This is the lesson and sermon from Sunday, November 28, 2010.
November 2010 Archives
THE PROPHETIC LESSON Isaiah 2:1-5
THE GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 24:36-44
SERMON "The Transformation of Hope: Being Awake"
Worship Notes
Welcome to worship at Westminster on this the First Sunday of Advent, which is also celebrated as the start of a new church year. The liturgical color for Advent is blue and that color appears not only on 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 for the Lord" with anticipation of the coming Light. The season of Advent is always measured by the four Sundays preceding 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 Jesus Christ. We use an Advent wreath as a symbol of our progression through this season as we prepare to move from a world immersed in darkness into a world of light filled with the hope, peace, joy, and love found in Christ.
In worship today, we focus on the hope with which we wait for the Lord. The hymns and service music through which we worship today reflect this spirit of hope amidst the darkness. As a sign of our hope, we will respond to God's Word today by decorating our sanctuary with symbols of our hope in Christ: evergreens, angels, Chrismons and lights. The congregation is invited to come forward and assist as together we "green the church" and begin our Advent journey. While we do so, we will sing the familiar Advent Carol, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." The prophetic text of this carol is based on the "O Antiphons," which have been used by Christians to prepare for the Christmas observance since the first century.
This is the lesson and sermon from Sunday, November 21, 2010.
THE PSALM LESSON Psalm 100
THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 1:68-79
THE EPISTLE LESSON Colossians 1:11-20
SERMON "Radical Gratitude"
Worship Notes
In today's worship we celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday. The music and liturgy revolve around this most important of human activities -- giving thanks for the many gifts we receive from God. You will notice in our worship an emphasis on singing today as a deep expression of this thanksgiving. We gather in song, sing prayers and hymns, and have incorporated a number of anthems throughout the service. The texts at the heart of our worship reflect this attitude of gratitude as expressed in Psalm 100 and in a portion of a letter from Paul to the church where he encourages them to "endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father." The prayer of Confession comes from a poem written by Mary Jo Leddy, a theologian and writer who works with refugees in Canada.
As part of our response to God's gracious Word, you are encouraged to come forward and present yourself and your gifts of offerings, pledges and groceries. We come as the hymn (551) reminds us as a "Thankful People." We encourage you to reflect in this service on your own "radical gratitude" for the gifts of God's grace within your life and in the world. We are reminded as the early church father, Irenaeus, once wrote "That God gives us gifts everyday, but our hands are too full to receive them."
Be attentive
to the graciousness
the glory and the goodness
that is here
that is now
ever new.
Amen.
THE FIRST LESSON Hebrews 11:32-12:2
SERMON "True Grit"
Worship Notes
In worship today, we remember and celebrate those who have gone from our lives and who have joined the communion of saints with our Lord God in heaven. In the liturgical calendar, this commemoration is called "The Festival of All Saints Day." The liturgical color for All Saints Day is white.
The focus of this service is not on the experience of death and loss, but rather on the celebration of life. Those "saints" whom we remember by name in worship today are the ten individuals from this congregation who have died since last All Saints Day in November 2009. As the name of each person is read aloud, a bell is tolled as a family member or a designee takes light from the Christ Candle to light one of the tall candles behind the communion table as a visible sign of the presence of the deceased among the communion of saints. As we worship, we recall the ways in which we, like these individuals, live out our response to God's call upon our lives within this community and in mission to Christ's church and to the world.
Communion today will be received by intinction. After coming forward to receive the bread and cup, you may wish to step behind the communion table to light a candle to celebrate the memory of someone from your life who now is among the communion of saints. Symbolic of Christ as the light of everlasting life, each memorial candle is lit from the Christ Candle. Collectively, these burning candles serve as a visible sign of the "cloud of witnesses" described in scripture.
The music through which we worship today also celebrates those who have gone before us and whose Christian examples give shape to our mission. The prelude is a reflective setting of the German Chorale, "Blessed Are the Faithful Souls," set by Brahms. The opening hymn, "O Lord of Life, Where'er They Be" describes the wonder of heaven and the joy that waits us there. The response hymn, "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God", articulates our understanding that saints live among us and serve with us in mission even now. The choir's anthems, "At the River" and "The Road Home" reflect both the hopeful expectation of salvation promised to us through Christ and the prayerful reflection of the end of life as it is on earth. We close our worship with the sending hymn, "For All the Saints," which is set to tune by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
