By Lee Turner, 3.17.22
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I love church music; CFUMC is blessed to have such a wonderful music ministry: Allen, Bill, the Modern music team, and the various groups and choirs. I feel like congregational singing brings us all together as well as gives us a way of praising God, celebrating God, and learning and reviewing our own understanding of the Bible and our faith.
One of my favorite hymns is “Because He Lives” by Bill and Gloria Gaither. If you are not familiar with this hymn, let me give you some of it.
“God sent his son, they called him Jesus;
He came to heal and to forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon.
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow;
because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
and life is worth the living just because He lives.
And then one day I’ll cross the river;
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives.”
The Gaithers wrote the words and music to this song when they were a young couple in the 1960’s at a time when there was much turmoil and stress in our country and also in their lives. When I hear this song or read the lyrics, I feel like they speak to the problems and fears of our lives now. Death, loss of jobs, the pandemic, civil unrest are all things that can be addressed by remembering “because He lives.” I hope you will be comforted and wrapped in our Father’s love when you bring the words to “Because He Lives” to mind.