Sunday, December 30, 2018

First Sunday after Christmas  

For the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, The Rev. Dr. G. Malcolm Sinclair is calling his sermon “Touch of Destiny.” "What names the true measure of our lives? Accomplishment, social status, wealth, wit? Are we alone responsible for it? Are others able to permit or forbid it? The story of Jesus suggests another hand in our destiny, one we may wish to recognize and consider.”  

For the organ prelude, Dr. Patricia Wright will play Noël: Où S'en Vont Ces Gais Bergers by Claude Balbastre, “Les Bergers” from La Nativité by Olivier Messiaen, and The Old Year Now Has Passed Away by J. S. Bach. The postlude will be In Thee Is Gladness by J. S. Bach. The Metropolitan Choir will sing Ding Dong! Merrily on High arranged by Dr. Melville Cook, and New Year by John Rutter. The Offertory music will be presented by Benjamin Stein and Stephanie Parkin. The hymns are No.76 (See Amid the Winter's Snow), No.75 (While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks), and No.68 (All Poor Ones and Humble).  

The final piece in the carillon prelude will be played by Naoko Tsujita, student carillonneur.   The Bible readings 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 (the battle of Gibeon), Colossians 3:12-17 (the new life in Christ), and Luke 2:41-52 (the boy Jesus in the temple).