Lyrics
Come, people of the risen King,
Who delight to bring Him praise.
Come, all and tune your hearts to sing
To the Morning Star of grace.
From the shifting shadows of the earth
We will lift our eyes to Him,
Where steady arms of mercy reach
To gather children in.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice, O Church of Christ, rejoice!
Come, those whose joy is morning sun
And those weeping through the night.
Come, those who tell of battles won,
And those struggling in the fight.
For His perfect love will never change,
And His mercies never cease,
But follow us through all our days
With the certain hope of peace.
Come, young and old from every land,
Men and women of the faith.
Come, those with full or empty hands,
Find the riches of His grace.
Over all the world, His people sing,
Shore to shore we hear them call
The Truth that cries through every age;
‘Our God is all in all’.
A call to worship based on God's unconditional acceptance of us
This is what I call a ‘gathering song’ – one that works best at the beginning of a service, and reminds us of the basis on which we approach God. And let’s face it: we regularly need reminding!
It’s so easy for us, especially after a difficult week, to be so aware of our failures, our weaknesses and our disappointments that we ‘keep our distance’ from God, feeling like we don’t deserve to enjoy His closeness or experience His love. At this point we need to remember that we can NEVER come to God on the basis of our own worth – we ALWAYS come on the basis of what Christ has done. It is His righteousness, His total obedience that ushers us into the Father’s presence, and enables us to enjoy all the blessings that Jesus deserves because we are ‘in Christ’.