Thursday, March 29, 2007

Favorite Hymns

About twenty years ago I was a member of the White Memorial Presbyterian Church choir and our weekly Wednesday night rehearsal fell on Halloween. THe choir director asked everyone to come to rehearsal that night dressed as their favorite hymn. One woman came wearing her husband's clothes, stating that she was dressed as her favorite "him." Our choir director, a rather buttoned down fellow, walked in that night wearing a cardboard steeple on his head and a woman's bra overtop of a black turtleneck sweater and proceeded to lead the entire rehearsal dressed in this manner. Only at the end of rehearsal did he tell us his favorite hymn: "The Church's One Foundation."

As favorite hymns go, mine has to be "It Is Well with My Soul." It speaks to me of the true meaning of forgiveness:
My sin, oh the bliss of that glorious thought!
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
prasie the Lord, praise the Lord, O My soul!

Jesus Christ died for my sins. On that day, He declared that I would no longer have to bear my sins. He said, "I'll take the burden from now on." I don't deserve His forgiveness, but I will gladly and humbly accept it. What a friend we have in Jesus!

2 comments:

Roberto said...

I love the idea of your comic strip and thank you!! for clearing up a question I had about an old hymn that I'd wondered about- the words to which I just found in your cartoon strip. Could you tell me the title of that hymn "Jesus paid it all...." Your blog is fresh and a great way of spreading the word. Please visit my blog aldo and let me know what you think. I've bookmarked you, dear friend. http://thesilverpeoplechronicle.blospot.com/
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Pastor Z said...

I believe the hymn is entitled "Jesus Paid It All." For many years I was a member of a Baptist church, and I believe it was in our hymnal. I am now a Methodist, and it does not appear in the The United Methodist Hymnal (although I think it should!).

Here are the lyrics (at least, this is what I found on the web):

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

(Refrain)
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

(Refrain)

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

(Refrain)

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

(Refrain)

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

(Refrain)

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.

(Refrain)