Author: Brian Wren, 1936- Hymnal: Worship and Rejoice #104 (2003) Meter: 8.7.8.7 D Scripture: John 1:1-3 Lyrics: 1 Hidden Christ, alive for ever,
Savior, Servant, Friend and Lord,
year by year, unseen, you offer
life undying, love outpoured.
Day by day, you walk among us,
known and honored, yet concealed,
freeing, chiding, leading, guiding,
till your glory is revealed.
2 Endless orbits by our planet
spinning round its speeding star
cannot trace creation's secret:
why we live and whose we are.
Jesus, you alone uncover
nature's rhythm, reason, rhyme,
so your birthday is our center:
hinge of history and time.
3 Still your life and way of living,
God-revealing, Spirit-blown,
teaching, healing, sins forgiving,
measure and inspire our own,
loving earth's despised, rejected,
till with them you hang in pain,
broken, buried, resurrected,
life laid down, our life to gain.
4 Who can tell, through earthly eons,
all your loving power has done,
changing hearts and shaping nations,
seeking all, rejecting none?
Speeches fail, but songs soar higher,
tracing how, in every place,
twice ten hundred years have numbered
countless works of boundless grace!
5 Christ our hope, alive among us,
take our love, our work, our prayer.
We will trust and tell your purpose,
braving evil and despair,
in your name befriending, mending,
making peace and setting free,
showing, giving and acclaiming
signs of joy and jubilee. Languages: English Tune Title: RUSTINGTON
Hidden Christ, Alive for Ever