O Word of God Incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O light of our dark sky;
we praise thee for the radiance
that from the hallowed page,
a lantern to our footsteps
shines on from age to age.
The church from her dear Master
received the gift divine,
and still that light she lifteth
o'er all the earth to shine.
It is the golden casket,
where gems of truth are stored;
it is the heav'n-drawn picture
of Christ, the living Word.
It floateth like a banner
before God's host unfurled;
it shineth like a beacon
above the darkling world.
It is the chart and compass
that o'er life's surging sea,
'mid mists and rocks and quicksands,
still guides, O Christ, to thee.
O make thy church, dear Savior,
a lamp of purest gold,
to bear before the nations
thy true light, as of old.
O teach thy wand'ring pilgrims
by this their path to trace,
till, clouds and darkness ended,
they see thee face to face.
• • •
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Pastors aren't on the job to save America. We are here to announce its eventual demise & replacement with something that is already here and growing ever more powerful in this world every day - the Kingdom of God. The Church's mission isn't to make America great but Jesus known.
In that regard, while I favor a Capitalism rooted in service, concern for others, & accountable practices, it is, together with Socialism just one more label for a power center that will fall. The flags of men will be folded up before the unfurled banners of Christ the King.
That's what pastors announce. Christian faith is not an exercise for weekend warriors. If anyone expects their pastors to simply affirm them in their marginalizing of ultimate reality, all in the name of the so-called relevant, or worse, in the service of their political agenda,
Throughout Advent & Christman @c3franklintn is looking deeply into Galatians 4:4-7 and discovering -
When God acted - at the perfect time
What God did - He sent his Son
How God did this - Born of woman/born under the Law
Why God did this - to redeem us from slavery & adopt us
What God's act means now - we are his adopted family, liberated from the most terrible chains, and made heirs of the greatest treasure. We have the Spirit living within us and bringing us into personal & eternal communion with God. He who was a stranger is now 'Abba'
Here is the text -
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons...
Let us love and sing and wonder,
let us praise the Savior's name!
He has hushed the law's loud thunder,
he has quenched Mount Sinai's flame;
he has washed us with his blood,
he has brought us nigh to God.
Let us love the Lord who bought us,
pitied us when enemies,
called us by his grace, and taught us,
gave us ears and gave us eyes:
he has washed us with his blood,
he presents our souls to God.
Let us sing, though fierce temptation
threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
holds in view the conqu'ror's crown;
he who washed us with his blood,
soon will bring us home to God.
Mark 14:26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Many men won't sing, but Jesus was a singer you know. So too his Apostles. The one time in the Bible where it notes that Jesus sang, he sang before he went to battle, the greatest battle of all.
At the Last Supper he gathered them together, he washed their feet, he fed them, he taught them, he prayed for them; then it says - listen to this! - before they went out to Gethsemane, where he knelt down and prayed with drops of blood, they sang a hymn.
They sang as they went out into the night. They went into battle singing. And we know what song they sang. They sang a Psalm, Psalm 118, the great Hallel. And it ends with these words, "Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar".