Thursday’s Hymn – At Calvary
June 10, 2010 at 9:21 am | Posted in hymns | Leave a commentTags: At Calvary, hymn
Here is a hymn that will get your hands to clapping and feet to tapping. I know that sounded ridiculous but it’s the truth. Its 4/4 time and you want to sing out. You’ll probably want to raise your voice and sing out loud especially when the words sink in and you realize what God has done for you. Enough of me telling you how to sing because I just remembered that I really don’t like when song leaders tell people how to sing in church.
Just sing and enjoy the feeling of praising God. It doesn’t matter if you are off key a little either. Just open up and let that gratitude for God’s salvation come up out of your soul. Make your song an offering of thanks to God. You will be glad you did.
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23)
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more. (Isaiah 43:25)
What a great God to sing praise to. What a great God to trust. What a great God to be loved by.
Much GRACE and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13
At Calvary
By William R Newell (1868-1956)
1. Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died On Calvary.
(Refrain) Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; there my burdened soul found liberty—At Calvary.
2. By God’s Word at last my sin I learned; Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned till my guilty soul imploring turned To Calvary.
(Refrain)
3. Now I’ve given to Jesus everything; Now I gladly own Him as my King; Now my raptured soul can only sing Of Calvary.
(Refrain)
4. Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan! Oh, the grace that brought it down to man! Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary!
(Refrain)
Thursday’s Hymn – Grace Greater Than Our Sin
June 3, 2010 at 9:27 am | Posted in hymns | Leave a commentTags: Grace, Grace Greater Than Our Sin, hymn
Grace is a wonderful reality. Grace for forgiveness, grace for growth, or grace for life; no matter how you look at it, it’s wonderful. As a Christian I know first-hand that I am now saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Maturity in my Christian walk depends on my growing in the grace and knowledge of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). When I get tired or discouraged and feel like giving up, He gives more grace to help me keep pressing on (Hebrews 4:16; James 4:6). There is even more that I could say about grace.
You see GRACE is a wonderful reality for the child of God. Not because of who the receiving person is, but because of Who the Giver of GRACE is! Can I get an amen? I cannot explain everything about GRACE, but I can say I have, I am and I will experience it in my life. I am grateful for God’s grace. How about you?
Stay faithful and hopeful,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; Hebrews 4:14-16
GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN
by Julia H. Johnston, 1849-1919
1. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
(Refrain) Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.
2. Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold, Threaten the soul with infinite loss; Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.
(Refrain)
3. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, What can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide; Whiter than snow you may be today.
(Refrain)
4. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace Freely bestowed on all who believe; You that are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive?
(Refrain)
Thursday’s Hymn – Holy, Holy, Holy
May 27, 2010 at 9:18 am | Posted in hymns | Leave a commentTags: Holy Holy Holy, hymns
This is simply one of the best songs of all time. As you read it I hope your thoughts are turned to the greatness of God. Who is like Jehovah? May you understand the blessings you can have in Christ and may you be glad with the joy of His presence.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
By Reginald Heber (1783-1826)
1. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
2. Holy, Holy, Holy! all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
3. Holy, Holy, Holy! thought the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
4. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
This is one of those songs where you want people to raise their voices and sing out to God. If possible you want to hear piano and organ playing together. You can through in some string, brass and woodwind instruments too. It just makes me want to praise God for who He is and that He alone is God and there is no other. Hallelujah!
Stay faithful and hopeful because our God reigns,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; Revelation 4:1-11
Thursday’s Hymn – Victory in Jesus
May 20, 2010 at 9:51 am | Posted in hymns, Praise | Leave a commentTags: hymns, Victory in Jesus
When I was younger and pastoring my first church which was also a church plant, God laid on my heart something that we should begin to do during the offering. We should begin to stand and sing upbeat songs and give praise as we gave our tithes and offerings. Now our people loved to clap their hands when they sang and back in the day we used an overhead projector to put the words of the songs on a screen. So we had a good time when we gave to the Lord.
Now our music team grew as our church did. We sang both hymns and choruses during the singing portion of our worship service. At one time we had guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboard and ladies who played various percussion instruments such as tambourine, kabasa, and maracas. We had men and women in our music team. If I may say so, we got down as we worshiped God in song. We had some great people serving and coming to the church.
