A Song to the Lord

Nothing is more important to a building than its support structure; the foundation on which it is built. If the foundation is solid, the building is sturdy and stable. But if the structural support is faulty, the building may be susceptible to collapse. The same can be said for the Church of Jesus Christ.

There is a short passage at the end of 2 Corinthians 5 that packs into just six verses the purpose of our lives as followers of Jesus. We learn what our motivation for living and the primary focus of our lives should be.

God’s love is a thread that weaves throughout the entire Bible.

One of the character traits of the leaders in this period of Celtic revival was living by spiritual disciplines, being particularly faithful in the discipline of prayer

The liturgical season of Lent reminds us of the importance of examining our lives – of keeping “short accounts” with God – of the truth of Socrates’ dictum that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

A genuine understanding of one’s sinfulness and need for forgiveness is what the “imposition of ashes” is mean to signify, and such a realization should provoke within us both a sense of our own mortality and sincere sorrow over our sin. Yet with those ashes can also come a sense of hope in what God will do with the “ashes” of our lives when we turn to Him in repentance and faith.

The eighth day of the Christmas season – New Year’s Day on our calendars – is known as the “Day of the Holy Name of Jesus.”

Packer’s thoughts, along with the stanzas of the Gospel hymn “Thou Who Wast Rich” by Frank Houghton, give us much to meditate on as we ponder the miracle and wonder of God’s grace in Jesus that we celebrate at Christmastime, and the impact it should have on us all year long.

Joy is found throughout the Christmas story. It was promised to Zechariah that the birth of his son John the Baptist, the one who would introduce Jesus to the world, would bring "joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."

In his book Hidden Christmas, Timothy Keller draws a comparison between receiving advice and receiving news.

The best songs are those which amplify the words of holy Scripture.

The season of Advent calls us to both anticipation and preparation.

If we have such great anticipation for the “advent” of special people in our lives, imagine the longing and yearning of the ancient Hebrews for the advent of their promised Messiah.

What do we think today when we ponder the wondrous mystery of God in flesh? It is impossible to understand that which is beyond understanding – Almighty God taking on a human body – but how do we respond to such a great and incomprehensible truth?

God is good! His blessings to his people are beyond counting. His faithfulness to his people is without lapse.

Dislike for authority is in the nature of every person. Ever since humanity’s fall in the Garden of Eden, people have not wanted to be told what to do.

There are times when our circumstances and emotions lead us to think and feel that God is truly in control of everything around us. Then there are other times – times when chaos is all around us – when we wonder where God is now.

Bishop William Walsham How’s hymn “For All the Saints” helps us celebrate the memory of the lives of our forebears in the faith and make the connection between their experiences and ours.

A building is only as sturdy as its foundation. The same can be said for a life.

Walter Chalmers Smith has given us a beautiful means of expressing our enjoyment and praise of God with his hymn "Immortal, Invisible." This hymn guides us to particularly praise God for four attributes which belong to God alone – or as the theologians describe them, God’s incommunicable attributes.

We are like sheep, and we need our Shepherd. There are times when we need assurance that situations and circumstances will work out in our lives, and our Shepherd Lord provides that assurance by giving us “green pastures” and “still waters” that bring restoration and strength.

I saw an ad a few years ago from a fund-raising organization for colleges that had this tag line: “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” The Bible tells us how important the mind is and contains many exhortations about the condition and content of our minds.

Jesus, the Living Word – the Bread of Life – makes Himself known to us and feeds our souls through the written word – the Bible.

God is a promise-making, promise-keeping God.

The only explanation for the determination and ability of Christians to sing while suffering is the “song” that Jesus gives.

No matter the way something begins in our lives, the goal is that when we reach the end, we can know that it was “well done.”

As followers of Christ, we take this seriously and grieve over how we fail our Lord.  But at such times we can be encouraged because we can turn to Jesus, bring to him all our sin and failure, and rest in His love and provision for us.

Nothing can match the wondrous treasure that we find in Jesus Christ our Lord.

To truly live as a Christian is to live a life characterized by personal sacrifice, humility, and yielding.

It is in the dark and difficult experiences of life that we most need to be reminded of the great love that God has for us, of the direction he gives us in times of uncertainty, and of the joy he provides in our times of great pain.

It is not uncommon to hear the phrase “Praise the Lord!” uttered by Christians or in a Christian context.

Some times call for an “attitude adjustment,” and William Kethe’s hymn “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” can be a help to us in doing that.