It was my privilege to lead worship for the Board of International Missions on Thursday night. Here is a picture of the cross and the altar and the Saint Louis dark in the background. We used Evening Prayer” out of LSB. It begins with a song – “Joyous Light of Glory”. We sing this at the setting of the Sun and we pray that God would guard and keep us as the earth spins around until sunrise and we begin again. There is a hymn I love that always brings tears to my eyes. I think of it often at eventide.
The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day or night.
As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.
The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.
So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:
Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.
As the Board for International Missions meets we think about these things. The church gathered around the world never sleeps, always prays and always praises, and we seek to extend that church to every tribe and tongue and nation.
