The shells which cup such precious pearls – The Pearl of Great Price
The shells which cup such precious pearls
are like our hands that cradle hope,
which reach to others out of love;
we seek assurance, strength to cope.
The pearls that hold a core of grit
are like the grace that we have found,
though life is troubled, sharp and sour,
God folds in love, that’s sure and sound.
And so with hands like open shells
we offer pearls of greatest price,
the spirit's power, the grace of God
and Jesus' loving sacrifice.
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: LM
Tune: BRESLAU
Tag: love
God is your source of strength and help – based on Psalm 121
God is your source of strength and help – based on Psalm 121
God is your source of strength and help,
ground of this changing, cosmic scheme;
you need not look beyond the hills,
God folds you close in love unseen.
God never sleeps by day or night,
God's love will never lose its grip;
your God will never let you down,
your foot will never slide or slip.
The hottest sun will bring no harm,
nor will the moon bring hurt or fear
for God has guarded you with care,
and love will always hold you near.
Each journey that you make in life,
your coming in, your going out,
will show how much God loves you still,
through every danger, fear or doubt.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2002 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: LM
Tune: NIAGARA
Windermere – copyright Andrew Pratt 2026
The finest detail of our lives – a hymn as we age… (Matthew 10: 24-39)
The finest detail of our lives – a hymn as we age… (Matthew 10: 24-39)
1 The finest detail of our lives
is held by God with care and grace,
while every chance and change that comes,
our loss of hair, lines on our face,
can signal wisdom time has borne,
within each context, in each place.
2 Yet grace and hope and love remain,
as faith is nurtured till mature.
Though we can know both scorn and hurt,
while held by God we stand secure;
God is the centre of our hope
as long as love and life endure.
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 8 8 D Tune: ABINGDON
Created by HymnQuest.com
With daring we enter the future that beckons – a hymn for new beginnings (Matthew 28: 16-20)
With daring we enter the future that beckons –
a hymn for new beginnings (Matthew 28: 16-20)
With daring we enter the future that beckons,
our feelings in tension - excitement and fear.
Wherever we're walking we know God walks with us,
before and behind, God's protection is near.
Alone in the desert God's people felt empty,
the land that was promised of honey and milk
seemed distant, reality made hope distorted,
clothed them with despairing, more sackcloth than silk.
And sometimes the way that we find in the present
has troubles and heartaches enough of its own;
but still God walks with us through valleys of darkness,
encompassed with loving, we're never alone.
So welcome the future and enter it boldly,
look back, God was with you wherever you trod.
This God is your lover through life and forever,
take hold of the certainty: this is your God.
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: 12 11 12 11
Tunes: WAS LEBET, WAS SCHWEBET
Created by HymnQuest.com
Pentecost – a hymn ‘Is this a void, or just a time of challenge?’
Pentecost signalled a time for a new start? A time of change for the disciples. For us? – a hymn ‘Is this a void, or just a time of challenge?’
Is this a void, or just a time of challenge,
a new found joy, beginning or an end?
Yet God has travelled with us on this journey
along with each acquaintance, neighbour, friend.
And will God leave us as we travel onward,
abandon us to all the future holds?
But God, is here, behind us and before us,
as every chance is greeted and unfolds.
So God, we offer thanks for every blessing,
for times of care and gifting, now long past,
and hand in hand we seek a common purpose,
assured that love and grace are sure to last.
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:11 10 11 10
Tune: INTERCESSOR
Created by HymnQuest.com
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