All Praise To Our Redeeming Lord
All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord
All praise to our redeeming Lord,
Who joins us by His grace,
And bids us, each to each restored,
Together seek His face.
The gift which He on one bestows,
We all delight to prove,
The grace through every vessel flows
In purest streams of love.
He bids us build each other up;
And, gathered into one,
To our high calling’s glorious hope,
We hand in hand go on.
We all partake the joy of one;
The common peace we feel:
A peace to sensual minds unknown,
A joy unspeakable.
And if our fellowship below
In Jesus be so sweet,
What height of rapture shall we know
When round His throne we meet!
WILLIAM BARCLAY once wrote that a person needs to have three conversions: first, to God; second, to other Christians; and third, to the world. Certainly there are these three crucial aspects to our faith—worship, fellowship, and ministry. Charles Wesley, the prolific Methodist hymnwriter, wrote widely on all three sides of this sacred triangle.
We have probably all noticed that many churches emphasize one of these aspects to the exclusion of the others. Some focus on personal growth or outreach but never develop a “body life” in which Christians get to know and love each other. Others are so absorbed in Christian fellowship that they never do anything to reach out to others.
As usual, Wesley’s words are rooted in Scripture. The New Testament continually weaves these three threads of Christian life together.
He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. . . . Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:7, 11-12
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