WORSHIP NOTES Volume 19, No. 4 (April 2024) May 19 is Ascension Sunday this year (50 days after Easter). Following are some rich quotes dealing with this critical event that is too often neglected in our yearly worship celebrations. And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. […]
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 18, Nr. 12 (December 2023) O Love beyond Compare, Thou art good when thou givest, when thou takest away, when the sun shines upon me, when night gathers over me. Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world, and in love didst redeem my soul;Thou dost love me still, in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust. Thy goodness has been with me another year,
Prayers and Readings for the New Year Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 18, No. 11 (November 2023) For God, who said,“Let light shine out of darkness,”has shone in our hearts to give the lightof the knowledge of the glory of Godin the face of Jesus Christ.(2 Corinthians 4:6) His Preincarnate Glory “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5) His Incarnate Glory Foretold “These things
We Beheld His Glory Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 18, Nr. 4 (April 2023) “Easter” is the period of eight Sundays [until Pentecost], comprising fifty days, often called as a unit “the Great Fifty Days.” For the explosive force of the resurrection of the Lord is too vast to be contained within a celebration of one day. The recovery of Easter as “the Great Fifty Days” of the year can move the church along toward
EASTERTIDE: The Great Fifty Days Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 17, No. 10 (October 2022) THE BEGINNING The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is usually traced to October 31, 1517, the date on which Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses” to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The 95 Theses were questions, points of disputation and disagreements that Luther had with the established church of his day. THE DEBT WE OWE The Reformers, at
“. . . of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38): THE REFORMATION Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 16, No. 4 (April 2021) INTRODUCTION How small and distant God can seem when we’re discouraged! Two of Jesus’ disciples faced that kind of disappointment and discouragement as they wearily made their way from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus on the Sunday afternoon after their Master had undergone a horrible execution on a Roman cross, as related to us in Luke 24. THE WALK Two
The Road to Understanding: A Post-Easter Meditation (Luke 24:13-35) Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 15, No. 11 (November 2020) † A Scriptural Meditation † But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for
Incarnation: The Mystery and the Wonder Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 15, No. 10 (October 2020) Reformation Day, October 31, is celebrated in Protestant Europe (and in many of our churches: see Worship Notes 2.10, 5.8, 11.10, 12.8, and 12.10) as the anniversary of the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, touching off what we now know as the Protestant Reformation. In honor of Martin Luther, who along with the other Reformers risked
Words of Wisdom from Martin Luther Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 11 (November 2019) As, we look ahead to another Christmas celebration, I really have no new thoughts on the wonder of the Incarnation, so I thought I would direct you back to some previous issues’ reflections on the subject: Worship Notes 1.12 (December 2006): God with Us Worship Notes 2.12 (December 2007): The Canticles of Christmas Worship Notes 3.12 (December 2008): Christmas in Unexpected Places Worship
The Old, Old Story Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 5 (May 2019) The Great Fifty Days of the Easter season (Eastertide) will culminate in the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the
