Series

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (FIFTEENTH IN A SERIES)

Sometimes it helps to see a sequence of letters in print to understand what is being said. Consider a-p-a-r-t. When those letters are placed next to each other it means, ironically, that items are separated. They are “apart.” When the first two letters are separated, however, it conveys that items are connected. They are “a part.”

Which of those options applies to our relationship with the people of God?

As a group, we Gentiles—those who cannot trace blood lines back to Abraham—were separate from the covenant people of Old Testament times. Gentiles were apart from God’s chosen people of Israel, apart from those to whom the prophets were sent and the promises given.Read More »Hymn 129 Once Far Off But Now Invited

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (FOURTEENTH IN A SERIES)

It may be a new year, but do you get the feeling that you’ve done it all before? Just like last year, you’ve watched the thirty-first of December fade out of sight and the first of January come into focus. Unless the Lord returns first, you’ll likely do the same again next year and the year after that.

In music, when certain lines repeat over and over again, it is called a refrain. Thus as the beginning of our year repeats, the words of Christian Keimann’s hymn also repeat through four stanzas: “Joy O joy, beyond all gladness, Christ hath done away with sadness!  Hence, all sorrow and repining, For the Sun of Grace is shining!”Read More »Hymn 96 “Oh, Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly”