Hymn & History
John 3:16

“Jesus Loves Me”

By Anna B. Warner, 1859

Youtube by Gaither Music Tv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jABcYKhDrI

Purpose of

Hymnal Journaling

Many of the great hymns of the church express the purpose of the CBJ mission and website – having a walk that is …”Nearer My God To Thee”.

Reflect on the weekly hymns as you color/doodle and sing along. Use a hymnal of your own, order one at the bottom of this page, or print out sheet music from the internet.

Directions for

Hymnal Journaling

1. Watch Video

2. Read History

3. Color/Doodle Hymn

4. Share photo in comments OR

5. Share photo in Facebook Group

Member Submitted Pages for This Hymn

Creative-Bible-Journaling.com has collected the following information and lyrics from various websites, for the sole purpose of sharing with you, for educational purposes only. No money is exchanged for this information.

Hymn Lyrics

THE LYRICS ~ “Jesus Loves Me”

Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong;
they are weak, but he is strong.

Refrain:
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me he who died
heaven’s gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin,
let his little child come in. [Refrain]

Jesus loves me, this I know,
as he loved so long ago,
taking children on his knee,
saying, “Let them come to me.” [Refrain]

The Author of the Hymn

THE AUTHOR ~ Anna B Warner

Born August 31, 1827 in Long Island, New York
Died January 22, 1915 in Highland Falls, New York

Anna was an American writer, the author of several books, and of poems set to music as hymns and religious songs for children.

The best known of the hymns is almost certainly “Jesus Loves Me”; however some stanzas of this appear in modern hymnals, rewritten by David Rutherford McGuire.

Anna sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Amy Lothrop. She wrote thirty-one novels on her own, the most popular of which was Dollars and Cents (1852).

Her former family home is now a museum on the grounds of The United States Military Academy which was opposite the house during her lifetime and where her uncle had been chaplain from 1828–1838. The Constitution Island Association have worked hard to maintain the house and restore the gardens so that they are similar to their appearance in Anna Warner’s lifetime, following her month-by-month descriptions of life on Constitution Island, as written in Gardening by Myself.

History of Hymn

THE HISTORY ~ “Jesus Loves Me”

The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called Say and Seal, written by Anna’s 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 Batcheldery (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.

“For God So Loved The World”

Another Song for John 3:16

Audio File

Audio of "For God So Loved"

by Al Smith and Frances Townsend

Hymn Lyrics

“For God So Loved the World”

For God so loved the world
He gave His only Son
To die on Calvary’s tree,
From sin to set me free:
Some day He’s coming back,
What glory that will be!
Wonderful His love to me.

Download Music Printable

The Author of the Hymn

THE AUTHORS ~ Dr. Alfred Barnard Smith & Frances Townsend

Born November 8, 1916 in Midland Park, New Jersey
Died August 9, 2001 in Greenville, South Carolina

Al Smith was an accomplished composer, gospel artist, soloist, publisher, recording artist and an authority on church music.

He went to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and then Wheaton College. It was at Wheaton College that he and a classmate, Billy Graham, formed a gospel team as evangelist and song leader.

History of Hymn

THE HISTORY ~ “For God So Loved the World”

The year was 1939 and Al Smith spent an afternoon with gospel song composer, George Stebbins. George shared stories about the great song writers, Moody, Sankey, Bliss and Fanny Crosby. Al Smith left that afternoon desire to be used of God through music.

Driving to a meeting in Oneonta, New York, he started humming a melody and completed all but one phrase of the song. He visited his friend Frances Townsend, who was an English teacher in Oneonta and left the unfinished song on her piano. While he was at his meeting, she finished the missing phrase.