Scripture at Sunrise 9.18.2013

“We love because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19

Christ loved perfectly on my behalf, so now I can love you, enjoy you, and serve alongside you without needing you to perform for me. -Lori L. Harding via Twitter

 

Scripture at Sunrise 9.5.2013

“We love because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19

“If you do not give up, but proceed to love the unlovely in a sustained way, they will eventually become lovely to you.” -Tim Keller via Twitter

Scripture at Sunrise 8.7.2013

“We love because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19

The gospel frees me from a spirituality of “have to” to “want to”. I want to obey ’cause I’m loved; I don’t obey to be loved. -Scotty Ward Smith via Twitter

 

Scripture at Sunrise 3.29.2012

“We love because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19

Because Jesus has done everything for me I can do everything for you without needing you to do anything for me. That’s freedom. -Tullian Tchividjian via Twitter

Scripture at Sunrise 3.21.2012

 

“We love because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19

Work hard out of love, not to earn it. -Lecrae via Twitter

Scripture at Sunrise 11.4.2010

“We love because He first loved us.”  -1 John 4:19

“If any man loves God, this is a sign that God has taken the initiative.”  -John Piper in Think, via Mark Altrogge’s Twitter

Scripture at Sunrise 12.2.09

“We love because he first loved us.”  -1 John 4:19

If we come to Christ God drew us, which none of us deserves. If we don’t, God did not draw us, which all of us deserve.  –John Piper via Facebook

Scripture at Sunrise 7.1.09

“We love because He first loved us.”  -1 John 4:19

As our experience of Christ’s love grips us more deeply, our gratitude for the grace He purchased gradually overcomes the vise-grip of our self-centeredness, and we “no longer live for ourselves.” 
[from The Bookends of the Christian Life by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington, page 111]

Scripture at Sunrise 4.24.09

“You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot…Through Him you have confidence in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”  -1 Peter 1:18-21

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child, and forever, I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

 

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whose law I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night
-Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915)

Fanny Crosby didn’t start writing hymns until she was forty, but she made up for lost time.  Only a rare few have matched the number of Christian songs she’s written.  Blinded in infancy because of a doctor’s error, Crosby demonstrates no bitterness in her songs.  We find nothing but joy and longing for the Lord.  “Redeemed and so happy in Jesus” is not just a line that sounds good in a hymn, it’s the story of Crosby’s life.  Blinded to the light of this world, Fanny Crosby had a light shining in her soul. 

Love is another major topic in Crosby’s work.  She regularly marvels at God’s love.  “His love is the theme of my song.”  Only as we come face to face with the overwhelming love of God can we begin to love others fully.  As John says, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  And Jesus said that the world would recognize His disciples by the love they had for each other. 

(from The One Year Book of Hymns published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: April 25 entry)

Scripture @ Sunrise 1.16.09

“We love Him because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19

Today’s “Story Behind the Song” was picked by Sis. Janna.  If you would like to pick a song to be featured, tell your church secretary!  :o)

My Jesus, I Love Thee
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Words: William Ralph Featherston (1864)
Music: Adoniram Judson Gordon (1894)

Story Behind the Song:

Sixteen year old William Featherston of Montreal, Canada wrote this simple but profound hymn in 1862, not long after he was converted to Christ. William wrote no other hymns that we know of and his brief life ended just before his twenty-seventh birthday.

Ira D. Sankey reports this story:

A famous actress, walking down the street, passed an open door, through which she saw an invalid girl laying on a couch watching people pass by. Thinking to cheer her up, she went inside. The sick girl was a devout Christian. The actress, impressed with her words, her patience, her submission, her heaven-lit countenance, and the manner in which she lived her religion, was lead to seriously consider the claims of Christianity. She was thoroughly converted and became a true follower of Christ. She told her father, the leader of the theater troupe, of her conversion and her conviction that she could not live a consistent Christian life and still be an actress. Her father was upset, attempting to convince her that their living would be lost and their business ruined if she persisted. Because she loved her father dearly, she consented to fill the published engagement set for a few days from then, of which she was the star. The play was set to go on. That evening came and the father rejoiced that he had won back his daughter and their living was not to be lost. However, as the actress came out on stage to the applause of the large audience, she stepped forward. A light beamed from her beautiful face. To the now-silent audience she repeated:

‘My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.’

Through Christ she had conquered. She left with the audience in tears, and retired from the stage, never to appear on it again. But through this, her father was converted. Through their combined evangelistic labors, many were led to Christ.

“My Jesus, I Love Thee” was written by a sixteen year old boy, William Ralph Featherston, at the time of his conversion to Jesus Christ. He sent a copy to his aunt who encouraged him to have it published. It appeared anonymously in The London Hymn Book in 1864. The original copy of the hymn, in the author’s handwriting, is still a cherished treasure in the family.

[HT: Songs and Hymns]