Upcoming Worship Nov. 5, 2017

November 5th is Communion Sunday and Pastor Jeff is basing his sermon “The Crazy Kingdom of God” on the lectionary scripture Matthew 23: 1-12.

The Communion hymn will be one of our congregation’s favorites, “Let Us Break Bread Together” and by clicking here you will be treated to a wonderful sight and sound presentation of it.

November 5th lectionary readings are:
Joshua 3:7-17
I Thessalonians 2:9-13
Matthew 23:1-12
Psalm 107:1-7,33-37

Prelude: “Oh God and Lord” BWV 714 J. S. Bach

Boston organist and composer Bernard Greenberg says about this prelude: “The poignant, surprising chords in mm. 5 and 9 speak to Bach’s already masterful signature techniques of embroidering modal tunes with vivid chromatic color of manifestly contrapuntal origin. Besides that, the setting very much recalls -seicento- counterpoint, and leaves one in awe of a young man who did this sort of thing for a hobby and not video games.

Our organist John Atwood says: “The prelude this Sunday is the same as the one I played on 24 September, but is based on MUCHO practice! I can’t believe a piece this “easy” could be so difficult! Part of the difficulty is based on my insistence on playing the second entry of the canon on a second manual, a practice not indicated by Bach. To accomplish this, not only are the cononic melodies difficult to weave, but also the last melodic note and the final moving line on the second manual have to be played with one hand!

John has chosen for an introit “Stars and Planets Flung in Orbit” explaining that it outlines different perspectives of the universe: first, the universe of the heavens; second, life on earth; and third, humanity. He says: “I feel this is important to any understanding of God.”

For the anthem the choir will be singing a version of “Holy, holy, holy” you may not know. This one is by Franz Schubert and is absolutely lovely.