Singing Scripture has always been a cherished part of Reformed worship. In fact, most of the early Reformed Christians limited their singing to scriptural texts, concentrating on the psalms. John Calvin himself said, "Singing [the psalms] we may be sure that our words come from God just as if he were to sing in us for his own exaltation."
Reformed Worship is a thought-provoking, inspiring, practical, visionary publication. Thank you.
Ellen Gabrielse
Framingham, Massachusetts
The worship committee has a fine idea. Several other churches in the area have used an Advent wreath for years, and the committee thinks it's about time that John Knox Church does so as well. They construct the wreath, purchase candles in appropriate liturgical colors, and invite a family to read the Scripture and light the candle on the first Sunday of Advent.
Faye Fredericks, member of Georgetown Christian Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan, designed this baptismal banner based on Deuteronomy 4:9 and 6:4, where parents are instructed to teach the truths of God to their children and to their children after them. The banner is constructed with solid colors of the rainbow for each figure. The figures represent the successive generations, beginning with purple at the bottom, moving through navy blue,
We've all heard them—those words that strike fear in the hearts of choir directors everywhere: "And what are you doing for Christmas?" Each year, toward the end of the summer, we start struggling with the annual problem. Our minds begin sorting through sundry ideas and possibilities, recalling the successes of Christmases past, searching for just the right combination of music and the Word.
Every Christmas Sunday at Pultneyville Reformed Church we do away with the sermon. In its place, we have our children present the Word of God.
Pastor Buntz was out of town—strategically, Mona Lefers thought—at a seminar on relationships held, of all places, in Las Vegas. Diane Kramer (the "other woman," as Butch Vermulm liked to call her) had season tickets to the symphony, so she was absent too. Grady Fisher had tried, but failed, to get out of his daughter's Girl Scout banquet.
Prelude
Welcome and Prayer
Hymn: "Hours and Days and Years and Ages"
[PsH 443]
Scripture Reading: Psalm 62
Meditation (1)
Family Choir: "God Is Like a Rock" (2)
[Natalie Sleeth]
Hymns (by congregation):
"Built on the Rock"
[PsH 503 TH 351]
"God Is My Rock"
[PsH 610]
Epiphany seems particularly appropriate for a gentile church. It reminds us that God did something quite remarkable: he extended his grace to those who were originally outside the covenant. As Paul reminds the Eph-esians, we were aliens and strangers, but Christ made us part of the new Israel.
The following brief song services were prepared for the Sundays after Epiphany in 1993; the topics were chosen to correspond with the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A) for that season. These song services could be used in the morning service during this portion of the church year, as part or all of a second-service hymnsing, or at any other time in Christian worship (independent from the use of the Lectionary). Selections not in your hymnal could be sung by a small group taught by rote and sung from memory, or printed in the bulletin (with proper copyright permission).
