God hung and died upon the cross
God hung and died upon the cross,
and there he suffered wild abuse,
the ones who held religious power
had offered an oblique excuse:
denying love their greatest crime.
We see this echoed in our time.
For when we worship week by week
while poor are trampled, made more poor;
when those in need are turned away,
or sent off to another shore;
our silence signs complicity
and signals our iniquity.
But if we walk beside the ones
that others curse, berate and blame,
share in their stark reality,
their ridicule, pernicious pain;
then know that God has walked this way,
with them we'll live another day.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) based on 1 Peter 2: 19-25
© 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: 8 8 8 8 8 8
Tune: ABINGDON
Category: Theology
‘Right here in the presence of loving and grace’ – a hymn inspired by Mary anointing Jesus’s feet.
‘Right here in the presence of loving and grace’ – a hymn inspired by Mary anointing Jesus's feet.
1 Right here in the presence of loving and grace,
see Judas is scowling, a sneer scars his face.
Anointing with perfume is costly and rare;
this gift could be sold, giving substance to care.
2 What need this affection that Jesus received?
It seemed to go counter to all they believed.
The sale of the perfume could go in the purse,
some pieces of silver, not seen as a curse.
3 Yet this would foreshadow for Judas and Christ,
a scene of betrayal, for greed had enticed
this zealot to grasp for much more than his lot,
through misunderstanding, he'd scheme and he'd plot.
4 For Jesus, anointing would speak of his death,
as love of humanity took his last breath,
but now in this moment a woman knelt down,
her wisdom, perception, would lead to a crown.
5 This act of extravagance, worldly yet wise,
offensive to some, was now opening eyes
to love without measure, to infinite grace,
that minds cannot fathom, nor custom displace.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2015 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: 11 11 11 11
Tune: ST DENIO
In the silent stillness – A hymn reflecting on Hebrew scriptures
A hymn reflecting on Hebrew scriptures – In the silent stillness
1 In the silent, stillness, listen,
God is calling will we hear?
All too often faith has foundered,
grace is muzzled by our fear.
In our rush and haste and hurry
we have lost the time for prayer;
lost the time for conversation,
then we think God is not there.
2 Yet our forebears grasped a promise
of a covenant of grace;
God is faithful to that promise
in this present time and place.
Limitless in application,
boundless in its scope and span;
grace is wide enough for thousands,
here there is no 'also ran'!
3 Spoken to a chosen people
for the nations of the earth,
see God's love is offered freely,
recognising all have worth.
More than milk, than wine or honey,
God has offered, God will give
bread that all may feast, and freely,
all rejoice, that all may live!
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2013 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: ABBOT’S LEIGH
Sometimes the bible seems confused – a hymn inspired by Luke 6: 39 – 49
1 Sometimes the bible seems confused
and full of contradiction
God give us grace to hear your word,
your clear resounding diction.
2 Give us the eyes to see your way
and follow where you lead us,
that through your word, the bread of life
you may fulfill and feed us.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2014, 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: DOMINUS REGIT ME
Not pushing for favours – hymn
Not pushing for favours – a hymn reflecting on Luke 6: 20 – 22
Not pushing for favours, nor craving acceptance,
but waiting in line for our moment to come,
and then love exalts us, affirms and promotes us,
yes this is gospel the, the source and the sum.
God raises the humble, the poor and afflicted,
the ones that society longs to despise.
God's values are different from those we might cherish.
God sees the down-trodden and wills them to rise.
And this is our calling, to set the example,
the gospel imperative lived out through grace,
to turn the world over till those who are hungry
can feast at the banquet prepared in this place.
The table is open, all people are welcome,
the children are dancing, the frail have found care.
The world and it's bounty is here for all people,
with no one excluded, where all learn to share.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2013 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
Tune: WAS LEBET WAS SCHWEBET
As published in The Seed now https://www.theworshipcloud.com/
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