THE PSALM LESSON Psalm 34:1-8
THE GOSPEL LESSON Mark 10:46-52
SERMON "Merciful Living"
Worship Notes
The Protestant Reformation has shaped our identity as Christians and as Presbyterians. When Martin Luther (1483-1546), John Calvin (1509-1564), and others examined the scriptures, they found lost truths that shaped and influenced their faith. Today, Westminster joins with Protestant denominations around the world in observing Reformation Sunday. Yet, as modern worshippers within the Presbyterian Church, we embrace and embody the statement "once reformed, always reforming" to reflect the ever-evolving nature of our relationship to Christ and his church.
In worship today, we examine scripture to understand that God calls us to see with new eyes that which is required of us: do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. The gospel lesson today describes the Jesus' healing of the blind man whose "faith had made him well." We, too, pray that God might "Open Our Eyes" that we might see all the visions of truth God has for us.
The music through which we offer our worship to God this morning is selected to sample the roots of our reformed musical heritage and hymnody. The opening hymn is a text set to a German chorale tune harmonized by J.S. Bach. We will also sing the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" which was written by the reformer Martin Luther in 1529.
The choir's anthem today is a presentation of the gospel text and will be sung as a proclamation of the Gospel. The musical setting of this text is by a reformation-era German composer Melchoir Vulpius (1560-1615).
The prelude is a work for harpsichord written near the time of the Reformation, while the offertory is a setting of the hymn "Built on the Rock, the Church Does Stand." The text of the hymn describes Christ as the cornerstone of our faith and the bedrock on which the church grows and thrives. As we seek always to grow in our faith, may it not only make us well but enable us to continue in our process of "reforming" to God's will for us as individuals and as a church.
