What would God make of this building? - a hymn about welcoming
1 What would God make of this building,
house of eloquence and praise,
God who walked the earth before us,
Christ of Galilean days?
2 He who left a home and family,
had nowhere to rest his head,
cast his lot with those derided
framed his life with what he said.
3 He who built a human temple
with the ones he sought to lead,
fended off each great temptation:
born of human power and greed.
4 Would he choose a place, more simple,
less ornate, of greater use,
where the hungry and the homeless
could be healed of their abuse?
5 If we follow in his footsteps
then this place must come to be
open to the poor, the homeless
where the richest grace is free;
6 Where our hope will glaze for glory
windows looking on the world,
where the broken will be welcome,
where love's given, never sold.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2001 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 Trochaic
Tunes: GOTT DES HIMMEL; RATHBUN
Matthew 10: 40-42 speaks of how we should welcome people. This hymn questions whether the church mirrors this example, and for ‘church’ you can think of a congregation, a parish, a circuit – buildings or people - or even a denomination…
Category: Theology
How can God, condemned, be hanging? – the test of all that deserves to be called Christian…
How can God, condemned, be hanging? – the test of all that deserves to be called Christian… (See Jurgen Moltmann The Crucified God)
How can God, condemned, be hanging?
False messiahs meet such ends,
and the ones then testifying,
have no need to make amends.
Educated folk were laughing,
they foresaw what was to come,
saw disciples hiding, crying,
feeling both distraught and numb.
But that early Easter morning
brought another scene to bear,
Jesus mission had not ended,
he was risen, standing there.
Still the story, more than foolish
soon gave rise to talk and doubt.
‘Surely God could never suffer?’
taunting people tease and shout.
Signs and wisdom are confounded
by that stumbling block, the cross.
Things that we once saw as wisdom
now dismissed as foolish dross.
God had shown such strength in weakness.
Those who shared Christ’s dying breath
now at last could claim dominion,
love defeating hate and death.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2012 © 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 D Tune: CALON LAN
Created by HymnQuest.com
A hymn reflecting on story of the road to Emmaus
A hymn reflecting on story of the road to Emmaus
This is the day when we confess our faith,
dependant on our God and God’s good grace,
we seek to take our cross, to follow Christ,
while seeing Christ in one another’s face.
This is the time, there is no turning back,
companion God you stand beside us still,
walk with us through life’s twisting, winding way,
and keep us always faithful to your will.
Help us to break your bread of life, then share;
lift up the cup of blessing, drink your wine;
when rising from this table go in peace,
our life and living be a gracious sign.
And so we stand to offer up our lives,
not just a verbal sacrifice of praise,
we offer freely all we have to give
until your spirit sets the world ablaze.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © [pre-2026?] 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: 10 10 10 10
Tune: WOODLANDS
Easter Resurrection hymn: In the garden, walking, weeping
Easter Resurrection hymn: In the garden, walking, weeping
1 In the garden, walking, weeping,
Mary came at break of dawn.
All the sorrow, all the anguish
made her figure lost, forlorn.
2 All the fragrance of that garden
couldn't take away her fear;
coming through the dancing shadows
sunshine could not calm or cheer.
3 In the corner of the garden
was the tomb where he'd been laid.
Her intention was to hold him,
feel again the love he gave.
4 Now she saw the tomb was empty,
heard a gardener call her name,
turning round she saw him, Jesus,
one who'd reached her through her shame.
5 Sunshine cut through clouds of mourning,
for his death had come and gone,
silencing the dirge of sorrow,
now she'd sing a sweeter song.
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.
Metre: 8 7 8 7
Tune: OMNI DIE
Used By Permission. CCLI Licence No. 1111
Created by HymnQuest.com - HymnQuest ID: 77131
Good Friday hymn – Let us pause for recollection
Good Friday hymn – Let us pause for recollection
1 Let us pause for recollection
of a day that shook the earth:
day of gruesome execution,
day of death, yet hope of birth?
Will we turn away, denying
those who show us how to live
lives of sacrificial kindness,
scared to love, afraid to give?
2 Will we wash our hands like Pilate,
let injustice take the stage,
turn our backs on fear and bloodshed
echoes of another age?
Will we watch them from a distance,
humans hanging out to dry,
or will we deride, forsake, them,
leaving them without a sigh?
3 Will we count our gains in secret,
leaving just a sordid kiss?
Will remorse and horror haunt us
selling such a life as this?
This is now our time of crisis
as we stand beneath the cross,
this is now the choice before us:
total gain, or utter loss.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2016 © 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 D
Tune: CALON LAN
Created by HymnQuest.com
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