The Hallelujahs Return!
During the season of Lent the Hallelujahs are traditionally omitted from the liturgy in order to help highlight the penitential focus of the season and to emphasize the fact that the Resurrection is the joyous seal of guarantee that Christ not only paid for our sins so that we would not suffer forever in hell, but He also redeemed us to live forever in God’s Holy Communion, even as Christ is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity.
This year, as I studied and prepared the sermon and especially as this preparation “came together” into the outline and manuscript that flowed from the text, and then as I reviewed the hymns, the return of the Hallelujahs was an especially joyful awareness that filled my being. Truly the liturgy is jammed full of the Gospel and the blessings that Christ won for us. The joys of the good news of “The Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed!” are beyond measure and will fill our souls everlastingly. Truly the response of the heart that trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ when hearing and singing this great message of the Gospel is “Hallelujah!”
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