Pentecost

PENTECOST

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Gospel's story brings us here
7.6.8.6

Gospel's story brings us here
to share our love of God;
the whirl of all that life has brought
each scar, each laugh, each thought.
Each one's story, culture's stamp:
we bring each gift to God
we'll work together, share our part,
we'll learn God's gracious art.
Love of Jesus sets our goal:
to give without reserve,
to offer all, not count the cost,
to work for Pentecost.

21/4/2003
Andrew Pratt © Stainer & Bell Ltd. Available for local use by those having a CCL Licence. Administered in the USA by Hope Publishing

Jesus left them. God empowered them
8.7.8.7

Jesus left them. God empowered them.
Spirit flamed from age to age.
And that Spirit can't be silenced,
now's our time to take the stage.
Every nation that had gathered
was invited on that day;
and the Spirit still unites us:
Pentecost has come to stay.
As disciples came together
they would hold a common purse;
shared their meals, their wealth and praises,
kingdom values they'd rehearse.
Still, today, we'll trace that pattern,
working for the good of all,
in our politics and preaching,
faithful to the gospel's call.

23/4/2003
Andrew Pratt © Stainer & Bell Ltd. Available for local use by those having a CCL Licence. Administered in the USA by Hope Publishing

God show us how to use your gifts
CM

God show us how to use your gifts
to take away our pain;
to value giving just as much
as all the things we gain.
God teach us how to love still more
and not to count the cost
until divisive scars are healed
by present Pentecost.
God help us all to share the wealth,
the things we have on lease,
each gift and grace, each charm, each power,
until our strivings cease.

2/5/2003
Andrew Pratt © Stainer & Bell Ltd. Available for local use by those having a CCL Licence. Administered in the USA by Hope Publishing

Reflecting on the plight of rich countries whose populations are kept poor
because the wealth is held and controlled by very few.

God as fire, send your spirit to us now,
Burn in us with cleansing power,
Come, set alight your life in us,
Spirit, enter, as God of fire.

God the wind, send your spirit to us now,
Blow through us with stirring power,
Come, breathe your gifts on us today,
Spirit, enter, as God the wind.

God as dove, send your spirit to us now,
Comfort us with strength and power,
Come, fly with peace to all our hearts,
Spirit, enter, as God the dove.


Judy Jarvis (born 1940)
© 1993 Stainer & Bell Ltd & The Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes

God is not mocked, the seer proclaimed,
All is not as it seems,
The young shall glimpse the sight of truth,
The old shall dream his dreams.

The day of God approaches fast
With wonders in the sky,
His Spirit comes, the men of God
And women prophesy.

The years rolled by, God's chosen met
Within an upper room.
Waiting the promise, when the Day
Of Pentecost was come.

A gust of wind pierced through the house,
Down came the tongues of fire,
The Spirit filled God's chosen few
To hearten and inspire.

And from the rooftop they proclaimed
The glorious acts of God.
No matter what their land or tongue,
The hearers understood.

Then Simon Peter told the crowd
'Repent and be baptized.
God calls you to receive his grace
Through faith in Jesus Christ.'


John Ferguson (1921-1989)
© 1990 Stainer & Bell Ltd.
CM

How hard it was for them to stay,
Those followers of the Crucified:
To walk where once they ran away,
To see the hill where he had died.
Now Jesus lived, they longed to be
Safe home in Galilee.

But no! the Master's word was clear:
They must await their Pentecost
Not there, in Galilee, but here,
Where Jesus lived, where all was lost;
And here, where they had run away,
Proclaim the Promised Day.

Lord, when we also turn away
From all remembrance of our grief,
You, in your mercy, bid us stay,
To find, in courage true relief,
Believing you will show us how
We best may serve you now.

Our Pentecosts are where we are!
Here where we yielded to defeat,
Where resurrection cures despair,
God's Spirit never fails to meet
Those who are anxious to receive
What God alone can give.


Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1986 Stainer & Bell Ltd
8.8.8.8.8 6.

I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy
Your old men shall dream dreams
And your young men shall see visions.

I will pray the Father and he will give you another Counsellor
To be with you for ever
When the Spirit of truth comes,
He will guide you into all the truth.
Antiphon

The Counsellor the Holy Spirit
Whom the Father will send in my name
He will teach you all things
Bring to remembrance all that I have said to you.
Antiphon

And suddenly a sound came from heaven
Like the rush of a mighty wind
And it filled the house where they were sitting
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Antiphon

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness
For we do not know how to pray as we ought
But the Spirit himself intercedes for us
With sighs too deep for words.
Antiphon


Alan Luff (born 1928) adapted from Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
© 1969 Stainer & Bell Ltd.

