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
Tag: fishermen
Christ netted fishermen – the first disciples
Christ netted fishermen, called them to follow,
challenged them squarely, called each one by name;
hearing the carpenter they would be joiners,
lives changed forever, they’d not be the same.
On down through ages the people have wondered,
wandered, exploring then what it might mean
if they could risk it, to mirror this hist’ry
joining the narrative, sharing each scene.
Now in this moment, then, let us consider:
dare we love freely the outcast, despised,
reach out with kindness to those now rejected,
in them see Jesus, though lost or disguised.
Andrew Pratt
Words © 2024 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: 11.10.11.10
Tune: EPIPHANY HYMN
One week on from Easter Sunday, a hymn with echoes of the story: ‘Such enchantment, sudden strangeness’
One week on from Easter Sunday, a hymn with echoes of the story: Such enchantment, sudden strangeness... 1 Such enchantment, sudden strangeness, Power and love, by God, distilled; Then they recognise his presence, By his words their fears are stilled. 'Peace be with you', Simon Peter, John, you need not be afraid; 'Peace be with you', doubting Thomas, Don't be anxious or dismayed. 2 In the garden he saw Mary, Talked with her, unrecognised; Naming her drew back the curtain, Opened tear-stained, blinded eyes. Others walking to Emmaus Talked, depressed, their sadness showed, Till at last, their journey ended, Broken bread their Lord disclosed. 3 Fishing, from a boat, some saw him, They had trawled, had felt forlorn; Recognition added savour To their breakfast at the dawn. As we go about our business Bring enchantment to our lives; Open eyes that we might know the Love from which our peace derives. Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2000 © 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. 8.7.8.7.D Tune: HYFRYDOL
Always missing, never grasping – hymn for the Third Sunday of Easter
Always missing, never grasping, hope amid this shifting sea, coast and haven seem remote now, too far off to harbour me. Yet those fishermen are telling news that I can't comprehend, news that Jesus is still living, hasn't met his final end. But I saw his body hanging silhouetted like a sail, blood was draining, rigor rising, movement quietened, life gone pale. Now they say that sail is filling, spirit billows drive him on, Christ is cresting all disaster, life returns and death is gone. Yet unless I see the bow wave, feel the tiller in my hand, sense the tautness of the lanyard, I can hardly understand. Source of wind and wave, my sailor, give me faith to grasp this news, you are living, death defying, heaven, earth and joy will fuse. 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: 8 7 8 7 D Tune: LEWIS FOLK MELODY
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