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1. The church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.

2. Elect from every nation,
Yet one over all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.

3. Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping;
Their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.

4. The church shall never perish,
Her dear Lord to defend
To guide, sustain and cherish,
Is with her to the end
Though there be those that hate her,
And false sons in her pale
Against a foe or traitor,
She ever shall prevail.

5. Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
‘Til, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest.

6. Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.

by Samuel John Stone

I’ve been writing a bit about the Church this week and on that note, I thought of this hymn that brings out so much truth about Christ’s Church…the hard parts, the good parts and the glorious parts that are coming as we, His bride become who we truly are in Christ!

On our good days, we get a glimmer of how wonderful it will be. On our bad days, we have hope that it is coming, but we are aware that we are so not there yet!

The night of weeping will all too soon be over. The morning of singing beyond anything we can dream of, is coming. Glorious, delightful, grandiose. Those words don’t even begin to touch what it will be like!

Join me in growing Christ’s Church in the ways He tells us to so that on that day, we will rejoice together as we see those we love standing there before that throne, worshipping the Lamb…and we’ll realize that He did all the work!

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:15-18