HYMNS & HISTORY ACTIVITY…
1. Watch Video
2. Read History
3. Color Hymn
4. Post in the Facebook Group
Hymn #5 – “The Old Rugged Cross”
? HASHTAGS ?
#CBJHymnsHistory and #CBJHymnTheOldRuggedCross
Video: “The Old Rugged Cross”, Sung by Alan Jackson
Published on Youtube by GaitherVEVO on 8/25/2017
? “THE OLD RUGGED CROSS” ?
On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
[Refrain]
So I’ll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God, left His Glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary
[Refrain]
In the old rugged Cross, stain’d with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me
[Refrain]
To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away
Where His glory forever I’ll share
[Refrain]
Samples of work done from Jeanie, Debbie, Stephanie, Ivy and Renee of the CBJ Facebook Group www.facebook/com/CbibleJ/
? THE AUTHOR ?
Born George Bennard 04 February 1873, in Youngstown, Ohio
Died 10 October 1958 (age 85), In Reed City, Michigan
Yet is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
Reverend Bennard was a hymn composer and preacher. He is best known for composing the famous hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross”. Following the writing of “The Old Rugged Cross,” Reverend Bennard ministered an additional forty years. During this period, he wrote additional gospel hymns, numbering more than 350, including “Have Thy Way, Lord,” “Pentecostal Fire Is Falling,” and “Love Never Faileth.” But none of his subsequent hymns ever received the wide public acclaim, which was given to his first hymn.
After he married, George Bennard became active in the Salvation Army and preached throughout the United States and Canada. He was ordained as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He spent much of his life in Michigan and Wisconsin. As a well-regarded author of Christian hymns, his most famous work is “The Old Rugged Cross” (1912).
? THE HISTORY ?
The hymn was written when George Bennard was going through some personal spiritual struggles. He decided to focus on the meaning of the Cross, about what John 3:16 meant, and what the apostle Paul meant when he talked about entering into the fellowship of Christ’s suffering.
Then one day, he said, ” I saw the Christ of the Cross as if I were seeing John 3:16 leave the printed page, take form, and act out the meaning of redemption.”.
He became convinced that the Cross was “the very heart of the gospel”. Then he said, ” The words of the finished hymn were put in my heart in answer to my own need.”
Soon after penning this hymn, Reverend Bennard sent a manuscript copy to Charles Gabriel, one of the leading gospel hymn writers of that era, who prophesied, “You will certainly hear from this song.” He did not have to wait long for Mr. Gabriel’s prophecy to come true.
From 1925 to 1960, “The Old Rugged Cross” was America’s favourite gospel hymn.
As a Methodist evangelist, Reverend Bennard wrote the first verse of “The Old Rugged Cross” in Albion, Michigan, in the fall of 1912 as a response to ridicule that he had received at a revival meeting. He traveled with Ed E. Mieras from Chicago to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin where they held evangelistic meetings at the Friends Church from 29 December 1912 to 12 January 1913.
During the meetings Rev. George Bennard finished “The Old Rugged Cross” and on the last night of the meeting he and Mr. Mieras performed it as a duet before a full house with Pearl Torstensen Berg, organist for the meeting, as accompanist.
Charles H. Gabriel, a well-known gospel-song composer helped him with the harmonies. The completed version was then performed on 07 June 1913, by a choir of five, accompanied by a guitar at the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pokagon, Michigan. Published in 1915, the song was popularized during Billy Sunday evangelistic campaigns by two members of his campaign staff, Homer Rodeheaver (who bought rights to the song for $50 or $500) and Virginia Asher, who were perhaps also the first to record it in 1921.
? INFLUENCE ?
“The Old Rugged Cross” has been a country gospel favorite ever since it became the title song of Ernest Tubb’s 1952 gospel album; it has been performed by some of the twentieth century’s most important
recording artists, including Al Green, Andy Griffith, Anne Murray, Brad Paisley, Chet Atkins, John Berry, Floyd Cramer, George Jones, Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Kevin Max, Mahalia Jackson, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, Ricky Van Shelton, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Statler Brothers, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, George Beverly Shea and John Prine on the 2007 CD “Standard Songs for Average People” with Mac Wiseman.
British television dramatist Dennis Potter used the gospel song prominently in several of his plays, most notably Pennies from Heaven (1978); and the song also played a major part in “Gridlock” (2007), an episode of the long-running sci-fi drama series Doctor Who. In early 2009, the song was covered by Ronnie Milsap on his gospel album
Then Sings My Soul.
? SCRIPTURE REFERENCES ?
John 3:16
Philippians 3:10
Hebrews 12:2
1 Peter 2:23-25
? THEMES ?
The Cross and Salvation
History Information partially from the internet
Gathered By Jeanie Edwards
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