Let every Christian pray,
This day, and every day,
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Was not the Church we love
Commissioned from above?
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

The Spirit brought to birth
The Church of Christ on earth
To seek and save the lost:
Never has he withdrawn,
Since that tremendous dawn,
His gifts at Pentecost.

2A
The Spirit brought to birth
The Church of Christ on earth
To seek and save the lost:
And never has withdrawn,
Since that tremendous dawn,
Those gifts at Pentecost

2B
The Spirit brought to birth
The Church of Christ on earth
To seek and save the lost:
God never has withdrawn
Since that tremendous dawn,
Those gifts at Pentecost.

Age after age, he strove
To teach her how to love:
Come, Holy Spirit come!
Age after age, anew,
She proved the gospel true:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

3A
Always the Spirit strove
To teach her how to love:
Come, Holy Spirit come!
Age after age, anew,
She proved the gospel true:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

Only the Spirit's power
Can fit us for this hour:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Instruct, inspire, unite;
And make us see the light:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

4A
Only the Spirit's power
Can fit us for this hour:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Unite, instruct, inspire,
And fill us with your fire:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1971 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6 6. 6 6. 6 6.

Like fireworks in the night
the Holy Spirit came;
disciple's fears took flight
when touched by fronds of flame—
and suddenly the world was young
as hope embraced a Saviour's claim.

For Jesus bade them dare
to venture, come what would,
his love taught them to share
their homes, possessions, food,
the mind of Jesus gave them speech
all tribes and peoples understood.

Thus God our spirits lifts
fresh daring to inspire
as common folk get gifts
to change the world entire
the tongues of flame at Pentecost
ran through the world like forest fire.

Ian M Fraser (born 1917)
© 2001 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6 6 6 6 8 8

Never shall we forget
It was at Pentecost,
Met in one room, an upper room,
They waited for him to come.

Never shall we forget
What it was like that day:
Some spoke of doves, of wind, of flame;
All knew it was he who came.

Never shall we forget,
Unlikely though it seem,
They felt and thought and spoke the same
That day when the Spirit came.

Never shall we forget
How they were changed that day!
Gone were their doubts, their fears, their shame:
To make us his Church he came.

Never must we forget
Each day is Pentecost,
When we, his Church, in faith proclaim
Salvation is in his Name.


Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1989 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6.6.8 7.

The first verse may be sung on all occasions with the second verse appropriate to the Festival

Now shall the Church, this time of celebration,
Give thanks to God for each new revelation;
For Gospel truth and promise of salvation:
To God be endless praise!

Christmastide
This is the time when Christ was born to save us,
Who set us free from sins that would enslave us;
For Mary's Child and all his coming gave us:
To God be endless praise!

Eastertide
On Easter Day, how joyfully they greeted
Their risen Lord, whom death had not defeated:
What is begun shall surely be completed.
To God be endless praise!

Ascensiontide
This is the time, Christ's earthly mission ended,
He left his friends, that all may be befriended;
So close he is, our Lord who is ascended:
To God be endless praise!

Whitsuntide
This is the time when God the Spirit showered
His gifts on those he challenged and empowered.
See how the Church sprang up and quickly flowered!
To God be endless praise!

Trinity Sunday
Blest Three-in-One, help us this day to ponder
How to unite what nations put asunder;
Deepen our sense of mystery and wonder:
To God be endless praise!

Fred Pratt Green 1903-2000
© 1987 Stainer & Bell Ltd.
11 11 11 6

Rushing wind that fills the house
With tongues of fire on ev'ry head,
So the Holy Spirit comes.

Jesus breathes upon his friends,
Gives power to bind and power to loose,
So the Holy Spirit comes.

Christians gathered share their gifts
To build the Church and serve the world,
So the Holy Spirit comes.


Alan Luff (born 1928)
© 1993 Stainer & Bell Ltd & The Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Round

The horrors of our history
are vast, beyond belief.
We greet each new atrocity
with bafflement, or grief,
yet all the evil energies
that haunt the human race,
come, not from alien galaxies,
but from our inner space,
and terror, pain and genocide
intrude on every prayer,
with shades that whisper,
"Where is God?
If only God were there!"

By torture, war and poverty,
by flame and firing squad,
for glory, flag and destiny,
and with a prayer to God,
God's image finds a thousand ways
to torment, and to kill
and asks how love can justify
such terrible freewill:
for every cry of suffering
will drive us back to prayer,
as thousands clamour,
"Where is God?
If only God were there!"

