GOSPEL >> Salvation & Redemption
SDAH 342
Is this a day of new beginnings,
Time to remember and move on,
Time too believe what love is bringing,
Laying to rest the pain that’s gone?
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For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: Is This a Day of New Beginnings?
Written for a New Year’s Day service in 1978, this hopeful hymn by Brian Wren (1936–; see Biographies) reflects on how ordinary moments—days, months, even hours—can become turning points when seen through the lens of faith in Christ. While the calendar alone may not inspire lasting change, Wren’s lyrics invite us to trust in the redemptive power of God to begin again. The melody, DRONFIELD, was also composed by Wren and later arranged by Peter Cutts (1937–), reminding us that fresh starts are always possible through grace.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Bondage in sin is now over. Faith in Jesus, The Way, The Truth, and The Life have set us free. At last, we now have freedom to obey God and live according to His will by the power of His rich grace made available to us by His death on the cross. (Lesson 7, 2nd Quarter 2021 -Wednesday, God and Israel, 5/12/2021)
This hymn was created for a New Year’s Day service, 1978, by Brian Wren (1936- ; see Biographies) while he was a pastor of Holy Family Church, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, England. In his book Faith Looking Forward, 1983, the author gives us this insight into why he wrote the hymn:
“In itself, the new year is an arbitrary convention, its ‘newness’ a mere mark on the calendar. The recurrent awakening of life in nature is not a strong enough foundation for hope of real change. Yet by faith in the really new events of the Christian story, a day, or a month, or an hour can become charged with promise, and be a springboard to a changed life.” Reading of the text will indicate that this hymn can be used on any occasion of a new beginning, or starting over.
Brian Wren composed the melody of the tune DRONFIELD, and his good friend, Peter Cutts (1937- ; see Biographies), arranged it for the book Faith Looking Forward, Hope Publishing Company, 1983. Dronfield is a town six miles south of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Is this a day of new beginnings,
Time to remember and move on,
Time too believe what love is bringing,
Laying to rest the pain that’s gone?
2
How can the seasons of a planet
Mindlessly spinning round its sun
With just a human name and number
Say that some new thing has begun?
3
Yet through the life and death of Jesus
Love’s mighty Spirit, now as then,
Can make for us a world of difference
As faith and hope are born again.
4
Then let us, with the Spirit’s daring,
Step from the past and leave behind
Its disappointment, guilt, and grieving,
Seeking new paths, and sure to find.
5
Christ is alive, and goes before us
To show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
Our God is making all things new.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(c) Eze 36:26 (e) Rev 21:5
Author
Brian Wren (1936-)
Year Published
1978
Performance Suggestions
Unison
Copyright
Copyright 1983 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Hymn Tune
DRONFIELD
Metrical Number
9.8.9.8.
Composer
Melody by Brian Wren
Arranged
Peter Cutts (1937-)
