…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Words: Lydia H. Sigourney, in Select Hymns, edited by James H. Linsley & Gustavus F. Davis, 1836.
Music: Leighton (Greatorex) Henry W. Greatorex, 1849 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tunes:
If you know where to get a good picture of Greatorex (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Laborers of Christ, arise,
And gird you for the toil;
The dew of promise from the skies
Already cheers the soil.
Go—where the sick recline,
Where mourning hearts deplore,
And where the sons of penury pine,
Dispense your hallowed lore.
Urge with a tender zeal
The erring child along
Where peaceful congregations kneel,
And pious teachers throng.
By faith, which looks above,
With prayer, your constant guest;
And wrap the Savior’s changeless love
A mantle round your breast.
So shall you share the wealth
That earth may ne’er despoil,
And the blest Gospel’s saving health
Repay your arduous toil.