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.
As two unite in one
As two unite in one
Christ Jesus, You attended a wedding feast
in Cana, deep in Galilee,
and there you changed the water to wine, and showed
a miracle for all to see.
O Lord, Son of God, please come, Son of God,
and favour us with your blessing;
O Lord, Son of God, please come, Son of God,
as two unite in one.
Today we seek your presence, Lord Jesus Christ,
come, as their life has just begun.
Come, share your indescribable happiness,
come as these two unite in one.
O Lord, Son of God ...
You are the perfect bridegroom, Lord Jesus Christ,
you cleanse us, you're the Lamb who died;
your sacrifice has paid on the cross for us,
and ransomed us to be your bride.
O Lord, Son of God ...
Lord, you've invited us to your wedding feast,
in heaven, sharing your delight:
your blessings are on those who accept your grace,
and dress themselves in righteous white.
O Lord, Son of God ...
Lord, none of us can find lasting happiness,
we're lonely till we first know you;
but when we make you Lord and submit our lives,
we find your joy comes breaking through.
O Lord, Son of God ...
And so we ask you, Jesus, that as they face
life's gloomy clouds or bright sunlight,
that you would give them love which endures all things,
and be with them as they unite.
O Lord, Son of God ...
Words © Dave Davis and John Hartley 2006,
based on the original Romanian hymn by Jean Staneschi.
Story behind the song
"An invitation to the Lord to join us at this wedding. The song talks about a parallel between this wedding and the first wedding that the Lord attended in Cana of Galilee." - Fibia (Docea) Miu, 1995. That was the introduction to this song at my wedding.
It's interesting that at this wedding in Cana, attended by Jesus' family and disciples, Jesus chose to do His first miracle in public. Jesus was not above attending a social event such as a wedding. Out of necessity, wine was miraculously produced. And it was very good, better than anything offered before.
During a church worship service, the Lord's presence is assured: "Where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them" (Matthew 18:20). For a wedding ceremony, such as on a Saturday, it's important to make a special invitation, at the outset. Wedding invitations are usually sent far in advance with special order printing. But the most important invitation is to the Lord, a most special guest.
This song, "Hristos in Cana Galileia", is believed to be written by Jean I. Staneschi. It is in the hymn/songbook "Cintarile Triumflui", first published in June 1925, in Bucuresti, Romania. (Staneschi was the writer who took a Swedish tune and smoothed out some of the notes before it got translated into English as "How Great Thou Art".)
An MP3 file of the hymn, sung in Romanian by the Portland Romanian Baptist Choir, can be found at the following link: http://www.geocities.com/postadavis/AsTwoUniteInOne.html .
Dave Davis
Dave and I decided to collaborate on this song after he had put some earlier versions up for critique on the Christian Songwriters Organisation e-mail list. Some of the rearrangements of words and adaptations are mine, but most of the ideas and images of the song are Dave's, many of them taken from the original Romanian, and some prompted by bible passages, particularly John 2:1-12, Matthew 25:1-11, and Revelation 19:6-9.
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.