Click here for Free Sheet Music
Dear Pastor / Worship Leader,
I’m posting this to inform you about a new song Malcolm Guite and I co-wrote for Pentecost Sunday. It wasn’t written intentionally to be congregational, but it seems to have come out that way, and so we’ve prepared a free lyric sheet for worship teams to use if the song seems fitting. (see link above and complete lyrics below.)
The song’s lyrics were developed from a sonnet Malcolm wrote for Pentecost several years ago.
About the sonnet, Malcolm writes:
I have been reflecting on the traditional ‘four elements’ of earth, air, water, and fire… how each of them expresses and embodies different aspects of the Gospel and of God’s goodness, as though the four elements were, in their own way, another four evangelists. In that context, I was very struck by the way Scripture expresses the presence of the Holy Spirit through the three most dynamic of the four elements: the air (a mighty rushing wind, but also the breath of the Spirit), water (the waters of baptism, the river of life, the fountain springing up to eternal life promised by Jesus), and of course fire, the tongues of flame at Pentecost. But where is the fourth, I wondered? Where is Earth? And then I realized that we ourselves are earth, the ‘Adam’ made of the red clay, and we become living beings, fully alive, when the Holy Spirit, clothed in the three other elements, comes upon us and becomes a part of who we are.
And so the song’s chorus joyfully proclaims,
This is the feast of fire, air and water
Poured out and breathed, and kindled into earth
The earth herself, awakens to her maker
Translated…
Translated out of death and into birth
At Pentecost, claims the song, ‘the Earth herself awakens to her maker‘—suppled by the fountain of life, kindled by the divine spark, and animated by the very breath of God.
That God allows his good news to be heard in every language, not reserved for some special privileged language or culture, is a part of the very content of the Gospel that “crosses every border,” that translates death into birth, and whose mother-tongue, in every land, is love.
That preaches!
Please check out the song to see if it might serve. I’m posting it well in advance of Pentecost so congregations have time to get to know it before this year’s celebration.
I’ve also released the song to Christian radio across Canada, so folks might already be becoming familiar with it.
Peace friends.
Steve Bell
Full song lyric:
PENTECOST
By Malcolm Guite and Steve Bell (Signpost Music)
Today we feel the winds beneath our wings
Today the hidden fountain flows and plays
Today the church draws breath at last and sings
As every flame becomes a tongue of praise
Today the promised comforter comes flying
Today the fountain cleanses every stain
Today the breath of life comes to the dying
Today our Maker makes us new again
This is the feast of Fire, Air and Water
Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth
The earth herself awakens to her Maker
Translated…
Translated out of death and into birth
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
This is the feast…
Today the lost are found in his translation
Uplifted by his fire-feathered dove
Whose mother-tongue is love in every nation
Whose mother-tongue in every land is love
Free sheet music HERE…
The song Pentecost appears on Steve Bell’s 2024 album release, “The Glad Surprise,” available on all streaming services, and at www.stevebell.com
Read the original sonnet by Malcolm Guite that inspired this song HERE…
