A hymn inspired by Matthew 11:16-17 Jesus said, “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn'”. The children would follow the peal of your piping, the ring of your reason, the joy of your love, the children would follow, and none would deter them from plateaus so barren to mountains above. And those who are childlike still follow your calling; a calling to suffer, yet dusted with hope. The way to fulfilment, to peace and to plenty. is fissured and rutted but still we will cope. God's joy is the centre of all that we hope for, a calling for everyone, not just for some; the music is moving, can't stop ourselves singing, still Jesus is piping and still people come! Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2006 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: STREETS OF LAREDO
Tag: judgment
A hymn for Holy Week – Rising gloom surrounds the story
Rising gloom surrounds the story, Jesus moves towards the cross, here Jerusalem is waiting, favour swings from gain to loss. Crowds had swarmed in adulation, many came infused with hope. Every person sought an outcome, nothing seemed beyond his scope. Zealots called for liberation, sinners waited on his word, children ran with palms to meet him, felt affirmed by what they heard. Other people simply bustled, thought their lives beyond reproach, when the Lord came riding humbly, hardly noticed his approach. In the temple, tables turning, those in power were disabused as he showed the way to worship for the poor, despised, abused. Choices faced him in the garden, prayer was dry, betrayal lurked; while his closest friends were sleeping, human evil waited, worked. What is left? some trumped-up charges? Self-conceit? Religious hate? Here the Christ still stands before us - time for judgement ... crosses wait. Andrew E. Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2006 © 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 ADORATION (Hunt)
Advent 1 – hymn – This is the time of waiting
Advent – a time of waiting – more than a calendar with sweets, more than an extra candle lit each Sunday, perhaps a time to move from darkness into light, from penitence to praise? A hymn inspired by Isaiah 2:2 2:2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. 1 This is the time of waiting, the calm before the storm, the time of Advent judgement, the coming of the dawn; a time of recollection, of Christ's audacious hope, beyond imagination, outside our human scope. 2 The nations will be gathered, the age will be fulfilled, the judgement be enacted, as Christ had hoped and willed. But for this consummation such birth-pangs will be felt, like rupturing of wine-skins, the earth will heave and melt. 3 For love to be exalted, for hatred to be banned, our human goals must shatter, division must be spanned. A change of mind is needed as we are turned around, to move from desecration, to find love's solid ground. Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2018 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 Tune: AURELIA
Amos 7: 7-17 A pertinent passage… a pertinent hymn… a Prophet and a plumb-line
1 The prophet saw a plumb line simply hanging to sign God's love amid the sons of men, then, with the women, everyone is singing that God will never turn away again. 2 Yet Amos blew the whistle on God's people, a prophet in a time of greed and need, self-righteousness as high as any steeple, spoke of abandonment of law and creed. 3 The powers that be would have him leave the country, yet Amos stood as firm as any rock, the words that he had spoken, quietly, humbly, had power to break the proud, to shake and shock. 4 The judgment was quite plain, for God had spoken, a time for present challenge and for choice; and as words echo through a world still broken, we hesitate to praise or to rejoice. Andrew Pratt, Words © 2015 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, http://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 10 11 10 Tune: INTERCESSOR Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 0000 Copied from HymnQuest: Copyright Licence Users' Edition HymnQuest ID: 14320 CCLI#: null
Hymn of Justice, Harvest and Development – The earth pleads for justice
The earth pleads for justice, the harvest is wanting The earth pleads for justice, the harvest is wanting, in fire, flood or tempest our crops are destroyed; the Spring, once predicted, is desolate, silent, excuses are hollow, we’ve done all we can? The mountains have echoed, or is that God’s whisper, the quiet consternation of one in distress? A prompting, a question that answers our calling, is that your defence, that you’ve done all you can? While continents crumble and ice caps are melting, you sit on your hands, you do nothing at all. Wake up to the danger still growing around you, and do all you can till your passage is through. And now in the present let’s work for the future, still others will follow, they wait in the wings: this planet, its future, its people our neighbours, join hands, sing our anthem: ‘we’ll do All We Can!’ Andrew Pratt 13/9/2021 Written at the request of Margaret Parker for Cheadle Hulme Methodist Church to celebrate All We Can (Methodist Relief and Development) Words © 2021 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: STREETS OF LAREDO/THE BARD OF ARMAGH (Ancient and Modern 551 - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJPxNjLRhEM ); ST CATHERINE’S COURT (Hymns & Psalms 660 - Hymnary - https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/205294 )
hymnsandbooks 