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"The Gift of Gifts"
============================================ SOME WORSHIP QUOTES FOR ADVENT & CHRISTMAS ============================================ www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2005-12-06 (“O Come, O Come, Immanuel”) www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=1995-12-20 (C. S. Lewis) www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2004-12-21 (Ambrose and Luther) www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2005-12-20 (Dutch Carol) www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=1996-12-24 (Ulrich Shaffer) www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2002-12-24 (Dudley-Smith) ============================================ THE GIFT OF GIFTS O Source of all good, What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts, thine own dear Son, begotten, not created, my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute, his self-emptying incomprehensible, his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp. Herein is wonder of wonders: he came below to raise me above, he was born like me that I might become like him. Herein is love; when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to himself. Herein is power; when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created. Herein is wisdom; when I was undone, with no will to return to him, and no intellect to devise recovery, he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost, as man to die my death, to shed satisfying blood on my behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for me. O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind; let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore, my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father, place me with ox, ass, camel, goat, to look with them upon my Redeemer's face, and in him account myself delivered from sin; let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart, embrace him with undying faith, exulting that he is mine and I am his. In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more. ——Arthur Bennett, editor. VALLEY OF VISION: A COLLECTION OF PURITAN PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONS. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth Trust, 2003 (first published in 1975), p. 28. ISBN 0-85151-821-4. [In the preface to this volume, the author (who calls himself the editor) writes, "A poetic form has been adopted throughout as an aid to easier comprehension and utterance. Each prayer consists of a number of main clauses with subsidiary clauses that illuminate and enlarge the subject. In this way and opportunity is provided for pauses and reflections. . . This book is not intended to be read as a prayer manual. The soul learns to pray by praying; for prayer is communion with a transcendent and immanent God who on the ground of his nature and attributes calls forth all the powers of the redeemed soul in acts of total adoration and dedication.] "Let every heart prepare Him room." Have a great week. Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.wqotw.org www.sbts.edu/icw www.cliftonbaptist.org/verticalhabits =========================== WORSHIP QUOTE OF THE WEEK: To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view a complete index of worship quotes, please visit http://www.wqotw.org =========================== |