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.
