Announcements
SYMPATHY: to Sam and Kellie Muller and family at the passing of Sam’s grandmother, Lillian Muller, on Sunday, February 6. The funeral was held on Wednesday, February 9 in Sykesville.
NURSERY FOR LIVING CROSS: Volunteers are needed for each night’s production of Living Cross. If you are a current Nursery Worker or you have been approved through Safe & Secure, please consider signing up at the Welcome Desk to help with this important ministry.
MILITARY PRAYER LIST: We are updating our military for our Wednesday prayer bulletin. Forms are available at Welcome Desk if you would like to add a person for prayer or update a previous submission. You may also email the information to: cbowers@opendoorchurch.org.
From My Heart
As most of you know, I love music and Gospel hymns! The other day I was looking for a book and saw a book entitled “Al Smith’s Treasury of Hymns.” In that book, Al Smith tells the story of dozens and dozens of hymns, many which we sing in our church. I thumbed through the book and the story of the hymn, “Jesus Paid It All” caught my attention. This hymn actually came to us from Baltimore.
A lady named Elvina Hall attended the Monument Methodist Church in Baltimore. In the morning service one Sunday, the Pastor of the Church was praying aloud for the service and the people that day. As he closed his prayer, he was thanking God for His perfect and complete salvation provided for mankind through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Hall would later recall how the Pastor’s prayer completely overwhelmed her heart. She stated the Pastor’s prayer moved her so much, she pulled out one of the Church hymnals and began to write, in the hymnal’s flyleaf, the words which would become the great hymn we still sing today, “Jesus Paid It All.” Later that day, recopied them and gave them to her pastor and soon forgot all about them.
Sometime later, the church was undergoing some much-needed repairs, and the Church cabinet-organ was moved temporarily to the home of Mr. John T. Grape. The work was about to be completed, and soon the organ would be placed back in the auditorium. The Pastor was visiting the home of Mr. Grape to discuss the plans for their return to services in the newly remodeled building. The Pastor asked his dear friend if he had had time to write any new music since having the organ in his home the last several months.
Mr. Grape replied that he had written a few pieces and sat down to play a melody he had recently written. Upon hearing it, the Pastor exclaimed, “Why you know, Elvina Hall gave me a beautiful set of words some time ago, and if I am not mistaken, your melody sounds to me like it has been written just for her words.” He ran to his Bible and pulled out the poem! As together they sang and played the new melody and the new words, an experience enveloped them that they had never witnessed before - a uniting of words and music in such a way that God had to be doing it. They were witnessing a miracle!
Soon the song was being sung in church all over Baltimore. It was first published in 1868 in the book, “Sabbath Chords.” A few years later in 1875, it gained worldwide fame when published P.P. Bliss and Ira Sankey in “Gospel Hymns.” A wonderful song written just a short distance from our church.
Pastor Norris