Happy Christmas!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Songs I Sang At Sunday School

Songs I Sang At Sunday School is a collection of 16 songs from yester-year, dusted down, and rerecorded with a modern edge.

"Many of us were shaped by the songs we sang at Sunday school, songs which established biblical truths in our lives and taught us the basics of the Christian faith. How good would it be to hear those songs again? Well now you can!"

Authentic Music returned to the studio and re-recorded 16 Sunday school favourites. The strapline is: "Prepare to have memories revived, and get ready to worship agan as you enjoy the songs you sang at Sunday school".

Hymns - ancient or modern?

In this week's edition of Sunday, Roger Bolton discussed the good and the bad of church music with Stewart Townend and Nick Page (author of Now let's move into a time of nonsense). You can listen again here (between 28 and 34 minutes into the programme).

Seeking first the Kingdom

At Holy Trinity, Leicester we have recently begun a sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount(downloads here) and Emmanuel Church, Loughborough looked at the Beatitudes last summer (search on blessed here). Recently we've been singing Tim Hughes' song Living For Your Glory, which fits in with the focus of these sermons on the Kingdom:

And take my life, let it be everything, all of me
Here I am, use me for Your glory
In everything I say and do, let my life honor You
Here I am living for Your glory
Seeking first the Kingdom of my Lord

Hymns in decline at funerals

Last year Co-operative Funeralcare conducted a survey of 242 funeral homes and 30,000 services which showed 58% of people in England and Wales chose pop music to be played / sung at their funeral services and only 35% included hymns. However, the Scots are bucking this trend as more people are choosing traditional hymns: the number of funerals with hymns rose from 54% to 56% last year. The story on the BBC website also lists the top ten pop songs and hymns sung at funerals, and notes that the study also revealed that around 10% of requests for pieces of music were rejected as the clergy conducting the funeral felt the choice was inappropriate.

Easter Sunday: Jesus Christ is risen today

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once, upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!

Palm Sunday

Outside the Holy City
Unnumbered footsteps throng,
And crowded mart and streets of trade
Fling back a swelling song.
The voices echo nearer,
In flaming hope they sing:
“Throw down your branches at His feet!
Hosanna to the King!”

Once more beside a city
The Son of David waits,
Once more the children throng to bring
A welcome at the gates.
Within are hearts sore burdened
And feet that go astray;
O Christ of God, come near and walk
Our city streets today!

The branches that we offer
Are no unmeaning sign;
Take Thou the hands we lift on high
And make them wholly Thine.
No songs of shallow welcome
Are these we raise to Thee;
O give us faith to face the cross
And set Thy city free!

A distant music mingles
With all our songs today,
The chorale from a city fair
Where sin has passed away.
There rides the Christ triumphant
And victor songs ring clear;
O God, give us the strength to build
With Christ that city here!

(Outside the Holy City, James G. Gilkey)

Be still my soul...

Life is uncertain for many, particularly as the recession begins to impact on many areas. I recently stuck a CD into the player in my car while pondering some of these uncertainties and heard again this hymn, with the timely reminder that God is faithful in every change - our part is to "bear patiently" the discomfort while we wait for Him "to order and provide":

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
(Ka­tha­ri­na A. von Schle­gel / Jane L. Borth­wick)

The CyberHymnal website

The Cyber Hymnal has moved! Check out the new Cyber Hymnal website for lyr­ics, scores, MI­DI files, pic­tures, his­to­ry, and more for over 7,300 Christ­ian hymns & Gos­pel songs from ma­ny de­nom­in­a­tions.

On faith and faithfulness at the start of the year

On the first Sunday of the New Year my tiredness (and frozen limbs) gave way to anticipation as we started a sermon series on Joshua and sang songs of faith and commitment:

Lord will You be my vision, Lord will You be my guide? Be my hope, be my life, and the Way
And I’ll look not for riches, nor praises on the earth Only You’ll be the first of my heart

Everlasting God The years go by but you’re unchanging In this fragile world You are the only firm foundation

Though I feel afraid of territory unknown I know that I can say that I do not stand alone
For Jesus You have promised Your presence in my heart
I cannot see the ending but it’s here that I must start
And all I know is You have called me And that I will follow is all I can say
I will go where You will send me And Your fire lights my way

Happy Christmas

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Hark! The herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King!

My Treasure Thou art

Christian Praise 2008 seemed a little bit more subdued than last year, despite a great band, choir, and speaker (Rodney Green on Psalm 103: God's Word, God's will and God's works). De Montfort Hall was not completely packed out on the Tuesday night, and the chair attributed this in part to the credit crunch. We concluded by singing Be Thou my Vision, and Andy Upton noted that the fourth verse is an antidote to the credit crunch:

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

Jesus said: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

Charles Wesley's secret code diary cracked

A priest / academic has unlocked the 270-year-old secrets of Charles Wesley's coded diary, throwing light on the turbulent relationship that he had with his brother John in the early years of the Methodist movement they founded. The cipher for Wesley's journals, partly written in a personal shorthand (when he wrote about sensitive subjects, such as his disputes with John Wesley over the future direction of Methodism), were cracked by the Rev Professor Kenneth Newport. Newport, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University, spent nine years transcribing the thousand page hand-written manuscript held in Manchester.

Happy Christmas!

How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in

Amazing Grace: the song

The hymn Amazing Grace first appeared in The Olney Hymns, published in 1779. The collection draws its name from the Buckinghamshire village of Olney, in England where John Newton was curate. The film’s UK website provides links to information about the hymn, including the story behind the hymn and the Biblical references contained in it.


The John Newton Project website provides a range of resources for the bicentenary of the death of John Newton (also 2007), and the Library of Congress offers an Amazing Grace timeline. .