Holy Week Lyric Meditations 2

"Ballad of the Cross"

(Verse 1)
By the prophets, God foretold
of the sending of His Son
Who would give His life
to set the captive free.
Stepping down from His throne
and the glory He had known,
Jesus came to give His life for you and me.
Though He knew well the cost,
He was prepared to suffer loss
and give Himself as ransom for us all.
Into our hopeless world He came,
Endured the suffering and the shame,
Every moment staying faithful to the call.

(Verse 2)
Yet the One who spoke of love
was rejected and despised;
He knew all too well the sinful heart of men.
Those with eyes refused to see;
Those with ears refused to hear,
as they sought a way to bring Him to an end.
By a friend He was betrayed,
By soldiers, led away,
Yet for this very hour He had come.
They did not take - He freely gave;
For those He came to save,
the road to the cross He walked alone.

(Bridge 1)
He could have called a million angels to His side,
Or stepped down from the cross and walked away.
Yet His love held Him there,
Through the pain and despair,
To free us from the debt we could not pay.

(Verse 3)
In His suffering and pain
Took the guilt and the shame
As He hung between the heavens and the ground.
Every nail, every thorn,
Every stare, every scorn
pierced the One who so freely laid it down.
With His face to the sky,
"It is finished!" was His cry
The words that broke the gates of hell.
When His final words were said,
Breathed His last, bowed His head,
Darkness o'er the land so quickly fell.

(Bridge 2)
Yet death and darkness could not stand against His power:
He rose, victorious o'er the grave.
In His light we now may live,
By the grace He came to give
All who call upon His name are surely saved!
All who call upon His name are surely saved!

Copyright © 1997 by Elton Smith and Larry Holder

Holy Week Lyric Meditations 1

"In Christ Alone"

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Brought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

A Lawyer speaks out on In re Rachel L

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Quote for today

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom. "
-- Albert Einstein