Worship Ministry| Lecture 6 : BC311-WM-20260826

Okay. Um so yeah so we we were looking at uh how how the people were skilled, how the people uh were submitted and how the training was happening, right? Um so um if you turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 15, right? 1 Chronicles chapter 15. Now this is after the ark is brought in. We we read about um verse 22. We read about this person by name like he was a leader of the Levites. And it says here Kennaniah leader of the Levites was instructor in charge of the music because he was skillful. Right? So it was very organized. There was someone who was in charge of the music, someone who could uh who understood, who could teach. Right? He said he was skillful therefore um you know uh he was in charge of the all the musicians and to train them to teach them etc. Right? So it's not an unspiritual thing to have something like that, right? So that is something that uh uh something that we can learn. Uh if you look at verse 24, we see that um you know, Oed Eden is also mentioned here. Okay, Oed Eden who was who in whose house was the ark uh and then he experienced firsthand the presence of God. So we see that verse 24 his name is also mentioned there and it says that uh Oat Edom. So let me just read that verse. It gives a lot of names. Shabbaniah and Jehoshaphat and etc. Uh the priests were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Okay. So the ark of God brought in tent is there the tabernacle and then these were supposed to blow trumpets before the ark of God. And then it says that u um Oed Edom uh verse 20. Yeah. uh ark of god and oed edom and jihaya they were the doorkeepers for the ark right more like a security or I don't know what you can call it said but they were there they were the keepers they were in charge so oadam seems to have come right he he realized the the precious nature of the ark and he said okay I want to I want to be close to the ark right I want to experience more of this so he's he's come verse 25 um it says um yeah how uh Obedam went and you know brought the ark. So even before the ark was brought in all David actually makes these arrangements right he says okay you'll do this you'll do that uh I'm going to you know appoint you as pe people who are going to do this work when the ark is brought in right so he makes all that arrangement and then the ark is brought in and we see that he is you know sometimes people wrongly assume that uh David's wife Mikall was uh very angry because he was not an appropriate clothing, right? They say that, you know, sometimes they say, "No, he was he was not wearing enough clothes and that's why he took off his clothes." No, he was actually wearing a priestly garment. You know, if you look at this verse, uh verse 27, right? 1st Chronicles 15:27, it says, "David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Kenaniah the music master with the singers." David also wore a linen ephod. So he actually wore a priestly garment, right? It was not that he was not wearing enough clothes, but he was wearing a priestly garment. But the reason why, you know, his wife was uh angry, it says she despised him because he, you know, he was actually doing things in a very undignified manner. Uh he was just being himself. He was not withholding any emotion of joy and praise before the ark as the ark was brought in. Okay. Um so we see uh let's go to chapter 16. Okay. So chapter 16:4. Okay. 1 Chronicles 15 1 Chronicles 16:4 says, "And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord to commemorate, to thank and to praise the Lord God of Israel." So this was something which they would do. Okay? So this is just praise and worship. So specifically it says to thank and praise and commemorate um the Lord God of Israel. Right? Verse seven, on that day, David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaf and his brethren to thank the Lord. Okay, so he writes the psalm, he gives it to Asaf and the others who are there to use this in worship, right? He he writes the psalm. So we we see this whole psalm from verse 8 uh to 36, right? It's a beautiful psalm, right? So, let's just read through it. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him. Sing psalms to him. Talk of all his wondrous works. Right? And um uh it says um um if you go down uh remember his marvelous works. Verse 12, remember his marvelous works which he has done, his wonders and the judgment of his mouth. Right? uh verse 14, he is the Lord our God, his judgments are in all the earth and so on. And then you know if you look at the last part of it um verse 31 onwards, let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad. Let them say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Let the sea roar and all its fullness and the field rejoice and all that is in it. The trees of the wood shall rejoice before the Lord for he's coming to judge the earth. Right? So he's talking about the second coming of the Lord and all that is inspired by the spirit of God and he writes that and he gives it to the the the others the musicians and singers to uh use it in worship. Right? So we we see this uh being done right and also the rest of the passage talks about how it was done uh in a methodical way. it was done in an organized way and u and it continued right so the beautiful thing is like even after David's time the same kind of worship continued in the temple right and even after uh the the you know the kings that followed they they followed they instituted they reinstituted this kind of worship right now if you look at the book of acts acts as a reference to this kind of worship, right? When they met and they when they talked about um you know the the the things that that should be actually placed for the Gentiles worshippers, they were coming to know the Lord. Now when they giving the instructions, right, they met what we call as the Jerusalem council. They met together. They gathered together that we see in Acts chapter 