2

3

4

Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers:
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,

Our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear,

And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

From sorrow, toil, and pain,
And sin, we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.

833

1

7s.

Come out...and be ye separate.
2 Cor. vi. 17.

LORD, behold us few and weak;

Humbly at Thy feet we fall:
See, we come Thy face to seek ;
Deign, O deign to hear our call!

2 When we lay in sin and death,
Thou didst pass and bid us live;
Thou didst give Thy people faith;
Thou didst all our sins forgive.

3 Jesus, Thou didst shed Thy blood;
On this rock our hope we raise :
Thou hast brought us near to God;
Thine the work, and Thine the praise.

4 'Tis Thy will that we should be
Separate from all around;

Let our will with Thine agrce;
Let Thy people thus be found:

KELLY.

5 Let us bear each other's load;
Faithful to each other prove;
Till we gain the saints' abode;
Till we take our place above:

6 There to see without a cloud,
There with zeal untired to sing,
Mix with heaven's triumphant crowd,
And for ever praise our King.

O'T for a favourite form or name,

NOT

But for immortal souls we care.
Bless, Saviour, our Jerusalem,

That millions may her blessings share.

2 Prosper our church; our souls renew; Our languid, fainting spirits raise ; Revive surrounding churches too,

And spread throughout the earth Thy praise.

835

1

ENTERING FELLOWSHIP.

C.M.

BEDDOME.

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.-Eccles. v. 4.

W

ITNESS, ye men and angels, now;
Before the Lord we speak;

To Him we make our solemn vow,-
A vow we dare not break;-

2 That, long as life itself shall last,
Ourselves to Christ we yield:
Nor from His cause will we depart,
Or ever quit the field.

3 We trust not in our native strength,
But on His grace rely,

That, with returning wants, the Lord
Will all our need supply.

4 O guide our doubtful feet aright,
And keep us in Thy ways;

And while we turn our vows to prayers,
Turn Thou our prayers to praise.

ADMISSION OF MEMBERS.

L.M.

BATHURST,

836 And the Lord added to the church daily

1

JES

such as should be saved.-Acts ii. 47.
ESUS, Thy sovereign grace we bless,
That crowns Thy gospel with success;
Subjecting rebels to Thy throne,
And gathering to Thy fold Thine own.

2 Those, who have now Thy truth confess'd
As their own faith and hope and rest,
We, in Thy name, with joy embrace,
As fellow-heirs of heavenly grace.

3 As living members, may they share
The joys and griefs which others bear;
And active in their stations prove,
In all the offices of love.

4 From all temptations them defend, And keep them steadfast to the end; Ever abiding in Thy love,

Until they join the church above.

837

1

C M.

MONTGOMERY.

Come in, thou blessed of the Lord.

COME

Gen. xxiv. 31.

OME in, thou blessed of the Lord;
Stranger nor foe art thou:

We welcome thee with warm accord,
Our friend, our brother now.

2 The hand of fellowship, the heart
Of love, we offer thee:

Leaving the world, thou dost but part
From lies and vanity.

3 The cup of blessing which we bless,
The heavenly bread we break,—
Our Saviour's blood and righteousness,
Freely with us partake.

4 In weal or woe, in joy or care,
Thy portion shall be ours.
Christians their mutual burdens bear;
They lend their mutual powers.

5 Come with us; we will do thee good,
As God to us hath done:

Stand but in Him, as those have stood,
Whose faith the victory won.

6 And when, by turns, we pass away,
As star by star grows dim,

May each, translated into day,
Be lost and found in Him.

838

L.M.

NEWTON.

1

The church . . saluteth you.—1 Pet. v. 13.

KINDRED in Christ, for His dear sake,

welcome here receive;

May we together now partake

The joys which only He can give.

2 To you and us by grace 'tis given
To know the Saviour's precious name:
And shortly we shall meet in heaven,
Our hope, our way, our end the same.
3 May He by whose kind care we meet,
Send His good Spirit from above;
Make our communication sweet,

And cause our hearts to burn with love.
4 Forgotten be each worldly theme,
When Christians meet together thus:
We only wish to speak of Him

Who lived and died and reigns for us.
5 We'll talk of all He did and said
And suffered for us here below;
The path He marked for us to tread,
And what He's doing for us now.
6 Thus, as the moments pass away,
We'll love and wonder and adore,
And hasten on the glorious day,

When we shall meet to part no more.
C.M.

NEWTON..

839 He went on his way rejoicing.—Acts viii. 39.

1

i L

ET plenteous grace descend on those
Who, hoping in Thy word,

This day have publicly declared
That Jesus is their Lord.

2 With cheerful feet may they advance,
And run the Christian race;

And, through the troubles of the way,
Find all-sufficient grace.

840

1

7s.

EDMESTON.

The brotherly covenant.-Amos i. 9.
WELCOME! brethren, enter in,
Welcome to the Saviour's home;

WEL

From a desert world of sin,
Welcome! not again to roam.