heaven on Music

Reader: Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! People: Praise befits the upright. Reader: Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; People: make melody to him with the harp ...

Preaching Commentary a brief introduction I would like to start with a rather big question. How do we know that we are, in fact, Christians? We find some direction from Jesus on this subject in Mat...

Ancient Lens What's the historical context? Dissolving the Divisions Generally speaking, the Psalms divide the people of the earth into two groups: “Israel” and “the nations.” Psalm 98 surpr...

Bring us, O Lord, at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise...

Life is short, and we can accomplish only so much. Much of what we do will remain unfinished. For now. In one of my favorite short stories of all time, “Leaf by Niggle,” author J. R. R. Tolkien provid...

Psalm 98, for both Israel and the Church, is an intriguing statement about God’s work in Israel and the world, especially in regard to how they are related. Ancient Lens What's the historical c...

Laughing at the Disciples? This is one of those texts where it’s pretty easy to laugh at the disciples. This is the second time Jesus told them he was going to die and then rise again after three day...

This prayer, written by the great British pastor and poet John Donne, anticipates the new heaven and new earth that we will one day experience with our Lord: Bring us, O Lord, at our last awakening ...

Behold the Lightener of the stars  On the crest of the clouds,  And the choralists of the sky Lauding Him.  Coming down with acclaim  From the Father above,  Harp and Lyre of song  Sounding to Him.  C...

Life’s pleasures—success at work, a good meal, a beautiful song, satisfying sex, a splendid aroma—are sacraments, yes sacraments, of the new Heavens and earth.

They are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.

Heaven sounds boring. Maybe they let you go to hell on weekends (For contrast).

Leader: Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. People: Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Leader: Praise him, sun and moon...

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Pastor: With all the host of heaven, from every nation, in every language, we cry out: People:...

Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes - The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

No sorrowful tears, no beating of the breast For a safe repose has taken me. I dance Ring dances with the blessed saints In the beautiful fields of the righteous.

Hallelujah! Praise! Praise God in the temple, in the highest heavens! Praise! Praise God’s mighty deeds and noble majesty. All that is alive, praise! Praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

Holy Spirit, give us ears to hear our King’s voice.

preaching commentary Scripture’s proclivity for a new creation Some people have an aversion to describing a future day when the troubles of this world will have passed into oblivion, the kitchen-ta...

You, oh Christ, are the Kingdom of Heaven; You, the land promised to the gentle; You the grazing lands of paradise; You, the hall of the celestial banquet; You, the ineffable marriage chamber; You the...

Gracious God, you tend to the earth as your vineyard, longing for it to bring fruit. You want our society and our lives to look more and more like the Kingdom of Heaven. We work against your plans, so...

If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to born ...

The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we ha...

Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

I once heard a description of what meals are like in heaven. The saints are seated on either side of a four-foot-wide banquet table. The table is set with delicious foods on every plate. The only thin...

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Leader: Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; People: his greatness no one can ...

Hearts on earth may say in the course of a joyful experience, ‘I don’t want this ever to end.’ But invariably it does. The hearts of those in heaven say, ‘I want this to go on forever.’ And it will. T...

A prominent citizen in town was dying. As he lay in his lovely home, the best doctors surrounding him, he whispered, with a note of despair, ‘I’m leaving home, I’m leaving home.’ Across town there la...

It’s been right here all along—the land teaching us how to un-hurry our hurry-sick hearts. Land speaks stunning truths through Scripture. The Hebrew word for land is eretz. It is the fifth most freque...