10:30am Eucharist, Sunday, March 24th, 2019

The Third Sunday of Lent & Bishop’s Visit (Confirmation)

Blended Service with the Band

Themes from the Readings: Moses and the burning bush; Paul’s warning to the Corinthians against Idolatry; The parable of the prodigal son

Blue= Choir

Purple= Choir and Band

Red= Band

There is no organ prelude, meditation or postlude today.

Processional Hymn: In Christ Alone, Choir and Band

Kyrie S91, Willan

First Reading: Exodus 3:1-15

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Gospel Hymn: 645, The King of love my shepherd is (St. Columba)

Gospel: Luke 15:11-32

Offertory Anthem: Wondrous Love, Arranged By: Paul Christiansen

Choir: What wondrous love is this, O my soul,

That caused the Lord of life to bear the heavy cross,

That Christ should lay aside his crown, for my soul,

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

Doxology: Hymn 380, stanza 3

Holy: S129 Band Alone

Communion Anthem: Let us Break Bread Together, Trad. Spiritual, Arranged by: John Ness

Beck

Choir: Let us break bread together on our knees

When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun

O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us drink wine together…

Let us praise God together…

Communion: Ever Be, How Deep the Father’s Love For Us

Recessional Hymn: Great is Thy Faithfulness, Choir with Band

Music Notes

By: Ashley Sosis

Congratulations to all of our congregation members who are confirmed, reaffirmed or received today! Thank you to all of the musicians who contributed to today’s blended service.

This morning’s hymns include “In Christ Alone,” “645, The King of Love my Shepherd Is,” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.

While considered a contemporary song more than a hymn, I was pleasantly surprised to see “In Christ Alone,” included in the Oxford Book of Descants. The descant (a harmony for high voices written with notes that are higher than the melody, added to a closing stanza of a hymn for impact) is written in a traditional style and may be useful for a future blended service.

“The King of Love My Shepherd Is,” was written by Henry Baker, editor-in-chief of the Hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern. The hymn is based on Psalm 23 and it appeared in the appendix of that hymnal in 1868. The six stanzas of the hymn traditionally printed in hymnals closely relate to the six verses of the twenty-third Psalm, while drawing connections with several additional New Testament images, all on the theme of the Good Shepherd: John 10:28, John 4:14, John 7:37-39, Luke 15:3-7. What comforting words to hear, paired with today’s Gospel story of the prodigal Son. If you are new or returning to church today, welcome home!

Thomas Chisholm, the author of “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and 1200 other poems was born in a log cabin in Kentucky in 1866, and lived a rather unremarkable life: he worked as a school teacher, a newspaper editor, and insurance agent, then he retired and spent his remaining days at the Methodist Home for the Aged in New Jersey. Unlike many hymns that have heart-wrenching stories behind them (for instance “It is well with my soul”), “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is inspired by the simple realization that God is at work in our lives on a daily basis. Chisholm wrote, “My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant- keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care, for which I am filled with

astonishing gratefulness.” The hymn reminds us that God doesn’t only work in dramatic or miraculous ways, but also in simple, everyday ways. It also reminds us that Jesus has never failed us in the past, so we have no reason to doubt his faithfulness in the future.