Tag: love

A hymn for the reality of Jesus’ birth –  Christmas Day

1         Bloodied baby, cradled gently
           at a manger birth.
           Bloodied saviour, injured, dying,
           taking leave of earth.
           Love incarnate demonstrating
           all the depth of human worth.

2         In each death a resurrection
           hidden yet from sight;
           in our life’s humiliation,
           healing, softened light.
           Hope has risen, death no prison,
           love has banished endless night.

3         Slightest light then burning glory
           sets the earth ablaze,
           morning light of love’s own story,
           kindles all our praise;
           in the garden, quietly waking,
           see the Lord of years and days.

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 5 8 5 8 7 Tune: ANGEL VOICES

A hymn for Christmas Day - Bloodied baby, cradled gently at a manger birth

1 	Bloodied baby, cradled gently
	at a manger birth.
	Bloodied saviour, injured, dying,
	taking leave of earth.
	Love incarnate demonstrating
	all the depth of human worth.

2 	In each death a resurrection
	hidden yet from sight;
	in our life’s humiliation,
	healing, softened light.
	Hope has risen, death no prison,
	love has banished endless night.

3 	Slightest light then burning glory
	sets the earth ablaze,
	morning light of love’s own story,
	kindles all our praise;
	in the garden, quietly waking,
	see the Lord of years and days.

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 5 8 5 8 7
Tune: ANGEL VOICES



The sound of history humming – ‘a thief within the night’?

The sound of history humming – but what next, ‘a thief within the night’? 
Matthew 24: 43

1	The sound of history humming,
	as light and matter form,
	as galaxies are clustered
	within a cosmic storm;
	philosophers imagine
	while science gathers facts,
	we reach for understanding,
	yet what we know contracts.

2	We delved beyond the present
	through interstellar gas;
	we fathom, seek to measure,
	a sub-atomic mass.
	The God that we conceive of,
	a thief within the night,
	we cannot gauge this treasure
	beyond the scale of light.

3	As yet the mystery blinds us,
	confined by birth and death,
	but human exploration
	will not discard the quest;
	as yet we live in tension:
	the only earth we know
	is where all skill and science
	must help our love to grow.

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.
Metre: 7 6 7 6 D
Tune: AURELIA; VICTORY PARADE (Ian Sharp)


A hymn in anticipation of Advent – The crash of constellations

A hymn in anticipation of Advent - The crash of constellations

1	The crash of constellations, 
	where prejudice divides, 
	where love is torn and broken, 
	where hatred still resides, 
	is where we meet as equals 
	and share what God has given, 
	diversity in concord,  			
	a foretaste of God's heaven.
	
2	This is the time for praying,
	yet prayer is not the end, 
	for reconciliation
	needs grace that God will send.
	And in that grace our vision, 
	our eyes are opened wide,
	to see Christ in the other, 
	and then we must decide:
	
3	Is love of God yet greater 
	than human words and creeds?
	Is love of neighbour furnished
	by human loving deeds?
	And can we live together
	or must we be apart,
	because of human diff'rence
	though we are one in heart?
	
4	God give us grace to fathom 
	the riches of your care,
	and then the strength to shoulder
	the ministry we bear;
	that working with each other
	acknowledging the worth
	of love we share together
	we'll spread your peace on earth.

Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2009 © 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 7 6 
Tune: THORNBURY


Hope is built in present moments – hymn inspired by Isaiah 65: 17 – 25 (now with tune)

Hope is built in present moments – hymn with tune - inspired by Isaiah 65: 17 – 25 

1	Hope is built in present moments, 
	times of visions, times of dreams, 
	times when love transcends the present, 
	long outlasting human schemes.
	
2	Hope will open gates of promise, 
	herald dawns of glorious light, 
	help us live within this moment, 
	lead us onward from the night.
	
3	Hope is more than mists of fortune, 
	hope is more than fear or fate, 
	here through faith's imagination, 
	love transforms our present state.
	
4	We will find a new beginning 
	built on truths instead of lies, 
	built on love of every neighbour,
	love that will confound the 'wise'.

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
Tunes: LAUS DEO; ST OSWALD

New tune written by Frances S. Drake reproduced with permission -

Enquiries for use of music to Hymncat@gmail.com

One day, I dream, our children will not hunger – hymn – inspired by the story of Zacchaeus

One day, I dream, our children will not hunger – inspired by Zacchaeus 

One day, I dream, our children will not hunger:
when I have put aside my grasping greed,
when neighbours are true friends we love and cherish,
when hand in hand we meet each human need.

I long to greet that day when human crying
is heard no more upon this ravaged earth,
when children grow in hope and not in horror, 
not fearful of food’s scarcity or dearth.

I scan the distance, glimpsing heaven’s embers, 
an afterglow of all that might have been, 
reminding of what still might be before us 
if we can act with love within this scene.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2023 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
LORD OF THE YEARS
O PERFECT LOVE
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