Tag: Church Calendar

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Good Friday prayers

O Jesus, Who by reason of Thy burning love for us
hast willed to be crucified
and to shed Thy Most Precious Blood
for the redemption and salvation of our souls,
look down upon us here gathered together
in remembrance of Thy most sorrowful Passion and Death,
fully trusting in Thy mercy;
cleanse us from sin by Thy grace,
sanctify our toil,
give unto us and unto all those who are dear to us our
daily bread,
sweeten our sufferings,
bless our families,
and to the nations so sorely afflicted,
grant Thy peace,
which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Thy commandments
we may come at last to the glory of heaven.

Amen.

~~~

Giver of all, another day is ended and I take my place beneath my great redeemer’s cross, where healing streams continually descend, where balm is poured into every wound, where I wash anew in the all-cleansing blood, assured that Thou seest in me no spots of sin. Yet a little while and I shall go to Thy home and be no more seen; help me to gird up the loins of my mind, to quicken my step, to speed as if each moment were my last, that my life be joy, my death glory.

I thank Thee for the temporal blessings of this world—the refreshing air, the light of the sun, the food that renews strength, the raiment that clothes, the dwelling that shelters, the sleep that gives rest, the starry canopy of night, the summer breeze, the flowers’ sweetness, the music of flowing streams, the happy endearments of family, kindred, friends. Things animate, things inanimate, minister to my comfort. My cup runs over. Suffer me not to be insensible to these daily mercies. Thy hand bestows blessings: Thy power averts evil. I bring my tribute of thanks for spiritual graces, the full warmth of faith, the cheering presence of Thy Spirit, the strength of Thy restraining will, Thy spiking of hell’s artillery. Blessed be my sovereign Lord!

Amen.

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Epiphany

It is officially the end of Christmas. Today the Christmas season wraps up with the celebration of Epiphany. And no, while we have not been celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas (maybe next year?), we are acknowledging the importance of the day of Epiphany. As our pastor said on Sunday, this is day for us to whoop it up, because Epiphany is the day that commemorates the Gospel being taken to the Gentiles ~ that’s me! The word epiphany literally means “manifestation” or “revelation.” The Light of the world was shown to the Magi, who then proclaimed Him to the nations (the Gentiles). We focus on light, on gifts, and on sharing Christ with others. The Light has been given to us, His chosen people! It is our responsibility to reflect that Light to the world around us. So today for Epiphany I am reminded that I have been given the gift of Jesus, and I need to reflect Him to the nations.

As with gladness, men of old
Did the guiding star behold
As with joy they hailed its light
Leading onward, beaming bright
So, most glorious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger bed
There to bend the knee before
Him Whom Heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

~William Dix, 1860~

Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and His glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

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Fourth Sunday of Advent

Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!

At His Word the worlds were framèd; He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean in their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!

He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!

O that birth forever blessèd, when the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!

This is He Whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!

O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!

Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

Thee let old men, thee let young men, thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens, with glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring, evermore and evermore!

Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!

~Aurelius Prudentius, 5th Cen­tu­ry (Corde na­tus ex pa­ren­tis); trans­lat­ed from Latin to Eng­lish by John M. Neale, 1854, and Henry W. Baker, 1859.~

This morning one of our pastors preached an Advent sermon on Psalm 118. I can’t even begin to tell you how perfectly this sermon “hit home” for us today. What a truly pastoral message, the deep sense of that word. When it gets online, you should take a listen to it here (the sermon for 12/19/2010).

“You are part of Christ’s advent to the world. So, suffer with Him.
Live by faith in Him in the middle of all your mess.
He will vindicate us and lead us to glory.”
~Pastor Alexander~

At our parish meeting’s (i.e. “small group” if that’s a familiar term to you) Christmas party this evening, after finger-food and visiting (and before prayer and singing), we read the nativity passage from Luke, focusing on the gift the angels proclaimed to the shepherds. And then we went around the room sharing some gift the Lord had given each person this year. That is such a… um… hard question for Steven and me right now. We looked at each other through a little grimace. People shared about new life, new loves, new jobs, new homes, new cars, new friendships. When it got around to us, we told the truth. That it’s hard to see gifts for our family in the last year. But that they are there: they are simply gifts in grief. We received the gift of three more jewels in our crown in heaven this year. I have so much trouble seeing that as a gift. But, sigh, Trojan though it may be, it is a gift. And then we have seen the body of Christ in a way we never saw prior to this year. And that, perhaps, is the biggest gift of all. Being rallied around, upheld, and grieved with. And so tonight my heart feels heavy–physically heavy in a way I can not even begin to explain–as I try to see these gifts through tear-filled, puffy eyes.

Come, Lord Jesus. I grow weary of this world. Weary of the pain, the tears, the grief, the death. I groan at the suffering. You who knew the deepest suffering of all, come and lift my burden. You came in flesh in Bethlehem… I know that one day You will come again in glory, and call me from my grave, and I will arise with never a tear to grace my cheek again. Oh Lord, come.

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Third Sunday of Advent

This morning our pastor said, “Advent is not celebrated, it is observed.” I loved that distinction. We celebrate Christmas, we observe Advent. That had not crossed my mind before, but I like it. 🙂 Observe away.

So at our [fairly traditional, liturgical] church, announcements begin the service as people hush their children, gather their wits, and begin to prepare to enter the heavenlies. After that, there is a musical meditation where the congregation is encouraged to meditate and turn their hearts to worship. Then comes the official call to worship. It is generally a short responsive reading. During this Advent season, our responsive call to worship includes this:

Peace be with you.
And also with you.
Tell those who hunger for righteousness to take heart.
The Lord our God will come!
Tell the poor in spirit to take heart.
The Lord our God will come!
Tell the orphan to take heart.
The Lord our God will come!
Tell the grieving widow to take heart.
The Lord our God will come!
Warn the tyrant to keep watch.
The Lord our God will come!
Warn the unjust to keep watch.
The Lord our God will come!
Warn the haughty to keep watch.
The Lord our God will come!

I love it. And let me just add that in my head, I add “grieving family” to grieving widow, just because I do. Sigh. It’s an extra way of reminding myself of my True Hope. The Lord our God will come!

On this particular morning my dearest friend Margaret and I sang a duet for the meditation, and I wanted to share the text with you. Perhaps it doesn’t seem necessarily Advent-ish. But, oh, yes it is! As we recall the first advent of Christ, we simultaneously look forward with eagerness to His second advent! That is what this song focuses on. I love the first and last verses the most. Especially the last one. Oh, how I love the resounding call for Christ to claim His Kingdom, for He alone shall reign! Amen!

Lo! He comes, with clouds descending,
once for our salvation slain;
thousand thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Christ the Lord returns to reign.

Every eye shall now behold Him,
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at nought and sold Him,
pierced, and nailed Him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.

Those dear tokens of His passion
still His dazzling body bears,
cause of endless exultation
to His ransomed worshipers;
with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture
gaze we on those glorious scars!

Now redemption, long expected,
see in solemn pomp appear;
all His saints, by man rejected,
now shall meet Him in the air:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
See the day of God appear!

Yes, amen! let all adore Thee,
high on Thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory;
claim the Kingdom for Thine own:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone.

~Words: John Cennick (1718-1755), 1752;
as altered by Charles Wesley (1707-1788), 1758;
and then altered by Martin Madan (1726-1790), 1760

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Second Sunday of Advent

We sang “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying” (by Philip Niccoli, written in the 16th century) in worship today, and the last verse really catches me. I like both of these translations of the verse:

Now let all the heavens adore thee,
and saints and angels sing before thee,
with harp and cymbal's clearest tone;
of one pearl each shining portal,
where we are with the choir immortal
of angels round thy dazzling throne;
nor eye hath seen, nor ear
hath yet attained to hear
what there is ours;
but we rejoice and sing to thee
our hymn of joy eternally.


Now let all the heav'ns adore Thee,
Let men and angels sing before Thee,
With harp and cymbal's clearest tone.
Of one pearl each shining portal,
Where, dwelling with the choir immortal,
We gather round Thy radiant throne.
No vision ever brought,
No ear hath ever caught,
Such great glory;
Therefore will we
Eternally
Sing hymns of praise and joy to Thee.



Something about those words reminds me of how we ascend into the heavenlies on Sunday when we worship, and that it’s then that my family is complete, and where I get to worship with all my  sons & daughters gathered around the radiant throne of God, and how  someday I will get to hear the great and glorious praise, and join in  it eternally with the saints. That thought is grand.


Also… the sermon was on Psalm 80. I call and cry out these words to  God myself. Plus I really love the refrain from that song of Asaph:


Psalm 80:3, 7, 14


Restore us, O God;

let Your face shine, that we may be saved!

Restore us, O God of hosts;

let Your face shine, that we may be saved!

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!

Let Your face shine, that we may be saved!


We are doing our nightly (or close to it…) routine of reading (we’re in this book this year), singing, praying, and eating Lindt Lindor truffles. Gabriel  loved it last year, and of course the passage of time has not changed a  thing in that regard. 🙂


Lord Jesus, You are the light that  shines in the darkness. Remind us to turn to You, to call out to You,  when we feel we’re being swallowed by darkness, by doubts, by troubles  and frustrations. Thank You for the very fact of our being.

~G.K.C~


And just so you know… this is a must read from Mrs. Wilson, if you haven’t already done so.


Christmas is an emergency! Get a thousand bucks out of your savings and whoop it up with your kids.

~Mrs. W~
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First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the season leading up to Christmas, where we remember Christ’s first coming and look ahead with hope to His second coming.

As we were reading Scriptures and singing hymns for this first day of this Advent season in church today, I was overcome with the idea of death in Advent. Maybe that seems backwards to you. We tend to think of life and birth associated with Advent — the anticipation of life and birth, at least. Personally, I don’t think of death in Advent as naturally.

But why did Jesus come? He came to die.
Why did God give life to His Son? So He could experience death.
He came and lived in order to die in order to vanquish death.
He experienced life & death so that we may experience life eternal.
And how does that happen? By overcoming death.
The Advent season is the beginning of death. Advent leads to the vanquishing of Death.
Life happens so that death may happen so that true life may follow resurrection.

As death is so heavy on my heart and burdening my shoulders, it is comforting to see the theme of death in Advent in this way. To see that even Advent includes the theme of death. That Advent is not apart from death, but that death is somehow actually a part of Advent. They are connected. They are both part of God’s story.

From the Father forth He came
And returneth to the same,
Captive leading death and hell
High the song of triumph swell!

~from “Savior of the Nations, Come”

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

~from “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

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Sunday April 4, 2010

CHRIST IS RISEN!
HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Praise to the Lord, our Father, our Savior, our indwelling Spirit ~ He alone has triumphed over sin and death, conquering even the grave. Rejoice, for He and His people are free of bondage to death, free to eternal life and perfect resurrection. Amen!

