Shattered people round a table
Shattered people round a table
by Andrew Pratt
Shattered people round a table, reaching out and taking bread, thinking thoughts that they’ll remember, some things thought, but left unsaid. Wine they drank was meant for sharing, Jesus spoke of his own blood, bread was broken, like his body. Could they fathom where he stood? Ve…
Hymn - What was the weather like that day
Hymn - What was the weather like that day
by Andrew Pratt
What was the weather like that day? Cold, wet and overcast with rain, or bright and warm with sun and clouds? What formed the back cloth to this pain? What motivated those who came, to watch this scene, to play this game? There is so much we do not know, save tortured death withi…
One each side, they hung discarded
One each side, they hung discarded
by Andrew Pratt
One each side, they hung discarded, human garbage left to rot. People jeering, heckling, teasing - just a side-show? awful plot? Soldiers hammered, people clamoured, flesh was torn and limbs were bent. ‘God forgive, O God forgive them’; Jesus’ words had clear intent. Verses 2-3 f…
This is God born in a stable
This is God born in a stable
by Andrew Pratt
Philippians 2: 1 – 13 Hymn: This is God born in a stable This is God born in a stable. This is God hung on a cross. This is Christ, our God incarnate, knowing gain and sharing loss. This is God yet fully human, walking down a street in time. This is God yet faulted language makes…
Where bodies hang in bloody torment
Where bodies hang in bloody torment
by Andrew Pratt
Where bodies hang in bloody torment, as once prefigured by the cross, we see again in coarse oppression, such human hate and human loss. The nails once hammered through Christ’s body, are now replaced with guns or wire, sophisticated ways of torture, yet no less sharp the fear th…
Such blasphemous extravagance
Such blasphemous extravagance
by Andrew Pratt
Such blasphemous extravagance as limb is torn from limb; expense is unaccountable, is this the final sin? There is no god, yet pain is god, and God is very real, amid the carnage and the fear, the hatred that we feel And did God look through human eyes and touch with human hand…
God's wondrous love
God's wondrous love
by Norman J Goreham (1931-2021)
This hymn is based on words of St. Hippolytus of Rome (c 170-c 236): “This tree, wide as the heavens itself, has grown up into heaven from the earth. It is an immortal growth and towers between heaven and earth. It is the fulcrum of all things…the centre of the cosmos.”
Hymn - Now is the judgment of the world
Hymn - Now is the judgment of the world
by Andrew Pratt
Now is the judgment of the world, the crisis that we face, the magnet of God's dying love, the choice of hate or grace. To move where God's attraction draws, to follow with the flow, to stand defiant, out of line, to stay, or yet to go. Verses 3-4 follow © Andrew Pratt 21/2/2012 …
Hymn - Who shares this wine? Who dips this bread
Hymn - Who shares this wine? Who dips this bread
by Andrew Pratt
Who shares this wine? Who dips this bread? Was Judas hesitant or calm, the moment Jesus sent him out to raise that awful, crazed alarm? The others looked around, askance, not sure what this might sign or seal. They whispered, questioned; all too soon resumed this fated, final mea…
What waste of Godly grace and love
What waste of Godly grace and love
by Andrew Pratt
'What waste of Godly grace and love, this perfume cast away, what waste of money, see the poor before us everyday'. But Judas, driven by his greed, was filling up his purse; and through inherent selfishness perhaps our ways are worse. Verses 3-4 follow TUNE: ST BERNARD Andrew P…
The buried grain, the hidden seed
The buried grain, the hidden seed
by Andrew Pratt
The buried grain, the hidden seed, that's deep within the earth, though dead to sight, and out of mind, will spring again to birth. And we will stand to lose our lives, the wine skins will be torn: to be a Christian has a cost, through death we are re-born. Verses 3-4 follow TUNE…
Our Easter Hope (Living Flame)