Hello OCBC family,
Easter is gone, but the spirit of celebration for our living Savior remains.  Last week was a week full of blessings because, as a church, we celebrated the last earthly week of our Lord Jesus, and this is important because, using songs, sermons, and prayers, we can understand better His ministry and share them with those who do not believe yet in Jesus as the Messiah.

Next week is not Easter Sunday because the calendar says so, but next Sunday will be Resurrection Sunday because our God says so.  The Sunday after Easter Sunday, according to some traditions, is a Sunday full of worship because the church is celebrating her risen Savior.  As believers we can repeat the words of the Psalm 117.

117 Praise the Lord, all nations!
    Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!

This is the psalm that Isaac Watts used to created his hymn “From All That Dwell Below the Skies.”  Perhaps you remember that before Isaac Watts, the churches only sang meter psalms, which means that every single psalm was made a poem, a very literal poem, with few melodies to exchange between them.  Isaac Watts told his father that even though these psalms were the word of God they did not share the message of salvation in Christ.  Watts’ father told him that he might do something about; and he did it.  He started a collection called “The Psalms of David, Imitated” “rewriting” the psalms, clothing them with the message of Christ.
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“From All That Dwell Below the Skies” originally had two verses, but Charles Wesley added two more, and it became so popular that in some circles this hymn is called the “the classic of English doxologies.”  You can sing this hymn with the melody of the “Doxology”, or “All Creatures of our God and King” adding some “Alleluias” to the original lyrics.
Enjoy the words of this beloved hymn.

1 From all that dwell below the skies
let the Creator's praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
through every land, in every tongue.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 In every land begin the song,
to every land the strains belong:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In cheerful sound all voices raise
and fill the world with joyful praise.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
eternal truth attends thy word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
till suns shall rise and set no more.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
Sunday is Easter, Resurrection Sunday, the day that we remember that our Lord Jesus Christ defeated death.  The good news is that as Christians we can celebrate Easter every Sunday, and, why not, every day, because He is alive.

A very popular hymn for this season is “Christ Arose” or “Low in the Grave He Lay.”  This glorious hymn was written and composed by Robert Lowry.  Robert Lowry was born in Philadelphia, March 12, 1826.  He had a talent for music and he played several instrument from an early age.  He became a pastor in a church in Philadelphia.  He wrote this text in 1874 and was published in a Sunday school songbook edited by Lowry and William Doane in 1875, Brightest and Best. The hymn was used by Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey in their revivals in Great Britain, and was widely popular in America as well.

It is very interesting with the difference between the verses and the refrain.  The verses are normally sang in a slow tempo, showing the suffering, passion and death of Jesus Christ.  The refrain, on the other hand, changes into a fast tempo, painting a glorious picture of this resurrected Lord.

The next time you sing this loved hymn (and do not wait until Easter season to do it), sing it with all your might and strength.

1 Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain:
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

2 Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

3 Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

In His service,

Israel

Hello OCBC family!  Probably you are very familiar with the hymn “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” but not too much about its author; his name was Edward Perronet.  He was born on 1721, son of Rev. Vincent Perronet, Vicar of Shoreham, Kent.  He became a minister as well of the Anglican Church, but he felt that the church was wrong in few things, therefore he became Methodist and a very close friend of the Wesleys.  He suffered persecution because of his beliefs, and even John Wesley recorded once, “Edward Perronet was thrown down and rolled in mud and mire.”  Perronet was not an easy person to get along with, and soon he broke with the Wesleys over the issue of who could administer the sacraments.  Then he joined a group called the Connexion but he broke with this group as well.  After that he became the pastor of an independent church, and it was in this place that he wrote this beloved hymn.

Most likely Perronet used the passage of Revelation 19:11-13:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.”
William Petersen, talking about this hymn, said, “Whether Perronet intended the implication or not, the hymn points to the time all believers in Christ – regardless of petty disagreements – will join together in a celestial chorus”

Please read the lyrics and worship our King of kings and Lord of lords.

All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all!

O seed of Israel's chosen race
now ransomed from the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all!

Let every tongue and every tribe
responsive to his call,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
To him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all!

Oh, that with all the sacred throng
we at his feet may fall!
We'll join the everlasting song
and crown him Lord of all.
We'll join the everlasting song
and crown him Lord of all.

In His service,

Israel