78: How to Use Hymns to Teach Truth and Doctrine in Your Homeschool

How can hymns help your children understand biblical truth and sound doctrine? In this episode of the Music in Our Homeschool Podcast, I’m sharing exactly how you can use hymns as a powerful teaching tool in your homeschool.

I’m Gena Mayo, a homeschool mom of eight, music educator, and the creator of the Great Hymns of the Faith online courses. Today, we’re diving deep into why hymns are so much more than “nice songs.” They are rich with theology, filled with Scripture, and can be a beautiful way to weave faith into your daily homeschool routine.

We’ll walk through:

• Essential Christian doctrines you can teach through hymns (like grace, salvation, the Trinity, and more)
• Practical ways to study hymn lyrics for truth and meaning
• Real-life examples from hymns like Amazing Grace, It Is Well With My Soul, Be Thou My Vision, and others
• How to incorporate hymns into handwriting, memorization, Bible study, and family worship

If you’ve ever longed for a simple, meaningful way to teach your kids about God’s character, salvation, and doctrine through music, this episode will give you the inspiration and practical steps to get started.

👉 Explore the Great Hymns of the Faith courses here: Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com

🎁 Be sure to grab my FREE 23-page Amazing Grace Hymn Study here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/use-hymns-to-teach-truth/

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/use-hymns-to-teach-truth/

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Transcript

E78 How to Use Hymns to Teach Truth and Doctrine Aug. 11

[00:00:00] Hello, Harmony Heroes. Welcome back to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. I'm Gena Mayo, homeschool mom, music teacher, and your guide to bringing music into your homeschool in ways that really matter. Today I want to talk about something close to my heart: using hymns teach your kids truth and doctrine.

Last week I launched the brand new Great Hymns of the Faith ~ volume 2 online course. If you missed last week's episode, number 77, I encourage you to go back and listen to that one, too. Music isn't just something fun and pretty to listen to. It's a powerful tool that God gave us a way to worship him, remember his truths, and deepen our faith together as a family.

God created music and throughout Scripture he encourages us to sing and make music with instruments. There's music in heaven and all throughout creation, so music is important to Him. And if it's important to God, it [00:01:00] should be important to us, too.

Today, we're focusing specifically on how to use hymns to teach truth and doctrine to our children. Let's get started.

First, a quick but important point. Not every hymn teaches sound doctrine. The Bible itself is our firm foundation, so always study Scripture first, and filter any hymn lyrics through that truth. Use hymns to reinforce and build upon what you're already teaching your kids about God, salvation, Jesus, and faith.

What doctrines should you teach with hymns? You might wonder what Christian doctrines should we focus on with our kids? Here are some essentials. Jesus is fully God and fully human. He's sinless yet fully man, and he is Creator and Savior, fully God. Salvation comes through Christ alone, not by our works, the reality of Heaven and Hell, the Trinity, [00:02:00] one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible is God's inspired word. All humans are fallen and sinful, and sin separates us from God. Of course, there are so many more doctrines you could teach, but these are some core truths that you can highlight with hymns.

Here are a few practical ways to bring hymns into your homeschool teaching time. Use the topic or subject index in the back of your hymnal to find hymns related to the doctrine you want to teach. Read the hymn lyrics like poetry. Look for symbolism, metaphors, and patterns that the hymn writers used to express spiritual truths. Have your kids copy the hymn lyrics for handwriting and memorization. Practice reading the hymn dramatically out loud without singing. This helps kids really hear the words. Then sing the hymn together, letting the music help the [00:03:00] truths sink deep.

There are hundreds of great hymns to choose from, but let me share 10 from my Great Hymns of the Faith ~ volume 1 course that I love for teaching doctrine. You can find the full course with stories, videos, sheet music, and activities at Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com. And remember that the second volume just launched last week and check the show notes and descriptions for more links and information.

Amazing Grace. We can't talk about hymns without mentioning Amazing Grace. Written by John Newton, it beautifully teaches the truth of grace, God's unearned gift of salvation. Amazing Grace teaches so many great truths about God and the basic tenets of Christianity, but we're going to focus on grace. What is grace? I've heard a couple of good definitions that help me understand it better. The first is the acronym, God's [00:04:00] Riches at Christ's Expense. And the second is this, grace is getting something that we don't deserve. Contrast that with the definition of mercy, which is not getting something that you do deserve. So what grace did God give us? He gave us eternal salvation in heaven, when, because of our sin, we deserved hell. He gave us love even though we continue to sin. As the hymn tells us, this, grace allows us to see when we are blind and be found when we are lost. His grace helps us to fear God and fear nothing else. This amazing grace brings us through the toils and snares of this life and will lead us one day home to heaven. A scripture to meditate is Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace, you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast."

