hymns – Page 11 – reverendally.org

Advent Sunday song

advent, all age, children's ministry, church resources, hymns, Other cool stuff

This song was intended to make a link between the ‘Jesse Tree’ / Salvation History pathway through advent, and the Advent Sunday theme of keeping alert and being ready. I wrote it ages ago, but am re-posting it on account of it being Advent.
Tune: Sing hosanna

There’s a story to tell of creation,
And the patriarchs’ faith of old,
There are stories of prophets and sages,
We’ll repeat them ‘til the world’s been told:

Sing together! sing together!
Sing to welcome in the King of Kings.
Sing together! Sing together!
Sing to welcome in the King.

There are stories of sin and forgiveness,
Of a Kingdom of truth and love.
Of a girl who gave birth to a baby,
To fulfil God’s promise from above:

As God’s people prepare for his coming,
And remember those days long gone,
Our own stories are yet to be written,
As we live to make God’s kingdom come:

We will patiently wait for the morning,
Through the night we will watch and pray,
As we look for the light that is dawning,
We’ll be ready at the break of day:

Bible Sunday hymn (reposted as it’s almost Bible Sunday)

church resources, hymns

I once commented to someone much smarter than me that there aren’t huge numbers of hymns about the Bible – they replied that this was because our faith is in the Word more than it is in the word – in other words, hymns are songs of praise and our praise is directed at God rather than at the scriptures themselves.

Having said that, one still needs hymns for Bible Sunday (last after Trinity, I think) so if you find yourself flicking through a hymn book and not quite finding anything, there is this:

A hymn for Bible Sunday.
Tune: Regent Square, or other compatible 878787 tunes.

Word of life! Such transformation!
bringing light to darkest space;
loving mother of creation,
forging life in every place.
Shine that light on every nation,
gather us in your embrace.

Word of truth! You spoke though history,
prophets knew you as their friend;
As you shared with earth the mystery
of your love that knows no end.
Yet your fullest glory must be
More than words can comprehend.

Word made flesh! You came to meet us,
pitched your tent among our own,
Born on earth so heaven could greet us:
God in human heart and bone.
Teach us, lead us, tend us, feed us
with the life that’s yours alone.

Words of scripture, here you teach us,
All you speak is here received.
Shared by print and voice to reach us:
written, read and now believed;
Speak again to all and each, as
faith is grown and life is lived.

Hymn about the Transfiguration

church resources, hymns

I was asked to write a hymn for a church dedicated to the Transfiguration, as there aren’t many hymns written for that particular feast day. Here’s a first draft – as always, it’s not final, and comments, criticisms and suggestions are very welcome! The tune they asked for was Ellacombe (‘The day of resurrection’).

All glory be to Jesus,
all joyful songs of praise!
Ascend, with him, the mountain,
And on him fix your gaze.
For Christ reveals his glory:
The Son’s bright shining rays;
The veil, worn thin, breaks open
to set the soul ablaze.

On earth, a glimpse of heaven,
in darkness, dazzling light;
From lowly plain and valley,
to holy mountain’s height.
Now all the world’s divisions
in Jesus may unite:
An ordinary moment
is blessed with God’s delight.

The light of light eternal
to faithful eyes is shown,
The mystery of the Godhead
miraculously known.
The seeds of Jesus’ passion
in glory once were sown,
so fruits of resurrection
could out of death be grown.

The words of affirmation,
of challenge and command,
To listen, learn, and follow
in all that God has planned.
May graceful transformation
by God’s almighty hand,
empower us now for service
in this and every land.

A Hymn about bread (which could be for Corpus Christi)

church resources, holy communion, hymns

This one goes to the tune ‘Kingsfold’. Thanks, as always, to those who helped me get it ready for posting, and further comments are of course always welcome. I guess this would work for any communion service, but I had it in mind for Corpus Christi.

A gift each day, our daily bread
reveals your faithful love,
you keep your pilgrim people fed
with manna from above.
We live, not by this bread alone,
but by your holy Word:
so feed our hearts, and make us one
in you, O Christ our Lord.

All are invited, called from far
and near, to eat this fare;
As all we have, and all we are,
are gifts to grow and share.
You call us now as servants, guests,
as sisters, brothers, friends:
to gather and be richly blessed.
with life that never ends.

In broken body, life-blood shed,
true love was once made known.
In pouring wine and breaking bread
that love again is shown.
We are your body, fed today
for strength, for grace, for good:
Break us and send us out, we pray,
to bring the world its food.

Easter things

all age, children's ministry, easter, easter eggs, hymns

Here are links to lots of random Easter things – help yourself if there’s something you like.

A hymn for the Easter Vigil (metrical version of the Song of Moses and Miriam – tune: Kingsfold)

A hymn for Easter Day (based on the John 20 gospel reading – tune: lauda anima / Praise my soul)

A hymn for Eastertide (based on the various resurrection appearances – tune: Salzburg)

Easter Eggs all age talk (based on the transformative nature of the resurrection appearances)

Easter Sunday short thought (based on the idea of ‘spoilers’ and how the resurrection becomes real for each of us individually – same basic point as the Easter eggs all age talk)

Children’s activities

Use the craft card that has a black scratch-off surface with a colourful layer underneath – you can cut the card into cross shapes for younger children to scratch off, or simply give out whole sheets and invite the children to draw on it things that remind them of the new life of Easter.
You can also use wax resist to show how the darkness of Good Friday could’t destroy the light and love of Christ (drawing images that represent the love of God with wax on paper and then using a sponge to paint over them in a dark colour – the wax drawings will show through).
Easter Garden – invite your local school to make paper flowers and bring them to their end of term Easter service – use the flowers to create a wonderfully colourful Easter garden. This one was made using a triptych display board, green paper for the hills, and a fabric-covered basket for the tomb.
If you made a ‘Way of the cross’ from stones during Holy Week, decorate it with fresh flowers on Easter morning. This one was made on Palm Sunday (when we reflected on the stones that would ‘shout out if the crowds were silent’ – it gained tea-lights for the tenebrae service, and then dandelions on Easter morning!