Christmas Day

ANTHEM                                             What Child Is This?                            Paul Christiansen, arr.

What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
This, this is Christ the King, the Babe, the Son of Mary.
Why lies He in such low estate when ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent word is pleading.
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh; come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of Kings salvations brings. Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Christmas Eve

OFFERTORY ANTHEM              O Little Town of Bethlehem         John Leavitt, arr.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond’ring love.
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the king, and peace to all the earth.
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell.
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Immanuel!

December 18th

ANTHEM            Stir Up Thy Power, O Lord              James Biery
Text: Traditional Advent Collect

Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let thy bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us;  through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end.  Amen.

December 11th

Savior of the Nations - Hymns and Readings - December 11th 2011

December 4th

OFFERTORY ANTHEM         Comfort, Comfort Now My People              Michael Burkhardt, arr.

“Comfort, comfort now my people; tell of peace!” So says our God.
Comfort those who sit in darkness mourning under sorrow’s load.
To God’s people now proclaim that God’s pardon waits for them!
Tell them that their war is over; God will reign in peace forever!
For the herald’s voice is crying in the desert far and near,
Calling us to true repentance since the Kingdom now is here.
Oh, that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God away!
Let the valleys rise to meet him, and the hills bow down to greet him.
Straight shall be what once was crooked, and the rougher places plain!
Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits God’s holy reign!
For the glory of the Lord now on earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token that God’s word is never broken.    

November 27th

ANTHEM               Advent Message             Martin How
Text: Revelation 22:20 and Isaiah 40:3

Come Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus, Amen, come Lord Jesus.
O come quickly, come Lord Jesus.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare you the way of the Lord,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

November 20th

ANTHEM        All Creatures of Our God and King           Robert Shaw
Text: Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing.
Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with silver gleam.
O praise Him, O praise Him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong, ye clouds that sail in heav’n along.
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice; ye lights of evening, find a voice.
Thou flowing water, pure and clear, make music for thy Lord to hear.
Thou fire so masterful and bright that givest man both warmth and light.
And all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part.
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, Three in One.

November 13th

ANTHEM              I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light         Kristina Langlois
Text: Kathleen Thomerson

I want to walk as a child of the light; I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus.
In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.
I want to see the brightness of God. I want to look at Jesus.
Clear Sun of righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father.
I’m looking for the coming of Christ. I want to follow Jesus.
When we have sun with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus.   

November 6th

VOLUNTARY  Bist du bei mir (If You Are With Me)        J.S. Bach
Anne Thurmond, clarinet                  Paul Thurmond, Organist

OFFERTORY ANTHEM        A Debt of Love           Jane Ellen
Text: Isaac Watts

Alas and did my savior bleed, and did the sun in darkness hide;
While He was crucified for me, a debt He paid for sinners such as I.
Was it for crimes that I have done He suffered there upon that tree?
Amazing grace, beyond compare, eternal love poured out for you and me.
O who will come and go with me to wipe the stain of debt away?
My Lord I give myself to you, for nought but love can e’er repay.           

October 30th

VOLUNTARY      Wie Melodien Zieht Es       Johannes Brahms
Chris McCormick, trumpet                Paul Thurmond, Organist

*OPENING HYMN     Christ is Made the Sure Foundation      David Cherwien
The congregation is invited to sing the first and fourth stanzas.

Choir:  To this temple, where we call You, Come, O Lord of Hosts, today;
With Your wonted loving-kindness hear Your people as they pray,
And Your fullest benediction shed within its walls alway.
Here bestow on all Your servants what they ask of You to gain,
What they gain from you forever with the blessed to retain,
And hereafter in Your glory evermore with You to reign.

OFFERTORY      Where’er You Walk       Georg Frideric Handel 

October 23rd

ANTHEM          O For a Closer Walk with God            C.V. Stanford

O for a closer walk with God, a calm and heav’nly frame;
A light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb!
Return, O holy Dove, return! Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn, and drove thee from my breast.
So shall my walk be close with God, calm and serene my frame.
So purer light shall mark the road that leads me to the Lamb.    

October 16th

VOLUNTARY           Great is Thy Faithfulness               Yoomi Paick, arr. 
Dr. Yoomi Paick, Pianist

*POSTLUDE              Holy, Holy, Holy                   Yoomi Paick, arr.

October 9th

ANTHEM           Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep                 Philip Ledger
Text: Jane E. Leeson

Loving Shepherd of thy sheep, keep thy lamb, in safety keep;
Nothing can thy power withstand, none can pluck me from thy hand.
I would praise thee ev’ry day, gladly all thy will obey,
Like thy blessed ones above happy in thy precious love.
Loving Shepherd, ever near, teach thy lamb thy voice to hear;
Suffer not my steps to stray from the straight and narrow way.
Where thou leadest I would go, walking in thy steps below,
Till before my Father’s throne I shall know as I am known.     

October 2nd

OFFERTORY ANTHEM       A Vineyard Grows              K. Lee Scott
Text: Jaroslav J. Vajda

Amid the world’s bleak wilderness
A vineyard grows with promise green,
The planting of the Lord himself.
His love selected this terrain,
His vine with love he planted here
To bear the choicest fruit for him.
We are his branches, chosen, dear,
And though we feel the dresser’s knife,
We are the objects of his care.
From him we draw the juice of life,
For him supply his winery
With fruit from which true joys derive.
Vine, keep what I was meant to be:
Your branch, with your rich life in me.  

September 25th

ANTHEM         Fight the Good Fight      Paul Leddington Wright

Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy strength and Christ thy right.
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.
Run the straight race through God’s good grace;
Life up thine eyes and seek his face;
Life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the path and Christ the prize.
Cast care aside, lean on thy guide;
His boundless mercy will provide.
Trust and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life, and Christ its love.
Faint not nor fear, his arms are near,
He changeth not and thou art dear;
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.     

September 18th

ANTHEM               Come, Labor On                   John Ferguson
Text: Julie Laurie Borthwick

Come, labor on. Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain
While all around us waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the Master say, “Go work today.”
Come, labor on. Claim the high calling angels cannot share;
To young and old the gospel gladness bear.
Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly. The night draws nigh.
Come, labor on. Away with gloomy doubts and fear!
No arm so weak but may do service here;
Though feeble agents, may we all fulfill God’s righteous will.
Come, labor on. No time for rest, till glows the western sky,
Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie,
And a glad sound comes with the setting sun, “Well done, well done.”

September 11th

ANTHEM              How Can I Keep From Singing?           Paul Thurmond
Text: The New York Observer, 1868

My life flows on in endless song; above Earth’s lamentation
I hear the sweet though far-off hymn that hails a new creation.
What though my joys and comforts die? The Lord my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heav’n and Earth, how can I keep from singing?
Through all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—How can I keep from singing?         

September 4th

OFFERTORY ANTHEM        Turn Back, O Man         Gustav Holst
Text: Clifford Bax

Turn back, O Man, forswear thy foolish ways.
Old now is Earth, and none may count her days.
Yet thou, her child, whose head is crowned with flame,
Still will not hear thine inner God proclaim:
“Turn back, O Man, forswear thy foolish ways.”

Earth might be fair and all men glad and wise;
Age after age their tragic empires rise,
Built while they dream, and in that dreaming weep.
Would man but wake from out his haunted sleep,
Earth might be fair and all men glad and wise.

Earth shall be fair, and all her people one.
Nor till that hour shall God’s whole will be done.
Now, even now, once more from earth to sky
Peals forth in joy man’s old undaunted cry:
“Earth shall be fair, and all her folk be one!”