Praise Him: Songs of Praise in the New Testament

By Paula Gooder

We are used to singing hymns of praise when we go to church but often we miss the hymns and poems that are there in the New Testament. This course will explore five different Songs of Praise from the New Testament, looking at what they tell us about God and Jesus but also reflecting on what they tell us about us and our faith.

The five sessions focus on:

Session 1: Gratitude (Ephesians 1.3-14)
Session 2: Image of God (Colossians 1.15-20)
Session 3: Humility (Philippians 2.5-11)
Session 4: New birth (1 Peter 1.3-12)
Session 5: Word made flesh (John 1.1-14)

The course booklet is accompanied by a lively CD, featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, ‘art nun’, the late Sister Wendy Beckett, the multi-award winning actor, David Suchet CBE, and Editor and Publisher of the Methodist Recorder, Moira Sleight.

This York Course is available in the following formats
Course Book (Paperback 9781909107069)
Course Book (eBook 9781909107854)
Audio Book of Interview to support Praise Him York Course (CD 9781909107847)
Audio Book of Interview (Digital Download 9781909107830)
Transcript of interview to support Praise Him York Course (Paperback 9781909107076)
Transcript of interview (eBook 9781909107861)
Book Pack (9781909107878 Featuring Paperback Course Book, Audio Book on CD and Paperback Transcript of Interview)
Large print (9781909107885)

• Language: English
• Publisher: York Courses
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781909107861

Paula Gooder

Paula Gooder is one of the UK's leading biblical scholars and is passionate about making the best of that scholarship accessible to a wide audience. She is Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, a Reader and the author of numerous bestselling titles.

Book preview

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York Courses presents

PRAISE HIM -

Songs of praise in the New Testament

CD Track [1]

Welcome to PRAISE HIM - songs of praise in the New Testament, a course in five parts from York Courses, written by Paula Gooder. Here is Paula to introduce the course.

PG: What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘songs of praise?’ Some people will think immediately of the Sunday evening television programme on BBC1; others will call to mind their own favourite hymn or song. But few people’s minds will turn to the New Testament. Yet in the New Testament are a number of passages that could be called ‘songs of praise’. It is hard to tell whether they were ever sung, or even whether they were intended to be used in worship. But they are passages positively packed with praise. Some of these, like Mary’s glorious song of praise - often called The Magnificat - are very well known because they are used regularly in worship today. But there are a number of other, less used passages that also try to put into words something about why their authors want to praise God. Some express their praise directly; others imply it in the descriptions they use. Some talk just about Christ; others about God and the Spirit too. Some use language which sounds like poetry; others contain tightly packed words which try and explain in a sentence what they’re trying to say (even if that sentence is 12 verses long!). Though in many ways they are different, one feature joins all these passages together: they all express their praise of God and all he has done for us.

This course could have been much longer than it is. There are many more Songs of Praise in the New Testament than we can squeeze into five sessions. The ones we’ve chosen have themes which fit together to make an interesting course. We begin with the theme of gratitude and what being thankful can do for our life of praise. From there we move on to looking at what we can learn from thinking about Jesus as the image of God, and from his profound self-giving humility. Session 4 reflects on our new birth into a living hope; and Session 5 rounds off our exploration by reflecting on possibly the greatest New Testament poem of all: the magisterial John 1.1-14, which talks about Jesus as ‘the word made flesh’.

The reason why it is worth studying these – and the many other passages like them in the New Testament – is that they remind us time and time again of who God was, and is and will be; what he has done and what he will continue to do for each one of us. When we encounter this God, the only reasonable response is to praise him.

Whether you’re using this course for personal devotion or, perhaps more likely, as a member of a discussion group, we hope it will encourage you, as you seek to follow Jesus in everything that you say and do.

Session 1: CD Track [2]

GRATITUDE  

Hello, I’m Simon Stanley and