Pastor's Corner: Hymns have superpowers

Hymns have superpowers. Hymns combine the power of poetry - often poetry inspired by Scripture - with the power of music, and the result is so potent that it can transport our body and soul as if to the throne room of the Lord. I'd call that a superpower.

This past Sunday at First Lutheran, we sang a hymn that was new to me: God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens. The worship team had chosen it because the hymn's mention of the spangled heavens reflected the image in our reading from Genesis 15, when God led Abram out of his tent and asked the old man to count the stars. God promised, "S...