Huddersfield Choral Society - We Have A Gospel To Proclaim Lyrics
Lyrics
We have a gospel to proclaim, Good news for men in all the earth; The gospel of a Saviour’s name, We sing His glory, tell His worth.
Tell of His birth at Bethlehem, Not in a royal house or hall But in a stable dark and dim, The Word made flesh, a light for all.
Tell of His death at Calvary, Hated by those He came to save, In lonely suffering on the cross, For all He loved His life He gave.
Tell of that glorious Easter moon, Empty the tomb, for He was free. He broke the power of death and hell That we might share His victory.
Tell of His reign at God’s right hand, By all creation glorified, He sends His Spirit on His Church, To live for Him, the Lamb who died.
Now we rejoice to name Him King,
Jesus is Lord of all the earth,
This gospel message we proclaim,
We sing His glory, tell His worth.
Video
We have a gospel to proclaim
Meaning & Inspiration
I keep thinking about that line, the Word made flesh. It’s hard to wrap my head around that even after years of hearing it. The song just lays it out so simply, starting with the stable and the darkness. It feels like John’s gospel, the way he starts out saying the light shines in the darkness and the darkness couldn’t overcome it. Seeing that contrast, that he wasn’t born in some palace but in the grit of a stable, makes the whole story feel heavier, more real. It wasn't some distant, grand entrance. It was humble.
Then it moves to Calvary, and the word 'lonely' really sticks with me there. It’s not just that he died, but that he was hated by the people he was actually dying for. That’s the part that hurts to really look at, isn’t it? Romans talks about how while we were still sinners, he did this. The song doesn't sugarcoat the rejection. And when I think about the tomb being empty, it’s like this rush of relief, but also this demand. If he really broke the power of death, then what does that mean for how I spend my days?
The end of the song talks about him sending the Spirit to the Church, and I’m wrestling with that. We talk about him being Lord of all the earth, but do I live like that's true? The song ties everything together—the birth, the cross, the life he shares with us—and just calls it a gospel to proclaim. It’s a lot to carry. It feels like a massive weight, this commission to keep telling the story, but then I wonder if I’ve turned the 'good news' into something I just repeat rather than something that completely changes how I breathe. Can a song really capture the shift that happens when you stop seeing it as a story and start seeing it as the only thing that’s actually solid? I don’t know if I have an answer for that yet.