For that Child, so dear and gentle, is our Lord in Heav’n above… —C. F. Alexander Christmas in our culture can often be a time of great contrasts: the coldest and darkest part of the year is marked by decorations of brightly colored lights, and the traditional period of reflection and repentance is observed along with rich foods, gift…
Joy! I love how often joy appears in the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus. Zechariah and Elizabeth certainly had joy and gladness in the son of their old age. But the Bible also draws attention to their neighbors. Joy has a natural tendency to spread. The neighbors rejoiced with Elizabeth, who was rejoicing. These are good neighbors! Surprisingly, joy…
Don’t you love singing Christmas hymns at this time of year? There are so many rich pieces of poetry and music that we only sing during this season, I typically need to make a spreadsheet (beginning in November) to make sure that we don’t miss any! I try to group the seasonal hymns around a central theme from week to…
Advent is usually observed as a season of confession, preparation, and anticipation, looking forward to 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 the bulletin and the pulpit, Scripture readings are done…
Here at the end of November, our hearts turn to the coming Thanksgiving holiday, as do many of the hymns in this morning’s service. We begin worship with O Come Before The Lord, Our King—Psalm 95, which reminds us of the Lord’s provision for our needs (“He feeds our souls in pastures broad”) and calls us to enter His presence…
Many of the elements in this morning’s worship service focus on God’s care for the least of His people and our call to serve one another as the Church. We’ll sing from Psalm 146 that God daily gives food to the hungry and “helps the fatherless and widow” (Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah—Psalm 146), and we’ll hear His call from Psalm 82…
In this week’s sermon text from Acts, we once again find the Apostles enduring fierce opposition at the hands of the Jewish authorities. Though they are severely beaten and forbidden from preaching, they considered it an honor “to suffer dishonor for [Jesus’] name” (Acts 5:41). Most of the Scripture readings this morning are taken from Psalm 25, a psalm that…
Unaccompanied singing in worship may be slightly unusual to us in our contemporary context—in this part of the country, that practice is mostly associated with the Churches of Christ and the Restoration movement. But you may not know that singing with voices alone was a widespread practice in the church for much of its history—from the chant melodies that filled…
The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through music. —Martin Luther 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…
In Acts 4, we see the Apostles presenting the gospel with tremendous courage in the face of intense opposition. The contrast between God and His people and their enemies is a theme found throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the psalms that make up much of our service this morning. The nations rage and plot vainly, but the voice of the…
