O Christ the Same, ELW 760 & WOV 778
1 O Christ the same, through all our story's pages-our loves and hopes, our failures and our fears; eternal Lord, the king of all the ages, unchanging still amid the passing years:
O living Word, the source of all creation, who spread the skies and set the stars ablaze;
O Christ the same, who wrought our whole salvation, we bring our thanks for all our yesterdays.
2 O Christ the same, the friend of sinners, sharing our in-most thoughts, the secrets none can hide; still as of old upon your body bearing the marks of love in triumph glorified:
O Son of Man, who stooped for us from heaven-
O Prince of life, in all your saving power;
O Christ the same, to whom our hearts are given: we bring our thanks for this the present hour.
3 O Christ the same, secure within whose keeping our lives and loves, our days and years remain; our work and rest, our waking and our sleeping, our calm and storm, our pleasure and our pain:
O Lord of love, for all our joys and sorrows, for all our our hopes when earth shall fade and flee;
O Christ the same, beyond our brief tomorrows, we bring our thanks for all that is to be.
Devotion
That parsonage was so empty in every way. I sat on the front step the first night and longed for everything I had just left behind.
But over time I saw that empty house being filled, not only as I collected some old furniture from thrift stores, but as God brought me the things I really needed – like dear friends, and joyful activity. Then along came sweet Chad, and the next July we had a little wedding at my church and a picnic on the yard between the parsonage and the church.
Suddenly I could almost see life overflowing out of the windows and doors of that house. There was nothing empty about it anymore. In ways I never could have imagined God filled that house so perfectly.
Christ is present in it all. Yet, would we recognize him in the joyful things if we didn’t search so desperately for him in the difficult times?
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for being with us yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.