Above:  Second Coming Icon

Image Source = Wikipedia

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal (1965), of The Methodist Church

Words by Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

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1.  Lo, he comes with clouds descending,

Once for favored sinners slain;

Thousand, thousand saints attending

Swell the triumph of his train;

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

God appears on earth to reign,

God appears on earth to reign.

2.  Every eye shall now behold him,

Robed in dreadful majesty;

Those who set at naught and sold him,

Pierced and nailed him to the tree,

Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,

Shall the true Messiah see,

Shall the true Messiah see.

3.  The dear tokens of his passion

Still his dazzling body bears;

Cause of endless exultation

To his ransomed worshipers;

With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture,

Gaze we on those glorious scars!

Gaze we on those glorious scars!

4.  Yea, Amen! Let all adore thee,

High on thy eternal throne;

Savior, take the power and glory,

Claim the kingdom for thine own;

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Everlasting God, come down!

Everlasting God, come down!

Above:  Logo of The Methodist Church of Great Britain

Image Source = Wikipedia

Frederick Pratt Green (“Pratt Green” was his surname) lived from 1903 to 2000.  He, a British Methodist minister, wrote over 300 hymns.

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God is Here!:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/god-is-here/

Loving God, As Now We Gather:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/loving-god-as-now-we-gather/

When the Church of Jesus:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/when-the-church-of-jesus/

O Christ the Healer:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/o-christ-the-healer/

For the Fruit of All Creation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/for-the-fruit-of-all-creation/

When Jesus Came to Jordan:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/when-jesus-came-to-jordan/

To Mock Your Reign, O Dearest Lord:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/to-mock-your-reign-o-dearest-lord/

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Above:  Christ Carrying the Cross, by El Greco

Image Source = Wikipedia

Hymn Source = The United Methodist Hymnal:  Book of United Methodist Worship (1989)

Words (1972) by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

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1.  To mock your reign, O dearest Lord, they made a crown of thorns;

set you with taunts along that road from which no one returns.

They could not know, as we do now, how glorious is that crown;

that thorns would flower upon your brow, your sorrows heal our own.

2.  In mock acclaim, O gracious Lord, they snatched a purple cloak;

your passion turned, for all they cared, into a soldier’s joke.

They could not know, as we do now, that though we merit blame,

you will your robe of mercy throw around our naked shame.

3.  A sceptered reed, O patient Lord, they thrust into your hand,

and acted out their grim charade to is appointed end.

They could not know, as we do now, though empires rise and fall,

your kingdom shall not cease to grow till love embraces all.

Above:  The River Jordan

Image Source = Wikipedia

Hymn Source = The United Methodist Hymnal:  Book of United Methodist Worship (1989)

Words (1973) by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

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1.  When Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized by John,

he did not come for pardon but as the sinless one.

He came to share repentance with all who mourn their sins,

to speak the vital sentence which good news begins.

2.  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.

3.  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.

Above:  The Corn Harvest, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Image Source = Wikipedia

Hymn Source = Chalice Hymnal (1995), of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Words (1970), by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

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1.  For the fruit of all creation,

thanks be to God;

for good gifts to every nation,

thanks be to God;

for the plowing, sowing, reaping,

silent growth while we are sleeping,

future needs in earth’s safekeeping,

thanks be to God.

2.  For the just reward of labor,

God’s will is done;

in the help we give our neighbor,

God’s will is done;

in our worldwide task of caring

for the hungry and despairing,

in the harvests we are sharing,

God’s will is done.

3.  For the harvests of the Spirit,

thanks be to God;

for the good we all inherit,

thanks be to God;

for the wonders that astound us,

for the truths that still confound us,

most of all, that love has found us,

thanks be to God.

Above:  St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Dalton, Georgia, October 23, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StMarkSDalton02#5666790009433551346)

Words (1967), by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

Hymn Source = Chalice Hymnal (1995), of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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1.  O Christ, the healer, we have come to pray for health, to plead for friends.

How can we fail to be restored when reached by love that never ends?

2.  From every ailment flesh endures our bodies clamor to be freed;

yet in our hearts we would confess that wholeness is our deepest need.

