A Hymn on the Sacrament of the Altar
composed for
Faith Lutheran Church, Plano/Wylie, TX
1. The Word of Christ is spoken,
And angels bend to see
How hearts, once bound and broken,
Are set at liberty.
For Christ, the Lord of Glory,
Proclaims His death again;
No doubt can dim the story
That pardons all our sin.
2. With bread and wine are given
Christ’s body and His blood;
The earthly hides the heaven
As flesh encloses God;
The right hand of the Father
Is now the Holy Place
Where Christ, our God and Brother,
Bestows on sinners grace.
3. Depart each unbeliever
And those who live in sin!
Nor let a false deceiver
Dare here to enter in.
Discern this gift of Jesus,
His body and his blood,
Lest righteous judgment seize us
For not believing God.
4. Blest is the hungry spirit,
Who has no good to give,
But clings to Jesus’ merit –
By faith this soul shall live;
The Lord will not deceive him,
As sin and Satan do,
Nor will his Savior leave him,
Whose Word cries out, “for you!”
5. And kneeling at the altar,
United we shall be,
Though we are weak, and falter,
Strong is our unity.
For Jesus’ precious preaching
Dispels the devil’s pow’r,
Nor will He let false teaching
To ever win the hour.
6. So we with gladness enter,
And we with gladness leave;
Christ’s cross is at the center
Of all that we believe.
This sacrament will give us
Abundant joy and peace
Till angels will receive us
In Heaven’s Holy Place.
