"God of Almighty Love" -- A Hymn (WITH WORMS!)

Image by bartmaguire via Flickr

This is another Charles Wesley hymn.  Man, that guy wrote a lot.  Check out the "worms" in that last verse

GOD of almighty love, By whose sufficient grace

I lift my heart to things above, And humbly seek thy face;

Through Jesus Christ the Just, My faint desires receive;

And let me in thy goodness trust, And to thy glory live.

Whate'er I say or do, Thy glory be my aim;

My offerings all be offered through The ever-blessed name!

Jesu, my single eye Be fixed on thee alone:

Thy name be praised on earth, on high; Thy will by all be done!

Spirit of faith, inspire My consecrated heart; 

Fill me with pure, Celestial fire, With all thou hast, and art;

My feeble mind transform, And, perfectly renewed, 

Into a saint exalt a worm, A worm exalt to God!

Gotta' love the worm reference.  That's so 18th Century, but I like it.

"Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus!" -- A Hymn by Charles Wesley

HAIL, thou once despised Jesus!
Hail, thou Galilean King!
Thou didst suffer to release us;
Thou didst free salvation bring.
Hail, thou agonizing Saviour,
Bearer of our sin and shame!
By thy merits we find favour;
Life is given through thy name.

Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sins on thee were laid;
By almighty love anointed,
Thou hast full atonement made;
All thy people are forgiven
Through the virtue of thy blood;
Opened is the gate of heaven,
Peace is made ‘twixt man and God.

Jesus, hail! enthroned in glory,
There for ever to abide:
All the heavenly host adore thee,
Seated at thy Father’s side;
There for sinners thou art pleading,
There thou dost our place prepare,
Ever for us interceding,
Till in glory we appear.

Worship, honour, power, and blessing,
Thou art worthy to receive;
Loudest praises without ceasing,
Meet it is for us to give.
Help, ye bright, angelic spirits!
Bring your sweetest, noblest lays;
Help to sing our Saviour’s merits;
Help to chant Immanuel’s praise.

"Omnipotent Redeemer" -- A Hymn by Charles Wesley

Omnipotent Redeemer,
Our ransomed souls adore thee,
Whate’er is done
Thy work we own,
And give thee all the glory;
With thankfulness acknowledge
Our time of visitation;
Thine hand confess,
And gladly bless
The God of our salvation.

Thou hast employed thy servants,
And blest their weak endeavours,
And lo! in thee
We myriads see
Of justified believers;
The church of pardoned sinners,
Exulting in their Saviour,
Sing all day long
The gospel song,
And triumph in thy favour.

Thy wonders wrought already
Require our ceaseless praises
But show thy power,
And myriads more
Endue with heavenly graces.
But fill our earth with glory,
And, known by every nation,
God of all grace
Receive the praise
Of all thy new creation.

"Father of Everlasting Grace" -- Hymn by Charles Wesley

FATHER of everlasting grace,
Thy goodness and thy truth we praise,
Thy goodness and thy truth we prove;
Thou hast, in honour of thy Son,
The gift unspeakable sent down,
The Spirit of life, and power, and love.

Send us the Spirit of thy Son,
To make the depths of Godhead known,
To make us share the life divine;
Send him the sprinkled blood to apply,
Send him our souls to sanctify,
And show and seal us ever thine.

So shall we pray, and never cease,
So shall we thankfully confess
The wisdom, truth, and power, and love;
With joy unspeakable adore,
And bless and praise thee evermore,
And serve thee as thy hosts above:

Till, added to that heavenly choir,
We raise our songs of triumph higher,
And praise thee in a bolder strain,
Out-soar the first-born seraph’s flight,
And sing, with all our friends in light,
Thy everlasting love to man.

Hymn -- The Parting Hand

Traditionally sung at the end of the day as friends say goodbye to each other.

My Christian friends, in bonds of love,

Whose hearts in sweetest union join,

Your friendship’s like a drawing band

Yet we must take the parting hand.

Your company’s sweet, your union dear,

Your words delightful to my ear,

Yet when I see that we must part

It draws like cords around my heart.

And now, my friends, both young and old,

I hope in Christ you’ll still go on.

And if on earth we meet no more

Oh may we meet on Canaan’s shore.

O glorious day! O blessed hope!

My soul leaps forward at the thought

That there we’ll all with Jesus dwell:

So loving Christians, fare you well.

A Hymn -- Living Water

The verse of a hymn written by Helen Kennedy:

Lord, how I thirst, my Lord I am weak.
Lord, come to me, you alone do I seek.
Lord, you are life and love and hope,
Come, fill me with living water.

For My Birthday -- A Birthday Hymn

The following was found over at Richard Hall's blog, connexions. Richard is a Methodist Pastor in Wales. The hymn was written by Kim Fabricius and first posted in a blog in September of 2008.

God of all ages, ageless Lord,
whose thoughts are deep, whose love is broad,
we of all ages offer praise
throughout the length of all our days.

We praise you for our wondrous birth,
formed from your breath and blessed earth,
shaped in the womb by your own hand –
miracle! – who can understand?

We praise you for the years of youth,
time to explore the realms of truth,
stretching our muscles and our minds,
testing new models of mankind.

We praise you for our grown-up years,
with their demands, their joys and fears;
taking the world you give in trust,
working to make it fair and just.

We praise you for retiring age,
as we approach life’s final page;
still things to do, still sights to see,
but, most of all, we learn to be.

This is our life, from birth to death,
from infant’s cry to final breath;
this is our life, our gift to you,
who gave it first, who’ll make it new.

(Tune: Ombersley)