December 2009 Archives

Fourth Sunday of Advent

"Love and Hope Abide"

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Worship Notes

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first held on Christmas Eve 1918 at Kings College at Cambridge. This service was adapted from an order prepared by the Archbishop of Canterbury for a Christmas Eve service in 1880 by Eric Milner-White, a former army chaplain, who, at the age of 34, had just been appointed Dean of King's College. With the exception of 1930, the Cambridge Festival has been broadcast annually on the radio since 1928. (In Madison, the Cambridge Festival may be heard on Wisconsin Public Radio on Christmas Eve morning.) Although the anthems and carols change each year, the lessons read from the King James Bible and the prayers used in the service have remained virtually unchanged since 1918. Like Westminster, many churches have adapted the Cambridge Festival service for use in worship during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

Eric Milner-White described the Festival service in this way:

"Its liturgical order and pattern is the strength of the service; the main theme is the development of the loving purposes of God, from the Creation to the Incarnation, through the windows and words of the Bible: the scriptures, not the carols, are the backbone."

As with all worship services at Westminster, the faithful expression of God's word is our primary focus. The music--handmaid of the liturgy--is our response to God's word proclaimed. Through music dating from the 16th to the 21st centuries, we have an opportunity today to respond to God's word by drawing from a diverse and rich heritage of choral repertoire and carols.

As we worship, we know that God's promises of hope and love abide in Christ and, through him, also abide in each of us. Let us respond to God's word this morning with joy as we add our voices to the messengers who preach the gospel of peace.

We extend a warm Westminster welcome to guest harpist, Mary Ann Harr. Mary Ann is blessed with an incredible musical talent and a vibrant spirit, which makes her an exceptional musical collaborator. In addition to performing regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Mary Ann also maintains an active teaching studio in Madison. We offer up our prayers of thanksgiving for Mary Ann's gift of music through which we worship today.

This is the lesson and sermon from Sunday, December 13, 2009.

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THE PROPHETIC LESSON Zephaniah 3:14-20

THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 3:7-18

SERMON "Preparation as Winnowing"

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this, the Third Sunday of Advent. Advent means "coming." The liturgical color for Advent is blue and that color appears not only in the paraments on the communion table and lectern, but also in the choir stoles and in three of the four candles in the Advent wreath.

The season of Advent is a time of anticipation, expectation, and preparation. By observing a season of Advent, we have the opportunity to reflect on just how much our world waits with eager longing for the coming of the Messiah. During Advent, our worship cultivates a sense of mystery as we wait in anticipation of the coming Light. The season of Advent is always measured by the four Sundays proceeding Christmas Day. Each week represents the passage of 1,000 years to total the 4,000 years believed to have elapsed between the time of Adam and Eve and the birth of the Savior. We use an Advent wreath as a symbol of our progression through this season as we prepare to move from a world of darkness into a world of light. To mark the half-way point on our Advent journey, today we light the pink candle in the Advent wreath as a visible symbol of our joy.

God's word expressed in worship today is focused on joy. The hymns and service music through which we worship today reflects the joy that accompanies our faithful belief that Christ's coming means freedom from all worldly burdens. The prelude and postlude today are both connected to the spirit of joy as encapsulated by J.S. Bach (1685-1750). The prelude is a contemporary setting of the chorale "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," and the postlude is a jubilant setting of his spirited "jig" fugue.

As a response to God's word proclaimed, and as a reflection of our joy, today we ordain and install the new elders and deacons who were called by God to this service in the church and who were elected by the congregation at its meeting on November 1.

THE PROPHETIC LESSON Malachi 3:1-4

THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 3:1-6

SERMON "Peace: Preparation as Announcement"

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this, the Second Sunday of Advent. Advent means "coming." The liturgical color for Advent is blue and that color appears not only in the paraments on the communion table and lectern, but also in the choir stoles and in three of the four candles in the Advent wreath.

The season of Advent is a time of anticipation, expectation, and preparation. By observing a season of Advent, we have the opportunity to reflect on just how much our world waits with eager longing for the coming of the Messiah. During Advent, our worship cultivates a sense of mystery as we wait in anticipation of the coming Light. The season of Advent is always measured by the four Sundays proceeding Christmas Day. Each week represents the passage of 1,000 years to total the 4,000 years believed to have elapsed between the time of Adam and Eve and the birth of the Savior. We use an Advent wreath as a symbol of our progression through this season as we prepare to move from a world of darkness into a world of light.

God's word expressed in worship today is focused on peace. The hymns and service music through which we worship today reflects a joyful spirit peace in a world filled with "rough places" that will be made smooth by the coming of Christ. Like many Christmas carols, several of the musical pieces through which we worship today are actually derived from early baroque folk tunes, which were often set to dances.

During Advent, our worship will begin with the choir singing one of the O Antiphons, which have been incorporated as a lyrical paraphrase into the familiar Advent Carol, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." The prophetic text of the antiphons has been used by Christians to prepare for the Christmas observance since the first century.