~~~~~~~~~~

Now let the vault of Heav’n resound
In praise of love that doth abound,
“Christ hath triumphed, alleluia!”
Sing, choirs of angels, loud and clear,
Repeat their song of glory here,
“Christ hath triumphed, Christ hath triumphed!”
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Eternal is the gift He brings,
Wherefore our heart with rapture sings,
“Christ hath triumphed, Jesus liveth!”
Now doth He come and give us life,
Now doth His presence still all strife
Through His triumph; Jesus reigneth!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

O fill us, Lord, with dauntless love;
Set heart and will on things above
That we conquer through Thy triumph,
Grant grace sufficient for life’s day
That by our life we ever say,
“Christ hath triumphed, and He liveth!”
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Adoring praises now we bring
And with the heavenly blessèd sing,
“Christ hath triumphed, Alleluia!”
Be to the Father, and our Lord,
To Spirit blest, most holy God,
Thine the glory, never ending!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

~Paul Strodach (1876-1947)~

~~~~~~~~~~

The promise of the resurrection is especially precious to us this Easter, as we have more children in heaven this year than we had ever previously imagined. While the worship service this morning was beautiful (complete with trumpets, trombone, organ, piano, choir, singing, Scripture, Lord’s Supper…), it was also cutting. Speaking of resurrection is always bittersweet for us. It reminds us of our children. It reminds us of future hope. And hope is just so hard right now that it is hard to pretend anymore. I am thankful for Christ’s death, because it lead to resurrection ~ and because it is a reminder that my children, who are ultimately His children, have also triumphed over death. And someday I too will succumb to the dust of the earth, and I too will overcome death for life.

Resurrection.

Anastasis.

Today I am especially thankful.

Praise the Lord! Alleluia! Amen!

~~~~~~~~~~

1 Peter 1:3
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…!”

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Friday April 2, 2010

My mom grew up in a Jewish community, so we’re thinking maybe we should give some of her old neighbors a call — and it just so happens that my grandparents are still good friends with one of the couples, so it’s actually a reasonable thought. 🙂 So maybe my mom will do that, and we’ll get some truly experienced input on Seder meals. 🙂 But for this year, I managed to simply look through some stuff online (primarily the links I’d shared earlier), and put together a Seder meal for 5 (the 3 of us, plus my parents). Although Steven ended up having to work late, so we didn’t have time to do much of the liturgy before we needed to head out to our parish fellowship night, we did a little of it. My mom lit the candles and said the opening prayer. We did the four glasses of wine (who would skip those?!), and the toasts (if you call them that) with those, and I read some of the extra stuff, like the explanations of what things meant, etc. And Steven read Psalm 113 as part of it as well. So it was a much shortened version, but it was still fun — especially for a first try. When Gabriel is older, he will really like it, I think. He loves liturgical things (he is so our boy).

