At 10:30 a.m. worship this Sunday, April 29, the 82 members of Tyrone Presbyterian Church will celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday in Message and in Music.
Church Of The Brethren Pastor and Epworth Manor Chaplain Mark Liller will bring the morning message entitled “We Need To Belong.” Just recently, Pastor Liller became the Sunday morning Presbyterian pulpit supply preacher, replacing interim pastor Norman Huff. Reverend Huff needed to depart the Tyrone pulpit to fulfill prior pastoral obligations at Lower Spruce Creek Presbyterian Church. Using the appointed lectionary Gospel from John 10 as his Scripture, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, Pastor Liller will focus on the theme of depending on others and depending on Christ.
Traditionally, many Christian churches designate the third Sunday after Easter as Good Shepherd Sunday. Good Shepherd Sunday originated from the descriptions of Christ found in Chapter Ten Of John’s Gospel. Those descriptions emphasize that the risen Christ, like A Good Shepherd, laid down His Life for His Sheep — The Whole Human Race. Another scripture text vital to Good Shepherd Sunday is the Shepherd Psalm — otherwise known as Psalm 23.
The congregational and choir music for Good Shepherd Sunday will feature a variety of hymns from different centuries and countries. The audience will open by singing a 1650 Paraphrase Of Psalm 23 from the Presbyterian Scottish Psalter entitled The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want. The Westminster Choir will offer a vivid contrast to The Psalter Paraphrase when they present Bill Gaither’s prayerful 1974 American Southern Gospel Variation on Psalm 23, with these lyrics — Gentle Shepherd, Come And Lead Us, For We Need You To Help Us Find Our Way.
Following Pastor Liller’s message about We Need To Belong, the audience will respond by singing a rousing American Gospel Hymn entitled Bring Them In. Composer Alexcenah Thomas intended this 1885 hymn to entice orphan children wandering city streets to enter The Good Shepherd’s fold by attending the hugely active British and American Sunday Schools of the late 1800s.
Since those golden days of the Sunday School, Christian education in Tyrone and across the nation has declined immensely. Still, the 82 members of Tyrone Presbyterian Church hold the hope that the church can encourage people to return to The Good Shepherd, especially this Sunday, when they sing these rousing words: Who’ll Go And Help The Shepherd Kind / Help Him The Wandering Ones To Find / Hark! ‘Tis The Master Speaks To Thee / Go Find My Sheep Where’er They Be / Bring Them In, Bring Them In / Bring Them In From The Fields Of Sin / Bring Them In, Bring Them In / Bring The Wandering Ones To Jesus.
