Pastor Pat Aman
Copyright September 28,  2006
All Rights Reserved

Devotion September 28
"I Love To Tell The Story"

(Roman's 1:16)
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew and also for the Greek."

I have noticed that this week must be a week of people listening to the old hymns. I have received a couple of e-mails with poems. These poems have been the words to some of the great old hymns of the pass.

A lot of churches are now singing Praise and Worship Songs. This is wonderful, I love them. I love to sing Praise and Worship Songs myself. Praise and Worship is giving glory to God. It is lifting Him up in honor.

But, when you get down that old hymn book and read the words to these songs, we see a different kind of worship. We read words that help lift us up as they also give praise to God. They tell us of the great love that God has for us.

How many of you remember as the invitation was given, standing in church holding tight to the pew in front of you until your knuckles were turning white?

Can you recall the hymn that they were singing? If you were like me I can, because it was the words to that old hymn that just drew me and maybe you closer to God. It spoke to our heart, and then we let go of that pew and walked the aisle and ask Jesus into our heart.

And yes, the preacher may have preached a wonderful message of salvation and repentance, but it was that old hymn that caused us to run down to the altar and cry out to Jesus, saying Lord come into my heart.

Those old hymn have put a testimony in our heart, just like the song below. Yes, I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.

I want to share with you not only the song, but a note on the poet,

Arabella Cathrin

Christened by her parents Arabella Catherine Hankey, the author of the hymn was known to her friends as Kate. She was reared in Clapham, a suburb south of London..

Her father, a prominent banker, was one of a group of evangelical Christians known in the mid-19th century as the Clapham Sect. This group strongly supported the abolition of slavery in England and promoted missionary endeavors.

The Hankey family life was influenced by the group, which explains Kate's great interest in religious and social concern.

As a teenager she taught Sunday school and began a Bible class for girls who clerked in the shops of London.

She went to South Africa to work as a nurse and to bring home her invalid brother. While there she traveled through the "up country' by ox cart, and this experience increased her interest in foreign missions.

Kate Hankey wrote the story of Jesus in poetic verse, entitled "The Old, Old Story," in 1866. "I love to tell the story" used verses from the longer poem.

Three years later William G Fischer composed the tune that we associate with these words. A highly respected music teacher and choral conductor, Fischer was invited to conduct the combined Welsh singing societies at the bicentennial celebration of the landing in America of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania
 

I Love To Tell The Story

Written By: Arabella Katherine Hankey, 1866

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;
And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.
 
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
 
I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat what seems,
Each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.
 
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
 
I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
 

Joyfully, In The Master's Service
Blessings, Prayers and Love,
Pastor Pat
 

Quote: PastorPat Aman
Scriptures: The New King James Version Bible

 

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