God is with us – Mary and Joseph becoming parents of Jesus
1 God is with us, Joseph heard it,
in a dream in deepest sleep:
Mary's child, they'd call him Jesus,
now he had a vow to keep;
bound together in God's purpose,
he and Mary made their way
to the census in the city,
waiting for God's chosen day.
2 So they pause within the tension;
fallow moment, time to pray;
parents looking for protection,
what would follow day on day?
Tiny fingers, gurgles, crying,
Mary feeding as they go,
God is with them in this baby,
God would learn and God would grow.
3 Enigmatic gift and promise,
Mary pondered in her heart,
Joseph just as challenged, puzzled,
had to learn a father's part.
Now we look back on the story,
time contracted, one life's span,
Jesus human, here among us,
terror waits as life began.
Andrew Pratt (born 1948) based on Matthew 1:18-25
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: AUSTRIA
Tag: Joseph
Christmas Hymn – Long shadows fell across the floor
Long shadows fell across the floor – the first Christmas
1 Long shadows fell across the floor,
the sign of early morning light,
as Jesus gasped a human breath
and stars were fading from the night.
2 His parents waited for this dawn,
a dawn of love, of faith and grace.
But could a little baby boy
be God born in this horrid place?
3 The angels heralded such hope:
that God is very real and near,
and in the person of the Christ
love entered life and cast out fear.
4 We hear the angel song again,
today the story is re-told,
that in that squalid manger bed
our God was laid and love took hold;
5 Took hold of every willing heart,
began to build with child-like hope
a way of loving and of life
to challenge narrow human scope.
6 But then as now the season passed,
the seeming fairy tale had gone.
Sophistication countered truth.
In childlike hearts, hope lingers on.
Andrew E. Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2004 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
Tune: WAREHAM
Genesis Week 4 – Joseph and his brothers
When we bear a grudge that's lasting - Genesis Week 4
1 When we bear a grudge that's lasting,
eating us from deep within,
it can cripple solid friendships,
losing where love ought to win.
2 When his brothers came to see him
it was hard to read his mind
would a cancer eat his kindness,
would his sight of love be blind?
3 Joseph disabused his brothers,
restitution was his aim;
would that we could be as humble,
putting peace ahead of gain.
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: LAUS DEO (Redhead)
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