11am Choral Eucharist, Sunday, April 29th, 2018
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Themes from the Readings: If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us; worship the Lord with singing and instruments, but most of all with your whole heart; Jesus says, “if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it may be done for you.”
Processional Hymn: 204 Now the green blade riseth (Noël Nouvelet)
Gloria: S280, Powell
First Reading: 1 John 4:7-21
Psalm: Psalm 33, 6-9, 18-21; Setting By: Peter Hallock
Choir: The loving kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.
All: The loving kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.
Choir: 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,*
by the breath of his mouth all the heavenly hosts.
7. He gathers up the waters of the ocean as in a waterskin*
and stores up the depths of the sea.
All: The loving kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.
Choir: 8. Let all the earth fear the Lord;*
let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him.
9. For he spoke, and it came to pass;*
he commanded, and it stood fast.
All: The loving kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.
Choir: 18. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,*
on those who wait upon his love,
19. To pluck their lives from death,*
and to feed them in time of famine.
All: The loving kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.
Choir: 20. Our soul waits for the Lord;*
he is our help and our shield.
21. Indeed, our heart rejoices in him,*
for in his holy Name we put our trust.
All: The loving kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.
Before the Gospel: Alleluia 7
Gospel: John 15:9-17
Offertory Anthem: “Easter Anthem” By: William Billings
Choir: The Lord is ris’n indeed! Hallelujah!
Now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the first fruits of them that slept.
And did He rise? Hear it, ye nations! Hear it, O ye dead!
He burst the bars of death and triumphed o’er the grave.
Then the first humanity triumphant
passed the crystal ports of light, and seized Eternal Youth.
Man all immortal hail. Heaven all lavish of strange gifts to man,
Thine’s all the glory, man’s the boundless bliss.
- Luke 24:34, 1 Cor. 15:20,
Other text from the Poem “Night Thoughts” (1742), By: Edward Young
Doxology: Hymn 380, stanza 3
Holy: S125, Proulx
Communion Anthem: “Halleluja, the Saviour Lives”, By: David Moritz Michael, Edited By: Karoly Köpe
Choir: Halleluja, the Savior lives. His blessed peace he leaves us. Arise, ye saved ones, and rejoice. Sing to the Lord your savior. Sim Him your praises. Let heaven and let earth resound with countless voices rejoicing in one accord, “We are redeemed!” To Christ the Lamb be glory. Praise to the lamb, praise laud, and glory! Halleluja, His name be praised, blessed His name, His name be blessed! Adoration, worship Him, sound your song of praise, now and forever, amen.
Meditation: “Celebration” Canterbury Bells Handbell Choir
Recessional Hymn: 657 Love divine, all loves excelling (Hyfrydol)
Postlude: ”Come, Let us All with Gladness Raise” By: Karoly Köpe
Music Notes, By: Ashley Sosis
“An Anthem for Easter”, by: William Billings, was originally published in 1787. Its text is a mixture of Biblical lines together with various lines from Edward Young’s long poem titled “The Complaint, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality.” Billings rearranged various lines from Young in order to construct a text which tells of man’s concurrent triumph with his risen Lord. The composer of “Halleluja, the Savior Lives”, David Moritz Michael (1751-1827), was born in Erfurt, Germany. He joined the Moravian church in 1781 and came to America in 1795, becoming one of the leading Moravian musicians in the Bethlehem, PA area, conducting, among other things, the first American performance of Haydn’s Creation. His compositions are believed to be the earliest examples of wind ensemble music composed in North America.