Yet if, like some robotic race,
though warm with flesh and blood,
our happy self, with smiling face,
was programmed to be good,
and had no freedom, seeing wrong,
to seek it, or say no,
our praise would be a puppet-song,
and love, an empty show.
Our pain and terror mark the cost
of every faithful prayer
that chooses justice,
love, and trust,
and hopes that God is there.

And God is not an analyst,
observing gain and loss,
but loves us to the uttermost
and suffers on a cross:
for love comes, not like Heads of State,
in power and glamour known,
but as a loser, desolate,
in anguish, and alone:
the cross, revealed in Easter light,
will nourish every prayer
when faith discovers,
"There is God,
and all of God is there!"

The fruits of knowledge, plucked and prized,
have scattered wide their seed:
we are as gods, with open eyes,
for shame or glory freed,
and share, as midwives to our God,
the work of giving birth
to faith's fulfilment, mercy's child:
new heavens and new earth.
Come blow, great wind of Pentecost,
till all the churches dare
to bear the horrors,
heal the wounds,
and show that God is there!

Brian Wren (born 1936)
© 1983, 1995 Stainer & Bell Ltd
CM TER

The language travelled well:
A universal tongue
Gave voice to that which must be told
To keep the spirit young.

Excitedly they sang
The universal song
That offered freedom, peace and joy,
An end to human wrong.

Like fire the story spread,
From age to age they grew,
The people of a living Lord
Who told the tale anew.

Today it shall be told:
Again the Spirit moves
To bring God's justice in our time,
To fill our lives with love.


Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 1997 Stainer & Bell Ltd
S.M.

The sun, in all its strength, is soaring
Above the throne of grace, restoring
Once more our Whitsun lily-days;
And in mild summer's shining rays,
Now more than angels' songs proclaim
Their harvest hope in Jesus' name.

Through short cool summer nights, the trilling
Of woodland nightingales is spilling,
As those the Lord has called his own
Sleep quietly till night has flown;
In dreams exploring heaven's ways,
They wake to greet the Lord with praise.

And now a breath, divinely stealing
Through dust and leaves, has come revealing,
Delectably beneath the sky,
The way to Paradise close by,
And at our feet the meadow sings
With streams of joy from living springs.

It is the Spirit who composes
All nature's rhythms, and discloses
The selfless love which comes by choice,
To hearten us with truth's own voice,
And speaks the Word made flesh, who died:
Now raised to heaven and glorified.

Let deep sounds wake in celebration,
And praise the Lord of earth's salvation;
All languages be taken up
Within the eucharistic cup,
And at the table of the Lord,
His Church's full-voiced praise be poured.

In Jesus' name, each tongue now blazes,
As gentiles share the chosen's praises,
For in this cup of God's own Son
All mother tongues are fused as one;
In Jesus' name, loud voices blend,
In alleluias without end!

Our God and Father, matchless Giver,
Your kingdom's rose will bloom for ever;
As suns we rise and set, made one
In glory with your only Son;
And for the heart we gave to you,
You gave us Christ and heaven too!

I al sins glans nu straler solen by N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) translated by Alan Gaunt (born 1935) after a literal translation by A. M. Allchin.
English translation © Stainer & Bell Ltd
9 9.8 8.8 8.

Upon the Day of Pentecost
The Holy Spirit came -
Like powerful, rushing, mighty wind
And leaping, living flame.

The friends of Jesus till that hour
Were fearful folk and weak;
But now the Holy Spirit made
Them bold and wise to speak.

With joy and confidence they went
To all whom they could reach,
In God the Holy Spirit's power
To praise and heal and teach.

God's Holy Spirit still is here
To guide our world today,
And helps the friends of Jesus Christ
In what they do and say.


Patricia Hunt (born 1921)
© 1979 Stainer & Bell Ltd & The Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
CM

We went with a message
And got them to hear it,
The day that the Spirit
Took over our lives.
Set us on fire and
We had to declare it,
The day that the Spirit
Came down as our Guide.

He came in a wind that
Went over and through us,
That lifted and blew us
And whirled us outside;
He set us on fire and
We had to declare it,
The day that the Spirit
Came down as our Guide.

He filled us with courage
That nothing could smother,
They looked at each other
And blamed it on wine.
But that was a sneer we
Did nothing to merit
The day that the Spirit
Performed his design.

They shouted us down and
They put us in prison,
But still had to listen
And not shut their ears.
As Jesus had said, we
Were able to bear it
The day that the Spirit
Disposed of our fears.

