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A stranger who would be a friend to people
A stranger who would be a friend to people
by Andrew Pratt
First Sunday after Christmas Day Isaiah 63: 7 – 9 Hymn: A stranger who would be a friend to people A stranger who would be a friend to people, to hold and fold within the arms of love, a shaking, stirring, challenger of nations, yes, this is God, in whom we live and move.... An…
A twisting wind that wreaks such devastation
A twisting wind that wreaks such devastation
by Andrew Pratt
A twisting wind that wreaks such devastation, a town like matchwood torn and turned around; an act of God? Or nature's self destruction? Here people die, trees rooted from the ground. It seems there is no safety in this carnage. And where is God when random death walks in destro…
Wild wilderness pathetic desolation
Wild wilderness pathetic desolation
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Wild wilderness, pathetic desolation First Sunday in Lent Year A Matthew 4: 1 – 11 Wild wilderness, pathetic desolation, as Jesus walked, then rested for the night, for forty days his strength was tried and tested, for forty days he sifted wrong and right. He woke to hunger…
Anonymous you come among the nations
Anonymous you come among the nations
by Andrew Pratt
Anonymous you come among the nations, outside the door of synagogue or church, and what you say will shake the world's foundations, will make the sinner sing, the righteous lurch. You come with grace, not seeking any favours, except a cup of water for your thirst, and those dismi…
God’s grace extends beyond our comprehension
God’s grace extends beyond our comprehension
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: God’s grace extends beyond our comprehension Proper 19 Year A Matthew 18: 21-35 God’s grace extends beyond our comprehension, beyond the limits that we put on love. God calls us to forgiveness and redemption, sometimes the bar is just too high above. When we are wronged God…
Hymn: Flint-faced against all fears and all disasters
Hymn: Flint-faced against all fears and all disasters
by Andrew Pratt
Flint-faced against all fears and all disasters, while squaring up to those who wish us harm, we trust in God for now, and what comes after, and hope for grace to mend, to soothe and calm. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: INTERCESSOR Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 17/2/2012 Stainer & …
Hymn: Hypocrisy destroys our best intentions
Hymn: Hypocrisy destroys our best intentions
by Andrew Pratt
Hypocrisy destroys our best intentions, and Jesus read the hearts of those he met. His challenge, never veiled, caused consternation with words that those who heard would not forget. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: INTERCESSOR Metre: 11.10.11.10 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 19/10…
Hymn: Our problem God: your enigmatic presence
Hymn: Our problem God: your enigmatic presence
by Andrew Pratt
Our problem God: your enigmatic presence, will challenge who we are and seek to be, you call us through the mists of exploration to follow paths that guide, yet set us free. We seek a deeper focus for our being, while feeling weakness when we should be strong. Great God within ou…
The prophet saw a plumb line simply hanging
The prophet saw a plumb line simply hanging
by Andrew Pratt
The prophet saw a plumb line simply hanging to sign God's love amid the sons of men, then, with the women, everyone is singing that God will never turn away again. Yet Amos blew the whistle on God's people, a prophet in a time of greed and need, self-righteousness as high as any …
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…
No turning back, God's path can lead us forward
No turning back, God's path can lead us forward
by Andrew Pratt
No turning back, God's path can lead us forward, this is the time of challenge, time for choice, to set our sights on all that lies before us, to wallow in the past or to rejoice. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: INTERCESSOR Metre:11.10.11.10 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 11/6/2013 S…
Persistent God, your gracious understanding
Persistent God, your gracious understanding
by Andrew Pratt
Persistent God, your gracious understanding returns the love that often we with-hold. When met with our resistance and denial you greet with peace and draw us from the cold. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: HIGHWOOD; INTERCESSOR Metre: 11.10.11.10 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 27/3/2…
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…
When Jesus prayed in mystic, sweet communion
When Jesus prayed in mystic, sweet communion
by Andrew Pratt
When Jesus prayed in mystic, sweet communion, he was not begging for a loaf of bread, yet noting the reality of hunger, his words are human, asking to be fed. This human need that undergirds existence, provides the ground, the need to live in peace, where grace determines human c…
The Spirit came that breathed across the waters
The Spirit came that breathed across the waters
by Andrew Pratt
The Spirit came that breathed across the waters, existent since the very dawn of time, the essence of the Word at once incarnate, providing sound to what was human mime; Like lightning unleashed within the cosmos, the unexpected flame of life set free, that alloys different langu…
Hymn: Life needs our care, not foolish indiscretion
Hymn: Life needs our care, not foolish indiscretion
by Andrew Pratt
Life needs our care, not foolish indiscretion, the willingness to guard against our greed; but still the world has need to learn the lesson: extravagance puts want ahead of need. God gives the Spirit to correct direction, to guide us from the drunkenness of thought that fuels a w…
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