Sunday, January 13, 2019

Baptism of Jesus Sunday  

For the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea is calling his sermon “Voice of the Waters.” “Creation is a deeply loving act of God. The voice of God stirs the waters of creation, restoring, redeeming the broken pathways of the world. The voice of God invites the spirit to push at the boundaries and limitations of our lives. The voice of God fills us with expectations for our corner of the world, where we are called to be the beloved, proclaim our voice, in joyful, noise and anxious song. The voice of God is with us now and always.”  

For the organ prelude, Dr. Patricia Wright will play Prelude and Fugue in C Major and Christ Our Lord to Jordan Came by J. S. Bach and Shall We Gather at the River by Dale Wood. For the postlude, she will play Choral Song by S. S. Wesley. The Metropolitan Choir will sing O Lord, Give Thy Holy Spirit by Thomas Tallis and Jesus Christ the Apple Tree by Elizabeth Poston. At the Offertory, baritone Nicholas Higgs will sing “Lord God of Abraham” from Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn. The hymns are No.101 (Songs of Thankfulness and Praise), No.99 (Christ, When for Us You Were Baptized), and No.418 (Go Forth for God). The final piece in the carillon prelude played by Roy Lee will be Settings of Salzburg by Beverly Buchanan and Roy Hamlin Johnson.  

The Bible readings are Isaiah 43:1-7 (Israel’s redemption promised), Acts 8:14-17 (Philip preaches in Samaria), and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (the baptism of Jesus).