Imagine all of those instruments and about eight people leading the singing during the offering! It was wonderful. People were clapping and singing and giving with joy to the Lord. Our people literally looked forward to our offering time. I think it was because we first gave our hearts to the Lord. Then we could give everything else cheerfully too.
I hope you are blessed by the words of this hymn and that you can offer it up to the Most High God as gift of praise for saving you. Stay faithful and hopeful.
Much GRACE and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9
Victory in Jesus
(Eugene M. Bartlett, 1855-1941)
1. I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me.
I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning.
Then I repented of my sin and won the victory.
(Refrain) Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever! He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
2. I heard about His healing, of His cleansing power revealing,
How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see.
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit”;
And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory.
(Refrain)
3. I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory,
And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea,
About the angels singing, and the old redemption story;
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.
(Refrain)
Thursday’s Hymn – Come, Thou Almighty King
May 13, 2010 at 8:38 pm | Posted in hymns | Leave a commentTags: Come Thou Almighty King, hymn
There are some songs that sound good with both a piano and organ as part of the music team. This is one of those songs. I like singing this song in church and hearing God’s people sing out to Him. What a privilege we have as children of the Most High God to sing His praises. I hope this song blesses you as you read the words. Maybe you can offer it to God as a prayer of praise. I hope you have a great weekend.
Much GRACE and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; Psalm 50:23
Come, Thou Almighty King
Anonymous, circa 1757
1. Come, Thou Almighty King, Help us Thy name to sing, Help us to praise. Father, all glorious, O’er all victorious, Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days.
2. Come, Thou incarnate Word, Gird on Thy mighty sword, Our prayer attend: Come, and Thy people bless, And give Thy Word success; Spirit of holiness, On us descend.
3. Come, Holy Comforter, Thy sacred witness bear In this glad hour: Thou who almighty art, Now rule in every heart, And ne’er from us depart, Spirit of power.
4. To Thee, great One in Three, Eternal praises be Hence ever more, Thy sovereign majesty May we in glory see, And to eternity Love and adore.
Come, Thou Fount
April 29, 2010 at 9:44 am | Posted in encouragement, hymns, Praise | Leave a commentTags: Come Thou Fount, hymns
Come, Thou Fount
By Robert Robinson (1735-1790)
1. Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount – I’m fixed upon it – Mount of Thy redeeming love.
2. Hither to Thy love has blest me; Thou hast brought me to this place;
And I know Thy hand will bring me Safely home by Thy good grace.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger Bought me with His precious blood.
3. Oh, to grace how great a debtor, Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, as a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee;
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it – Seal it for Thy courts above.
There are a lot of hymns that I like to sing. That’s not to say I like every hymn ever put in a hymnal. I also like many choruses and praise songs and some of the modern songs written for church. What I’m trying to say is that I like a blended song selection to be sung in church. I don’t like the singing part of a worship service to be all one way or the other. I like balanced song selection and singing.
So I will try to pick a hymn a week to put in this blog for my readers. My hope is that they will appreciate the words and thoughts behind them. I also hope they may sing them as an offering to the Lord in their personal prayer or study time. They may even want to suggest to their church’s song leader to consider singing them some Sunday. I do think that our singing in the worship service should be balanced between old and new, traditional and contemporary.
Those are just my thoughts. There will be another hymn next week.
I read an interesting Spurgeon selection this morning at: http://www.reformationtheology.com/2010/04/and_this_was_just_part_of_spur.php#more
If you have the time you should check it out. God bless you, stay faithful and hopeful!
Much GRACE and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Victory In Jesus!
April 4, 2010 at 7:52 pm | Posted in Easter songs, encouragement, hymns | Leave a commentTags: Easter service, Easter songs, hymn, Victory in Jesus
Because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ believers can sing this song with both joy and confidence. Believers have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit actively at work in their lives. What a blessed truth to have in one’s life. There may be things that we can’t explain too well to an unbelieving world, but we can be confident in our Victory in Jesus! What a great, great privilege it is to believe in what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
For almost the past 30 years I have had some type of leadership or preaching responsibility on Easter Sunday. I preached my first Easter Sunrise service in a cemetery in 1981. Today my wife and I attended a friend’s church as worship service visitors. We were blessed to be in church today. The Easter musical was good. The preaching was good. The praying and singing were good. It was good to be in one of God’s local churches worshipping Him.
