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.
