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With daring we enter the future that beckons – a hymn for new beginnings (Matthew 28: 16-20)

With daring we enter the future that beckons – 
a hymn for new beginnings (Matthew 28: 16-20)

With daring we enter the future that beckons,
our feelings in tension - excitement and fear.
Wherever we're walking we know God walks with us,
before and behind, God's protection is near.

Alone in the desert God's people felt empty,
the land that was promised of honey and milk
seemed distant, reality made hope distorted,
clothed them with despairing, more sackcloth than silk.

And sometimes the way that we find in the present
has troubles and heartaches enough of its own;
but still God walks with us through valleys of darkness,
encompassed with loving, we're never alone.

So welcome the future and enter it boldly,
look back, God was with you wherever you trod.
This God is your lover through life and forever,
take hold of the certainty: this is your God.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2006 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: WAS LEBET, WAS SCHWEBET
Created by HymnQuest.com

He stood with scarred and open hands – a hymn of resurrection

He stood with scarred and open hands - a hymn of resurrection inspired by John 20: 19-31

1	He stood with scarred and open hands, 
	their bloodied, but now risen, Lord, 
	incomprehension met his words, 
	their fear had tightened like a cord.
	
2	His word of peace rang in their ears, 
	yet they could hardly understand. 
	Bemused, unsettled, disbelief 
	meant that the fear they felt was fanned.
	
3	Yet here he stood, as flesh and blood, 
	a word of peace upon his lips, 
	but as they try to grasp at facts 
	their sense of meaning slides and slips.
	
4	He knew their need, for doubt and awe 
	was clouding each and every mind 
	but here was fish, he took and ate, 
	his human life was sealed and signed.
	
5	The path of pain that he had known 
	was grounded in necessity, 
	for perfect love was bound to face 
	self interest and hypocrisy.
	
6	And now they understood his words, 
	'come follow' echoed in their ears. 
	That self-same grace will call us all  
	and love will cancel out our fears.

Words: Andrew Pratt (born 1948) © 2012 Stainer & 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: LM Tune: BRESLAU

A few flights of fancy … or more

Sky Art

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