To Glorify God and share the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with new hope for all of God's people.

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Sounds of Hope Praise Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right-Click on the filename below to download this image and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" New Hope's Music Ministry has the mission of worshipping God through music of all kinds.  We offer a wide variety of worship music including favorite hymns, contemporary praise music, and even an occasional classical favorite.  Praise Team rehearses at  6:30 pm on Wednesdays, Sounds of Hope Choir practices on Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm.   Special music is a frequent part of worship.  Cantatas, bell choir, interpretive movement, and children's groups are occasional offerings.  We also sponsor the highly acclaimed annual Talent Show!  This ministry has room for lots of participation on many levels.  We welcome your ideas and talent!Text Box:                      Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was saved under the ministry of George Whitefield. He even entered into the Christian ministry, but he still tended to wander from God. He wrote the hymn “Come Thou Fount” as an autobiographical sketch. His heart would get out of tune, causing him to neglect God. In stanza two he tells of his conversion. And stanza three he admits that he has a daily debt to Grace and asked God to help his wandering heart.  One day, in his latter years, while he was on a stagecoach, a female passenger wanted to share her faith with him. His actions that day spoke as one not knowing Christ. She quoted this hymn saying, “These words might help you as they have helped me.” He sobbed, “Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who composed that hymn many years ago. I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”    The second verse of the song begins with these words: “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” If you are like many who have sung this song, the word “Ebenezer” immediately brings to your mind visions of old Ebenezer Scrooge from Dickens’ Christmas Carol, screaming at Bob Cratchet to conserve coal and get to work. Yet, we all know that is not the idea behind this song. Where, then, does the term Ebenezer originate, and what does it mean? In 1 Samuel 7, the prophet Samuel and the Israelites found themselves under attack by the Philistines. Fearing for their lives, the Israelites begged Samuel to pray for them in their impending battle against the Philistines. Samuel offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for His protection. God listened to Samuel, causing the Philistines to lose the battle and retreat back to their own territory. After the Israelite victory, the Bible records: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us’ ” (1 Samuel 7:12). The word Ebenezer comes from the Hebrew words ’Eben hà-ezer (eh’-ben haw-e’-zer), which simply mean “stone of help”.  When Robinson wrote his lyrics, he followed the word Ebenezer with the phrase, “Here by Thy great help I’ve come.” An Ebenezer, then, is simply a monumental stone set up to signify the great help that God granted the one raising the stone. In Robinson’s poem, it figuratively meant that the writer—and all who subsequently sing the song—acknowledge God’s bountiful blessings and help in their lives.  

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last modified: 12/09/09