What shall I render to You for the gift of gifts,
Your 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,
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 lies power:
when Diety 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.
In Him, You have given me so much
that heaven can give no more.

From The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers.

Christianity and democracy go hand in hand.  In fact, true democracy is the child of Christianity.  Both emphasize the dignity of the individual.  Both make the person to be more important than the state. The rights and powers of the central government are given to it by the people.  The state is for the citizens, not the citizens for the state.

….

The great danger to our civilization comes not when subversive movements appear — but only when our people relinquish their former ideals, disavow their former beliefs, and accept the new philosophical ideology!

….

The real difficulty today is that the higher, nobler, worth-while things of life have been taken away from us.  We have relinquished them and have received nothing to replace them.

….

The twentieth century has made much progress scientifically, hygienically, mechanically, and materially.  But — while doing so we have surrendered our basic beliefs, relinquished our cherished ideals, seared our modern consciences, and well-nigh damned our immortal souls.

From a series of radio messages, “Showers of Blessing,” by Rev. Russel V. DeLong. Originally published in 1954.

By Kate Herzig, JJ and David Heller
Sung by JJ Heller

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn’t there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away
You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

When you walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know you hate to see me cry
One day you will set all things right
Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still

“Your Hands” is song #10:

It’s going to be a small crowd today, so I’m acting out of character and sitting towards the front. LOL