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Born to Die, Born to Rise

A Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas

LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
December 9, 2001

Organ Prelude: In Dulci Jubilo, Johann Sebastian Bach
Partita on “O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High,” Michael Burkhardt
I. Maestoso
II. Allegro
III. Allegretto
IV. Toccata

* Processional: “O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High,” Psalter Hymnal 364

Please stand as the organ introduction begins and sing all six stanzas. Stanza 3: Women only. Stanza 4: Men only.

* Greeting:

Pastor: Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Congregation: Who made the heavens and the earth.
Pastor: Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Congregation: Amen.

* Bidding Anthem: Lift Up Your Heads, John L. Bell

Text: George Weissel (1590-1635); trans. Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878); adapt. John L. Bell
Text copyright © 2001 Wild Goose Resource Group, The Iona Community. Used by permission of GIA Publications, Inc., Chicago, exclusive agent.

* 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 people.
We rehearse again the account of the loving purposes of God
from the first days of our disobedience to the glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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,
and the dead are raised up.

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 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!

I. God’s Redemptive Promise Anticipates Christ’s Death and Conquest

A Reading from Genesis 3:8-15

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

The Frozen December, Thomas A. Miller

Text: trad. Catalonian villancico; trans. Lynn Winget and Thomas A. Miller
Text copyright © 1973, 1997, Thomas A. Miller. Published by Trinitas. Copyright © New Dawn Music.

II. The Prophet’s Promise Hails the Coming of a Kingdom of Peace

A Reading from Isaiah 9:6-7

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

Savior of the Nations, Come

Stanza 1: choir alone, music by Johann Sebastian Bach, from Cantata 61
Stanza 4: organ only
Stanza 6: all, in unison, confidently
Stanza 7: all, in harmony, confidently

Text: Ambrose, 4th c., and Martin Luther, 1523; tr. Calvin Seerveld, 1984
Text copyright © Calvin Seerveld
Music: tune Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland; Enchiridion Oder Handbuchlein, 1524; harm. J.S. Bach; alt.

III. The Promise of a Suffering Lord

A Reading from Isaiah 53

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

Child of Peace, Jeffrey Van

Text: Jeffrey Van
Copyright © 1979 by Jenson Publications, Inc.

"For Me, Dear Jesus, Was Your Incarnation"

Text: Johann Heermann, 1630; tr. Robert Bridges, 1899, alt.
Music: tune Herzliebster Jesu, Johann Cruger, 1640

IV. The Promise of a Risen and Royal Savior

A Reading from Psalm 110 and Jeremiah 23:5-6

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened, George Frederic Handel,
from Coronation Anthem no. 4

Text: Psalm 89:13-14, par.

* "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"

Stanzas 1-3: harmony
Stanza 4: unison

Text: Charles Wesley, 1739, alt.
Music: tune Easter Hymn; Lyra Davidica

V. The Promise of Christ’s Coming Kingdom

A Reading from Isaiah 35

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

View the Present through the Promise, Roy Hopp, commissioned for the 2001 Campus Choir

Text: Thomas Troeger (b. 1945)
Music: tune Franklin Park; Roy Hopp (b. 1951)
Text copyright © 1994 Oxford University Press, Inc.
Music copyright © 1997 Roy Hopp

VI. The Birth of One Whose Death Brings Life

A Reading from Luke 2:1-7

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

Is a Murmuring Dove Nearby, David Ashley White

Text: Richard Leach
Text copyright © 1999, Selah Publishing Co., Inc.; website www.selahpub.com

What Child Is This? arr. David Willcocks

Text: W.C. Dix; hymnal English Praise by permission of Oxford University Press
Music: tune Greensleeves, English melody

VII. The Angels Praise the Lamb of God

A Reading from Luke 2:8-14

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

Festival Gloria, Richard Proulx

Text: fourth c.; English translation of the Gloria prepared by the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), 1988. New Dawn Music.

VIII. The Magi’s Gifts Foreshadow Christ’s Death and Resurrection

A Reading from Matthew 2:1-12

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

We Three Kings of Orient Are, arr. Richard Drakeford

Please join the choir in singing the refrain after each stanza.

Text: J.H. Hopkins, 1857
Music: tune Three Kings of Orient, J.H. Hopkins

IX. Christ’s Birth, Death, and Resurrection Are Taken Up into Universal Praise

A Reading from John 1

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

A Reading from Philippians 2

Reader:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Congregation:

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
Congregation: Thanks be to God.

Te Deum, Herbert Howells, written for daily worship at King’s College, Cambridge, England

I. Universal Praise for the Triune God
II. Praise for the Incarnation, Death, and Reign of Jesus Christ
III. Prayers for the Coming of Christ’s Kingdom

Te Deum (from Collegium Regale)
Text: fourth c., attrib. Ambrose of Milan

* 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: “O, Come, All Ye Faithful,” Psalter Hymnal 340

Organ Voluntary: Grand Choeur Dialogue, Eugene Gigout

*All who are able, please stand.

Notes to the Service

The Service of Nine Lessons and Carols was first sung at the Cathedral of Truro, England, and was later adapted for use in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, where the service has been sung each Christmas since 1918. The service has been sung by the Calvin College Campus Choir since 1974, when the choir was directed by Prof. Merle Mustert.