Julie Hibbert

‘Father God I Wonder’

I first heard this song when my daughter was at college and this song was played at her Baptism service and later at her wedding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMuvGb7KDE8

‘I Am A New Creation’
This is a family favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwjOLFMZhQo

John Gay. Part3

Pop song? Very difficult indeed, but I am going to go for 'Let love be your energy' by Robbie Williams. Robbie is one of my favourite theologians because he asks awkward questions about God. No other pop star mentions God, Jesus, angels, sin, Mary etc. as much as he. Robbie is a sinner and he knows it and in his songwriting struggles with it but he loves his Lord and I am sure knows the mercy of his God. His heart is in the right place. I think I am beginning to fill up again!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywL_mnIe4uc

Good Friday

We Sang this at the Maunday Thursday Service.

"From heaven you came"

Words:
http://www.topchristianlyrics.com/2009/12/02/graham-kendrick-the-servant-king-lyrics/

Muisic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwIukabdw3E&feature=related

John Gay. Part 2

My contemporary song is difficult, there are several. I am going to choose 'We give you praise' by Delirious? because I would like it to go out to at my funeral. It very much reflects my belief that death is not the end but only the beginning point of new life for those who believe in Jesus Christ and follow him. Again I will end up in tears of joy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo8lex1Td_g

John Gay. Part1

'All my hope on God is founded' is one that seems to have followed me about since April 21 1991 at around 12.00 midday. I am that precise because the day before Lucy and I had gone to Twickenham to watch Corrnwall win the County Championship for the first time since 1908. The game was tense with Cornwall 16-3 down with 15 minutes to go. They equalised with a try in the last minute of normal time, missed the conversion and went on to win 27-20 after extra time. Much celebration!

The next day at church, (St Nicholas, Abingdon) this was the last hymn. As the last verse came around with those words 'Christ doth call, one and all, ye who follow shall not fall' it all got too much and I burst into tears, 'One and All' being the Cornish motto.

But actually the whole hymn reflects how I feel about God and how much I love and trust him and have confidence in his care for me. It needs to be the traditional words though. The modern version does not convey the same meaning. With the Trad version it is Christ doing the calling and it is up to us to respond. the other version says 'Hear Christ's call' putting the obligation on the listener not the caller. Not the same thing at all. The modern version reads awkwardly too.

A very close second is 'Guide me O thou great Jehovah'. does this need explaining!!

Lyrics:
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/a/a133.html

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2oYTtyBSxk

John Page

No 3 - Love divine, all loves excelling

Again, its the Welsh in me ! ..... wonderfully deep spiritual words, and again one of the best tunes in the book !!

Lyrics:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/d/ldalexcl.htm

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ8JgGqkaj4

John Page

No 2 - "Jesu, lover of my soul"


Being Welsh of course, I cannot hide my deep affection for all the great Welsh hymns ! .... and this one is at the top of my "all-time" list ..... the words are so powerful and emotive, and the tune Aberystwyth is simply fantastic.

Words:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/l/jlmysoul.htm

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjnspkVAGRM

John Page

No 1 - "Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us"


I always chose this one as the very first hymn on our first Sunday at sea ...... and it still evokes strong stirring memories of setting out from our home port for long deployments overseas, especially across the North Atlantic where you certainly need all the "leading and protecting" you can get !

Lyrics and Music:
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/l/l018.html

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc-XpUcGS6k

Chris Howse

I knew two song choices were not going to be enough so have taken the opportunity whilst there is a lull in entries to have another song.

Over the Rhine: Jesus in New Orleans

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=-FyOqECvDZw&feature=related

Lyrics (scroll down)
http://www.overtherhine.com/words/lyrics/index.html#Anchor-Jacksie-33869

Love the song, love voice and love the opening lines:

“The last time I saw Jesus I was drinking bloody Mary’s in the South”

The song reminds me that you can meet Jesus anywhere not only in Church on Sundays. I had better be ready.