15. Right. Acts chapter 15. So they met the what was the problem? The problem was that some of the Jewish believers were going to uh the non-Jewish or gentile churches believers and they were saying that they must be circumcised according to the Jewish custom. They must keep all the law according to the Jewish customs and only then they will be considered to be born again or followers, true followers of the Lord Jesus. And so the council met to clarify this, right? And so there are a lot of um a lot of discussions and uh and uh people were testifying about how uh we should not place burdens on the people and and so on, right? We know that people are saved only by grace uh through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they are also saved through that. It's nothing to do with the law and everything. So now when um we see this um verse 13 okay now after they had become silent James answered saying men and brethren listen to me Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name and with this the words of the prophets agree just as it is written After this, I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things. Right? So the reference to the tabernacle of David and the kind of worship that was there in the tabernacle of David and so the what is the thing he says they will there is a re uh building of that tabernacle or that kind of worship. Now um it is also prophetic in nature in the sense you know it it could refer to the the really into the future about the temple rebuilding of that temple and reinstituting of that kind of worship also the kind of worship which we see worship and prayer movement which we see around the world right there is a reinstituting of the 24/7 houses of prayer 24/7 worship that is happening throughout Right? Uh there are many places in in the world that is where that is happening. Right? So he says that hey there is a rebuilding of that kind of worship and the rest of mankind may seek the Lord and the Gentiles who are called by my name says the Lord. Right? So so there is a drawing of um people who do not know God to the presence of God even as this kind of worship is reinstituted. Right? So we we see this uh the reference in the uh book of acts as well. Okay. Fine. So with with that we come to um uh the end of that chapter about um we actually just started from altars and all the way you know we we looked at the synagogues and houses of prayer or the house churches and particularly we looked at the tabernacle of Moses and the tabernacle that David built. Okay. So any questions here? Anything that um any doubts or anything that you want to add online class as well before we move on? I think. Okay. Okay. Fine. So then let's move on to um the next chapter where we look at uh how there was worship in the church, right? Um church history to see, you know, the the kind of worship that was there. um how and how it started and uh we're going to look at the expression of worship typically. Um so one of the things that we can uh look at is the kind of songs that were used in worship. Now that gives us a um idea about uh you know the kind of um the format of worship and how how it actually changed over the years. Right? See like we said um even in the worship that we see in the Bible we see that there were different um you know right from the altars we see that there were different expressions but the Lord Jesus actually uh he put down as what is really important John chapter 4 23 24 he says okay this is this is the the true worship or true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth right so that is something which needs to be there even though other things change, other expressions of worship change. The expression of worship uh might change but this is something that cannot change. You know without this there is no true worshippers because the father is seeking the true worshippers who will worship the father in spirit and truth because god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Okay. So um so keeping that as a constant other things could change. Constant means some this remains the same right other things can be variables you can can change. Okay. Uh and we see that how um the expression of worship also changed you know right from those days uh from the time of reformation right even till now and even before that right. So when we read about you know in the book of acts we see that yes there was singing there was prayer whenever they gathered right whether wherever they gathered they gather in the temple they gather in their houses and as the as the gospel spread to different areas to different non-Jewish people uh land like Corinthian church uh other churches um you know Ephesus and so on we see that they were gentile regions right So they would meet in a place typically in houses but also in other places. We saw that they met in the school of Tyrannis right and then Paul ministered there. So wherever they gathered they would worship God uh um and songs were also part of it. Now this continued. Now, now when we read uh church history, we see that around 400 AD something significant happened, right? Which which actually plunged the church into a into a season of dryness, right? So what happened 400 AD uh when Constantine the king when he was um uh he made Christianity a state religion, right? which means that he had some kind of an encounter. Now people debate whether it was true or not, whether it was genuine or not because he saw the cross. Right? Now he was an emperor who was conquering the land. Um now he saw the cross in one of his dreams or visions. uh I forget the details but then he heard a voice you know in this sign you will conquer or using I'm just paraphrasing so he won some victories after that then he said this is something very important so he made all his soldiers uh the entire army to become Christians okay so he says you know so persecution stopped after that because he made Christianity as the formal religion, state religion. So everyone