Tag: trust

Churning waves unsettled Peter – a hymn inspired by Matthew 14: 22-33

Matthew 14: 22-33 - the faith to walk on water – 12 Aug

1	Churning waves unsettled Peter, 
	startled, he was sinking fast, 
	he'd been walking on the water, 
	seemed this moment could not last.
	Jesus reached a hand to save him, 
	lifted him above the swell.
	Fainting faith seemed to have left him, 
	Jesus knew this all too well.
	
2	In the boat things seemed much safer 
	but his friends, now overawed, 
	knew again, the truth was dawning, 
	this man Jesus was their Lord. 
	Even wind and waves obeyed him, 
	here God's nature was betrayed;
	when we're sinking God still lifts us, 
	love and grace are still displayed.

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
Metre8 7 8 7 D
Tune: CALON LAN

How do we imagine beauty – Against a bleak backdrop a contrast…helpful? …a new text.

How do we imagine beauty - Against a bleak backdrop something of a contrast...helpful? I hope...a completely new text. 

How do we imagine beauty, 
wonder, words cannot express? 
Something felt, beyond our vision, 
love incarnate, nothing less?
Here and now all life is timeless,
here we're lifted out of self, 
now beyond all expectation,
human sense, or worldly wealth.

Can eternity be fathomed?
Glimpse the feeling, sense the sound, 
breathe the spirit of creation,
ground of being, sought and found.
Here a mystery unravels, 
yet withheld from human sight:
simply trust, with faith the given, 
God is beauty, love and light.

Andrew Pratt written 22/6/2025
Words 2025 © 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: CALON LAN

‘Trust in God we cannot see’ – a hymn of faith by Marjorie Dobson

‘Trust in God we cannot see' – a hymn of faith by Marjorie Dobson

1	Trust in a God we cannot see
	turns reason inside out.
	Faith is a rough and winding road
	with stumbling blocks of doubt.

2	We follow where we think God leads,
	although the road seems strange:
	but faith demands an open mind
	and willingness to change.

3	When crisis clouds of doubt disturb
	and shake our faith with fear,
	it can be hard to trust that God
	will, one day, make things clear.

4	Yet when God’s call breaks through again,
	persistent as before,
	the choice is plain: ignore, stagnate,
	or fire our faith once more.

Marjorie Dobson (born 1940)
Words © 2019 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: CM
Tune: LONDON NEW
Published in Unravelling the Mysteries

Always looking for a sign – hymn inspired by John 6: 24 – 35

Always looking for a sign - John 6: 24-35

1	Always looking for a sign, 
	never seeing what is there, 
	people searching for some proof 
	fixing Jesus with a stare.
	
2	Standing lost and so bemused, 
	hoping for some broken bread, 
	Jesus meets their ignorance, 
	people needing to be fed.
	
3	Not some massive miracle, 
	simply trusting given grace, 
	this the message that they heard, 
	and they saw within his face.
	
4	And today that look survives, 
	all our needs are felt and met, 
	hope is spoken to each life, 
	love will live and not forget.  

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2012 Stainer and 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 7 7 7
Tune: BATTISHILL; EMMA

A troubled soul – a hymn for Lent 5

A troubled soul, the Christ of God – inspired by John 12: 20-33

1	A troubled soul, the Christ of God, 
	humanity exposed, 
	with all the turmoil that we feel, 
	when choices are proposed.
	The monumental choice he faced, 
	the crisis must be met, 
	to take the path of love to death, 
	or turn away, forget.
	
2	The riddle of the grain of wheat 
	was told with fear and dread, 
	yet mention of new fruit gives hope 
	that God might raise the dead. 
	The loss of life, the gain of life 
	are tangled in this game, 
	yet those who live in love of God 
	are held within love's frame.
	
3	So Jesus chose and we must choose, 
	which path we are to take, 
	the one which will deny God's love 
	or cause the earth to quake.
	God give us courage to deny 
	the self that harbours hate, 
	to trust in your eternal grace, 
	before it is too late.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2012 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: DCM
Tune: ELLACOMBE