Some of the songs we sang this morning were, Lord, I Lift Your Name on High; Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; He Lives; Christ Arose; Give Thanks; and Only Trust Him. My friend the pastor preached on “Real Hope and Change” from John 14:1-6. It really was good to be in church this morning. The church we were at is not that big, but it was packed today. The presence of God was there and you could sense humility before God. We were blessed.
I hope you were blessed today. I hope you will be blessed tomorrow as well. It is so good to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. May you find strength and rest in being yoked with Him. (28)”Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (29)Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (30)For My yoke is easy and My burden is Light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
Much Grace and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; Psalm 21:6
Victory in Jesus
By Eugene M. Bartlett (1885-1941)
1. I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me.
I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning.
Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.
(Refrain)
Oh, victory in Jesus, my Saviour, forever! He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
2. I heard about His healing, of His cleansing power revealing,
How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see.
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit”;
And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory.
(Refrain)
3. I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory,
And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea,
About the angels singing, and the old redemption story;
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.
(Refrain)
Nothing But The Blood!
April 2, 2010 at 4:37 pm | Posted in Easter songs, hymns, prayer | Leave a commentTags: Easter service, Easter songs, hymn, Nothing But the Blood
I love the call and response of this hymn. There have been different times that I have led congregations and men’s groups to sing this song. I’ve done it in a call and response style. I have the group be quiet while I sing the first part and then have them all sing out in unison the response. It is a very moving way to sing this song. This song is so meaningful to me that I want it sung at my funeral. Yes, my wife knows that.
But Friday’s are for prayer reminders. Let’s pray for churches to experience the power and presence of God this weekend. There are a lot of church activities going on and most churches will have more visitors this weekend than any other weekend. So let’s pray for:
- Unsaved visitors to attend true Bible believing Christian churches this Sunday
- Many unsaved people of all ages to get saved this Sunday
- Visitors to feel welcomed by the church people and return to those churches
- Pastor’s to preach the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit
- People to listen attentively this Sunday
- Churches to grow through evangelism/disciplemaking
- New churches to be started
- God to be glorified this Sunday in many different ways
- God’s people to live as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ
Thank you for praying. Your prayers will make a difference. I hope you have a great weekend.
Grace and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13
(19)For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, (20)and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)
Nothing But the Blood
By Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
1. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
(Refrain) Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow;
No other font I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
2. For my pardon this I see – Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing, this my plea – Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
(Refrain)
3. Nothing can for sin atone – Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done – Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
(Refrain)
4. This is all my hope and peace – Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness – Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
(Refrain)
There Is Power In The Blood!
April 1, 2010 at 4:59 pm | Posted in Easter songs, hymns | Leave a commentTags: conversion, hymns, power in the blood, redemption, Revelation, saved
Here again is the title of a favorite song of mine. Sometimes when I sing this song I can see myself as a young Christian with four of my buddies in church singing this song. Around the same time that I got saved I stopped to visit an old friend from high school that I only saw occasionally. We used to wrestle on the same high school team and we used to get high together. We did other stuff but as I get older it is harder to remember all of it. Or I just don’t want to.
Well I stop to see him and we’re talking like old friends do and he asks what I’ve been getting into lately. I tell him that I’ve been reading the Bible and trying to learn about God and he says he has been doing the same thing. A few weeks later we both ended up getting saved, real genuine Holy Spirit conversions. We got baptized and so did three other guys that we knew. Then four of us rented a house together. We all started going to church together to a small little community church.
Now I’ve left a lot out of that story. But that little church used to have singspirations every so often on Sunday evenings. We were long haired, some of us bearded, jeans, flannel shirt and work boot wearing young men. We had a lot of young Christian passion and faith. We also had to learn about sanctification and transformation. That little church really wasn’t ready for God to lead us to them. But they tried to accept us and love us. Two of us became pastors, one of us faithfully serves in his local church and two I think fell away (I hope they were really saved).
