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.
Let there be light
Let there be light
In the beginning when you had created
the heav'ns and earth and sea,
creation in darkness was formless and bare,
but your Holy Spirit was hovering there;
"Let there be light," you spoke,
and light came to be.
Evening and morning appeared; the dawn
prefigured the day.
In your creation which man had defiled
sin ruled and led to death;
the people in darkness were filled with despair,
but your Holy Spirit revealed your care.
"Let there be light," you spoke,
and light took his breath:
Jesus the light of the world was born
to show us the way.
God, you have made us and our hearts are restless
until we find within
the meaning and purpose of all earthly strife,
the true Holy Spirit who ministers life.
"Let there be light," you speak,
and light enters in.
Save us from drifting through life forlorn:
in Christ may we stay.
Words and tune copyright © John Hartley 2006.
Story behind the song
This is another song about creation, redemption and salvation. The words "let there be light" at the heart of each verse have a three-fold meaning, explained in the verses in turn: they mean natural light (electromagnetic radiation) which God made at the beginning of his creation, they mean Jesus (the light of the world) entering the world as a human, and they mean the inner illumination which each of us can have as we enter into a living relationship with God through Jesus. The first two are already done, but the song ends with a plea that the third would be real in our hearts as we commit ourselves to Jesus.
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.