April: Amazing Grace

"'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."

　

Amazing Grace is undoubtedly the most recognizable hymn of our day. Some might wonder why such a well known hymn would be included for memorization. Doesn’t everyone already know the song? The first verse perhaps, but what about the 4th verse? No, not the one that starts, "When we've been there ten thousand years", I'm talking about the original 4th verse (and 5th and 6th verses for that matter). Most people have never sung the remaining original verses to the well known tune. But more than just singing unfamiliar verses, this song was selected because of the profoundly simple, yet powerful way it conveys the overwhelming reality of God's grace in the life of a believer.

From this hymn we see just how dependent we are on the grace of God. In verse one we see that it is grace that saves us. In the second verse we see that it was grace that brought us to our realization that we are under judgment (it taught our hearts to fear) and yet grace is the very thing that releases us from that judgment which makes it so very precious. The third verse shows us that God’s grace has carried us through every hard time and it will continue to lead us; grace has been, and is, enough. The following three verses then focus on how grace affects the remainder of our lives. We are amazed by God’s perfect protection and provision, we are amazed how, even in the face of death grace gives us the ability to live it in joy and peace, and we are amazed that even though the world as we know it will pass away, God’s promise of grace will still remain. Amazing grace, indeed!

Find more information about "Amazing Grace" and John Newton at:

Wikipedia | Cyberhymnal | The John Newton Project | Desiring God 

Listen

Amazing Grace by Rich Tuttle

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believed!

John Newton

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The LORD has promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But GOD, who called me here below,

Will be for ever mine.

Words: John Newton (1725-1807)

Music: American Folk Tune

For 10 months in 2012 our church will be memorizing hymns together. For more information about this click here.

March: In Christ Alone

"Here in the death of Christ I live"

There is no doubt, "In Christ Alone" is perhaps the best hymn written in the last few decades. No other modern song comes close to the clarity and imagery in telling of the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ while at the same time masterfully weaving the impact and implications of what God has done for us. The beautiful tune fits the lyrics like a glove. It's simple and soaring.

Because of the deep resonating truth contained in the lyrics one can sing this song in any season of life. The main reason is because nearly every line is a giant arrow pointing away from ourselves and towards Jesus.

Find more information about "In Christ Alone" and the hymnwriters at:

Gettymusic | Stuart Townend | Wikipedia | Crosswalk

Listen
In Christ Alone by Rich Tuttle

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found;

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

For 10 months in 2012 our church will be memorizing hymns together. For more information about this click here.

February: Praise to The Lord, The Almighty

“O let all that is in me adore Him!” 

"This hymn was written by Joachim Neander, born in 1650, whose father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather--all Joachim Neanders--had been preachers of the gospel. But as a student, Joachim was wild and rebellious. At 20, he joined a group of students who descended on St. Martin's Church in Bremen to ridicule and scoff the worshipers. But the sermon that day by Rev. Theodore Under-Eyck arrested him and led to his conversion. A few years later, he was the assistant preacher at that very church.

Joachim often took long walks near his home in Hochdal, Germany. They were worship walks, and he frequently composed hymns as he strolled, singing them to the Lord. He was the first hymnwriter from the Calvinist branch of Protestantism. When he was 30—the year he died—he wrote this while battling tuberculosis:

Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty, the King of Creation.
O my soul praise Him, for He is Thy health and Salvation.

One of Joachim's favorite walking spots was a beautiful gorge a few miles from Dusseldorf. The Dussel River flowed through the valley, and Joachim Neander so loved this spot that it eventually was named for him—Neander Valley. The Old German word for 'valley' was 'tal' or 'thal' with a silent 'h'.

Two hundred years later Herr von Beckersdorf owned the valley, which was a source for limestone, used to manufacture cement. In 1856, miners discovered caves which contained human bones. Beckersdorf took the bones to a local science teacher who speculated they belonged to one who died in the Flood.

But when William King, an Irish professor of anatomy, saw the bones, he claimed they were proof of evolution's famous 'missing link.' Other Neanderthal fossils were found, and for many years they were used to 'prove' Darwin's theory of evolution. Today we know the Neanderthal was fully human, an extinct people group of great strength.

But, as one expert [Marvin L. Lubenow] put it, 'when Joachim Neander walked in his beautiful valley so many years ago, he could not know that hundreds of years later his name would become world famous, not for his hymns celebrating creation, but for a concept that he would have totally rejected: human evolution.'"

The above passage was taken from the book "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan, (page 27)

How often do we consider singing to ourselves for encouragement? This hymn not only drips with Biblical substance it also replicates the Biblical style of the Book of Psalms. In fact it is a paraphrase of Psalm 103:1-6. The Psalms are bursting with songs aimed at reminding the soul to praise and bless the Lord. Our souls need constant reminders to turn our attention to God, to praise Him, to find our joy and satisfaction in Him.

Find more information about "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" at:
Cyberhymnal | Cyberhymnal (German) | Wikipedia | Hymnsheet from Covenant Life Church


Listen
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty by Rich Tuttle

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Praise to the Lord,
The Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him,
For He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,

Joachim Neander

Now to His temple draw near;

Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord,

Who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,

Shelters thee under His wings,

Yea, so gently sustaineth!

Hast thou not seen

How thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord,
Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness
And mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord,
O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath,
Come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Text: Joachim Neander, 1680. Based on Psalm 103
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1863
Tune: LOBE DEN HERREN, Stralsund Gesangbuch, 1665

For 10 months in 2012 our church will be memorizing hymns together. For more information about this click here.

January: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

"Tune my heart to sing Thy grace"

During the month of January we will be singing the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” which was written in 1758 by Robert Robinson.

One of the great things about this hymn is that it causes us to say true things about ourselves that we would rather not say. It calls us to tune our hearts to sing the grace of God. It calls us to remember the gospel from which pours streams of mercy, never ceasing. How easily it is for us to just check out and drift from the presence of God without intention. Our minds become full of ourselves or the things around us. We rarely slow down to evaluate our hearts. And when we do we find that our hearts deceive us into believing everything is fine and we just continue to float, unaffected by grace and truth. But then when we sing those words that our hearts wouldn’t sing on their own, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it! Prone to leave the God I love,” our hearts are struck to the core as we see our sinful nature exposed. And now our hearts long for and rejoice over those streams of never ceasing mercy, and we understand the author’s meaning when he prays that he might be bound to Christ with the shackles of grace.

Find more information about "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" at:

Cyberhymnal | Wikipedia | Christian History Institute | RUF Online Hymnbook

Listen

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Rich Tuttle

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise

Robert Robinson

Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount—O fix me on it,
Mount of God's unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like 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, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Text: Robert Robinson (1735-1790)
Tune: American Folk Tune attributed to John Wyeth

For 10 months in 2012 our church will be memorizing hymns together. For more information about this click here.