Sunday's Hymn: Blest Be the Tie That Binds

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love:
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims, are one,
Our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear,
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.

This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way,
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.

From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.

—John Faw­cett 

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• My Lord, I Did Not Choose You at The Happy Wonderer 

Theological Term of the Week: Maximus the Confessor

Maximus the Confessor
A Greek monk and father of the Eastern church who was persecuted for his opposition the false view of Monothelites, who taught that Jesus had only one will. He lived from 673–735.1

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 356: 

Why did [Maximus] get so worked up about [the Monothelite position]? The answer actually lies in his overwhelming concern for the doctrine of salvation. The human will, Maximus pointed out, is the source of sin, the very seat of our corruption that needs to be rescued, sanctified and healed. Therefore, if there is to be salvation for our fallen wills, the Son of God had to take up a human will into Himself in the incarnation. The only way our wills can become holy is by receiving holiness from the perfectly holy human will of Christ the God-man. But the Monotheletes were saying that Christ has no human will. Where, then, asked Maximus, does the sanctification of our sinful wills come from? .  .  . It is essential to our salvation, Maximus insisted, that the divine person of the Logos took up a human will … .

Learn more:

1. Ligonier Ministries: The Lone Monk
2. 5 Minutes in Church History: Maximus the Confessor
3. Christian History: Eastern Orthodoxy: A Gallery of Impact Pray-ers (The second section features Maximus the Confessor.) 

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Columba
• Cyril of Alexandria
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory the Great
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Origen
• Patrick
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian
• Venerable Bede, The

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

---

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Sunday's Hymn: Day by Day

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Power;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

— Kar­o­li­na W. San­dell-Berg

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul at The Happy Wonderer