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Let Heaven and Nature Sing!

Festival of Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas

LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
December 10, 2000


Pre-Service Organ Recital (5:30 p.m.)

La Nativité du Seigneur, Olivier Messiaen

II. The Shepherds “... the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God ...”

VIII. The Magi “... they left for their own country by another road ...”

Savior of the Nations, Come, Johann Sebastian Bach
Three settings from the Leipzig chorales, BWV 659, 660, 661

Organ Voluntary:

O Come, O Come Immanuel, arr. John Ferguson [audio]
Of the Father’s Love Begotten, Gerald Near

The organ music announces the theme of this service:

Of the Father's love begotten ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega—he the source, the ending he,
Of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.
—Marcus Aurelius C. Prudentius, 4th century

Choral Prayer: Christ, Mighty Savior, Richard W. Dirksen
—Mozarabic hymn, 10th century

* Processional Hymn: At the Name of Jesus, Psalter Hymnal 467 [audio]
based on an arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Please stand at the beginning of the organ introduction.

Stanzas 1 and 2: all
Stanza 3: choir
Stanza 4: all
An Additional Stanza: choir
Stanzas 5 and 6: all

* Bidding Prayer

Pastor:

Beloved in Christ, as we await the great festival of Christmas, we prepare ourselves so that we may be shown its true meaning. We have gathered to hear, in readings from the holy scriptures, how the prophets of Israel foretold that God would visit and redeem his waiting creation. We rehearse again the account of the loving purposes of God from the glorious creation of the world, through the first days of our disobedience, to the glorious recreation brought us by our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation, through whom all things were made. We rejoice, in carols and hymns, that the good purpose of God is being mightily fulfilled: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and creation itself is being renewed.

But first, we pray for the world which God so loves, for those who have not heard the good news of God, or who do not believe it; for those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death; and for the Church in this place and everywhere, that it may be freed from all evil and fear, and may in pure joy lift up the light of the love of God. These prayers we humbly offer as we meditate on each of the readings from holy scripture, and also now, in the words that our Lord Jesus Christ taught us.

Congregation:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen!

* God’s Greeting

I. All Things Are Made through Christ

Readings from Genesis 1 and Proverbs 8
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

All Things Bright and Beautiful, John Rutter [audio]
—Cecil F. Alexander, 1848

O Come, O Wisdom from on High

Sing quietly, but earnestly.

II. All Creation Groans in Lamentation

Readings from Genesis 3 and Romans 8 [audio]
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Lost in the Night, arr. Kyle S. Haugen [audio]
—a traditional and much-cherished Finnish text

Creator of the Stars of Night, medieval chant Conditor alme siderum, Sarum plainsong
—ninth century Latin hymn, translated by John Mason Neale, 1818-1866

All join on last stanza.

III. The Promise of a Peaceable Kingdom

Readings from Isaiah 11 and 35 [audio]
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

The Kingdom of Love, David Ashley White
—a metrical setting of Isaiah 35 by Carl P. Daw, Jr.

* O Christ! Come Back to Save Your Folk, Psalter Hymnal 330 [audio]

Not a text to sing on automatic pilot!

Stanza 1: choir
Stanza 3: all
Stanza 5: all

IV. God’s Creation Anticipates Redemption

Readings from Psalms 72 and 98
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

What Is This Lovely Fragrance, arr. Chester Alwes

All stand to sing final verse:

* Joy to the World! the Lord Is Come, Psalter Hymnal 337, arr. John Rutter [audio]

Stanza 1: all
Stanzas 2 and 3: choir
Stanza 4: all

V. The Creator Is Born of the Virgin Mary

Readings from Hebrews 1 and Matthew 1
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Behold, the Great Creator, Anthony Baldwin

VI. The Creator Is Born in a Manger

A Reading from Luke 2
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

O Magnum Mysterium, Tomas Luis de Victoria (1549-1611)

* Angels from the Realms of Glory, Psalter Hymnal 354,

with musical settings by Michael Burkhardt and John Ferguson

All stanzas, sung by everyone, with sparkling energy.

VII. The Angels Sing of Shalom on Earth

Readings from Nahum 1 and Luke 2
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Gloria—Carnavalito, Ariel Ramirez, from Misa Criolla

VIII. God Moves the Stars to Signal Judgment and Hope

Readings from Matthew 2 and Matthew 24
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Two Advent Spirituals

My Lord, What a Morning, arr. John W. Work

The congregration will sing on each refrain, as directed.

Rise Up Shepherd and Follow, arr. Larry Farrow

IX. All Creation Sings for Joy at the Coming of the Cosmic Lord

Readings from John 1 and Colossians 1
followed by

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Ring Out Ye Crystal Spheres, Ralph Vaughan Williams, from Hodie: A Christmas Cantata
—from John 1
—John Milton, from On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity (1629)

We Leave to Serve in God's World

* Prayer

All: Almighty God, you wonderfully created and yet more wonderfully restored the dignity of human nature. In your mercy, let us share the divine life of Jesus Christ who came to share our humanity, and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Choir: Now may your servant, Lord, according to your word, depart in exultation.
My peace shall be serene, for now my eyes have seen your wonderful salvation.
You did for all prepare this gift so great, so rare, fulfilling prophet’s story,
A light to show the way to Gentiles gone astray and unto Israel’s glory.

—Song of Simeon, melody by Louis Bourgeois, from the Genevan Psalter, setting by Claude Goudimel

* Benediction

Pastor: And may the God of peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body— free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Congregation: Amen!

*Recessional Hymn: O Come, All Ye Faithful, Psalter Hymnal 340

Organ Voluntary: On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry, arr. Aaron David Miller

*All who are able, please stand.