Sunday, July 18, 2021

Each week, you may find information here about the music in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas.  Some of this information is original; most of it is copied from other websites such as Wikipedia, GBOD, and hymnary.org.  It is my hope that this information will enhance your understanding and enrich your worship experience.   

About the Hymns:

Jesus Loves Me

"Jesus Loves Me" was written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called Say and Seal, written by her older sister Susan Warner (1819–1885), in which the words were spoken as a comforting poem to a dying child. The tune was added in 1862 by William Bradbury (1816–1868). Along with his tune, Bradbury added his own chorus "Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus Loves me"  After publication as a song it became one of the most popular Christian hymns in churches around the world,  especially among children.

Anna’s family home was quite close to the United States Military Academy at West Point, in New York, in the era just before the Civil War. Each Sunday Anna taught Bible classes to the cadets. Her remains are buried in the military cemetery, and her family home is now a museum on the grounds of the United States Military Academy.

Her original poem follows:

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! Loves me still,
Tho I'm very weak and ill,
That I might from sin be free,
Bled and died upon the tree.

Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way.
Thou hast bled and died for me;
I will henceforth live for Thee.

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

The Sunday School movement of the 19th and 20th centuries provided the inspiration for many hymns. William Henry Parker (1845-1929) was the head of an English insurance company and a devoted member of Chelsea Street Baptist Church, Nottingham, where he  taught Sunday school.  Early in life, he had written verses and this led him to compose hymns for use in Sunday School.  Thinking of the children in his classes who were always asking him to “tell us another story”, he wrote this text in 1885.  The melody was added when a publisher ran a contest to find an appropriate tune for it.  Fifteen of his Sunday School songs were published in the Sunday School Hymnary, 1905.  This hymn first appeared among Methodists in the 1935 Methodist Hymnal under the heading “Hymns for Children.”

Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;

Things I would ask Him to tell me If He were here:

Scenes by the wayside, Tales of the sea,

Stories of Jesus, Tell them to me.

First let me hear how the children Stood round His knee,

And I shall fancy His blessing  Resting on me;

Words full of kindness, Deeds full of grace,

All in the love-light Of Jesus' face.

Into the city I'd follow The children's band,

Waving a branch of the palm tree High in my hand;

One of his heralds, Yes, I would sing

Loudest hosannas, "Jesus is King!"

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus