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Anyone here in this small/great congregation
Anyone here in this small/great congregation
by Andrew Pratt
Anyone here in this small/great congregation seeing injustice might challenge or fight; stand against poverty, work for inclusion of those derided, excluded by spite. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: IN THE BEGINNING GOD PLAYED WITH THE PLANETS or STEWARDSHIP Metre: 11 10 11 10 Dactylic …
Fire and hail and snow and frost
Fire and hail and snow and frost
by Andrew Pratt
Fire and hail and snow and frost, trees in bud, then leaves are lost, yet the wind and storms that passed give the hint that love will last. all creation came to birth, all creation is of worth, Let your voices soar above, sing of God's eternal love. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: HUMIL…
Hymn: On these days of feast and freedom
Hymn: On these days of feast and freedom
by Andrew Pratt
On these days of feast and freedom when we recollect God's grace, let us dance and sing together, greet each other face to face. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: RUSSION AIR (arranged Peacok, Jubilate, in Carol Praise 48 and elsewhere), ST ANDREW (Thorne) Metre: 8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt …
Hymn: Doubt, composed in whispered voices
Hymn: Doubt, composed in whispered voices
by Andrew Pratt
Doubt, composed in whispered voices, nailed their thoughts through waiting days: days of shattered expectation, days devoid of love or praise. Boulders blocked imagination like the stone that sealed the tomb, startled, frightened, apprehensive, shut inside an upper room. Verses 2…
Hymn: Divided nations but one parent
Hymn: Divided nations but one parent
by Andrew Pratt
Divided nations but one parent, the God of one and God of all; and now in praise and joyful worship as nations sing, each voice will call. Then through the wealth of grace and glory, may God's own Spirit fill each heart, until in Christ we all are rooted, within one ground to bea…
Hymn: In the depth of deep recession
Hymn: In the depth of deep recession
by Andrew Pratt
In the depth of deep recession hopeless, helpless here we stand; all around new fears are waking anxious thoughts throughout this land. While some live in wealth and comfort, others struggle to be fed; mothers queue at new-found food banks, others look to find a bed. Verses 2-3 f…
Hymn: Imagine people gathered round
Hymn: Imagine people gathered round
by Andrew Pratt
Imagine people gathered round, the day was warm, the sun was low. The mist was rising from the lake, the mood was holy, lowly, slow. Toward the evening they had come, expectant, waiting for his word. The day was long, they rested tired, and looking, his compassion stirred. Verses…
Hymn: Love as we, ourselves, know loving
Hymn: Love as we, ourselves, know loving
by Andrew Pratt
Love as we, ourselves, know loving, in this way we will be blessed; get this right and all will follow: such a very simple test. And this test is in the action, not in claims of faith or creed, but in ways we serve each other, meeting one another's need. Verses 3-5 follow Tune: C…
Hymn: The Psalmist calls for new songs praising God
Hymn: The Psalmist calls for new songs praising God
by Andrew Pratt
The Psalmist calls for new songs praising God but we prefer familiar words and ways. We hold and cage and mould God to our will, defending customs smothering our praise. A world-wide pool of images and grace informs our faith, re-vitalises hope, and so our view, so narrow and obs…
Hymn: The world is a-turning, God set it a spinning
Hymn: The world is a-turning, God set it a spinning
by Andrew Pratt
The world is a-turning, God set it a spinning, and preachers and prophets are catching the wave; the Baptist is setting the tone for the future, come trust and repent and believe God can save. The soldiers and taxmen first heard this man preaching with fearless extravagance chall…
Hymn: Visions of paradise: heaven disclosing
Hymn: Visions of paradise: heaven disclosing
by Andrew Pratt
Visions of paradise: heaven disclosingsomething of beauty, of joy and delight; colours cascading that shimmer before us, tempting from darkness to temples of light. But we are grounded, the earth pulls, constrains us, keeping us close to the things that we know. Ours is the commo…
Once crimson poppies bloomed
Once crimson poppies bloomed
by Andrew Pratt
Once crimson poppies bloomed out in a foreign field, each memory reminds where brutal death was sealed. The crimson petals flutter down, still hatred forms a thorny crown. For in this present time we wait in vain for peace, each generation cries, each longing for release, while w…
What news is good? That Christ will live forever?
What news is good? That Christ will live forever?
by Andrew Pratt
What news is good? That Christ will live forever? Beyond a cruel death an empty grave? And whether this is fact or faith means nothing unless Christ's Spirit gives the means to save. If we endure derision, in this moment, or share communion bread within this place, unless our liv…
When nations are healed and all warfare is banished
When nations are healed and all warfare is banished
by Andrew Pratt
When nations are healed and all warfare is banished, the hungry are fed and the poor lifted high, the vision of glory, God's presence among us, will signify love and all hatred will die. The river of life will flow on unpolluted, the language we share will express common wealth, …
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Climax of the Narrative
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Climax of the Narrative
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Rhetoric of Empire (III) The Climax of the Narrative Even if the Augustan age had built no temples, conquered no foreign nations, erected no statues and established no new dynasty, it would still rightly be world-famous for its astonishing output of literature. There were,…
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…
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…
Strange holiness: the glory of the Godhead