Hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Tune: TRURO (Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates)
Thomas Williams, 1789; harmony by Lowell Mason (1792—1872).
Alternate tunes: O WALY WALY (Though I May Speak)
English folk melody; harmony © 1998 John Weaver. All rights reserved.
TALLIS' CANON (All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night)
Thomas Tallis, Adapt. Parker's Whole Psalter, c. 1561
Text: Copyright © 2008 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. Email: bcgillette@comcast.net
New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com/

Hymn Use Permission: This hymn is copyrighted and is not covered by any organization (such as CCLI or OneLicense) that gives churches permission to use church music. If you would like to use this hymn, please contact Carolyn and Bruce Gillette (bcgillette@comcast.net) for permission and to get a copy of the hymn in MS Word format for bulletin use. See also A Dozen Ways to Support Carolyn's Hymn-writing (including hymn use permission).

This hymn was written at the request of gifted Christian Educator Don Griggs to be used for his study Gospel Portraits of Jesus published by The Thoughtful Christian. The Presbyterian Outlook magazine published it.

O Jesus, you were born to be God's gift to save humanity;
And one great day we're moving toward, All life will bow and call you Lord!

The hymn starts with the human name of Jesus which means "The Lord saves" (see Matthew 1:21.). The last two lines are a reference to one of the oldest Christian hymns which is found in Philippians 2:5-11: "Every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

You taught the people every day As Rabbi, Teacher of the Way;
O Master, may we learn from you To love both God and neighbor, too.

In Matthew 22:34f, a lawyer addressed Jesus as Teacher and asked him which commandment in the law is the greatest. He responded by speaking of both love of God and love of neighbor.

You are the Bread that satisfies, The Light that guides us through our lives,
The Gate that leads us safely home, The Shepherd calling to your own.

These are some of the gospels' beautiful images of Jesus, found in the "I Am" teachings of John's gospel (John 6; 8:12; and 10). They are reminded of the ordinary things of life that point us to the extraordinary love of God.

O Son of God and Son of Man, You trusted and obeyed God's plan;
The poor, the sick and those in need Cried, "Son of David, set us free!"

Brian Blount, in the new Discipleship Study Bible, comments about "Son of God" in the footnote for Matthew 4:3. He writes "As Son, Jesus dutifully represents God's presence, power and authority ... His actions model God's desires for the obedient behavior of God's people." Blount's footnote for Matthew 1:1 describes the title "Son of David": The title identifies Jesus as someone who heals persons of low and often objectionable status."

You are Messiah, you are Christ, Anointed One, God's sacrifice.
In you, God's mercy is revealed: We're saved from sin, forgiven, healed.

The Greek, Hebrew and English titles are followed by the tragic reminder of what happened to Jesus. The Greek word for "to save" is also "to heal." Jesus accomplishes this in his sacrifice for us all (Colossians 1:15-20)

O Jesus, you're the living Way, The Resurrection, God's new Day.
You give us hope and make us new; How wondrous is our life in you!

Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He also said, "I am the resurrection and the life."(John 11:25). On Easter, because of Christ's resurrection, there is a new day dawning for us — God gives us the gift of eternal life. The hymn concludes with the words of joy, "How wondrous is our life in you!" All of these titles for Jesus give us glimpses of the joy that we experience through our relationship with the living Lord.