3.  How strong, O Christ, are our desires, how weak our knowledge of ourselves!

Release in us those healing truths unconscious pride resists or shelves.

4.  In conflicts that destroy our health we recognize the world’s disease;

our common life declares our ills.  Is there no cure, O Christ, for these?

5.  Grant that we all, made one in faith, in your community may find

the wholeness that, enriching us, shall reach the whole of humankind.

Above:  Church of the Common Ground, Palm Sunday 2011, Meeting at Woodruff Park, Atlanta, Georgia

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/CommonGroundPalmSunday#5596706806709954834)

Words (1968) by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

Hymn Source = Chalice Hymnal (1995), of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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1.  When the church of Jesus shuts its outer door,

lest the roar of traffic drown the voice of prayer,

may our prayers, Lord, make us ten times more aware

that the world we banish is Christian care.

2.  If our hearts are lifted where devotion soars

high above this hungry, suffering world of ours,

lest our hymns should drug us to forget its needs,

forge our Christian worship into Christian deeds.

3.  Lest the gifts we offer, money, talents, time,

serve to salve our conscience, to our secret shame,

Lord, reprove, inspire us by the way you give;

teach us, dying Savior, how true Christians live.

Above:  Holy Eucharist at the Ordination of Ben Wells to the Sacred Order of Priests, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, August 27, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/BenWellsOrdination#5645978723316614978)

Words (1977) by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

Hymn Source = Chalice Hymnal (1995), of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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1.  Loving God, as now we gather,

of that love unworthy still,

give us courage to surrender

rebel heart and stubborn will,

and in us, in faith maturing,

all your promises fulfill.

2.  Holy Lord, as here

you give us bread and wine, as means of grace,

grant to all who call you Savior,

now to meet you face to face,

and to own, in silent wonder,

Lord, how holy is this place.

Above:  Part of the Procession at the Ordination of Ben Wells to the Sacred Order of Priests at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, August 27, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wr158KA1tg)

Words (1978) by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), British Methodist minister

Hymn Source = Chalice Hymnal (1995), of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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1.  God is here!  As we your people meet to offer praise and prayer,

may we find in fuller measure what it is in Christ we share.

Here, as in the world around us, with all our varied skills and arts

wait the coming of the Spirit into open minds and hearts.

2.  Here are symbols to remind us of our lifelong need of grace;

here are table, fount, and pulpit; here the cross has central place.

Here in honesty of preaching, here in silence, as in speech,

here, in newness and renewal, God the Spirit comes to each.

3.  Here our children find a welcome in the Shepherd’s flock and fold;

here as bread and wine are taken, Christ sustains us, as of old.

Here the servants of the Servant seek in worship to explore

what it means in daily living to believe and to adore.

4.  Lord of all, of Christ and kingdom, in an age of change and doubt

keep us faithful to the gospel; help us to work your purpose out.

Here, in this day’s dedication, all we have to give, receive;

we, who cannot live without you, we adore you!  We believe!

Above:  Mars

Image Source = Jet Propulsion Laboratory

(http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA02653)

Hymn Source = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Words by the Reverend John White Chadwick (1840-1904)

(http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/exhibits/monthly/200411.html)

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1.  Eternal Ruler of the ceaseless round

of circling planets singing on their way,

guide of the nations from night profound

into the glory of the perfect day:

rule in our hearts, that we may ever be

guided and strengthened and upheld by thee.

2.  We are of thee, children of thy love,

the brothers of thy well-beloved Son;

descend, O Holy Spirit, that we may be as one:

as one with thee, to whom we ever tend;

as one with him, our Brother and our Friend.

3.  We would be one in hatred of all wrong,

one in our love of all things sweet and fair,

one with the joy that breaketh into song,

one with the grief that trembles into prayer,

one with the power that makes thy children free

to follow truth, and thus to follow thee.

4.  O clothe us with thy heavenly armour, Lord,

thy trusty shield, they sword of love divine;

our inspiration by they constant word;

we ask no victories that are not thine:

give or withhold, let pain or pleasure be;

enough to know that we are serving thee.