A Hymn to the Trinity

This is a hymn I wrote a few years ago.  The suggested tune to sing it to is “Zlobie Lezy,” which is also used for the hymn “Christ Is Risen.”

God our Father, great Creator,
rules in splendor over all.
You have made this world a wonder;
of your glory, we’re in awe
Crashing seas, their waves are pounding.
Trees and flowers are resounding.
Towering mountains raise a glad song,
as creation sings along

Christ our Savior and Redeemer
lived and died to set us free.
From our sins and death delivered,
we now serve and worship thee.
We’re so thankful for the gift, Lord,
of new life that’s ours to have.
So we give our hearts to you now
as before you, Christ, we bow

Holy Spirit, our Sustainer,
and our Comforter each day,
Fill our souls with your sweet presence;
Keep us on the narrow way
Help us serve God and to love God.
Strengthen us in mind and soul.
Till we always look to you and
seek your pow’r to keep us whole.

God our Father, Christ our Savior,
Holy Spirit, three in one;
You have made us. You have saved us,
and You keep us in your love.
We your people praise your glory,
and your story we will share.
Until all are praising your name,
and you’re worshiped everywhere.

Text: © 2003, Will Humes

Abraham Lincoln on Forgetting God

Abraham Lincoln“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, April 30, 1863

A Statement of Faith – The Church of Scotland

This statement of Faith was authorized for use in worship and teaching by the General Assembly of The Church of Scotland in 1992.  I think this is one of the best creedal statements I have ever read.

We believe in one God:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God is love.
We praise God the Father: who created the universe and keeps it in being.
He has made us His sons and daughters to share his joy,
living together in justice and peace,
caring for His world and for each other.

We proclaim Jesus Christ, God the Son:
born of Mary,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
He became one of us,
sharing our life and our death.
he made known God’s compassion and mercy,
giving hope and declaring forgiveness of sin,
offering healing and wholeness to all.
By His death on the cross and by His resurrection,
He has triumphed over evil.
Jesus is Lord of life and of all creation.

We trust God the Holy Spirit:
who unites us to Christ and gives life to the church;
who brings us to repentance and assures us of forgiveness.
The Spirit guides us in our understanding of the Bible,
renews us in the sacraments,
and calls us to serve God in the world.

We rejoice in the gift of eternal life:
we have sure and certain hope of resurrection through Christ,
and we look for His coming again to judge the world.
Then all things will be made new;
and creation will rejoice in worshipping the Father,
through the Son,
in the power of the Spirit,
One God, blessed for ever.
Amen.