Don’t you love singing Advent and Christmas hymns at this time of year? There are so many rich pieces of poetry and music that we only sing during this season, we typically need to make a spreadsheet (beginning in November) to make sure that we don’t miss any! We try to group the seasonal hymns…
Henry Haffner
The sermon text this morning begins with a call to rejoice in the coming of our king. Similarly, our service begins with the call of, “Good Christian men, rejoice… Christ is born today,” in addition to the glad shout of, “Joy to the world! The Lord is come!” Zechariah goes on to describe the great…
Today’s sermon text from the prophet Malachi describes a scene of the Lord suddenly coming to His temple in person to cleanse His people and purify their worship. This language is used frequently in some of our most beloved Advent and Christmas hymns. Most directly, the hymn Angels From The Realms Of Glory nearly quotes…
Advent has historically been observed as a season of confession, preparation, and anticipation, looking forward to the celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas Day. You’ll notice several elements in the service this morning that are different from other times of the year: candles are lit during the Call to Worship, purple accents adorn…
As we come to the end of the church year, it is appropriate that we look back on the year that has passed with thanksgiving. God has certainly poured out blessings on us this year, bringing new faces, new lives, and new opportunities to Parish, along with this beautiful building where we are now able…
Tension slowly continues to build as we follow Paul on his journey back to Jerusalem where he will ultimately be arrested. Though his companions urge him to abandon the trip, Paul is determined: he insists “I am ready,” and they respond, “Let the will of the Lord be done” (Acts 20:13-14). I can imagine Paul…
Reading this morning’s sermon text in preparation for the service, it seemed as if Paul was giving the Ephesian believers a farewell address and a set of final instructions. The apostle states plainly that he is departing permanently (Acts 20:25) and urges the church to “stay the course” and to be on guard against false…
Resurrection. Victory over the grave. This central theme of Christianity appears throughout the service this morning. In our sermon text we find the story of Eutychus, the unfortunate man who fell to his death out of a window and had to be resurrected during an especially long sermon of Paul’s. Pastor Jamie chose to pair…
This Sunday marks the annual observance of Reformation Sunday, when we remember with thanksgiving God’s hand of providence in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, the German monk who launched the Reformation by posting 95 theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, had a prolific engagement with music and poetry. Hymnals…
Though this morning’s sermon text contains some rather intriguing elements (miraculous handkerchiefs, traveling demon hunters, and wisecracking evil spirits), one theme is clearly threaded throughout both the passage and this morning’s service: God’s greatness. We will hear twice from 1 John that “He who is in you is greater than he that is in the…