Ruth Buller. Part 3

Morte Christe (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CwYA7k5zxI

My final choice is this version of ‘When I Survey’. The words show us of just what Jesus did for us all by dying on the cross and I find the final verse so incredibly moving in that it shows us how we should respond to this amazing sacrifice.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life , my all.

Ruth Buller. Part 2

You Raised Me Up – Westlife (Lyrics by Josh Groban)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1_MydgRFZw

This is a secular song but one which I feel has a true Christian message. It gives me great confidence to know that no matter how down and weary I may be feeling God will always be there to raise me up. This song also reminds me of Lee Abbey where a DVD of people there was made to the words. It showed the beauty of the Lee Abbey Estate ending with the estate manager lifting a new born lamb onto his shoulders at the three crosses.

Ruth Buller. Part 1

Could have been another three on another day but these are my choices for today!!

Build This House – Lou Fellingham

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryip0dD1uoo

The words of this song remind us of how everything we have comes from God and how we need to be grateful for the things that we have and not be envious of others. As we go about our lives we need to put God at the centre of all we do and give Him the glory.

Hilary Howe

Like several others I have many favourite hymns, and it all depends on the mood of the moment, or circumstances in which the hymn is being sung which one is currently top of the list. I also often use favourite hymns as prayers. However the one that never fails to move and inspire me is “Oh Lord My God”. The four verses are a wonderful expression of faith - the awesome power of God in creating the universe, the wonder of nature on earth, the reminder of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice and the promise and reassurance of the life to come. The chorus is an amazing, moving praise of thanks to God, added to which the music is powerful and uplifting.

The trouble is I get so choked up with emotion that I can’t sing it!

Lyrics:
http://www.rwlswann.org.uk/archive/songs/hymns/o/olordmygod.htm

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHqgQjJrxI8

Yvonne Haggett

As I was walking home after lunch, the first line of this hymn just popped into my head. I find it has not been used before, so I will make it my suggestion.

God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year,
God is working his purpose out and the time is drawing near:
Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

I like it because is reminds me that even if we can't see progress being made, God knows what he is doing and one day the earth will be filled with the glory of God.

Words and music
http://www.hymnswithoutwords.com/hymns/God_is_working_his_purpose_out

Jenny Jeffery

At different times and seasons I have different “favourites” and even then I keep adding to them. Somehow “Be thou my vision” is never far from my thoughts nor “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”

However right now I am choosing “In Christ Alone” words by Stuart Townend and music by Keith Getty ( Stuart Townend also wrote a great new tune to the words of the 23rd Psalm, The Lord is my Shepherd, with a chorus that begins “And I will trust in him always” with a second part descant that fits over the top of the tune. He also wrote the words to “How deep the Father’s love for me”)

However "In Christ Alone” is based on words from Ephesians I:4-7He is my light, strength, cornerstone, comforter, my All in All As the title suggests the words form the basis of our Christian faith. In Christ alone my hope is found. Jesus – the Incarnation -The Cross – Resurrection- Eternal Life are all there in the words. The song was written just before the 9/11 bombings and has a very powerful line in the last verse......”no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His (Christ’s) Hand” There has been some controversy over the line in verse two which reads “The wrath of God was satisfied” some have preferred the line to read “The price of sin was satisfied” What do you think?

The song can reduce me to both tears of sadness and tears of joy.
I love the crescendo in verse 3 ....then bursting forth in glorious day up from the grave he rose again!”

I’ll leave you with the last two lines.
“Till he returns to call me home, here in the power of Christ I stand”




In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my all in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save;
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of god was satisfied-
For every sin on him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I Live.

There in the ground his body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from his hand;
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand.

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMtz1fJv340

Anna Oliver

As many have been agreeing, choosing just one song/hymn is very difficult, as so many are appealing depending on how I am feeling at any time. However I find the ‘Make me a channel for your peace’ is a very focussing hymn/prayer that reminds me of what I should be striving to do with God’s help.