And why are we talking,
Who live in the present,
As if we were present
That famous Third Hour?
Why! We are their brothers,
Entitled to share it -
The day that the Spirit
Exploded in power.

Michael Hewlett (1916–2000)
© 1969 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6.6 6.5.D. Iambic

________________________________________

When Noah's ark was high and dry,
there came a rainbow in the sky
and Noah heard a voice divine:
'I am your God and you are mine'.

This God who always faithful stays
has given colour to our days.
The shade with which the year begins
is purple: for the people's sins.

On Christmas day we see the light,
— the colour of the feast is white —
and when the Kings have left the scene,
our life runs into days of green.

With purple we return in Lent
to mourn for Jesus, emptied, spent.
'But sorrow is not meant to stay!'
proclaims the white of Easter day!

As red as flames of Pentecost,
so is the blood the martyrs lost.
Then, till the hopeful Advent sound,
we make with green the circle round.

The people of the church are led
through purple, white and green and red,
from fasting days to peaks of feast,
from dark of death to life Christ.

Fred Kaan (born 1929)
© 1968,1997 Stainer & Bell Ltd
7 8.7 8.

God has put a circle round us
Up and down and all around us
God has put a circle round us
Thank you, Lord.

Jesus came into the circle
Right in the middle of the circle
Jesus came into the circle
Thank you, Lord.

Jesus shows how much God loves us
Now and always, yes he loves us
Jesus shows how much God loves us
Thank you, Lord.

God has put a circle round us
By his Spirit all around us
God has put a circle round us
Thank you, Lord.


Jenny Dann (born 1952)
© 1995 Stainer & Bell Ltd & The Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Irregular

Come, let us praise what God has done,
and all that God will do,
whose love is older than the sun,
and yet forever new.

When slaves in Egypt, long ago,
were pleading to be free,
God said, through Moses, "Let them go!",
and led them through the sea.

Remembering that old surprise,
in exile and despair,
the prophets cried, "Awake! Arise!
The way of God prepare!"

God's freeing love again was shown:
By pagan king's decree
the people came rejoicing home,
for all the world to see.

And what of Christ, who rose from death
when life and hope were lost,
and gave us, by the Spirit's breath,
the power of Pentecost?

Through many years, and still today,
Christ, endlessly alive,
has travelled with us on our way,
and waits where we arrive.

Let everything that God has done
our faith and hope renew
to love and honour everyone
and show what God can do.


Brian Wren (born 1936)
© 1996 Stainer & Bell Ltd
CM

Come, O Holy Spirit,
set the Church on fire;
strike it as the lightning
hits a posing spire.
Burn away the structures
and consume the sham
of our holy systems:
Come, in Jesus' name!

Blow away the cobwebs
of our stubborn past.
Come, send flying from us
myths unfit to last.
Wind of change, refresh us
and disturb our calm;
teach us what true love is,
take our hearts by storm.

Free us from the babble
of our Babel mind;
spark in us a language
all can understand.
Lighten then our darkness,
come and show us how
all the world lies open:
Pentecost is now!


Fred Kaan (born 1929)
© 1972, 1998 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6.5.6.5.D. Trochaic

How hard it was for them to stay,
Those followers of the Crucified:
To walk where once they ran away,
To see the hill where he had died.
Now Jesus lived, they longed to be
Safe home in Galilee.

But no! the Master's word was clear:
They must await their Pentecost
Not there, in Galilee, but here,
Where Jesus lived, where all was lost;
And here, where they had run away,
Proclaim the Promised Day.

Lord, when we also turn away
From all remembrance of our grief,
You, in your mercy, bid us stay,
To find, in courage true relief,
Believing you will show us how
We best may serve you now.

Our Pentecosts are where we are!
Here where we yielded to defeat,
Where resurrection cures despair,
God's Spirit never fails to meet
Those who are anxious to receive
What God alone can give.


Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1986 Stainer & Bell Ltd
8.8.8.8.8 6.

Let every Christian pray,
This day, and every day,
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Was not the Church we love
Commissioned from above?
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

The Spirit brought to birth
The Church of Christ on earth
To seek and save the lost:
Never has he withdrawn,
Since that tremendous dawn,
His gifts at Pentecost.

2A
The Spirit brought to birth
The Church of Christ on earth
To seek and save the lost:
And never has withdrawn,
Since that tremendous dawn,
Those gifts at Pentecost

2B
The Spirit brought to birth
The Church of Christ on earth
To seek and save the lost:
God never has withdrawn
Since that tremendous dawn,
Those gifts at Pentecost.

