This week's promise: The whole earth will hear

Power of the Spirit

But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywherein Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

I love to tell the story of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love; I love to tell the story because I know 'tis true, It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story! Twill be my theme in gloryTo tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I Love to Tell the Story

Kate Hankey, the daughter of a prosperous London banker, grew up in a stylish London suburb. She started a Bible class for girls in her neighborhood, and then, when she was only eighteen, Hankey went to London to teach a Bible class of "factory girls." In her twenties, she started other Bible classes for factory girls.

When she was in her early thirties, Kate Hankey became seriously ill. Doctors said she needed a year of bed rest. She was forbidden to teach her Bible classes for twelve months. During her long, slow recovery, she wrote two lengthy poems. The first, at the beginning of her convalescence, later became the hymn "Tell Me the Old, Old Story." The second, written ten months later, became "I Love to Tell the Story."

After ten months she felt strong enough to leave her bed. She soon returned to her Bible classes in London and continued teaching for many years. When she became too old to teach the factory girls regularly, she started a prison ministry in Londoneven then she continued to tell the story of Jesus.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for June 8.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House