Worship

King of Kings

King of Kings

This weekend, we will sing the song “King of Kings,” an anthem that powerfully summarizes the plan of salvation in less than 300 words. As we sing the lyrics, we’ll walk through the life of the Church, stretching from the accounts in the early chapters of Acts …

The Church's One Foundation

The Church's One Foundation

As we sing this mid-19th-century hymn this Sunday, look for how the words echo Scripture and how Samuel John Stone follows Paul’s instructions to the Ephesians in Acts 20 to keep a careful watch: “I told you all the truth about God. Keep a careful watch over yourselves and over the church…”

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou My Vision

"Be Thou My Vision" is sung to an ancient Irish folk tune called "Slane," named after the Hill of Slane where St. Patrick boldly lit a fire or candles in 433 AD on the night before Easter. King Loegaire mac Neil had forbidden fires before a pagan festival, but St. Patrick's boldness to so publicly ignore this taboo drew the king's respect…

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I Stand Amazed

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I Stand Amazed

Charles H. Gabriel’s mother once told him, “I would rather have you write a song that will help somebody than see you President of the United States.” Her hopes for her son came true, and the song we sing this weekend, “I Stand Amazed,” is one of more than 7,000 songs he composed…

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O Worship the King

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O Worship the King

The words to “O Worship the King” echo Psalm 104 as well as other Scripture passages, including Psalm 84 and Genesis 15:1 (the metaphor of God as “our Shield”). Some lines also remind us of verses in Colossians…

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Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me

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Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me

“For this I toil,” Paul says in Colossians 1:29, “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Paul’s paradox of strenuously contending or striving for the faith, and yet fully relying on Christ to supply the power to contend, is at the heart of this song.

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Let It Rise

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Let It Rise

In the same breath that Paul tells the Colossians to let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly, he tells the Colossians to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (3:16). Consider the endless source of songwriting material that will never be extinguished!