hymnsandbooks

There are no strangers to God’s love

1 There are no strangers to God’s love,
yet we have privatised God’s grace.
Bounded by nationhood and lies,
in fear we shrouded love’s own face.
Acknowledging our sin and greed
we come confessing common need.

2 These are our neighbours and our friends,
the ones who run in fear from war,
who dread abuse by power or state,
or seek the means to be less poor;
these are the ones we have denied,
as in each one the Christ has cried.

3 When people seeking sanctuary
come to our shores and need our aid,
then in Christ’s name let’s offer care;
through this our debt of love is paid.
God’s grace is free, this grace receive,
let actions show what we believe.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2010 Stainer & Bell Ltd
8 8 8 8 8 8

Created by HymnQuest.com

A hymn for when our certainty is shaken: Sometimes our grasp of life is frail

Prior to one of the Gospel readings for this Sunday (Matthew 17:1-9) Jesus had spoken to his disciples:

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (Matthew 16)

Every so often our faith can be shaken and we need something to reassure us…hence this hymn which also reflects on what life today is like when our certainties are challenge:

1 Sometimes our grasp of life is frail,
yet through it all love will prevail.
And when it seems things can't get worse,
we feel that every step is cursed.

2 In spite of all, we keep our faith,
held, more than holding onto grace,
we whisper prayer and hope for praise,
we live through grey exhausting days.

3 God's word reminds of how we're held,
when love is hidden, faith is felled;
retelling narratives of pain
from which God's people rose again.

4 This is the hope to which we cling,
when life is raw, we sense death's sting;
yet on beyond this time and place
may we be kept within your grace. Amen

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2011, Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 8 8 8 8
Tune: GONFALON ROYAL

Created by HymnQuest.com

God disarm us from the language – pertinent in a time when language and how it is being used can be utterly damaging

God disarm us from the language

God disarm us from the language
that will harm, or dispossess,
that disparages our neighbour
words that hurt, or bring distress.

God bring love instead of hatred,
tear down barriers we have built,
bring your grace among all nations,
takeaway our fear and guilt.

Take us, use us, in this purpose,
so our actions emulate,
all that brings us peaceful living,
not just tools of chance or fate.

Build between us bonds of friendship,
bridges in the place of lies,
till we’re bound with one another:
held by love that none denies.

Andrew E. Pratt (born 1948)
© 2026 Stainer and Bell Ltd., London, England, http://www.stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 8.7.8.7
Tune: SHIPSTON

God surprises us by kindness – a hymn of caring

1         God surprises us by kindness,
           by another’s healing touch,
           words that speak with understanding,
           soothe where once we hurt so much.

2         We can never lose the tether
           tying us to Godly grace,
           yet through human hands we’re lifted,
           as we’re meeting face to face.

3         Simple acts of loving kindness,
           bring us back to life again,
           ease the burden of each moment,
           share our sorrow, ease our pain.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)

© 2016 Stainer and Bell Ltd., London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 8 7 8 7

Tune: ST OSWALD

As published in http://www.theworshipcloud.com

Created by HymnQuest.com – HymnQuest links this text with Matthew 4:4

God surprises us by kindness – a hymn of caring with assurance and, perhaps, challenge

1	God surprises us by kindness, 
	by another’s healing touch, 
	words that speak with understanding, 
	soothe where once we hurt so much.

2	We can never lose the tether 
	tying us to Godly grace,
	yet through human hands we’re lifted, 
	as we’re meeting face to face.

3	Simple acts of loving kindness, 
	bring us back to life again, 
	ease the burden of each moment, 
	share our sorrow, ease our pain.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2016 Stainer and Bell Ltd., London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 8 7 8 7
Tune: ST OSWALD

As published in http://www.theworshipcloud.com

Created by HymnQuest.com – HymnQuest links this text with Matthew 4:4

Another mountain on the road – a hymn for Transfiguration Sunday

Another mountain on the road – a hymn for Transfiguration Sunday

1         Another mountain on the road
           that led them to Jerusalem,
           a rising path, a stony way,
           the climb towards a brighter day.

2         They broke through mist, looked down on clouds,
           the earth below now veiled to sight.
           Above, the summit, time to rest,
           a place of blessing for the blessed.

3         And as they waited Christ had gone,
           a cloud of light was all they saw.
           Then as the mist had cleared away,
           he stood and shone as bright as day.

4         Confused and dazzled, stunned they stood,
           his closest friends looked on in awe.
           But soon they’d see his utter loss,
           beneath the shadow of a cross.

5         The heights of heaven, depths of hell,
           still mirror all we know on earth:
           this brief oasis soon had passed,
           and only grace and love would last.

Andrew Pratt (born 1948) © 2012 Stainer and Bell Ltd., London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 8 8 8 8 Tune: WINCHESTER NEW
Created by HymnQuest.com