Music and Lyric:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM3tAGU1Kn0&feature=related

Judith Pickles

Shine Jesus Shine - Graham Kendrick

I have chosen this for 2 reasons. Firstly, in the early 70s Graham and I were fellow students in London. Over the years I have enjoyed watching the way his life has developed and singing his songs. In the 80s we went to the Billy Graham mission in Norwich where Graham led the worship, a far cry from student days.

Secondly, our daughter Laura danced to this song (with the St George's dance group) in Wells Cathedral and two years ago chose it as one of her wedding hymns, so it has very happy memories as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlKChQ2IYZo

Hilary Mckegney

A number of people said that they liked my prayer/poem on Sunday. I thought it might be good to put it on the Lent Blog.

GARDENING GOD'S WAY IN THE 'SPRING' OF LENT

Plant three rows of peas:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul

Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

Plant four rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be obedient
Lettuce really love one another

Plant three rows of turnips:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another

Water freely with patience and cultivate with love. There is much fruit in your garden because you reap what you sow.

To conclude our garden
We must have thyme:
Thyme for God
Thyme for study
Thyme for prayer

Ruth Taylor

Among my many favourite hymns I have chosen ‘All my hope on God is founded’ which we sang recently in church: MP 292; AMNS 336.

It brings back strong memories of a warm July evening in 1997. I was surrounded by family, friends, and a very welcoming crowd. It was the occasion of Nick’s Induction Service as Team Rector and Vicar of St. George’s.

We had chosen this hymn because of its message of love, hope, and encouragement, at a time of new beginnings. In the first verse are the lines:

‘He doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance He guideth
Only good and only true’.

These words have helped me especially in the years since that night. Through many times of joy and some of sadness, I have recalled the following lines:

‘Daily doth the Almighty Giver
Bounteous gifts on us bestow’.
And the verse finishes with the reassuring:
‘Love doth stand at His hand,
Joy doth wait on His command’.
Sometimes the future can seem an uncertain place, but the final line of this hymn helps to reassure me, as the first line did:

‘Ye who follow shall not fall’.

Music and Lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2oYTtyBSxk

Chris Howse

Meekness and Majesty

This song reminds me that we don’t get all the answers in this life.

I love the imagery of meekness and majesty: A King born in a stable. The Saviour who rides a donkey not a war horse.

Music and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tK1hQpacs8

Chris Howse

“When it Kicks In” – Iain Archer

When it kicks in, when it kicks in you'll know
When it kicks in, when it kicks in you'll know it alright
When it kicks in, when it kicks in you'll know it
A truth drug is gonna open your weeping eyes

Sometimes I despair. We are told to seek the coming of the Kingdom but it can seem a long way away when we read of wars natural disasters global warming and injustice. The world appears to be moving away from God not closer to him. At times like these I think my favourite song/psalm is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXfIOUu47Zo . I have to say I felt this most keenly when I turned on the TV news on the Boxing day the Tsunami struck Sri Lanka. I watched with growing dread as the story unfolded. Through the entire programme no good news was reported and I felt a long way from the Kingdom and struggled to think of any signs of it breaking through. And yet….. out of the devastation came an outpouring of aid and support from the rest of the world, people gave generously. The song I have chosen is undoubtedly a song about the troubles in Northern Ireland or the North of Ireland. I was born in 1966 (I know it’s hard believe I look so young) and for most of my life the situation there looked hopeless, things would never change. Today we have a sort of peace and previous enemies trying to get along and build a future together.

I love the line “A truth drug is gonna open your weeping eyes”. It reminds me of St. Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus and what happened in Acts 9
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts.%209:1-19&version=NIV

What is the truth drug? When what kicks in? Love/Grace.

Lyrics:
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858718696/

Music and video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ileEqcJ6f2A

Jan Egeland, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs stated that the Indian Ocean tsunami was nature at its worst, but also humanity at its best.

