5 Reasons I Love Hymns

1. "Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die."

2. "My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;"

3. "And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

4. "Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!"

5. "Here is love, vast as the ocean
Lovingkindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heav'n's eternal days"

Had I not joined a church that sings mostly hymns I would not have learned many of these precious words. I thank God for the many hymn writers of the past who expressed so beautifully truths which make my heart sing. My favorite thing about a good hymn is that much of the stirring of my emotions is done by the lyrics rather than the music.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Made to Worship

Over the last week or so I have heard several references towards the fact that creation is made for a purpose. My favorite was Dauglas Allison who said that if cars had an attitude they would not be happy if they wern’t driven. that conjured up the image of the movie cars. A movie by pixar where the main car lives for going fast.
This weekend I also saw Toy Story 3 which is about toys that desire to be played with. Thats when they are happiest.

It might be cheesy examples but the song made to worship kept playing in my head. We are made by God for God Colossians, 1:16, Everything we do is supposed to be for Him 1 Corinthians 10:31, God wants us too John 4:23.

The Valley of Vision

He is my mediator, brother, interpreter, branch, daysman, Lamb;

Him I glorify, in Him I am set on high.


Crowns to give I have none,

but what thou hat given I return,

content to feel that everything is mine when it is thine,

and the more fully mine when I have yielded it to thee.



Let me live wholly to my Saviour,

free from distractions,

from carking care,

from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.



I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus-

give me a new sense of it,

continue to pardon me by it,

may I come every day to the fountain,

and every day be washed anew,

that I may worship thee always in spirit and truth.

Abundant Goodness

Psalm 145

I will extol you my God and my King

and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Happy Easter

Over the last several years I’ve heard of this wonderful concept called resurrection eggs. I heard of them both by people saying how cool they are and also by those making fun of them. Until 2 weeks ago I had never actually seen them though. Personally I think that they are good tools to use as long as the gospel is presented well and the toys/symbols are not a distraction. As I walked through the story of the resurrection with my group that night it started to sink in how close Easter was fastly approaching which has lately been met with preparation by reading the Gospel of Matthew.

Now after reading the Lords supper passages it has brought me to looking over some sermons on the subject and I found one by John Piper that intrigued me entitled The Lords Supper as Worship. He say’s in it “The essence of worship is the inner experience of treasuring the true beauty and worth of God. And the outward forms of worship are the acts that show how much we treasure the beauty and worth of God. Therefore God created all of life as worship because he has told us, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Do everything you do in a way that expresses your treasuring of God.”

The base scripture of the sermon was 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. In this Paul covers alot about the Corinthians and needs that they have but he warns of the seriousness of taking the Lords Supper. It is not to be taken lightly. But I do believe that it is also to cause us to worship through remembering, acknowledging, and proclaiming the gospel and all that it entails. Especially with the cross and the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God in mind.

Happy Easter!
Grace and peace

O Worship the King

Psalm 104
O worship the king is a wonderful song that I'm currently teaching to a guitar student that I have.
As we are learning the song I wanted to make sure that we know the hymn inside and out lyrically while we were learning the music.

Sir Robert Grant grew up with the role model his Father, an Anglican Christian man named Charles Grant who was a parliament member and British Statesman. Robert Attended Cambridge college, was a Kings Sargent in the court of the Dutchy of Lancaster and a member of Parliament as well.
His song writing for the song O worship the King came from studying Psalm 104 and comparing the greatness of the King of kings with the majesty of British royalty.

Thats the quick summary, but it gives new perspective to the song when you read through it.


O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.