This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
To hold a tiny child
To hold a tiny child
To hold, wrapped in my arms
a tiny child, so frail and small;
looking forward to that day
when s/he be standing straight and tall?
How wonderful your creative love,
Almighty God and King!
We praise you now and thank you
for this baby, and for all the gifts you bring.
You held within your arms
the little children as they came,
and you laid your hands on them
and gave your blessing in God's name.
How wonderful your accepting love,
Lord Jesus, Lord of grace!
We praise you now and thank you
for your blessing of this child here in this place.
We hold before you now
this little child, whom you have given,
and we pray for your good gifts
that s/he might be a touch of heaven.
How wonderful could the future be
with your almighty power!
We ask you now to fill us,
Holy Spirit, day by day and hour by hour.
You held us in your arms
as you were crucified for sin:
for it was the price you paid
to open heav'n and let us in.
How wonderful your redeeming love,
Lord Jesus, God's own Son!
We praise you now and thank you
for our rescue, which by dying you have won.
You hold us in your arms
and all our times are in your hand,
so we turn to you, Lord Jesus,
to gain your strength, that we may stand.
How wonderful your sustaining love,
Oh Spirit of the Lord!
We praise you now and thank you
for your power, Holy Spirit of our God.
Words and music copyright © John Hartley 2007.
Story behind the song
This song is intended for use at a service of Thanksgiving and Blessing for the Gift of a Child (for the liturgy of such a service click here. As such the gender of the words "he" can be changed to "she" (line 4 of verses 1 and 3) to suit the circumstances.
Based on Mark 10:13-16, the song expresses thanks to God for the child, and remembers Jesus taking the children in his arms, laying his hands on them, and blessing them. After a verse of prayer for the future, the last two verses draw our attention to the gospel of Jesus death for our forgiveness, and our response of turning to him.
At the time of posting this song on the internet it is still at the stage of being critiqued, and there are a number of little words which I'm not sure I've got right yet. Here are some - I'd value opinions:
- verse 1 line 8: would "child" be better than "baby"?
- verse 3 line 4: is this the best prayer? I'd like to pray that the child would grow up to be an enrichment of all those with whom s/he comes into contact, but I'm not sure how to express this briefly.
- verse 3 line 7: should it be "fill him" instead of "fill us"?
- verse 4 line 8: would "for salvation" be better than "for our rescue"?
- verse 5 line 3-4: would "so we ask you, Holy Spirit / to send your strength" be a better phrase? ...
- verse 5 line 6: ... and if so, would it be better to address line 6 to "O Jesus Christ our Lord"?
John Hartley.
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.