Q. What doth the resurrection of Christ profit us? A. First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, that He might make us partakers of that righteousness which He had purchased for us by His death; secondly, we are also by His power raised up to a new life; and lastly, the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of…
Tonight’s service of readings, choral anthems, and congregational hymns was assembled to assist us in meditating on the story of Christ’s betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and burial. Each portion of the story (taken from all four Gospels) is followed by a musical response from either the choir or the entire congregation. Throughout the service, the choir will be presenting six works…
Waving palms together on Palm Sunday is always one of the sweetest moments of the church year. Though our sermon series on the book of Hebrews continues, the service this morning will feature many of the great hymns of the faith that walk us through Christ’s passion. We’ll sing hymns like All Glory, Laud And Honor, which narrate the events…
This morning’s service gives us several portraits of a “lived-out faith,” which we can find in the Scripture passages we read and the hymns and psalms we sing. We hear that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand” (Ephesians 2:9). We pray for God’s grace that “the light of Christ might be seen today…
O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust His cleansing blood, In this morning’s passage, the writer of Hebrews draws a parallel between the life of Abraham as he sought to follow God and our lives as we seek to follow Christ. Abraham followed to the promised land; we are following to the heavenly promised land. We begin…
O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust His cleansing blood, Just in simple faith to plunge me ‘neath the healing, cleansing flood. —Louisa Stead Today, we begin a journey of several weeks through Hebrews 11, the great “hall of faith” which details a host of Old Testament characters who walked “by faith.” The hymns we sing in…
The preacher of Hebrews tells us plainly, “you have need of endurance” (Hebrews 10:36). Nearly every hymn we sing this morning is a prayer asking for God’s strength, wisdom, and guidance, that we might endure in our Christian lives. We open the service by asking the Lord to “lead me all my journey through” (Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah).…
After a long discussion of temple worship and sacrifices that took up much of the preceding three chapters, the authorof Hebrews gives us three points of application in the middle of chapter 10: “draw near” (vs. 22), “hold fast” (vs. 23),and “stir up” (vs. 24). The hymns we sing this morning correspond to this pattern. Praise To The Lord, The…
Some weeks, each hymn or psalm that we sing in the service has a particular theme or even a particular word in common.For example, the last two weeks each hymn in the service had some reference to Jesus’ blood and Jesus’ sacrificial death,respectively. This week, the hymns and psalms are more varied, each responding to the elements in the service…
Those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. —Hebrews 9:15b The elements in this morning’s service all point to one conclusion, a conclusion both terrible and comforting: Jesus had to die. We’ll read that the new covenant was “inaugurated with blood” (Hebrews…
