Christ the Lord is Risen Yesterday

Listen to the song here
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Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! On this Christmas morning, I'm playing an Advent hymn called "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus." The lyrics were written by Charles Wesley in 1744, but they have been sung to several different melodies. The melody I'm playing here is a Welsh hymn tune called "Hyfrydol," composed by Rowland Prichard. I hope you like it!


Listen to the song here
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Never Grow Old

The more time passes, the more I realize that there are some years that are never coming back. I used to not spend time thinking about such things, but they just seem to get more and more obvious whenever I think about the past. And unfortunately, it's not just events that disappear into the sands of time, but people too. I'm sure if anyone coming here has lost a relative, they've had to face the reality of being separated from the past, and eventually even forgetting some of it.

Listen to the song here
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I had the opportunity to play this song at a memorial service once. It makes you think about how eventually, over the years, you'll witness the deaths of most people older than you. Sometimes it seems like it would be more convenient if age wasn't a factor.

James Cleveland Moore Sr. was having similar thoughts when he wrote this song. While studying to become a minister, he heard his father singing at his church. Moore realized that because his father was getting older, eventually he would reach a point where he would no longer be able to sing in public. That thought inspired him to write a song about "a land where we'll never grow old." He dedicated the song to his parents and published it around 1930.

Music was a big part of Moore's ministry in the southeastern United States. He was known for singing, writing music, teaching others to sing, and leading music associations in Georgia. For him, music was a way to give hope to people. Even though there's nothing we can do to control the passage of time, "there's a beautiful home," where we "never shall die." "All our sorrow will end ... 'tis a land where we'll never grow old."

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

Listen to the song here
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This hymn was written by Ira Stanphill in 1950. In the lyrics, he says that we might make plans for the day, week, or even year, but we really don't know about tomorrow. We can't know whether our future is going to be positive or negative. (I think that's something a lot of you could say about the past few years. I could give you a lot of examples of events I couldn't predict.) In fact, I read that this song was written when the author was going through a difficult time in life. His wife had just left him to pursue her own career instead of his ministry.

I've heard other stories about artists coming up with their best ideas during a time of suffering. Maybe that's evidence for the fact that negative experiences might eventually lead to something good. So we really shouldn't be worrying about all that might go wrong in the future. We don't gain anything from that, since we have no control over it. The only thing we can control is the choices we make now.

Worrying won't change a thing, and the only way to be confident about the future is to trust God. That way, we can know who holds tomorrow even if we don't understand what will happen.

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

I hope you enjoyed your Easter weekend! Today on Tea with Liya, I'm playing a hymn called "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee." The melody to this song was used in Beethoven's Symphony number 9, but lyrics were then added by Henry van Dyke in 1911. He wanted to turn the melody into an expression of the hope he had because of his faith. I hope you like listening to it!

Listen to the song here
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Power of the Cross

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a worship song called "Power of the Cross." I remember listening to this song about a year ago... in a church service that was also online. Even though COVID seems to be taking over, this song is a reminder that the power of the cross is greater than anything - even the power of COVID. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a hymn called "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Even though it was written during the American Civil War, it is still sung by various armies and churches today. It connected the judgment of God to the freedom from slavery which the Union soldiers hoped to achieve. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Here I Am

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a hymn called "Here I Am to Worship." This is one of the earliest songs I remember listening to. Don't forget that you're part of the reason why I'm posting songs here. I've been putting these on Tea with Liya so that someone like you could find it - and keep filling your teacup! I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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The Old Rugged Cross

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a hymn called "The Old Rugged Cross." This is one of those classic hymns that I've known about for years, but haven't actually started playing until now. I decided to put a bit of a swing in my piano cover, to make it sound different. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Hosanna

Today's video is my piano cover of a hymn called "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna." Earlier this week, I was considering how the things we think about are reflected in our actions. Maybe that could also apply to the songs we're listening to. Hopefully a song of rejoicing like this one will be something that you remember!


Listen to the song here
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For All You've Done

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song called "For All You've Done." I thought it would fit nicely with the other songs I've been posting recently. I also thought it would be a good song to try on the piano because of the upbeat rhythm it has. I hope you like listening to it!

Here are the lyrics to the song.

Listen to the song here
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Who Am I

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song that's called "Who Am I." Composed by a group called Casting Crowns, this is a song that I've been hearing for several years. It reminds us that we should look at our lives in a humble way because we're not as important as we think we are. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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The Blessing

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song called "The Blessing." This contemporary worship song has become quite popular in the last few months, and I decided to make a version of it myself. However, I decided to change the pattern of the rhythms a bit. That might make the song sound different from the versions you've heard. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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10,000 Reasons

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song called "10,000 Reasons." You may not have 10,000 reasons to listen to this song, but you probably have 10,000 things to be thankful for, or 10,000 ways that you can stay positive even when bad things are happening. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! On this last day of July, I'm playing a hymn called "Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery." If you've listened to another hymn called "Come Thou Fount," you might recognize this as another song with a long title. I think it sounds pretty similar, too. Does it make a difference if the song has a long title, though? It has a lot to say! I hope you like listening to it, and keep filling your teacup with music!


Listen to the song here
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Blessed Assurance

Here's another song for Tea with Liya this week. Today, I'm playing a hymn called "Blessed Assurance." We could probably use some assurance now that there's a virus supposedly threatening our lives. It might not look like there's any hope right now, but giving up on hope isn't going to make the world any better. In fact, it's only going to make our own futures worse. I hope you like listening to the song!


Listen to the song here
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Build Your Kingdom Here

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! My piano cover this week is a contemporary worship song called "Build Your Kingdom Here." It seems to be inspiring us to keep working to push out injustice in our communities. After hearing this song in a church service, I thought it would be a good one to learn on the piano. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Great is Thy Faithfulness

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! In a week we're going to be halfway through the year. On this last Wednesday of June, I thought it would be a good time to publish a hymn called "Great is Thy Faithfulness." I hope you like this piano cover!


Listen to the song here
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Come Thou Fount

On this Wednesday that leaves us right in the middle of April, I'm here to play another hymn called "Come Thou Fount." This song got me thinking about looking for good news even when we're surrounded by reports of Corona. I hope you enjoy listening!


Listen to the song here
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Be Thou My Vision

This week on Tea with Liya, I'm playing a classic hymn called "Be Thou My Vision." If you haven't been hearing this in a church for 50 years, you might not have imagined that this song has existed for several centuries. Age doesn't make it any less valuable, though - here I am playing it in 2020! 


Listen to the song here
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