Preparing for Our Lord's Coming

Christmas kind of sneaks up on most of us every year.
Not because we don't know it's coming, but because
December is one of those crazy, every-night-is-taken,
gotta-go-shopping kind of times.  And it's easy to
forget that we are preparing for the time when we will
receive the greatest of gifts, our Savior, born at Christmas.

So I would encourage all of us to spare a bit of
time each week for the mid-week Advent services. 
These services will take place each Wednesday
evening here at the church, at 7:30, and will
last around 30 minutes or so.

We'll be having a light soup supper preceding each
service so we can fellowship for a bit, and also to
give those who have to cook a bit of a break during
this crazy time.  (But if you'd like to cook up a pot
of soup, we always welcome that during this cold time
of the year!)

So give yourself a bit of breathing space.  Come
Wednesday evenings, and quiet your soul in a time
of waiting.  Waiting for the Savior Who comes to
you this time of year.

A New Song

King David said it better than I can, “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” (Psalm 40:3)

That’s a little of how everyone felt on Sunday, Nov. 19, when Redeemer dedicated our new service book for use in the praise and worship of God. Because while there’s much that’s familiar with this new book (the Lutheran Service Book), there’s also much that’s new, especially in the way of hymns. We spent the service getting used to our new books, and learning a little bit of how they work.

A couple of things to notice. First, it’s a “service” book, and while as Pastor Tessmann mentioned on Sunday, we’re very likely to begin calling it the “hymnal” pretty quickly, it’s more than a hymnal. Because a hymnal is just that: a collection of hymns. This book, on the other hand, provides for the services of God’s church, here at Redeemer and elsewhere. It has not only the Sunday morning services, but service orders for weddings, confession, and prayer services. And since we are a singing church, the hymns, of course, are there, too, many of the beautiful hymns we know and love, and new ones as well: many recently written hymns that are beautiful while at the same teaching the orthodox Christian faith in its fullness.

It’s important to notice why we call this a “service” book. We call our worship the “Divine Service,” and it’s important to remember that. Because the most important part of what goes on is not our worship of God -- as important as that is. No, the most important part is that God serves us. He speaks to us in the Scriptures, He speaks to us in the sermon, and He serves us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet here, when He serves us His own Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper.

As a practical matter, the new service book is arranged well, and designed to be practical for use in the services. The page numbers go from beginning to end, beginning with the Psalms. When we use, say, Psalm 16, as we did on Sunday, we find Psalm 16 on the 16th page of the book. Psalm 82 would likewise be on the 82nd page. And so forth. In other words, there’s no turning back and forth between the numbers of the Psalms and the pages of the rest of the book. This should especially make it simpler when guests are here.

Another practical matter is that this is a book not just for Sunday mornings. It’s a book you can use every day of your life, as a guide for your prayers, a source of joyful singing in your daily life, and a means of learning more about the God Who loves and cares for you. No one will object if you take a book home with you this Sunday for the week. Read it, learn from it, and grow in your faith.

New Hymnals, and A Liturgy of Instruction ...

OK, so that's a strange title, but maybe it caught your attention : )

This coming Sunday, November 19, we will begin using our new hymnals, the Lutheran Service Book.

In place of the sermon, Pastor Tessmann will be going through the service, explaining the why and wherefore of each part of the service. So if you've ever wondered, "Why do we stand when we do?," or "Why do we have 3 readings?" or "What's the meaning of the Collect?," then you need to be there. (We need to be there anyway -- after all, this is the time when God gives out His gifts -- but this will be a special time of learning and understanding how and why we worship as we do.

(Besides ... the new hymnal is an extremely cool book. There's a lot of good stuff there. This will be the first of many, many good Sundays -- and weekdays -- using this fine book).

Evelyn Ball Hospitalized

Evelyn Ball fell Sunday night, and broke her hip.

She's currently hospitalized at Alamance Regional, recovering from surgery there.

Please remember her in your prayers, that God would bring healing to her, comfort in her time of pain, and that those who care for her would do so well.