Carole Smith

“Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord”

Because I am very much a ‘Martha’ kind of person and need to be reminded that, sometimes, I need to be more like ‘Mary’.

Lyrics:
http://www.musiclyric4christian.com/bestill.html

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jblX88cA81A

Hilary Allen

The song I have chosen is on Paul Simon's "Surprise" album - track 5 - "Wartime Prayers"
It is a very poignant song which touches me and makes me angry every time I listen to it. On a very simplistic level it always reminds me that to many people, prayer is their last and desperate resource.

Lyrics:
http://www.lyricsmania.com/wartime_prayers_lyrics_paul_simon.html

Peter Westcott

I have been looking at your Lent Blog and see that "secular" songs are accepted. One that I find quite thought making was played by Alan Titchmarsh on his programme last Sunday. It is Bryn Terfel's recording of the Sunset Poem, otherwise Rev. Eli Jenkins Prayer from Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood.

I find the first two verses in particular often in my thoughts.


Every morning when I wake,
Dear Lord a little prayer I make,
O please to keep Thy loving eye
On all poor creatures born to die.

And every evening at sun-down
I ask a blessing on the town,
For whether we last the night or no
I'm sure is always touch-and-go.

We are not wholly bad or good
Who live our lives under Milk Wood,
And Thou, I know, wilt be the first
To see our best side, not our worst.

O let us see another day!
Bless us all this night, I pray,
And to the sun we all will bow
And say, good-bye - but just for now!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TsPiNkj6DA

Coryn Howse

One Shot by JLS

I have chosen this song because in the chorus it says ‘you only get one shot, so make it count you won’t ever get this moment again. The clocks ticking down it’s the final round don’t watch this moment go by’ In some ways its like God has only given us one shot at our lives so we have to make it count and we are not on this earth for long so we need to make the most of our lives and not watch it just go by and be the best that we can be.

Lyrics:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/one-shot-lyrics-jls.html

Music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV_WunW1KR8

Luke Howse. Part 3

I really like ‘The Lord of The Dance’ because I like dancing. Jesus is the Lord of the dance and maybe he dances with God when he hears that song.

Lyrics:
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/o/r/lordoftd.htm

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwdmqM3pc68

Luke Howse. Part 2

My other favourite hymn is ‘Father God’ and I like this because it says how great God is and he is everybody’s Father. I also like clapping in the chorus.

Music and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMuvGb7KDE8

Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist
Without the knowledge of Your parenthood and Your loving care
But now I am Your child, I am adopted in Your family
And I can never be alone'Cause Father God, You're there beside me

I will sing Your praises
I will sing Your praises
I will sing Your praises
Forever more
I will sing Your praises
I will sing Your praises
I will sing Your praises
Forever more

Luke Howse

My favourite hymn is ‘Who Put The Colours In The Rainbow’. I like this because it is all about God’s creation and I really like rainbows and the sea because you can swim in it.

Lyrics:
http://www.hymnlyrics.org/mostpopularhymns/who_put_the_colors_in_the_rainbow.php

Nick Taylor

I have many favourite hymns and songs, so this time I will choose ‘Praise to the Holiest in the height’ to the tune ‘Gerontius’. It was written by John Henry Newman, an Anglican priest who later became a Roman Catholic [and there’s talk of making him a saint!]. It celebrates what Jesus Christ did to rescue us, by being strong against the weak human nature described in the Adam and Eve story.

But in verse 4 we’re reminded that it wasn’t just God’s grace that rescued us, but his ‘presence…and his very self, and essence all-divine’ which came as a ‘Man’ [v.5]. Some people think verse 4 also refers to Holy Communion, where the ‘flesh and blood’ are also the bread and wine of God’s ‘presence and essence all-divine’.