Here is our [roughly] Seder plate, with the symbolic foods on it: bitter herbs, salt water, a bone (umm, yeah, so our lamb roast was boneless & I had to improvise by using a dog toy….), charoset (a sweet mixture of apples, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, sweet red wine, and honey), matzoh crackers (the matzoh balls were on a separate plate), and hard boiled egg.

Here are the child (Gabriel had brought home a communion cup a few weeks ago, so it was perfect for his wine glass) & adult place settings (don’t you love those small green wine glasses my mom has?).
 
The food, and the table. For the dinner feast part of the meal, we had grilled lamb (my mom did that part — I don’t really know how to grill!), a grain mixture I bought at Trader Joe’s last week (Israeli couscous, orzo, garbanzo beans, and quinoa), green beans from my garden last year, hard boiled eggs, matzoh bread, matzoh balls, and charoset.
   
Ready to eat!!

Loving the wine (are you noticing that he didn’t stay in his high chair, and didn’t want to use his tiny wine glass?) — it really tasted like [barely] spiked Welch’s, it was that sweet. I bought kosher wine, Manischewitz, and while not my favorite wine ever, it was great to have something authentic like that (it’s what the Jewish families in my mom’s childhood neighborhood used for Passover).
 

It was fun to do the Seder meal together, and I hope we can develop it more in future years.
Now I am looking forward to the Good Friday service tonight, where I am going to attempt to accompany the entire service on my harp. If I can muscle through the pain of my blisters, that’s my intent. And then I just won’t be able to play harp for a couple weeks, I think. 🙂 I also semi smashed my pointer finger in the car door two days ago (when delivering my harp to the church), so that is making it slightly difficult as well.
And then Resurrection Sunday!! I have to be at church at 8:30 to practice an anthem on organ with two trumpets, a trombone, and our little church choir. Then there’s brunch at church, but I think maybe I will just come home to get my boys, and not bother about staying for the brunch. I get to play organ for most of the service on Sunday, which Gabriel will love. And then after church we will head to the country for our Easter Feast! Tomorrow I will be making pineapple casserole (not using that linked recipe, but it’s similar: mine has cinnamon though!!) and challah for my part of the meal.

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Wednesday March 31, 2010

Some friends of ours do an annual Seder Meal on Maundy Thursday during Holy Week each year. And although I wanted to try it out too, it didn’t get done last year because of Glory’s death, and this year it almost wasn’t going to get done because — well, because things are busy and I am stressed and I really thought I should just push it off until next year (again).
But nope!
I decided, why not?
We’ll dip our toes into the water and just do little bits of the traditional Seder meal. Although we will not do the full liturgy (which could last around 3 hours), we will have the symbolic foods and read some of the Scriptures to go with it all. We’ll be doing it at my parents’ house right before our parish fellowship night (which Steven is leading), and will have no more than an hour. But I picked up a lamb roast, kosher wine, matzah bread, matzah ball mix, bitter herbs, etc. So I will work on cooking and preparing everything tomorrow afternoon. I’m excited about it. 🙂
These are the links I am working from this year, to pull together my semi last minute Seder meal.
Christian Seder Meal
Introduction to A Christian Seder

Maybe next year I will be able to go more in-depth. We’ll see. 🙂
Blessings to you all this Holy Week!

Exodus 13:8
You shall tell your son on that day,
‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

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Wednesday January 6, 2010

“Let All the Stars In the Skies Give Praise”

Let all the stars in the skies give praise,
Let all the heavens their anthems raise,
Come down and sing them in the shepherds’ night,
Glory to God for Incarnate Light.

Let Rachel weep for her children lose,
And Ramah cry at the awful cost,
Joseph is warned in a dream to come,
And out of Egypt is called the Son.

Let Jacob’s star rise in eastern skies,
And let a scepter from Israel rise,
Come down and guide the wise men to the place
Where God has visited Adam’s race.

~Douglas Wilson

Matthew 2:1-18

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a Ruler
   Who will shepherd My people Israel.'”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to destroy Him.” And he rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
   weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
   she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

“As With Gladness”

As with gladness, men of old
Did the guiding star behold
As with joy they hailed its light
Leading onward, beaming bright
So, most glorious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger bed
There to bend the knee before
Him Whom Heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

~William Dix, 1860