Hymn: We strain to hear the voice of God
We strain to hear the voice of God,
this God who knows us inside out,
a whispered voice of gentleness
that never seeks to force or shout.
Christ's voice was heard in Galilee
by those who had the ears to hear,
he challenged hypocrites with truth
while sinners, sensing love, drew near.
His crazy, crafted way of life,
gave little hint where it might lead,
and yet the people followed him,
each word of Christ met hidden need;
for he addressed with present sense
a desert way of wilderness,
or else the intellectual task
within the city's busyness.
'Come follow me', hear Jesus say,
to those who answered to his call;
and in our present time and place
may we respond and give our all. Amen.
Andrew Pratt 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 8 8 8
Tune: GONFALON ROYAL
Second Sunday after Epiphany, 1 Samuel 3: 1-10 (11-20), Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; John 1:43-51
Tag: wilderness
A Hymn for the Beginning of Lent – Jesus’ temptation
A Hymn for the beginning of Lent – Jesus’ temptation Wild wilderness, pathetic desolation, as Jesus walked, then rested for the night, for forty days his strength was tried and tested, for forty days he sifted wrong and right. He woke to hunger tangled in his being, what miracle might turn these stones to bread? But God within the centre of his spirit was food enough to keep his body fed. His faith was such that it could move a mountain and God could save him from the greatest fall. But faith like this need not be tried or tested; the love of God will never slip or stall. He climbed the mountain, saw the world in splendour, then thought of ruling all his eyes could see; yet power like this was not the thing he needed - devoid of wealth he'd set the people free. Beyond temptation love would live incarnate, his human flesh would laugh and cry and weep, in Christ God's love and grace would not diminish, dynamic love would never die nor sleep. 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: SM Metre: 11 10 11 10 Tune: INTERCESSOR
Life now with Covid-19 – We cannot see the future (hymn/poem)
We cannot see the future,
nor live as in the past,
our time the present moment,
yet know this will not last.
But can a human construct
give answers or make sense
as everyone will struggle
with this, the present tense?
Our understanding staggers,
but what can history prove?
What scripture has a message
to help us rest or move?
The wilderness was testing
a place to learn and think,
a sudden unthought action
might push us to the brink.
So in this present moment
the greatest gift is time,
a time of recollection
before life’s upward climb.
And can our faith sustain us?
Or simple human love?
While waiting in the valley
we lift our eyes above.
The heavens will not answer,
but through each silent night
the stars might make us wonder
at their insistent light.
We live within an instant,
as finite as our breath,
suspended in a moment
between our life and death.
What matters in this moment
is how we love and live,
is how we treat each other,
of how we share and give;
to speculate is pointless,
this is the earth we know,
this edifice of living:
what will OUR loving show?
Andrew Pratt 5/5/2020
Words © 2020 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.
Tunes: THORNBURY; CRUGER
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