‘The double agony in Man…….. in the garden [of Gethsemane] secretly……..and on the cross on high’ are usually sung quietly, as we think of all Jesus suffered with and for us.
Then we’re full of joyful praise again as the last verse repeats the words of the first ‘Praise to the Holiest’.

Followers of the Archers will remember that when the character Phil Archer died recently, he was listening to Elgar’s famous oratorio ‘The Dream of Gerontius’. The words for this were written by Newman, and contain his wonderful hymn, sung with great triumph as Gerontius dreams of entering heaven – what a way to go!

Words:
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/p/p101.html


Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KQNx61n8o

Just found this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paAVIBcErko&feature=related

Constance Booth

"The old rugged cross"

I just love both my choices.

Words:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/r/oruggedc.htm

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBJUpl7JjOU&feature=related

Constance Booth

“As the deer pants for water”. I first heard this when I was staying in the Australian outback for a couple of months – perhaps it just struck a cord! I just don’t know.

Lyrics:
http://www.lyrics-p.com/authors/misc-religious/misc-religious-as-the-deer-pants-for-the-water-lyrics.shtml

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0t6_V1OqQ

Cathryn Howse

Apparently it is a typical female trait to like a song for the melody and not the lyrics, and therefore I make no excuse for my “femaleness”. Song words appear to have very little effect on me personally. With the exception of the first line, I don’t even hear the words let alone remember them. I think of it as a kind of ‘word deafness’, similar to the affliction of certain members of my household with the word ‘housework’. Apologies to those who agonise over hymn choices every Sunday – it must be like educating pork!

The song that I have chosen as my favourite is an instrumental version of ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’ by Casting Crowns and the reason it is my favourite is because it is simply a beautiful arrangement of strings and piano and the effect is quite haunting. The melancholy of the music expresses the longing for Jesus in a way that words cannot. Jesus come to us and ransom captured Israel – it’s poetic. Also, I wish I could play the violin like that!

Back to the words! The words that echo to me through the piece as I listen are ‘O come O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Is-ra-el’ and ‘rejoice, rejoice!’ which makes it a worthy version for this alone, beauty and simplicity. As I said I can usually only remember the first line so the first two lines and part of the chorus is a triumph! The original words are in 9th century Latin and the letters of the titles spell the word SARCORE which reversed spells ERO CRAS meaning ‘I shall be there tomorrow’. Put simply, this is traditionally sung on Christmas Eve and is the answer from the One we call.

One commentary puts it better than I can:
“…(the words) sum up the longing of Advent as they depict the desperate plight of humanity in need of a Savior, and address Christ with seven grand titles, pleading with him to come save his people. The verse we know as the first was actually the last, climactic verse in the series.”

I realise that this is an Advent hymn but I was asked for my favourite and I cannot think of a time when it is not appropriate to long for Jesus to come into our lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roy3Ft6Fvbk

Jess Tidy

"You've got the love" by Florence and the Machine. Cover version of Candi Staton gospel song "You got the love".

wikipedia quote:

"The song has a clear Christian message: Staton talks of giving up on God, only to discover that he has "got the love I need to see me through", and that "the Saviour's love is real". The theme behind the song is one of upliftment and empowerment."

Lyrics:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/f/florence_and_the_machine/youve_got_the_love.html

Florence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQZhN65vq9E

Candi Staton:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O6dlXxQ7ho&feature=related

Martin Tidy

"Closer to the Light" by Bruce Cockburn

When the singer-songwriter, Mark Heard, died prematurely from a heart attack at the age of 40 in 1992, Bruce Cockburn was moved to write this song in tribute. The chorus captures the loss Bruce Cockburn felt surrounding the death of his friend whilst holding out the prospect of hope:

"Gone from mystery into mystery
Gone from daylight into night
Another step deeper into darkness
Closer to the light"

The picture of stepping deeper into darkness and yet closer to the light is, for me, a vivid image that describes the paradox at the heart of my faith - that the darkness of loss and doubt somehow coexists with the light of hope and love.


Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3uq5QaQGio

Lyrics:
http://www.lyricstime.com/bruce-cockburn-closer-to-the-light-lyrics.html

Emma Whately. Part 3

“We are golden”, by Mika, makes me think that God loves us all, no matter where we come from and that he wants us to enjoy life.

Lyrics:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mika/we_are_golden.html

Music and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iQSoTEmgmo

Emma Whatley. Part 2

“Everybody hurts”, makes me think that God is there and is always helping.

R.E.M. music and video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rOiW_xY-kc

Emma Whatley

“Led like a lamb”, is the song that makes me think about God, because to me it says that God (Jesus) died for us!

Music and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQC7ZK_egM

Pauline Michell

''Thine be the glory'' is one of my favourite hymns. It's full of praise for our wonderful Saviour - and His amazing accomplishment through the Cross. Truly the heart of the Gospel. Thanks be to God.

Music and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbBOOmkMLmI

Kathryn Whatley. Part 2

I also love “Stand” by R.E.M., because it always cheers me up due to the stupid lyrics. It also reminds me of all the things that I have and reminds me of what God has given me.

Music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKKqLl_ZEEY&feature=fvw

Lyrics:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Stand-lyrics-R-E-M/658A1EA29ACFF30248256894001ED1B6

Kathryn Whatley

R.E.M.- The Great Beyond

I like this song because of the chorus. The words “pushing an elephant up the stairs”, reminds me of all the hard parts of my life. I also like the words “I’m looking for answers from the great beyond”, reminding me that God is there with me and will answer all my questions.

Lyrics:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Great-Beyond-lyrics-R-E-M/FA652618F71771D848256894002130DD

Music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_JnCWT-_O8

Chris Michell

'' O worship the King '' is one of the first hymns I remember singing. It's a great tune and its marvellous poetic words conjure up a vision of His powerful presence and yet He loves all of us created beings individually. Fantastic! The hymn spoke to me as a primary school kid and still does today as a much older person!

Lyrics:
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh073.sht

Video and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAyKmYD2Zg8&feature=related

Yvonne Whatley. Part 2

U2: Magnificent

Having been a U2 fan for over 20 years it's hard to pick 1 song, but this one lifts me up.

Music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfHliRdCgw&feature=related

Lyrics:
http://www.atu2.com/lyrics/lyrics.src?VID=167&SID=865

Could be of interest (near bottom of page):
http://www.atu2.com/lyrics/biblerefs.html

Yvonne Whatley

Martyn Joseph: Turn Me Tender

The chorus of this song acts as a prayer whenever I am feeling particulary jaded or cynical and I need reminding of God's grace the lyrics speak for themselves.

Turn me tender again
Fold me into you
Turn me tender again
And mould me to new
Faith lost its promise
And bruised me deep blue
Turn me tender again
Through union with you

Lyrics:
http://sallysjourney.typepad.com/sallys_journey/2007/11/turn-me-tender-.html

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJiB5GGZaU0

Nick Oliver. Part 3

I always have music with me and there are certain song writers who have the capacity to write lyrics that, whilst not necessarily spiritual, allow me to pause, think and focus. Whilst I could have picked Bono I have gone for Neil Finn (Crowded House) and Together Alone a haunting track with amazing backing vocals from a Maori choir. It speaks of a connection at different levels – earthly and human – and about being separated from those you care for but still together.

As you can tell the theme is very much about connections with those that we care for something that is sustained by the strength and presence of the Lord in our relationships.

Lyrics:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Together-Alone-lyrics-Crowded-House/939DEB4CA3C48E6248256BC10009BBEF

Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6clOaNae8sg

Nick Oliver. Part 2

The modern song I have gone for is The Power of Your Love. This is one of the first worship songs I came across when exploring my faith and it never fails to reach deep within me and open my heart. I have been in many places around the world on business trips over the years feeling isolated and away from home and family. I always have music with me but I can remember on more than one occasion playing this song and feeling connected to every one I care for and being close to them.


