Service Sunday March 8, 2026
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Third Sunday of Lent
International Women’s Day
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Watch a video recording of the whole service using YouTube below
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING MOMENT:
Hymn Dialogue - “Guide Me, O thou Great Jehovah”
Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
Due to illness, the remainder of the webpage will be left undone at this time.
Hymn Dialogue 8 March 2026
“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”
Exodus 17: 1-7
Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.
(Explaining the process.)
Today we will be doing something a little different in the worship service.
Today, you will help to provide the message as an alternative to the Responsive Psalm and the Sermon and we’re calling it a HYMN DIALOGUE.
Let us please turn to our hymn in our Voices United and we will READ it together.
I will try to spark up a dialogue by asking questions and making comments.
We will only have time to spend about 2-3 minutes on each verse to keep on schedule.
To finish, we will all sing the whole hymn with new or renewed insights into it’s meaning.
Then we will pray the Prayers of the People and continue with the rest of the service.
Let’s begin with the first verse of “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.”
After hearing the scripture reading, what is your first impression of the text of the hymn?
Here is a little history about the hymn…
William Williams was one of Wales' greatest hymn writers (in Welsh and English) in the late 18th century.
He was an itinerant-preacher during the Welsh revival of the 1740’s.
He ministered for 40 years traveling almost 100,000 miles, on foot or horseback.
The theme of this hymn, written in Welsh in 1745, is the Israelites’ return to the Promised Land.
The hymn was included in the Countess of Huntington’s – A Collection of Hymns.
The tune, Cwm Rhondda, from which the text seems inseparable, was composed in 1905 by John Hughes, for a Baptist Singing Festival.
The tune was originally called Rhondda but Cwm, (the Welsh word for valley) was added to distinguish it from another tune of the same name.
The valley of the river Rhondda is in South Wales.
Has your first impression been changed by hearing the history behind the hymn? How?
Let’s continue with the second verse of Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.
Did you notice the text that relates to our scripture reading today?
What is it about this hymn that makes it such a favourite among so many people?
Wouldn’t it be nice once in a while to have a fiery and cloudy pillar to guide us like in the good old days?
How does Jehovah or God guide us today?
Let’s continue with the last verse.
We have noticed all along that this hymn tells the story of Moses, the journey in the desert and finally making it to the Promised Land.
How does this last verse resonate with you?
To me, not only is it the story of Moses, it is also the story of my life.
Like anyone, as soon as I was aware of death, I began to wonder about it.
My understanding of heaven or an after-life has changed over the years.
How will I react, “When I tread the verge of Jordan”?
I don’t know.
I hope that I will, with God’s help, “bid my anxious fears subside.”
“Death of death” to me means the whole Easter Story wrapped up in those three words.
“land me safe on Canaan's side” to me is a metaphor about making it to the after-life where I will ever give songs of praises to God.
That, to me, is why this is one of my favourite hymns too.
Lasting impressions?
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let’s Sing together, all three verses of “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.”