Age after age, he strove
To teach her how to love:
Come, Holy Spirit come!
Age after age, anew,
She proved the gospel true:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

3A
Always the Spirit strove
To teach her how to love:
Come, Holy Spirit come!
Age after age, anew,
She proved the gospel true:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

Only the Spirit's power
Can fit us for this hour:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Instruct, inspire, unite;
And make us see the light:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

4A
Only the Spirit's power
Can fit us for this hour:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Unite, instruct, inspire,
And fill us with your fire:
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1971 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6 6. 6 6. 6 6

Moses was in the wilderness
Taking good care of Jethro's sheep,
When he saw a bush that was burning bright
But stayed intact: a marvellous sight.
It was fire from heaven,
Fire from heaven,
Yes, it was fire from heaven.

Four hundred prophets cried to Baal,
Shouted and bled to no avail;
But Elijah knew that his God would hear
His faithful prayer and send the fire:
Chorus

The king had died, Isaiah prayed;
He saw God's glory, felt defiled,
But his lips were touched by God's fire, then
He knew that he was clean again.
Chorus

When Pentecost had come around,
Apostles heard a powerful sound:
It was the mighty wind of God which blew,
And with the wind came fire too.
Chorus

We've heard these tales of fire from heaven
Which really mean that heaven's right here,
And the Spirit of God still comes to say
That God is with the Church today:
In the fire from heaven,
Fire from heaven,
Yes, in the fire from heaven.

God, come and burn in us again,
To make us like your prophets then;
Let us have the joy the apostles knew,
To set our hearts on fire too:
With your fire from heaven,
Fire from heaven,
Yes, with your fire from heaven.


Alan Gaunt (born 1935)
© 1991 Stainer & Bell Ltd
8. 8.10 8. & Refrain

Never shall we forget
It was at Pentecost,
Met in one room, an upper room,
They waited for him to come.

Never shall we forget
What it was like that day:
Some spoke of doves, of wind, of flame;
All knew it was he who came.

Never shall we forget,
Unlikely though it seem,
They felt and thought and spoke the same
That day when the Spirit came.


Never shall we forget
How they were changed that day!
Gone were their doubts, their fears, their shame:
To make us his Church he came.

Never must we forget
Each day is Pentecost,
When we, his Church, in faith proclaim
Salvation is in his Name.


Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1989 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6.6.8 7.

EIGHT-LINE VERSION (7 6 7 6 D Iambic)

When Jesus came to Jordan
To be baptised by John,
He did not come for pardon.
But as his Father's Son.
He came to share repentance
With all who mourn their sins,
To speak the vital sentence
With which good news begins.

He came to share temptation,
Our utmost woe and loss,
For us and our salvation
To die upon the cross.
So when the Dove descended
On him, the Son of Man,
The hidden years had ended,
The age of grace began.

Optional Verse

Come, Holy Spirit, aid us
To keep the vows we make,
This very day invade us,
And every bondage break.
Come, give our lives direction,
The gift we covet most:
To share the resurrection
That leads to Pentecost.

FOUR-LINE VERSION (7 6 7 6 Iambic)

When Jesus came to Jordan
To be baptised by John,
He did not come for pardon.
But as his Father's Son.

He came to share temptation,
Our utmost woe and loss,
For us and our salvation
To die upon the cross.

So when the Dove descended
On him, the Son of Man,
The hidden years had ended,
The age of grace began.

Optional verse

Come, Holy Spirit, aid us
To keep the vows we make,
This very day invade us,
And every bondage break.

Optional verse

Come, give our lives direction,
The gift we covet most:
To share the resurrection
That leads to Pentecost.

Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1980 Stainer & Bell Ltd

We turn to you, O God of every nation,
giver of good and origin of life;
your love is at the heart of all creation,
your hurt is people's pain in war and death.

We turn to you that we may be forgiven
for crucifying Christ on earth again.
We know that we have never wholly striven
to share with all the promise of your reign.

Free every heart from haughty self-reliance,
our ways of thought inspire with simple grace;
break down among us barriers of defiance,
speak to the soul of all the human race.

On all who rise on earth for right relations,
we pray the light of love from hour to hour.
Grant wisdom to the leaders of the nations,
the gift of carefulness to those in power.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve the need of others,
help us to give and not to count the cost.
Unite us all to live as sisters, brothers,
defeat our Babel with your Pentecost!


Fred Kaan (born 1929)
© 1967, 1991, 1997 Stainer & Bell Ltd
11.10.11.10.

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