Christmas Carol – Lord, you left your heavenly glory

Lord, you left your heavenly glory,
Came to bear our human frame,
Nurtured in the womb of Mary,
Girl to whom the angel came.
“Greetings, Favoured Blessed Virgin,
You shall bear God’s only Son”
Trusting, though perplexed, she answered,
“As you say, God’s will be done”.

Secretly, within her body,
Mary felt her Saviour grow,
Then imperial power commanded,
Off to Bethl’em they must go.
There, God’s mother, weak and tired,
Body wracked with labour pain,
Wonders at her fragile firstborn -
God now come on earth to reign.

Shepherds working on the hillside,
Awe-struck, hear the angel throng,
“Glory be to God in heaven
Peace on earth” proclaims their song.
“For to you is born a Saviour
Far from power, might and fame,
Wrapped in cloths within a manger,
God has come to share your shame”.

Word of God, once born of Mary,
Jesus Christ, our servant King,
Truly God and truly human,
Now to you our praise we bring.
From your birth in that poor stable,
To your death at Calvary,
You gave up your life for others,
Your great love has set us free.

(suggested tunes: Abbot’s Leigh, Austria)

Andrew Goddard

Andrew Goddard served on the Leadership Team of Fulcrum from its launch in 2003 until 2020. He currently teaches Christian ethics at Westminster Theological Centre and Ridley Hall, Cambridge and is Assistant Minister at St James the Less, Pimlico where his wife, Lis, is Vicar. He has previously taught at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Trinity College, Bristol and been an Adjunct Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. He has served for a number of years on the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) and was on the Co-Ordinating Group of the Living in Love and Faith project. He is author of a number of books, including Rowan Williams: His Legacy (Lion, 2013) and co-editor with Andrew Atherstone of Good Disagreeement? Grace and Truth in a Divided Church (Lion, 2015).