I Serve a Risen Savior

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today

Author: A. H. Ackley (1933)
Tune: ACKLEY (Ackley)
Published in 155 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI, Recording
Representative text cannot be shown for this hymn due to copyright.

Author: A. H. Ackley

Alfred Henry Ackley was born 21 January 1887 in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest son of Stanley Frank Ackley and the younger brother of B. D. Ackley. His father taught him music and he also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in Maryland and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1914. He served churches in Pennsylvania and California. He also worked with the Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver evangelist team and for Homer Rodeheaver's publishing company. He wrote around 1500 hymns. He died 3 July 1960 in Los Angeles. Dianne Shapiro (from ackleygenealogy.com by Ed Ackley and Allen C. Ackley) Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today
Title: I Serve a Risen Savior
Author: A. H. Ackley (1933)
Meter: 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.4 with refrain
Language: English
Refrain First Line: He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today
Publication Date: 1933
Notes: Spanish translation: See "Al Cristo vivo sirvo El en el mundo está" by George Paul Simmonds; Swahili translation: See "Yesu Bwana Mwokozi, aishi milele"
Copyright: © 1933. Renewed 1961 Word Music, LLC.

Notes

Scripture References:
ref. = Luke 24:6

Written by Presbyterian minister Alfred H. Ackley (b. Spring Hill, PA, 1887; d. Whittier, CA, 1960), both text and tune were published in the Rodeheaver hymnal Triumphant Service Songs (1933). (Rodeheaver was a gospel song publisher.) As told by hymnal editor George Sanville, the following incident provided the spark for Ackley's inspiration: a young Jewish man asked evangelist/musician Ackley, "Why should I worship a dead Jew?" To which Ackley replied,

But Jesus lives! He lives! I tell you. He is not dead, but lives here and now. Jesus Christ is more alive today than ever before. I can prove it by my own experience, as well as by the testimony of countless thousands.

Sanville goes on to explain,

Mr. Ackley's forthright, emphatic answer, together with his subsequent triumphant effort to win the man for Christ, flowered forth into song and crystallized into a convincing sermon on "He lives!" . . . The scriptural evidence, his own heart, and the testimony of history matched the glorious experience of an innumerable cloud of witnesses that "He lives," so he sat down at the piano and voiced that conclusion in song.
-Forty Gospel Hymn Stories, 1943

Ackley wrote the words and/or tunes to at least a thousand gospel songs and hymns in collaboration with his brother Bentley. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he was an accomplished cellist. Ackley graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in Maryland and served Presbyterian churches in California and Pennsylvania. In addition to writing his own hymns, he edited hymnals and gospel song¬books for the Rodeheaver Publishing Company.

Liturgical Use:
Easter; equally useful on many other occasions of worship.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune

ACKLEY (Ackley)

Composed in gospel-song style, ACKLEY is supported by a simple harmonization intended for part singing. Some rubato may be observed in the refrain's final line. Observe two pulses per bar. --Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1987

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 155)

112 Familiar Hymns and Gospel Songs #28

20th Century Gospel Songs #50

African American Heritage Hymnal #275

Ambassador Hymnal #527

Assembly Songbook #d37

Assembly Songs #162

Baptist Hymnal #279

Baptist Hymnal (1975 ed) #438

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #533

Baptist Hymnal 2008 #269

Billy Graham crusade songs #21

Blessed Assurance #d50

Carry Away a Song #d44

CCLI Top 100 #90

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #622

Chalice Hymnal #226

Choice Hymns of the Faith #88

Choice Light and Life Songs #49

Choruses of Calvary #d28

Christ for America #d22

Christian Praise #254

Christian Service Songs #152

Christian Youth at Song #d39

Church Gospel Songs and Hymns #68

Church Hymnal #188

Church Service Hymns #15

Complete Mission Praise #295

Convention Songs #d28

Crusade Songs #96

Crusader Hymns #89

Crusader Hymns and Hymn Stories #d96

Evangelistic Center Songs #81

Evangelistic songs #d31

Falls Creek Songs #d32

Favorite Hymns and Choruses #d39

Favorite Hymns No. 2 #120

Favorite Hymns of Praise #164

First Baptist Favorites #27

Foursquare Hymnal #d121

Free Will Baptist Hymn Book #d131

Glorious Freedom #91

Good News In Song #65

Gospel Hymnal #15

Gospel Melodies and Evangelistic Hymns #74

Great Hymns of the Faith #132

Happy Hearts to Sing God's Praise #d22

His Fullness Songs #11

Hymnal for American Sunday Schools #d57

Hymnal of the Church of God #125

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #206

Hymns for Praise and Service #40

Hymns for the Family of God #299

Hymns for the Living Church #158

Hymns of Faith #167

Hymns of Glorious Praise #d162

Hymns of Grace #d166

Hymns of the Christian Life #414

Hymns of the Christian Life #498

Hymns of the Christian Life. Rev. ed. #d194

Hymns of the Christian Life. Rev. ed. #498

Inspiring Hymns #124

Junior Hymnal #d69

Junior Youth Hymnal #d67

Lift Every Voice and Sing II #42

Audio

Lift Up Your Hearts #365

Melodies of Grace and Hope #d83

Melodies of Praise #d28

Melodies of Praise #86

Mennonite Brethren Church Hymnal #109

Moravian Book of Worship #792

New Awakening Songs #58

New Pinebrook Songs #d24

New Songs of Inspiration (vol. one) #84

New Songs of Inspiration No. 2 #d83

Old Fashioned Revival Hour Songs #31

Old Time Glory #30

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism #337

Pearls of Praise and Promise #d48

Pentecostal Jewels #3

Praise and Worship #453

Praise and Worship #453

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #220

Praise y Adoración #261a

Praise Ye the Lord #58

Audio

Praise! Our Songs and Hymns #550

Primitive Baptist Hymnal #d142

Text InfoTune InfoAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #405

Redemption Melodies #d39

Rejoice Hymns #327

Revival Hymns and Choruses #203

Revival Message #75

Rock of Ages A Worship and Songbook for Retirement Living #57

Sacred Selections for the Church #154

Santo, Santo, Santo #198

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #251

Sing 'N' Praise Hymnal #119

Sing Joyfully #285

Sing Unto the Lord #d53

Singing Evangelism (Billy Graham Campaign Songs) #d27

Singing Revival #4

Pages

Exclude 111 pre-1979 instances
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