The Sunday Sermonette – To God Be The Glory.

The first hymn I remember singing was “Holy, Holy, Holy!” I remember it more for its lyrics than its message. In my five-year-old mind, when we sang “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity,” I thought we were singing about my church, Trinity Baptist Church. Now, 70 years later, as I look back on the old hymns of my childhood, I realize they were, indeed, Holy, Holy, Holy.

Many times over the years, after a sermon had faded and my Sunday clothes were put away, the hymns sung that morning lingered in my heart—they still do. “Blessed Assurance,” “Bringing in the Sheaves,” “Count Your Many Blessings,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” and other hymns like them have carried generations through both sorrow and happiness because they point us to a never-changing truth: Father God loves us. Jesus Christ is risen. And in them, our eternity is secure!

Oft times, hymn lyrics reach out and grab our hearts. “The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.” This love isn’t small. It’s not a here-today, gone-tomorrow kind of love. Father God’s love is vast and casts a wide net. It’s tender enough to comfort the grieving, and faithful enough to keep every promise He has ever made.

If you watched Billy Graham TV crusades through the decades, do you remember singing the invitation hymn, “Just As I Am”? Thankfully, Father God does not wait for us to be sin-free. He welcomes us and calls us when we are weary, wounded, and unsure. He calls us just as we are, waiting not to rid our souls of one dark blot. His love finds us where we are, but it never leaves us unchanged. And because of that change we can praise him: “Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.”

Thankfully, those who are changed can humbly sing, “When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died. My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride,” and then loudly sing, “Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!”

Jesus’ death on the cross tells us that our sins are not ignored—they were paid for. His resurrection tells us death did not have the final word. Jesus did! And “Because He lives,” we can face tomorrow—filled with hope because the grave is not the end of the story. That same Jesus who conquered death is the One who comforts His people, and His resurrection turns every believer’s darkest valley into a doorway of hope.

Never forget, for every weary soul, there’s a “Rock of Ages.” For every anxious heart, remember “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” For every weary pilgrim worrying about tomorrow, Father God carries you, “sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom.” And for every believer slugging through the valley of death, though “Satan should buffet, tho trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded your helpless estate…” Just say, “It is well with my soul.” These are not just sentimental phrases; they are confessions of faith. They remind us that the risen Savior walks with us now and will bring us safely Home.

Even when life is full of turmoil, hymns can comfort us. “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” reminds us that it is not our own strength that keeps us safe, but the strength of Father God. “Standing on the Promises” tells us that His Word does not crumble when the world does. Remember that “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” so no sorrow goes unnoticed, no prayer falls on deaf ears, and no child of God is ever forgotten.

And when our thoughts turn toward eternity, the old hymns tell us of a place that our hearts can scarcely imagine. “When We all Get to Heaven,” we’re promised precious reunions and rejoicing. “In the Sweet By and By, there’s a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar. For the Father waits over the way, to prepare us a dwelling place there.”

So, dear ones, let us sing “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine.” Be sure to sing every day, “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” May the frightened take courage in being “Nearer My God To Thee.” Let the faithful rejoice in “How Great Thou Art,” rest in “Abide With Me,” and march onward to the future with “Onward Christian Soldiers.”

And let us all who trust in Christ Jesus look forward to eternity with a joyful confidence, for one day our faith shall become sight, our tears shall be wiped away, and we shall join the everlasting chorus: “To God be the Glory, great things He hath done!”

Have you placed your trust in Father God and Jesus Christ? If not, why not today?

Ponder this and go forth.