wherever he ruled one has to be follower of Jesus, right? You you have to become a Christian. Now also what he did was now people till that time if they become a Christian it meant a lot right they could lose their life, they could lose their property, they could lose everything. Now if they became Christian they would be friends with the king right they were actually following a rule. So people became Christians whether they genuinely had a change of heart or not right they did not really come to the Lord believe in their heart confess with their mouth and then say I want to be a follower of Jesus. No it became fashionable to become a Christian. it became uh traditional to become a Christian and so constant constantine also built these elaborate churches church buildings. So that is when we see uh church buildings come up and in this church buildings he also brought in some of the Roman beliefs right. So statues were kept right and the belief that yeah we can actually pray for those people who have died good people followed Jesus who passed away maybe some of the disciples now prayer to them prayer to the saints right and also he he brought in you know some things like okay people who are actually serving or leading um you know something which is there in the old testament of course the robes and special, you know, they're saying um step special attire. He brought that back, right? Something that they would need to wear, something that they would wear on their head and all that. He brought back that. He brought back some some kind of rituals, uh some wrong, some okay, but then some wrong beliefs also came in. So, church became from rather than you know church being a gathering of people, it became the place, right? We see that it is the church building. Okay. When you say church, okay, you go to that place. You know that's the building. That is where you go. Uh so it became like that. Then of course we see that u you know the word of God where you know everything was in scrolls and everything was read and you know all that it was not done. So it became more of a ritual. Right. So we see uh looking back church historians say that 400 AD till about,400 AD almost a millennium a thousand years they call it the dark ages dark age of the church. No that's why we see that there was not much illumination. Yes people were still coming to the lord uh but they called it the dark ages because you know there was no widespread revelation of god. There was no you know unlike it was a it was a compared to the early church this was very different right very different and so uh everything had stopped reading the word stopped uh worship had become very nominal ritual and all these wrong practices that we you know that we read about um we saw you know we see that all that was there and um well we really don't know what was the singing like during that time. Uh it was probably very ritualistic, more of a chanting, more of uh you know methodical chant, chanting of uh you know songs, uh chanting of certain lines, repetition of certain lines over and over again and things like that, right? Um but when with the reformation right which Martin Luther brought about uh because he was touched by the book of Romans uh salvation by grace through faith was something that he was he he was he really God really opened his eyes to that that message and he saw what was wrong with the established church. So he he he brought out those 99 uh I forget the number 99 I think you know things that he nailed to the door of the of the church right and said okay this needs to change right and so along with that we see that he also wrought out lot of hymns right he sang um he wrote hymns in fact he wrote those hymns in captivity Uh I'll just u pull out some of those. Right. Um okay, a very popular one is a mighty fortress is our god. A mighty fortress is our god. Okay. And this was actually uh written in the German language because he you know he's uh from the German area uh Germany. But um we see that u uh I'll just let me just read out some of those lyrics. Um a mighty fortress is our god, right? And so um his um uh the the works that he did also was about like we said it was bringing back theology, bringing back teaching, bringing back truth of who God is and uh and so on, right? So he was bringing that back uh into the church, right? because it was a time um um okay it was a time when there was a lot of mixed beliefs right there some are true it was mixed with a lot of uh wrong practices so it was a time when it had to be set right it had to be separated things had to be uh uh set right so um so he did that and he did that through the hymn Uh it was actually something that taught the people right. Um so let let me just read that right. It says a mighty fortress is our god a bullwark never failing. Bullwark is something like a structure a strong structure never failing our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing right. um uh which means flood of mortal ills meaning there's a you know it's like a flood of u maybe deception flood of maybe sin um you know in all that he is u maybe danger even um he is our helper and then he says um for still our ancient foe does seek to work as war okay this is all old English so for still our ancient f which means that see our enemy the ancient enemy is referring to Satan. He's saying Satan is still at work. He wants to bring destruction u and seek um you know bring discouragement and so on. He work as war. His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate. So he's saying um you know he he does he does all this right. and he is power and he wants to do all that uh he's with cruelty and then he says on earth is not his equal right uh because a mighty fortress is our god so god is stronger god is uh you know god is uh he's one who is uh stronger he's like a fortress which means like a like a fort like a strong tower he's our shelter and so on the second verse And third was uh there are four stanzas. Um