As Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the last time, his disciples thronged around him, cheering him on. When religious leaders told him to calm his followers, Jesus told them that if the people were silent, the very rocks beneath their feet would cry out in their place. What about today? Are there times when we fall silent and leave it to the stones to speak out? Join us Sunday under the tent as we begin our journey through Holy Week.
– Pastor Anne
The treasured hymn All Glory, Laud and Honor was first written in the year 820 by Theodulf of Orléans while in captivity, who had been Bishop of Orléans during the reign of Charlemagne. Following a power struggle after Charlemagne’s death, Theodulf had been imprisoned for backing the wrong successor. Myth has it that Theodulf’s captor, Louis the Pious, heard him sing the hymn and released Theodulf on the condition that All Glory, Laud and Honor be thenceforth sung every Palm Sunday thereafter.
The text of the hymn is based upon Matthew 21 and sings of the victorious arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem. Here, the Choir of King’s College of Cambridge sings the hymn while in procession on Palm Sunday, 2013.
– Logan Henke, Music Minister
In the spirit of “the first shall be last,” we finish up our Fruit of the Spirit series this Sunday with the first thing Paul lists. It also happens to be the one thing Jesus says is needed to inherit eternal life. I would love to have you join us this Sunday on Zoom!
– Pastor Anne
The text of the most famous Celtic hymn is so ancient that its authorship can not be claimed for certain. Be Thou My Vision, or Bi Thus a Mo Shúile in the modern Irish, is traditionally attributed to the 8th-century Irish poet, Saint Dallán Forgaill.
No matter its authorship, this much is true: Before it was sung around the world, Be Thou My Vision was sung on the Emerald Ilse by the faithful for centuries indeed.
This week’s Music Meditation is performed by Moya Brennan.
– Logan Henke, Music Minister
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus…So begins the third chapter of John’s gospel, the chapter from which the most famous piece of scripture unfolds. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” Jesus reveals to Nicodemus.
In 1725, Bach applied his singular talent to this text in one of his cantatas, Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt. Although written for Pentecost, Bach captures the joy, hope, and sacrifice imbued within Christ’s words to Nicodemus.
The meditation this week is that cantata, performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.
– Logan Henke, Music Minister