She's the one Christ should have hated
She's the one Christ should have hated
by Andrew Pratt
3rd Sunday in Lent Hymn: She’s the one Christ should have hated She’s the one Christ should have hated, every law set her apart, woman, foreign, faith betrayer, yet compassion warmed his heart. Was he thirsty? Human nature giving us a reason why... Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Word…
Searching seeking people clamoured
Searching seeking people clamoured
by Andrew Pratt
Second Sunday of Advent Year A Matthew 3: 1 – 12Hymn: Searching, seeking, people clamoured, Searching, seeking, people clamoured, heard the noise and saw the crowd. Saw the baptist by the river, calling clear and calling loud. First attracted, then confounded... Andrew Pratt (b…
See how God's holiness, righteousness, judgement
See how God's holiness, righteousness, judgement
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: See how God's holiness, righteousness, judgement Proper 25 year A Leviticus 19: 1-2, 15-18; (Matthew 22: 41 – 46) See how God's holiness, righteousness, judgement run like a sinew of mercy and grace, holding together commandment and spirit, showing how love can be shown in …
See the veins that run through marble
See the veins that run through marble
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: See the veins that run through marble Proper 16 year A Isaiah 51: 1 – 6 See the veins that run through marble, making every slab unique, like them, strands run through our history, through our thoughts and words we speak. We are hewn from living history, formed by comfort, …
See the husks fly through the air
See the husks fly through the air
by Andrew Pratt
See the husks fly through the air, feel the all consuming fire, see the day of God is near, see the flames are licking higher. That's the image John conveys, bringing people to their knees. Is it penitence or fear, stimulates their present pleas? And within this time and place, a…
Times and Seasons - Significant gifts for the child of the manger
Times and Seasons - Significant gifts for the child of the manger
by Andrew Pratt
Significant gifts for the child of the manger, the riches of ages we fathom and find. Imagine the scene, those who knelt are arising, the print of this moment ingrained on each mind. And where will they go now? And where will they wander, these seers who have followed a star thro…
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…
Sometimes our grasp of life is frail
Sometimes our grasp of life is frail
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Sometimes our grasp of life is frail Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119: 105-112 Sometimes our grasp of life is frail, yet through it all love will prevail. We feel that every step is cursed, believing things can not get worse. In spite of all, we keep our faith, hel…
Sometimes all justice seems a joke
Sometimes all justice seems a joke
by Andrew Pratt
1 Sometimes all justice seems a joke, we see love sink and drown, as anarchy and violence rule, the poor are trodden down. 2 And all is lost, audacious grace, seems vain, a hopeless thought; until we bring to mind again what Jesus lived and taught: 3 T…
Some king, who hangs as others taunt
Some king, who hangs as others taunt
by Andrew Pratt
Some king, who hangs as others taunt, and sling their insults fuelled with hate. Here love was nailed as blood was drained, this was no sordid trick of fate. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: ABENDS; WINCHESTER NEW Metre: LM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 11/11/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd,…
Sometimes convictions deep within
Sometimes convictions deep within
by Andrew Pratt
Sometimes convictions deep within can energise our action, to move us in another way, to find a new direction. God's spirit speaks within each mind, but like the sense of conscience is easy for us to avoid, a trick of our sub-conscious. Verses 3-5 follow Tune: BARBARA ALLEN; DOMI…
Some voice! it splinters beams of cedar
Some voice! it splinters beams of cedar
by Andrew Pratt
Some voice! it splinters beams of cedar, it flashes out in flames of fire, it thunders over mighty waters, it makes the theme of praise run higher. The shaking earth moves with that thunder, the ground is rattled, rough and raw; this quaking land disturbs the ocean, destructive w…
So many people, flawed and faulted
So many people, flawed and faulted
by Andrew Pratt
So many people, flawed and faulted, had come to Christ in hope of health, to be restored, to be accepted, was worth much more to them than wealth. Yet grace was free, as was forgiveness, God does not trade in things of need, but others said that Christ offended and undermined the…
Stirring, dancing, flaming Spirit
Stirring, dancing, flaming Spirit
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Stirring, dancing, flaming Spirit Acts 2: 1 – 21 Stirring, dancing, flaming Spirit, ground of being, source of light; breathing at the world's creation, shining words through human night. Lives that once had been forsaken, shells of people, lost bereft, find the Spirit's re…
Sometimes we wonder at the work
Sometimes we wonder at the work
by Andrew Pratt
Sometimes we wonder at the work of God whose name we praise, for God is not bent to our wants, nor to our words or ways. Our thoughts and actions, every rite, contain no magic powers. We have to let the Spirit blow through other lives and ours. Verses 3-5 follow Tune: AULD LANG S…
Song/Hymn: See your brother in each man you meet