and so we see that um he he wrote this in order to teach people. He wrote wrote that uh in that in fact this particular hymn he wrote in captivity right he was actually a prisoner u prisoner as in he was actually in um he was a fugitive right he was hiding and uh because people were seeking to kill him right they wanted to kill him take away his life. So during that time he wrote this right. So similarly there are many others who wrote hymns who wrote these kind of songs to be used in worship to the lord. Right? The psalms were always there. Um people could always read out sing out um but then you know there were these hymns which were written through by the people through the ages. Okay. Um and you know one such very popular hymn is a hymn called Amazing Grace right we've heard that and I think it's been translated into uh many other languages also Indian languages right so amazing grace this was written in the 1700s you know any idea who wrote amazing grace no okay uh let me just read the words okay grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was lost but now I'm found. Was blind but now I see. Okay, so it's a song of uh conviction. It's a song of confession. Uh but he's talking about the grace of God which saved him. Right now this man who wrote this hymn was a man called John Newton. Okay, John Newton. Now this was in the 1700s. Right? So we we are in 2026. We're talking about you know 1700s. So you know hundreds of years ago, millennia ago. And he he was actually a slave trader. Okay. Which means that he would go to the coast of African nations and go on the ships, take people who are, you know, take people captive, pack them into ships like animals, bring them back to work on plantations, right? Against their will. So they were just taken, you know, families were ripped apart and they were living peacefully. they were taken, brought uh and uh he um he actually indulged in that and he was also very you know when it comes to his morals and and um and his values he was a very immoral man. Uh he himself talks about that um so he was a very uh immoral man and absolutely no sense of right and wrong and he lived this kind of a life right. So he would bring those people and um release them as uh I mean release them into the plantations to work as slaves and this is what he did right his mother was actually a god-fearing person but she passed away and uh and so you know there's no sense of um you know right and wrong his father he just followed in his father's footsteps father was also a similar man right he did that but on one of his journeys uh from you know from from African nation to the um to to the America. So he actually experienced um he was going through a storm where they thought that he was going to they were going to die, right? Uh there were cries of you know the ship is sinking and people are going to die and so on. So he was actually he had started to read a book uh a religious book um called the imitation of Christ and and they say that okay this was this moment when he his life was spared right was the that's the moment that he started his journey towards Christ right he said okay something uh my life is spared and uh he was also reading this book so he started that journey. No, it was not an immediate thing but uh I think it took a few years but he became a believer right he became a believer he became a very strong believer and he also worked against the slave trade right he worked for the abolition of the slave trade right and um you know in fact one of the they made a movie about John Newton and also about another man by name will Wilbur Wil Wilberforce um now in two continents right Wilberforce in the UK in England and uh of course John Newton in the in US in America um but they meet they meet and they talk and uh John Newton was actually instrumental in inspiring Wilbur right uh William Wilberforce who actually worked for abolition of the slave trade and finally you know the slave trade was stopped right um they made it illegal to you know bring slaves or to use slaves slave labor. So it was it was beginning of many reforms that happened but just John Newton coming to the Lord and experiencing the grace of God you know started all this and in fact in that movie that they made there's a wonderful beautiful scene where John Newton is u is blind right he's old he is blind and uh Wilberforce comes and has this conversation with him and uh John Newton talks about the grace of God and how he had the change of heart and he's talking about the you know about the slaves and he says you know they had beautiful names they had wonderful people and he's still regretting right what he did and he says um uh you know and he says I was blind but now I see right he's telling but the fact is in the natural in the physical he's actually blind right he's making that statement you know I was blind But now I see right but physically he's blind right physically cannot see but he talking about how he came to the realization that u that Jesus is Lord. So uh how he came to experience grace. So he says you know I was blind then but only now I see. So you know that line that we see there I was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see. Right. and uh and many such wonderful u words that we see in the hymns. Right? So there were other hymn writers um which are there in the notes you know uh just mentioned there but I just want to pick out a few and uh talk about that. Right. Um so uh Amazing Grace John Newton is one Isaac Watts there was a man Isaac Watts he wrote that uh hymn when I survey the wondrous cross right uh and this is the uh this is how it goes when I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. You know this is again a hymn which is very very well known and sung during especially during good Friday right it talks about the cross um during good Friday when we meditate on the cross meditate on the sacrifice of the lord you know these are s hymns that we uh we see um that is sung