Andrew Pratt
Prayer: God of greatness and glory
Prayer: God of greatness and glory
by Andrew Pratt
God of greatness and glory, God of splendour and surprise, God of cross and manger; God of hope in present danger, Your voice shakes the earth, sounding like thunder, breaking cedars. Your voice is like flames consuming the wilderness. Your nature seems destructive in its power, …
The worst time of year, in the cold of the winter
The worst time of year, in the cold of the winter
by Andrew Pratt
The worst time of year, in the cold of the winter, no time to be travelling, setting abroad, yet here in this story the Magi are coming bringing the riches the world can afford. This frankincense speaks of the prayers of the people, while gold represents all the wealth of the ear…
It seems preposterous arrogance
It seems preposterous arrogance
by Andrew Pratt
It seems preposterous arrogance, that God should choose a man, to signal to the Gentile world, the focus of a plan. Yet this is what St Paul had felt, that he had one clear role to share the love of Christ, the grace of God, from pole to pole. Verse 3-5 follow Tune: GERONTIUS A…
In this common congregation
In this common congregation
by Andrew Pratt
In this common congregation where we've often been before, here among familiar people, meeting God and feeling awe; we are ranked where God has chosen, set with those we might not choose, given tasks that bring us credit, and those where we stand to lose. God has called us to thi…
We stand in awe and wonder at this moment
We stand in awe and wonder at this moment
by Andrew Pratt
We stand in awe and wonder at this moment, we are Your people and You know our worth; the covenant we make with firm intention will set our course for now upon this earth. When we are lost to love and feel abandoned, out in the desert of our doubt and fear, God take us by the han…
What lies behind the universe
What lies behind the universe
by Andrew Pratt
What lies behind the universe, what power of thought or word, can make some sense of all we see, untangle the absurd? With human eyes we gaze beyond the confines of this earth, in sub-atomic particles we seek creation's birth. Reflecting in this self-same way on Jesus works and w…
The spirit that breathed on the waves of the sea
The spirit that breathed on the waves of the sea
by Andrew Pratt
The spirit that breathed on the waves of the sea, is wonder, is wisdom, a cause to be free. Before all creation, her glory was known, with earth as a footstool and heaven her throne. This spirit, this wisdom, then took human flesh, divested of glory, a manger for rest... Verse 2 …
People will gather in praise for creation
People will gather in praise for creation
by Andrew Pratt
People will gather in praise for creation, praise for the love that has brought us to birth. Nations acknowledge a oneness of purpose, this is God’s dream for the whole of the earth. Those who are weeping will find consolation, comfort and peace that the world cannot give... Vers…
Oh where is there love in a world that is tired
Oh where is there love in a world that is tired
by Andrew Pratt
Oh where is there love in a world that is tired, across the year’s threshold, where hope has expired? We wait amid movement, to pause and to pray, to nurture our God at the dawn of each day. Our eyes have been opened, compassion unlocked, the road has been cleared, and the future…
Her first born son, his manger bed
Her first born son, his manger bed
by Andrew Pratt
Her first born son, his manger bed, the straw was where he'd lay his head, his mother resting from the birth, and Joseph wondered at his worth. He held him in his roughened hands, he thought about the world's demands that brought them all to Bethlehem. What prejudice would wait…
The shepherd mind had open eyes
The shepherd mind had open eyes
by Andrew Pratt
The shepherd mind had open eyes to calibrate the worth, to see beyond the poverty divine in human birth. These shepherd hands had held a lamb, had weighed* the new-born flesh. In every birth of lamb or child our hope is born afresh. Verses 3-4 follow *The older word, ‘hef…
O what did it mean to the ones who first heard it
O what did it mean to the ones who first heard it
by Andrew Pratt
O what did it mean to the ones who first heard it? A Wonderful Counsellor? God? Prince of Peace? Or was it a riddle? Divine intervention, a hope in their horror, a way to release? So was there assurance, the darkness illumined, to those knowing shadows the promise of light?... Ve…
Where is Jesus, where is Mary