Lent 3 The gospel reading (John 4: 5-42) tells of Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman. This hymn reflects on this story. 1 She's the one Christ should have hated, every law set her apart, woman, foreign, faith betrayer, yet compassion warmed his heart. 2 Was he thirsty? Human nature giving us a reason why he would cross these rules, these bound'ries, does this story give the lie? 3 Yet whatever choice we fathom Jesus talked and spoke with her; sought to find a new direction, new found faith began to stir. Andrew 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 7 8 7 Tune: ALL FOR JESUS
Category: Song
Nicodemus meets Jesus, a hymn
This coming Sunday (Lent 2) one of the gospel readings is John 3: 1 – 17 it is the account of Nicodemus visiting Jesus. This hymn reflects on that.
1 The riddle of salvation,
not of a cross or tomb,
confronted Nicodemus
within a quiet room.
Christ took him back to childhood,
and challenged all he knew,
his intellect was tested
by hearing what to do.
2 ‘To reach the end you hope for
you must be born again’.
He looked uncomprehending,
and wondered, was this sane?
But Jesus answered gently,
‘you have your life and worth,
another change is called for,
just like a second birth’.
3 The change that he was facing
would turn his life around,
that was the riddle’s answer,
what he had sought he found.
The life that Jesus offered
required a different frame,
and from that moment forward,
he’d never be the same.
4 And now that call still echoes
in every place and time,
the movement of God’s dancing,
the rhythm and the rhyme
disrupt and change, transform us,
move to another plain,
and those who follow Jesus
will never be the same.
Andrew Pratt (born 1948) based on John 3 vs 1-17 Nicodemus
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: 7 6 7 6 d
THORNBURY; WOLVERCOTE
A Hymn for the Beginning of Lent – Jesus’ temptation
A Hymn for the beginning of Lent – Jesus’ temptation Wild wilderness, pathetic desolation, as Jesus walked, then rested for the night, for forty days his strength was tried and tested, for forty days he sifted wrong and right. He woke to hunger tangled in his being, what miracle might turn these stones to bread? But God within the centre of his spirit was food enough to keep his body fed. His faith was such that it could move a mountain and God could save him from the greatest fall. But faith like this need not be tried or tested; the love of God will never slip or stall. He climbed the mountain, saw the world in splendour, then thought of ruling all his eyes could see; yet power like this was not the thing he needed - devoid of wealth he'd set the people free. Beyond temptation love would live incarnate, his human flesh would laugh and cry and weep, in Christ God's love and grace would not diminish, dynamic love would never die nor sleep. Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2015 © 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: SM Metre: 11 10 11 10 Tune: INTERCESSOR
Tectonic plates beneath this rock hard surface – the Turkish-Syrian earthquakes 2023and again now in Venezuala
Tectonic plates beneath this rock hard surface,
uplifted, twisting life and limb and steel.
The landscape that was home has lost its features,
destruction means that few are left to heal.
An empty chair amid such devastation
where cars like toys, are lifted, spun about;
and here we wait and pray in helpless anguish;
and 'where is God' we want to cry and shout.
Incarnate God we need your present spirit
to live within your people at this time,
to energise our prayerful words and action,
to offer grace to life's discordant rhyme.
May we grant hope to those who feel forsaken,
to those whose lives have spun and turned around;
to those whose grief defies all consolation,
bring grace and love and hope and solid ground.
Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
© 2011 Stainer & Bell Ltd. Alt 6/2/2023 by the author.
11 10 11 10
Tunes: INTERCESSOR; LORD OF THE YEARS
On the day of the earthquakes in Turkey, Syria and the surrounding areas.
Earthquake- iPad art (c) Andrew Pratt 2023
Salt and Light – a hymn inspired by Matthew 5: 13 – 20
This hymn was inspired by – Matthew 5: 13 – 20 1 When all the stars burn out, or all the seas run dry, God's love and law will still remain, they soar beyond the sky. 2 When justice is denied, or people are constrained, God's righteousness cannot be found, or hopeful joy retained. 3 Bring savour to the world: this saltiness we share is evidence of godliness that we are meant to bear. 4 For us to be of use, like standards that will shine we need God's power to offer grace through symbol, act and sign. 5 Saltshakers giving taste, light bearers through the night, world changers in the name of Christ we bring God's reign in sight. Andrew Pratt (born 1948) based on Matthew 5 vs 13-20 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: 6 6 8 6 Tune: CARLISLE
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