in the churches right um then I'll go to u another one which is uh you know a hymn which is normally sung during Christmas time right it's sung as a Christmas carol which is hawk the herald angel sing okay uh normally in the you know in the English services or the you know English speaking churches um they use this hymn right now this hymn was written by Charles Wesley okay Charles Wesley you know who had who was the founder of the Methodist church we talked about that and how he had a change of heart um and how he came to the Lord and you know they birthed that whole movement the Methodist church movement and um he wrote this hymn right which is sung by which is a powerful song right if you look at the words it's a very powerful song and um and the wonderful thing is this you know during the Christmas season it became a traditional thing to uh sing these songs and also to play it in the malls and you know carols are normally played in the malls Okay, you go anywhere, the malls are all decorated um you know in red and white and gold and whatever you know Christmas trees are there and and of course the Santa Claus and all that is there but along with that what happens is that they play the Christmas carols right and this is one of the songs which is normally sung and you look at the words of the song right it says h the herald angels sing right the angels who actually brought the news they call The heralds they sing, what do they sing? Glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. Right? It's the gospel but it's played in the gospel actually enters into all the malls and all the you know places um at least through the song and this is the song you know God and singers reconcile. So then it goes on to say joyful all ye nations rise join the triumph of the skies with the angelic host proclaimed Christ is born in Bethlehem right um and so on so it it actually the if you look at the second verse second verse talks about the virgin birth right uh he's born of the virgin's womb and and all that how how he is incarnate as the savior right and the third verse talks about he's the son of righteousness he's the prince of peace. He's risen. He's talking about his, you know, his u uh death and burial and rising up. So, he's risen with healing in his wings. It says born that no more that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth and born to give them second birth. That is the born again experience. Right? So again a wonderful hymn a powerful song made popular uh especially during the Christmas times and it's popular during the Christmas times right okay one more himwriter um is this lady by name Fanny Crosby okay now Fanny Crosby she was uh very early in age she became blind okay so Fanny Crosby very early in age became blind because they gave some kind of a wrong treatment for some eye infection and because of that you know those days not much of uh medical care so 1800s we're talking about she became blind she lost her eyesight right but she went on to experience Jesus and she wrote thousands of songs thousands literally thousands right of songs u being a blind person. So when people used to ask her you know funny you know you are blind you know do you have any regrets right you you're blind you're not able to see but she says no because the thing is I know that one day I will see and the first face a person I will see is the Lord Jesus with my eyes right she was talking about the time when she would meet him face to face and because she was a believer and she said the first person I would see is the Lord Jesus. I would see his face. So I don't have any regrets. And she went on to write thousands and thousands of songs. You know, just look listen to, you know, the words of some of these songs. She wrote this song called Blessed Assurance, right? And uh you must remember that this is a person who is blind who is writing these songs, right? These songs are full of joy, right? Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory, divine, heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. Right? And uh maybe you've heard the, you know, the the chorus. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. Right? That's the the chorus, the refrain. But this is the thing you know she says so this is coming from a person who cannot see you know visually everything is dark so she says this is my story this is my song I'm praising my savior all the day long so like this she wrote many other songs as well and um and so every hymn what we call as hymns these songs which are used in worship they have a history they have a story behind it you know the the people who wrote wrote it. Um there was a there was a circumstance sometimes very difficult circumstances right very difficult circumstances and that's you know this person by name Horatio Spafford okay Horatio Spafford he wrote this song called it is well with my soul I don't know if you've heard that right when peace like a river attendeth my way and that's how it it says you know it is well it is well with my soul you know we might have sung it in church right so he wrote that song you know he's saying it is well with my soul right um you you know the person who said that in the Bible it is well and when she says this okay it's a it's a lady who says it is well when she says it the situation is not actually it. It's a very challenging situation, right? It is the widow whose son I think it was prophet Elijah brought back to life, right? So the son is dead. She goes to meet the prophet and on the way on the way when people ask you know what happened she says it is well. it is well you know a declaration of faith it is well and she goes to meet the prophet and then you know this is what happens right um he's brought he's resurrected brought back to life a son who dies so this song here also is a very tragic circumstance right this Horatio Spafford he was actually uh set to go to um America from to Chicago and Um uh he he sent his uh family ahead of