April 2010 Archives

THE FIRST LESSON Acts 11:1-18

THE SECOND LESSON John 13:31-35

SERMON "Resurrection Life: Love and Glory"

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this Fifth Sunday of Easter in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The liturgical season of Eastertide continues for seven Sundays and concludes with our observance of Ascension Sunday (May 16) before the season of Pentecost begins on May 23. The liturgical color for Eastertide is white.

In worship today, we reflect on the Great Commandment that we "love one another as Christ has loved us." This great commandment is the same text that is often used as the basis for Maundy Thursday worship services. The music through which we worship today gives expression to this love and speaks of our unity within the body of Christ.

Today, we also partake in the sacrament of communion. All who seek a relationship with Jesus Christ are welcome to join in the feast at the table of the Lord.

The paraments on the lectern and pulpit are by Canadian liturgical artist, Karen Brodie and represent the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: the alpha and the omega. The interior of the omega, along with the curved lines of the light, remind us of the open tomb and our risen Christ. The cross and the star are combined to become a symbol of Christ's birth and death. The bottom of the cross becomes one with the cup, the cup of salvation, and the wheat, the symbol of the body of Christ broken for us. These paraments also incorporate the sun rising as a symbol of the new life we celebrate through the resurrection of Christ.

This is the lesson and sermon from Sunday, April 25, 2010.

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THE FIRST LESSON Acts 9:36-43

THE SECOND LESSON John 10:22-30

SERMON "Resurrection Life: Hearing the Beat of the Good Shepherd"

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this Fourth Sunday of Easter in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The liturgical season of Eastertide continues for seven Sundays and concludes with our observance of Ascension Sunday (May 16) before the season of Pentecost begins on May 23. The liturgical color for Eastertide is white.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as "Good Shepherd" Sunday and it takes as its scriptural foundation the text of Psalm 23. Much of the music through which we worship today reflects these images of the Good Shepherd through the form of jazz. The Chancel Choir's anthem is a setting of Psalm 23 composed by Bobby McFerrin (b. 1950). McFerrin's musical style spans multiple genres of music; a fact perhaps most clearly evidenced by his experience as both a Grammy-winning vocalist and an accomplished classical conductor. In this work, which McFerrin dedicates to his mother who herself is an opera and Broadway singer, McFerrin uses female pronouns to set the text of Psalm 23.

We extend a warm Westminster welcome to our Chicago-based jazz musicians, Patrick Williams and Kara Kesselring. Patrick graduated from the University of Iowa in 1995 and has since had the opportunity to play bass with the Moody Blues, Tal Farlow, Stephen Stills, Louie Bellson, Matt Wilson, and the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective. Currently, he can be seen performing with: John Erickson, the Nia Quintet, Typhanie Monique, and the Nick Bisesi Quartet.

Kara Kesselring also graduated from the University of Iowa. For the past two years, she has played keys and sang in the Chicago production of the smash Broadway hit, Jersey Boys. Kara teaches private and group voice/piano classes to children and adults, and the vocal jazz combo class at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. In addition to her freelance projects of pop and jazz, Kara performs in a society band, The Standing Room Only Orchestra. She also enjoys headlining the Kara Kesselring Jazz Trio which features Kara on piano/vocals, Patrick Williams on bass, and Jarod Bufe on saxophone.

THE FIRST LESSON Acts 9:1-20

THE SECOND LESSON John 21:1-19

SERMON "Resurrection Life: Eating with Strangers"

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this Third Sunday of Easter in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The liturgical season of Eastertide continues for seven Sundays and concludes with our observance of Ascension Sunday (May 16) before the season of Pentecost begins on May 23. The liturgical color for Eastertide is white.

