’Tis a sweet and ten­der sto­ry,
How the Fa­ther from above
Looked down on His err­ing child­ren
With the pi­ty­ing eye of love;
How He sent His well be­lov­èd,
Forgiveness to un­fold;
That sweet and ten­der sto­ry,
O Chris­tian, must be told.

Refrain

It must be told, it must be told,
The sto­ry must be told;
That sweet and ten­der sto­ry,
O Chris­tian, must be told.

’Tis the ve­ry same old sto­ry
That has warmed the cold world’s heart
Through the cen­tu­ries that have van­ished,
But its charm can ne’er de­part;
There are souls that have not heard it,
Some hearts so strang­ely cold;
To these, O fal­ter­ing Chris­tian,
The sto­ry must be told.

Refrain

Say you not that una­vail­ing
Seem the words you try to speak;
Trust the Ho­ly Spir­it’s unc­tion,
It shall strength­en what is weak.
Go forth to do His bid­ding;
The truth shall make you bold;
Though few shall heed your sto­ry,
That sto­ry must be told.

Refrain