him, right? He sent his family um his uh wife and uh children. Now those days of course they went by ship. It was a dangerous journey. There was a storm. The ship drowned. The ship ship sank and except his wife the children died in the storm. Right? So he was heartbroken of course. So because the wife reached and sent a telegram saying saved alone right? So that's a telegram two words saved alone. So immediately he knew okay his whole family is dead except his wife. So he decides to join his wife. He's going in the ship and they were sailing over that same spot when the when the captain or whoever it was the crew called him and said you know this is the place. This is the place where that uh ship sank. Then it was accident and then so um Spafford actually Horesho Spafford writes the words of the hymn it is well with my soul because of his faith in Jesus because of his trust in Jesus. He says uh it is well with my soul. He says you know the verse one it says when peace like a river attendeth my way right when sorrows like sea belows roll you know like the waves of the sea sorrow is just sorrow upon sorrow just hitting me whatever my lord you have taught me to say what is it well it is well with my soul so he's saying you know this is my faith in Jesus it is because only because of my faith in Jesus and now um you greatest sag in churches right about faith in the Lord even in you know difficult circumstances right um worshiping the lord even in difficult circumstance we don't know like you know how can a man write such a beautiful song when he was going through such a difficult time in his life right later on we read that he and his wife went to another place he started a home an orphanage right for children people without parents Right. So he started an orphanage. Um he started that ministry and um yes uh so it was literally starting life all over again for him right after losing his children. But he did this uh and he could actually go through because of his faith in Jesus. He says in the verse verses 1 and two uh I mean two and three he talks about you know those though Satan should buffet which means like you know Satan should come and hit me and those trials should come you know I have this blessed assurance right that Jesus knows my condition and he has shed his blood for my soul right he goes back to the cross and he says Jesus knows my condition Jesus knows it all and He has shed his blood for my soul. Right? So uh a very deep personal reflection coming that hymn and um something that has encouraged people when they're on the edge of you know despair and saying that I've lost everything um bringing them back to faith in Jesus. So such was the richness of all these hymns right even you know some of the songs that we hear today or some of the modern uh day worship songs all of them have a history right all of them have a you know there is there's a story behind it and uh uh how the the composer composed that song and what led to that song be composed there is a story and it's it's wonderful to study you know and read about those stories and study those stories because it gives us next time when we sing it, it gives us so much more meaning, so much more insight, you know, uh especially this song uh called um I have decided to follow Jesus, right? You know that, right? So um it was um of course that song was taken by the missionaries who were there and then it became popular everywhere. But it was actually it was it has its roots in the northeast of India where a person in a tribe he he became a believer. Right? So then uh there was severe persecution from the tribe. There were fierce severe persecution. They um they killed his family one by one. Right? So he says I have decided they said you know you you give up your faith. You say that okay you you no longer worship Jesus. Um but he said no. So I have decided to follow Jesus. And he apparently he said those words or he sang those words. I don't know. But he said those words. I've decided um to follow Jesus. No turning back. Right. Then they killed one of his family members. He said, "Though none go with me, still I will follow." Right? Um the cross before me, the world. So each time they um killed a family member, he would utter out these words. the cross before me, the world behind me, though none go with me, still I will follow. Right? And so they say that the the chief when he saw this, he was moved. He went back, he was moved. He said, "Hey, there's something there's something to this faith and he also became a follower of Christ." So that song uh I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. It's such a powerful song. And this is the root, right? It was actually birthed from a moment of great persecution and martyrdom just like a modernday Stephen right was killed for his faith and he the that person uttered these words he himself was killed but the onlookers and the person who actually the chief who ordered the killing he also had a change of heart right so that is the history right behind the song so uh so it's amazing that when we look at all these songs and when we look at these songs that are used in worship we see that It has such a rich tradition, right? So, it'll be good if um each of us did an exercise of finding out, you know, maybe your favorite song of worship. Find out the history behind it. It could be in any language. It could be in Hindi. It could be in whatever you know um Telugu or whatever malalam and whatever language you know it was in just find out hey how did it song start right how did this song start um how was it how did it develop who actually learned the song and find out and u it'll be good you know we've been looking at English or songs that were translated from German or you know other languages into English but look at your own language you know our you know Indian languages and see you know what is that song uh and it'll be a good exercise to do that right okay we'll stop here and then we'll continue in our next class