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Our Teacher and Master, Redeemer and Lord

Authors:

Idle, Christopher Martin

Themes:

Book Number:

1159

OUR TEACHER AND MASTER, REDEEMER AND LORD,
still teach us today by your Spirit and word;
forgive us our slowness to learn and obey,
and open our hearts to receive what you say.

2. You taught on the hillside, you taught by the sea,
you spoke to five thousand, to twelve or to three;
in temple and synagogue, village and town,
at sunrise and noon, and at sun’s going down.

3. You taught us of judgement, of heaven and hell,
of what it will cost if we choose to rebel:
you brought the good news, and the call to repent;
you showed us the Father, by whom you were sent.

4. You taught us forgiveness, and trust for our food;
to love those who hate us, to pray for their good:
the danger of riches, of violence and greed;
the blessing of sharing with neighbours in need.

5. You taught by your life and you taught by your death;
you spoke from the cross as you spent your last breath:
at lakeside and pathway and breaking of bread
you taught from the Scriptures, alive from the dead.

6. Our teacher and master, redeemer and Lord,
still teach us, we pray, by your Spirit and word,
to learn of your wisdom and grow in your grace,
till darkness is gone, and we see face to face.

The Son - His Life and Ministry

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Tune

St Denio
Metre:
- 11 11 11 11
Composer:
- Welsh Traditional Melody

A look at the author

Idle, Christopher Martin

b Bromley, Kent 1938. Eltham Coll, St Peter’s Coll Oxford (BA, English), Clifton Theol Coll Bristol; ordained in 1965 to a Barrow-in-Furness curacy. He spent 30 years in CofE parish ministry, some in rural Suffolk, mainly in inner London (Peckham, Poplar and Limehouse). Author of over 300 hymn texts, mainly Scripture based, collected in Light upon the River (1998) and Walking by the River (2008), Trees along the River (2018), and now appearing in some 300 books and other publications; see also the dedication of EP1 (p3) to his late wife Marjorie. He served on 5 editorial groups from Psalm Praise (1973) to Praise!; his writing includes ‘Grove’ booklets Hymns in Today’s Language (1982) and Real Hymns, Real Hymn Books (2000), and The Word we preach, the words we sing (Reform, 1998). He edited the quarterly News of Hymnody for 10 years, and briefly the Bulletin of the Hymn Society, on whose committee he served at various times between 1984 and 2006; and addressed British and American Hymn Socs. Until 1996 he often exchanged draft texts with Michael Perry (qv) for mutual criticism and encouragement. From 1995 he was engaged in educational work and writing from home in Peckham, SE London, until retirement in 2003; following his return to Bromley after a gap of 40 years, he has attended Holy Trinity Ch Bromley Common and Hayes Lane Baptist Ch. Owing much to the Proclamation Trust, he also belongs to the Anglican societies Crosslinks and Reform, together with CND and the Christian pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. A former governor of 4 primary schools, he has also written songs for school assemblies set to familiar tunes, and (in 2004) Grandpa’s Amazing Poems and Awful Pictures. His bungalow is smoke-free, alcohol-free, car-free, gun-free and TV-free. Nos.13, 18, 21, 23A, 24B, 27B, 28, 31, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 102, 108, 109, 114, 118, 119A, 121A, 125, 128, 131, 145B, 157, 176, 177, 193*, 313*, 333, 339, 388, 392, 420, 428, 450, 451, 463, 478, 506, 514, 537, 548, 551, 572, 594, 597, 620, 621, 622, 636, 668, 669, 693, 747, 763, 819, 914, 917, 920, 945, 954, 956, 968, 976, 1003, 1012, 1084, 1098, 1138, 1151, 1158, 1159, 1178, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1227, 1236, 1237, 1244, 1247, 5017, 5018, 5019, 5020.