Welcome Home!

For other foundations can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

Nor earth, nor hell, my soul can move, I rest upon unchanging love; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; 'midst all the hell I feel within, on His completed work I lean.

When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace; in ev'ry rough and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. 

His oath, His cov'nant, His blood, supports me in the sinking flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. 

I trust His righteous character, His council, promise and His pow'r; His honour and His name's at stake, to save me from the burning lake.

When I shall launch in worlds unseen, O may I then be found in Him, dressed in righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. 

REFRAIN

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand. 

 

Edward Mote was born on January 21, 1797, to James Edward and Elizabeth, in London, England. His parents were innkeepers; his father maintained the building, and his mother cooked and cleaned for their customers. His five older siblings were in school and helped their parents. Edward would often hang out with his unruly friends and play in middle of the streets. His parents were not Christians, but did the best they could. As he grew older, he became interested in carpentry work, and was an apprentice to an older carpenter who specialized in cabinets. When Edward was a young teenager, his master took him to hear John Hyatt, who was a preacher and missionary to the urban, impoverished areas of London. That night, Edward’s life was greatly changed and he became a Christian. He started attending church, and developed an interest in hymns. One morning while walking to work, the words came to his mind, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” He kept repeating that phrase all throughout his day, and by the end of the day, he had written 4 stanzas. On Sunday, he was asked to go see a friend’s dying wife. He wanted to do more than just pray for her and read from the Bible, but he did not have any hymns memorized, so he sung the words of his poem to the tune of a well-known hymn. She wanted a copy so that it could be read to her. He went home and copied the words on a piece of paper, added 2 more verses, returned to the friend’s house and read the completed poem to the dying woman. Two years after her death, he decided to have the poem published. When Edward was 55, he became a Baptist minister, and served in the ministry for 20 years. A year before he died, his health declined so that he had to step down as minister. He passed away on November 13, 1874. Nine years before his death, William Bradbury combined the 6 stanzas into 4 stanzas and composed music for the hymn.