside Church of New York City. This Neo-gothic cathedral was fashioned after Chartes Cathedral in France and remains the tallest church building in the United States. Its soaring bell tower rises over the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The hymn speaks not of the power of buildings but of the grandeur of God, pointing beyond bricks and mortar to eternal truths. We know this hymn today joined with the popular tune CMW RHONDDA, but Fosdick intended it to be sung to Regent Square, usually associated with “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” The switch in hymn tunes originated with the 1935 Methodist Hymnal, which did not please Fosdick. However, time has validated the connection between Fosdick’s text and CMW RHONDDA as one of the most beloved hymns of the Christian church.

07-15-12
Senior Pastor: George Mason
Sermon Title: On Losing Your Head
Scripture: Mark 6:14