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Beyond this world of doubt and desperation
Beyond this world of doubt and desperation
by Andrew Pratt
Beyond this world of doubt and desperation the seed of love was cast upon this earth, that all might know that love, before creation, had called all human life to come to birth. At first this love was seen through incarnation, God leaving trails of glory, holding grace, to come a…
Cedars of Lebanon, oaks of old England
Cedars of Lebanon, oaks of old England
by Andrew Pratt
Cedars of Lebanon, oaks of old England, elegant poplars along country roads, trees mark a heritage, hope for the future, holding our history and bearing our loads. Hurricanes harass these trees by uprooting years of their growing, investment and toil, earthquakes unsettle the thi…
God makes a mockery of death
God makes a mockery of death
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: God makes a mockery of death Sixth Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 3: 13 – 22 God makes a mockery of death, the Spirit is consistent, an Advocate will keep our part, in this Christ is insistent. We are not orphans, will not be beyond God's loving Spirit. And all that Christ has be…
God resists a partial judgment
God resists a partial judgment
by Andrew Pratt
God resists a partial judgment, spinning justice in the air, mercy breathes in word and action when the Spirit's breath is there. Here the wicked face comeuppance, here the weak are heard at last, where each human word and action counts for more than prayer or fast. Verses 3-4 fo…
Here in cosmic signs and symbols
Here in cosmic signs and symbols
by Andrew Pratt
Here in cosmic signs and symbols Amos warns of things to come, words that tumble, words that rumble, words that sing and words that drum. Fruit will rot within a basket, summer fruit once offered hope, now as mildew is predicted how will faithful people cope? Verses 3-5 follow Tu…
HYMN - God we lose our moral compass
HYMN - God we lose our moral compass
by Andrew Pratt
God, we lose our moral compass, stagger blindly, miss the mark, wander deep in self-deception, finding life is cold and stark; in our darkness, in our hunger, in the shadows bring your spark. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: MANNHEIM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 12/2/2010 Stainer &…
Hymn: Great God of change and constant contradiction
Hymn: Great God of change and constant contradiction
by Andrew Pratt
Great God of change and constant contradiction, we sense your presence everywhere we go; while you transcend all human understanding, our praise on earth will sing, will rise and grow. How can we reach beyond our human compass? Great God, your grace can bring us to our knees. Our…
In our end is our beginning
In our end is our beginning
by Andrew Pratt
In our end is our beginning, cosmic riddle of our birth, why the Alpha and Omega came in flesh and came to birth. Death will no more signal ending, love survives beyond this life, not diminished or extinguished by our common human strife. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: DIJON Metre: 8.7.…
Love that breaks the heart of God
Love that breaks the heart of God
by Andrew Pratt
Love that breaks the heart of God, love of Israel, you or me, love that taught a child to walk, has the power to set us free. Loving kindness now ignored, people turn their backs on grace, turn away from faith and hope, fear to see God's loving face. Verse 2 follows Tune: ABERYST…
Not in some future span of time
Not in some future span of time
by Andrew Pratt
Not in some future span of time, but every moment that we live, is when to trust the grace of God, to offer love and to forgive. Now is the hour to realise the height and depth, the breadth and length of love in which our lives are held, God's everlasting grace and strength. Vers…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Sunday: Week 3 in Lent Year A
Lent for Everyone Year A - Sunday: Week 3 in Lent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Lent For Everyone WEEK 3: SUNDAY Psalm 95 A small boy I knew asked his grandfather, a retired priest, what ‘worship’ meant. The old man paused. He was over 80 years of age, he said; he had been a clergyman most of his life; and he still found it hard to say exactly what ‘worshi…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Lord of The Flies
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Lord of The Flies
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Lord of the Flies 2 Kings 1:2-18 There are more positive and less positive understandings of human nature. The word zebub means fly, so the title “Master Zebub” or “Lord Zebub” would mean “Lord Fly” or “Lord of the Fly.” Now Lord of the Flies was a mid-twentieth-century novel by …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Third Sunday of Easter Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Third Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Third Sunday of Easter - Year A Acts 2.14a, 36–41 1 Peter 1.17–23 Luke 24.13–35 In his poem, ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’,1 W. B. Yeats pictures a man so consumed with longing for home that even in the middle of a busy street, all he hears is the sound of the lake, more real …
Poem: O what a place for living, divine accommodation
Poem: O what a place for living, divine accommodation
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: O what a place for living, divine accommodation O what a place for living, divine accommodation; the dwelling place of God through every generation. Here swallows sweeping, rest from endless navigation; find a safer place, a nest for pro-creation. The cosmos is exultant, wh…
Poem: The Psalmist reckoned fools were unbelieving