A good hymn is different from a good piece of devotional verse—it gains its effect from being sung rather than from being read.
-Ian Bradley from “The Book of Hymns” (1989)
Many churches have a repertoire of songs that are familiar to the congregation—songs that have been taught and sung again and again until almost everyone can sing along. But it wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time, church music was sung entirely in Latin, and only the educated elite were able to participate. It wasn’t until Martin Luther composed hymns in German that church music became much more accessible to the masses. The rest, as we know, is history.
Hymns were meant to teach and inspire passion toward His kingdom. Some, like “The Love of God,” express deep admiration of God’s love, mercy, grace, and glory:
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
Others such as “Yesterday, Today, Forever” proclaim foundational Christian truth:
Yesterday, today, forever: Jesus is the same
All may change, but Jesus never—glory to His name!
Unfortunately, many young people today lack a connection to hymnody and consider it the music of their parents’ and grandparents’ generation. After the undertaking of our first album, we realized how few hymns we really knew, despite some of us having grown up in church. It was a transformational experience that we are compelled to share with the larger church community.
Join us on Friday, May 3rd at Mississauga Chinese Baptist Church as we journey through the songs on the album. It will be an informal night of hymn singing and sharing for all ages!
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