Hymn 351 - Love Divine, All Love Excelling

This weekend we end of the Gesima Sundays and prepare to enter the season of Lent. Lent points us to the Love of God which is revealed in His work of salvation in the work of Jesus. It is fitting as we prepare to focus on that salvation that we reflect on the great LOVE of God which was caused our salvation. 

The hymn that will be the focus of our service this weekend is the hymn "Love Divine, all Love Excelling" by Charles Wesley. Wesley grew up in the Anglican church but founded what we know today as the Methodist Church. Their focus was on Bible study and the work of God the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith, which we can see come out in this hymn. The hymn is addressed to Jesus, the "Love Divine" with a prayer that He would continue His work of salvation, begun at the cross, in us through the Holy Spirit. It reminds us that God work is not completed when we are brought to faith, but continues on throughout our lives, until we are called out of this life to our home of heaven. This hymn highlights all the way through the work of God's love for mankind. While it doesn't specifically mention our sin, it show our utter weakness and inability to save ourselves. It is God's love -- and it alone -- that accomplishes our redemption and sanctification.

Join us as we study this hymn about the love of God shows in both Christ's redemption and the Spirit's work of sanctification. Rejoice in that perfect LOVE of God!