"This Is the Living Reality of the Gospel"

Terry Stauffer has posted his address given at the funeral for his daughter Emily who was murdered three weeks ago.

Emily loved Jesus – and now her faith has turned to sight, the dream is over, the endless day has begun.

This is not just a greeting card sentiment that has its roots in human tradition. It is rooted in historical fact – the fact of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the living reality of the Gospel.

Gospel simply means “Good News.” The Good news is that God sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world. We need a Saviour because we are sinners, and God is holy and hates sin. When Jesus died on the cross, he took our punishment in our place. If we trust Him, we can be forgiven and be right with God forever. Jesus rose from the dead to seal this promise and show us that we, too, will rise from the dead to be with Him forever. If we love Him, if we love this good news, it is because God first loved us.

Read all of his gospel rich words here and continue to pray for the Stauffer family. You might want to give a prayer of thanks, too—thanks that the media has been sympathetically and accurately reporting their words. That doesn’t always happen.

Sunday's Hymn

We sang this hymn in our church service today.

My Jesus I Love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

—Will­iam R. Fea­ther­ston

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I searched YouTube for a video performance of this hymn and found this one in Chinese Mandarin, which I immediately recognized as the same arrangement that my choir sings. I uploaded a recording of us singing it last summer and you can download the mp3 here. Yes, you, too, can listen to two different choirs in two different languages do exactly the same thing one right after the other. My son declared the experience “slightly bizarre.” I just call it interesting.

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Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Lead on O King Eternal at Hiraeth
• Teach Me, O Lord, Thy Way of Truth at Field Stone Cottage
• Lord’s Day 42, 2008 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Grace and Truth Shall Mark the Way at joythruChrist 
• Years Are Coming, Speed Them Onward at Conjubilant with Song
• A Sovereign Protector I Have at Whatever Things…
• The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns at The Happy Wonderer
• Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee at Practicing Theology
• God Reveals His Presence at Nova Scotia Scott
  

Have you posted a hymn today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.

It's the Gospel: October 17

The Apostles Preaching the Gospel
by Gustav DoreToday’s collection of gospel related posts:

Over at Field Stone Cottage, Dorothy posts an Old Testament passage that prophesies the gospel.

The ever-efficient Kim of Hiraeth has a 15 word or less poem about God’s power to save.

I written a little more on the words to the hymn My Hope Is Built: But Wholly Lean on Jesus’ Name.

Thanks to Dorothy and Kim for helping me celebrate the good news of the gospel!

At Rebecca Writes, we’re celebrating the gospel during the month of October. Twice a week, at least, I’ll be posting something pertaining to the gospel, which, in a nutshell is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sin and was raised from the dead, so that through faith, we are united with Christ and receive every blessing merited by his work. Still not sure what the gospel is? There are a few links in this post that might help.

As always, you are invited to participate with me. On Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the month, I’ll post a collection of links to gospel related posts. If you post a quote, verse, poem, story, book review, or essay, etc. on a subject connected in some way to the gospel, send me an email with your link (You’ll find the address by clicking the contact button in the sidebar.) and I’ll link back to your post (or posts) on the next Tuesday or Friday. There are no limits, really, on the form or  number of your post, just the subject. You may want to to contribute a link to a post on someone else’s post, too, and that’s okay by me.