First Sunday of Lent with Holy Communion  

For the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea is calling his sermon “A Wandering Aramean.” “Lent is a time to wander, to make note of the sign posts that invite us to turn left or right, and to pause and listen. A wandering Aramean is reference to the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar who took up the call to leave their land of Ur (modern day Iraq) and travel to the new land of Canaan (modern day Israel  and Palestine). In their wandering, they encountered many hills and valleys that proved to be obstacles. Today as we wander, we encounter our own hills and valleys, the obstacles that confront and disturb. Today may we take hold of the sacred invitation to wander, to discover the road to heal, to mend, and to transform and be the refuge for our broken world, right now.”   

For the organ prelude, Dr. Patricia Wright will play Kyrie, God, Holy Spirit and Jesus, Priceless Treasure by Johann Sebastian Bach; Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley arranged by Dale Wood; and Prelude on 'Beach Spring' by Wilbur Held. The postlude will be Fugue in G Minor by Bach. The Metropolitan Choir will sing Agnus Dei by Mark Ruhnke. At the Offertory, soprano Gisele Kulak will sing Domine, Admutor Meus (O Lord, by Helper and Redeemer) by Camille Saint-Saens. The hymns will be No.114 (Forty Days and Forty Nights), No.115 (Jesus, Tempted in the Desert), No.459 (Here, O My Lord), and No.112 (O God, How We Have Wandered). The final piece in the carillon prelude played by Roy Lee will be Forty Days and Forty Nights (Heinlein), settings by Roy Hamlin Johnson and Beverly Buchanan.  

The Bible readings are Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (liturgical declarations), Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 (assurance of God’s protection), Romans 10:8b-13 (salvation is for all), and Luke 4:1-13 (the temptation of Jesus). 

This Saturday, March 9!

Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and other

Neapolitan Masters

Leonardo Cello Concerto in D sneak peek! from Metropolitan United on Vimeo.