[00:05:00] Lord Jesus. Let's use the hymn Fairest Lord Jesus, to focus on the doctrine of Jesus being fully God and fully Man. It says in verse four, Son of God and Son of Man. How is that possible? How can he be 100% divine and 100% human? We with our finite minds, can't fathom it. But that's the truth of Christianity. If Jesus weren't God, he couldn't forgive us. And if he weren't human, he couldn't die for us and be the ultimate sacrificial lamb of God.

The next hymn is It is Well With my Soul. If you know the background story of It is Well With my Soul, you know that these words were penned by Horatio Spafford, a grieving father who had just lost his children to a shipwreck. This hymn teaches us about peace in the midst of trials, and the abundant life. Jesus promises even when life is hard. We learn that [00:06:00] God never promised that Christians will have it easy in this life. In fact, in John 16:33, Jesus tells us, " I have said these things to you that in Me, you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world." And he says in John 10:10, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Horatio Spafford lost his family, but his abundant life was through Christ. He said in the hymn, Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul. And Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

The Battle Hymn of the Reformation, A Mighty Fortress is our God by Martin Luther, is a perfect hymn to study the truth of the enemy. Luther says, For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe. His craft and power are great. And armed with cruel hate. [00:07:00] On earth is not his equal. First Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." If we are truly to understand the truth of Christianity, we need to believe that Satan is real. He is active in the world today, seeking to destroy God's world and his people. But Jesus is the ultimate victor. Satan's doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. 

Blessed Assurance is the next hymn, and as with many of the hymns, there are different doctrines to look at in this one as well,

and this one by Fannie Crosby as well. But let's just start with the first: assurance of salvation. Blessed Assurance. Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess [00:08:00] with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." We don't have to wonder and wait until we die to know if we're saved. 1 John 5:13 is another scripture that makes it clear that we know how: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life."

Be Thou my Vision. For Be Thou my Vision, I'd like to focus on the line Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. Do you understand what it means to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you? No. Well, that is another mystery of the faith, and yet the Scripture says it is so. Let me list a few for you. Romans 8:9 says, "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, does not belong to Him." And [00:09:00] Ephesians 2:22 says, "In Him, you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." And 1 Corinthians three 16 says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

 Our next hymn is The Old Rugged Cross. Obviously, in The Old Rugged Cross, we need to look at the doctrine of the cross. It was the place where Jesus died, but why did Jesus die? Did he really have to die? The Old Testament scriptures explain God's method of forgiveness. There must be a shedding of blood. So every year the Jews would sacrifice an animal, but then the next year it must be done again. Jesus came to be the ultimate sacrifice, the final sacrifice that would cover all sins of every person in the world, past, present, and future. Yes, He had to die. That is the only way our sins could be paid [00:10:00] for. Colossians 2:14 says, "By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This, he set aside, nailing it to the cross." For t'was on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.

Our next hymn is Holy, Holy, Holy. Reginald Heber's classic hymn Holy, Holy, Holy praises the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is a perfect teaching tool for this foundational doctrine supported by many Bible verses that show God's threefold nature. For example, in Genesis 1:26, it says, "Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness." This shows that Jesus was present from the beginning. And Colossians 2:9 says, "For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily." Again, showing us that Jesus is God. As does [00:11:00] Hebrews 1:3: "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high."

Next, we have Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. This hymn beautifully expresses God's unchanging love and mercy, drawing us back when we wander. Psalm 13:5 and 1 John 4:7-8 remind us that God is love and faithful to his promises. So the doctrine we're focusing on for Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is the truth of God's unfailing and unchanging love.

And finally we have What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Our final hymn tells us we should bring everything to God in prayer. What is prayer? Why should we pray? How do we pray? Here are a few scriptures to use to teach this to your kids. [00:12:00] Prayer is listening to and talking to God. James 1:6 encourages us to pray with faith: "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. And John 16:23 tells us to ask anything in Jesus's name: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Now, of course, what we ask for has to be in God's will. Jesus taught his disciples and us to pray with what we now call the Lord's Prayer, which can be found in Matthew 6:9-13, and Luke 11:2-4.

The Bible says a lot about prayer, so you'll want to go way beyond what I'm mentioning here. But let's close today with two of my favorite scriptures about prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which [00:13:00] surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing.

So as we wrap up today, I want you to remember that hymns are more than just songs. They're rich with biblical truth and timeless doctrine, a treasure trove for teaching your kids about God's love, salvation, and character.

If you want to dig deeper. I invite you to check out my hymn study courses, Great Hymns of the Faith volumes one and two. They're packed with stories, sheet music, videos, Bible studies, devotionals, and activities for the whole family, including how to sing them in four-part harmony. visit Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com or the links in the show notes and description to learn more. I also have a free 23-page Amazing Grace hymn study available. Just head to the link in the show notes.

Thank you so [00:14:00] much for joining me today. If you have any questions or want to share your favorite hymns with me, please send me an email at Gena@MusicinOurHomeschool.com. That's Gena with an E. Or leave a comment. I love to hear your thoughts. Until next time, keep making music and growing in your faith.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/use-hymns-to-teach-truth/