hymnsandbooks

Calling and Vocation – the first disciples- a hymn

Within the temple's shaking frame – Calling and Vocation – the first disciples

1	Within the temple's shaking frame, 
	Isaiah heard a call, 
	that sought commitment through a vow 
	that he would give his all.
	The gospel message that he heard, 
	apostles heard again 
	within another time and age. 
	God's call was not in vain;
	
2	For Jesus standing by a lake 
	amazed the men who fished, 
	then challenged them to move beyond 
	all that they hoped or wished.
	And now we stand before you God,
	in our own time and place, 
	so give us courage and the nerve 
	to trust surprising grace.
	
3	To go beyond our place and time, 
	encompassed in your care, 
	to know however hard the call 
	your love will find us there.
	Amazed by grace and stunned by awe
	that brings us to our knees, 
	we rise within the hope of God
	that strengthens, loves and frees.

Andrew Pratt (born 1948) © 2010 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 6 8 6 8 6 8 6
Tune: KINGSFOLD

Words for our times…1

Personal and international actions are sometimes driven out of necessity. Nevertheless the consequences of either are often tragedy….

Tragedy, necessity: days of sorrow, days of hope.

How can joy displace our fear, giving us the strength to cope.

Baptised into being, the Lord of creation – hymn inspired by Matthew 3:13-17)

Baptised into being, the Lord of creation (Matthew 3:13-17)

1	Baptised into being, the Lord of creation:
	the dove is descending the Spirit has come, 
	it soars and it swoops on the face of the waters, 
	Christ blessed in that moment, his mission begun.
	
2	Here John the Baptiser will pass on the baton, 
	though harsh and prophetic, his message, refined,
	will gain a new purpose, as Jesus will challenge:
	the powers and authorities now undermined.
	
3	But that will come later, for now for the honing 
	of all his integrity, knowledge and skill, 
	the Christ is cast out to the wilds of the desert, 
	where animals forage and hunger can kill.
	
4	And on his return he will live as God with us, 
	humanity clothed with both loving and grace, 
	to temper all justice with mercy, compassion, 
	a model of life for the whole human race.
	
5	And when will we walk in the steps of this master? 
	And when will we emulate what we see there:
	inclusive and limitless love for creation 
	where all is of value and all deserve care?

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: 12 11 12 11
Tunes: ST CATHERINE’S COURT

New Year – from darkness toward light – As constant as the pulsar’s pulse

New Year – from darkness toward light - As constant as the pulsar's pulse - a hymn for the first Sunday in the New Year or for a Watchnight Service

1 As constant as the pulsar's pulse, 
 as certain as the rising sun; 
 in darkness love will never die, 
 nor horror snuff our human worth. 

2 The sounding of a baby's cry 
 as suckling, taken from her breast, 
 demands a mother's full concern, 
 so you have heard our hoarse lament. 

3 Our cry goes out through all the world, 
 through this and each succeeding age; 
 your glance returns our wanting gaze, 
 and none escape your light or love. 

Metre: LM Tune: HEREFORD (Wesley)

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) 
Words © 2002 © 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.

Image (c) Andrew Pratt 2025

Holy Innocents – remembering a solitary boy pictured in an ambulance…

1 A bloodied child foreshadowed by a cross,
both share their taste of evil and of loss,
and when will people ever live and learn
that hurt and harm is all that war can earn?

2 We hold our breath in horror as we view
this scene forever old, forever new;
amid the dust and rubble strewn around
a child cries out and parents can’t be found.

3 How long, O Lord we cry, each hollow word,
our pleas of peace increasingly absurd?
Good God, forgive us when inaction’s voice
speaks loudly of our violent, hurtful choice.