In worship today, we continue to explore the ways in which we recognize and experience the risen Christ. Today's scripture from the Book of Acts, which tells of Saul's experience with the risen Christ, is dramatized through a setting by Norwegian composer, Egil Hovland (b. 1924). Knighted in 1983 for his contributions to field of music, Hovland is a composer of world renown who has also been an organist and choir director at the same church in Fredrikstad for the past 61 years. In this setting, Hovland dramatizes Saul's encounter through the use of "choral speech," dissonance, and whisper-like dynamics. Other hymns and service music used throughout the worship service are selected to illustrate the call of the risen Christ and our response to it.

The paraments on the lectern and pulpit are by Canadian liturgical artist, Karen Brodie and represent the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: the alpha and the omega. The interior of the omega, along with the curved lines of the light, remind us of the open tomb and our risen Christ. The cross and the star are combined to become a symbol of Christ's birth and death. The bottom of the cross becomes one with the cup, the cup of salvation, and the wheat, the symbol of the body of Christ broken for us. These paraments also incorporate the sun rising as a symbol of the new life we celebrate through the resurrection of Christ.

This is the lesson and sermon from Sunday, April 11, 2010.

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THE FIRST LESSON Acts 5:27-32

THE SECOND LESSON John 20:19-31

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this Second Sunday after Easter in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The liturgical season of Eastertide continues for seven Sundays and concludes with our observance of Ascension Sunday (May 16) before the season of Pentecost begins on May 23. The liturgical color for Eastertide is white.

In worship today, we explore the role of doubt in our faith by reflecting on the gospel account of Thomas and his encounter with the risen Lord. In our prayers and liturgy we affirm how Christ is experienced and expressed in brokenness and woundedness. Peace comes in the form of the resurrected Christ bearing the wounds of his crucifixion.

The paraments on the lectern and pulpit are by Canadian liturgical artist, Karen Brodie and represent the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: the alpha and the omega. The interior of the omega, along with the curved lines of the light, remind us of the open tomb and our risen Christ. The cross and the star are combined to become a symbol of Christ's birth and death. The bottom of the cross becomes one with the cup, the cup of salvation, and the wheat, the symbol of the body of Christ broken for us. These paraments also incorporate the sun rising as a symbol of the new life we celebrate through the resurrection of Christ.

This is the lesson and sermon from Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.

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THE FIRST LESSON: Isaiah 65:17-25

THE SECOND LESSON: John 20:11-18

SERMON: "Recognizing New Life"

Worship Notes

Welcome to worship at Westminster on this Easter Sunday in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The liturgical season of Eastertide continues for seven Sundays and concludes with our observance of Ascension Sunday (May 16) before the season of Pentecost begins on May 23. The liturgical color for Eastertide is white.

During the season of Lent, we put our "Alleluias" away. Today, we proclaim our faith with shouts of "Alleluia! The Lord is risen!" "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!" Our focus in worship today is on the resurrection of our Lord. The music through which we worship today is a celebratory proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The prelude is a toccata by John Rutter and it serves as a musical connection between our meditative Good Friday worship, which incorporated Rutter's Requiem, and this celebratory service of Easter.The hymns and service music we sing this morning all reflect the joyous celebration of Christ's resurrection. During Holy Communion, all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are invited to partake of the elements as we sing a Taize Song of Communion, "Jesus Remember Me." In keeping with a longstanding Westminster tradition, our Easter Sunday worship ends with an invitation for all to join the Chancel Choir in singing Handel's "Hallelujah" and the inspired "Toccata" of French organist, Charles Marie Widor (1844-1937).

The paraments on the lectern and pulpit are by Canadian liturgical artist, Karen Brodie and represent the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: the alpha and the omega. The interior of the omega, along with the curved lines of the light, remind us of the open tomb and our risen Christ. The cross and the star are combined to become a symbol of Christ's birth and death. The bottom of the cross becomes one with the cup, the cup of salvation, and the wheat, the symbol of the body of Christ broken for us. These paraments also incorporate the sun rising as a symbol of the new life we celebrate through the resurrection of Christ.

This is the lesson and sermon from Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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