Music and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xdgJN0quK4

Nick Oliver

Lyrics:
http://www.weddingguideuk.com/articles/wordsmusic/hymns/Hymn-GuideMeOThouGreatRedeemer.asp
Music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_FIuAJlZUo

I’ve gone for a selection – one trad, one modern and one ‘secular’ – as different songs in different places can bring perspective and openness. I can’t say it has been easy but here they are.

My ‘traditional’ offering is Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer. It is one of few traditional hymns that deeply reaches me and, yes it does sound best with a Welsh Male Voice Choir in full voice!

Feed me ‘til I want no more,
Be thou still my strength and shield,
Songs of Praises I will ever give to thee.

A genuinely uplifting hymn.

Nick Taylor

Proverbs 3:5-6
http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Proverbs+3%3A5-6

As I get older my experiences of life, myself, and others makes me aware of how unreliable, unexpected, and even random life can be. I can also feel anxious and less confident about all the decisions each day brings, whether they be large or small. I am therefore finding it extremely freeing and reassuring to let God make the decisions for me.
For years I think my method was: ‘This is what I plan to do today; God, please bless me as I do it’. It ended up in workaholism for me, and concern about living up to the expectations I imagined others had of me, or which I had of myself. And there was no end to what I could ‘plan to do today’!!
God has turned this on its head for me. Now I try to let my method be: ‘What are you doing today God? Show me how I can help you’. And I remember Jesus’ words in John 12 v.26 ‘Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am there will my servant be also’. The result is a sense of God going ahead with his plans, and me following after to fit in with them, and do whatever he has lined up.
When ‘interruptions’ come they’re seen as part of God’s plan so are not actually interruptions at all, but just something I hadn’t expected, and God will manage them effectively through me if I let him.
This brings back enjoyment and spontaneity into life, instead of frustration that the day did not work out ‘as I had planned’!!!!!

Constance Booth

Romans 8:28
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:28;&version=31;;

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.

If you can hold on to this in difficult times, it helps.

Margaret Rogers

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Life consists of constant change and the only thing that is unchanged is Christ’s constant love, and his abiding presence in every situation. Nothing can separate us from his love. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

John Gay

1 Timothy 1:15-17

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners— of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Choosing a passage has been as bad as trying to choose 8 discs for the desert Island - and the jury is still out on that! The reason I have chosen this one is because this passage first showed me the power of the Holy Spirit working through his word, the Bible.

I have said the first verse hundreds of times as a child and adult. It is one of the 'comfortable words' that used to be said every week in the church I went to when I was growing up. Yet that set form never gives the whole verse. It was hearing the Welsh Baptist minister, a brilliant preacher, who eventually became my training course tutor, preach on the verse, putting in the bit normally missing, that made me sit bolt upright in my seat.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners......of whom I am the worst.

Those last six words give comfort and assurance to those who feel for any particular reason that they are unworthy of God, or that perhaps God is not interested in them. If God is interested enough in Paul, a zealous persecutor of the church, to make him an apostle, and one who arguably outdid the rest in zeal for the Lord, then God is interested in any and all of us.
I was working my vocation to ministry out at this time. I was shocked, not because I felt unworthy, but because I realised up to that moment I was so smug I didn't know what 'grace' was...and suddenly I did. Read the rest of the passage and you will see why Paul had such confidence to pray as he does to finish. Praise be to God through Christ, Bless his holy name that he should also take pity on me also! How could I not love him!

Related to this is a couple of verses from Psalm 51 'Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my faults and my sin is ever before me.' This is the little prayer I say when I have prepared the table, just before the Eucharistic Prayer when I wash my hands. But even though I am unworthy, praise and thanks to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that he has put his Spirit in me through grace to minister to his people on his behalf. What good fortune to have the privilege to do it on his behalf. Thanks be to God!