I remember singing this song as a grateful young Christian. I remember what it was like to be saved from all of my sins. I remember what it was like when the pastor explained to me that now I was a new creation in Christ Jesus and God and Jesus were not going to hold my past life against me. I was really forgiven! Before coming to Christ I knew what it was like to be a sinner and to be headed to hell. Really, I knew I deserved hell and was going there. I really did not think I was good enough to go to heaven, no way. I knew the things that I had done and still did. If you had to be good then I wasn’t getting into heaven.
Then God made me fear Him. Over time I read the Bible and God helped me understand what Jesus did for me and what was offered to me. God had mercy on me and one night alone in my apartment let me get on my knees and pray a sinner’s prayer of repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. God filled me with His Spirit and put my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He gave me new life, changed my life and changed the direction of my life.
He can do the same for you. There really is power in the blood! The blood has not lost any power! You can call out to God and ask Him to forgive you. If you are sincere He will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Jesus has purchased your forgiveness and redemption by His shed blood. And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9).
Even today, years later, I am grateful to God to be saved, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. I can say with assurance, my sins have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. My name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I am adopted into God’s family. I am sealed by the Holy Spirit guarantying my future redemption. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
I hope you have a great Easter. If you don’t know Jesus personally I hope you come to know Him. If you do know as Savior and Lord, I hope you appreciate anew what He has done for you.
GRACE and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; Ephesians 1:3-14 I want to give a shout out to M.W. – keep pressing on broham, your redemption is closer than when you first believed!
There Is Power in the Blood
By Lewis E. Jones (1865-1936)
1. Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood; Would you o’er evil a victory win? There’s wonderful power in the blood.
(Refrain) There is power, power, wonder working power In the blood of the Lamb; There is power, power, Wonder working power In the blood of the Lamb.
2. Would you be free from your passion and pride? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood; Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide; There’s wonderful power in the blood.
(Refrain)
3. Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood; Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow; There’s wonderful power in the blood.
(Refrain)
4. Would you do service for Jesus, your King? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood; Would you live daily His praises to sing? There’s wonderful power in the blood.
(Refrain)
Washed In The Blood Of The Lamb
March 31, 2010 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Easter songs, hymns, pray | Leave a commentTags: hymns, redemption, Washed in the Blood of the Lamb
This is one of my all time favorite hymns. I like both the words and the beat. I like to sing it and clap my hands and sway a little bit too. Not too much movement, because I don’t have a lot of rhythm, but I do have enough to get into this song. I love this song! So today I am starting five days of songs about the blood of the Lamb leading up to Easter Sunday.
Let me say this as clearly as I can; if you think you can have a bloodless Christianity, you do not have a Biblical Christianity. (18)For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, (19)but with the precious blood of the Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect (1 Peter 1:18-19). I think some Christians need to get over their fear of not being accepted by unbelievers and begin to sing confidently, humbly and passionately about the blood of Lamb that was shed to purchase our redemption.
There are other Scriptures that speak about the blood of the Lamb and I will share some of them over the next few days as I share five of my favorite songs about the blood of the Lamb. I would also like to encourage you to begin to pray for your church’s Easter service and for unbelievers to come and fully understand the message and to experience the redeeming power of the blood of the Lamb. Pray for backslidden Christians to repent of sin and worldliness and to surrender their lives to the Lord. Pray for all of your church’s ministries to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Washed in the Blood of the Lamb
by Elisha Hoffman (1839-1929)
1. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
(Chorus) Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
2. Are you walking daily by the Saviour’s side? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Do you rest each moment in the Crucified? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
(Chorus)
3. When the Bridegroom cometh, will your robes be white, Pure and white in the blood of the Lamb? Will your souls be ready for the mansions bright And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
(Chorus)
4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin And be washed in the blood of the Lamb; There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean; Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb.
(Chorus)
God bless you and may you experience the presence and power of God in your church service this Sunday! Stay faithful and hopeful until Jesus returns in glory.
GRACE and peace to you,
Bill (a fellow-laborer)
Romans 15:13; Revelation 22:17, 20-21
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
Take Courage 