Notes on the worship services of Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino at 8:30 and 10:30 on the morning of Sunday, December 21, 2008. Notes written by Bernard Bell.
Host: Jerry Tu
Worship leader: David Hibbert & choir
Preacher: Bernard Bell
Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Our theme this morning is the Nunc Dimittis: Simeon praises God for fulfilling his promise to those who waited for him.
Prelude: Celtic Advent Carol. Words: Michael Barrett. Music: David Angerman & Michael Barrett.
Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-2. A call to rejoice and to proclaim God’s salvation.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of HIs salvation from day to day. (NASB)
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel #123. Text: 12th cent. Latin Hymn, translated by John M. Neale, 1851. Tune: Veni Emmanuel, adapted from Plainsong by Thomas Helmore,1854. Based on the “Great O Antiphons” sung during the final week of Advent.
| O come, O come Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! |
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, And order all things, far and nigh; To us the path of knowledge show, And cause us in her ways to go. |
| O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight. |
O come, Desire of nations, bind All peoples in one heart and mind; Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease, Fill all the world with heaven’s peace. |
Advent Wreath: Light the fourth candle on the Advent wreath.
Reading: Isaiah 40:1-2, 5. God proclaims comfort to his people.
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Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. |
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, |
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus #124. Text (1744): Charles Wesley (1707-88). Tune: Hyfrydol (1830), Rowland H. Prichard (1811-87).
| Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart. |
Born Thy people to deliver, Born a Child, and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone; By Thine all-sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne. |
Choir anthem: Baby what you gonna be.
Reading: Luke 2:8-14. The angels announce to the shepherds the birth of Jesus.
Angels We Have Heard on High #123. Text: French carol, trans. James Chadwick (1813-1882). Tune: Gloria.
| Angels we have heard on high sweetly singing o'er our plains, and the mountains in reply echo still their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo. |
Come to Bethlehem and see him whose birth the angels sing: come, adore on bended knee the infant Christ, the new-born king. |
| Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your rapturous strain prolong? Say, what may your tidings be, Which inspire your heavenly song. |
See within a manger laid, Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth! Mary, Joseph, lend your aid to celebrate our Savior's birth. |
O Come, All Ye Faithful. Text: Latin, John F Wade, 1751; trans. Frederick Oakeley, 1841. Tune: Adeste Fideles, John F Wade, 1751. John F Wade (ca. 1710-86) wrote both the Latin hymn Adeste Fideles and the tune. The verses translated by Frederick Oakeley (1802-80) appear in many different forms in hymnals.
| O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, Born the King of angels; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. |
Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation; Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above! Glory to God, Glory in the highest! |
| God of God, Light of Light, Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb; Very God, Begotten, not created; |
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be all glory given; Word of the Father, Now in flesh appearing. |
Reading: Genesis 3:15: the first promise in the Bible, that the woman would bear a son who would defeat the forces of evil.
Choir anthem: This Little Babe, from A Ceremony of Carols (1946) by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976).
Reading: Luke 2:25-32: Simeon sees the baby Jesus in the temple, and praises God with the words now known as the Nunc Dimittis
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Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: |
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, |
Choir anthem: Nunc Dimittis, by Alexander Gretchaninov (1864-1956). As with most arrangements in English, uses the version of the Book of Common Prayer (1662).
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace
according to they word,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples,
to be a light to lighten the Gentiles,
and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Faithful Vigil Ended (Luke 2:22-38) - Bernard Bell. [Other formats: mp3, pdf.] The Nunc Dimittis: Simeon's song of praise in response to seeing the baby Jesus. The title is the first line of a hymn by Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926) based on the Nunc Dimittis.
Joy to the World #125. Text: Isaac Watts, 1719. Tune: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is considered the father of English hymnody. In addition to his many hymns, he wrote also metrical versions of most psalms, incorporating into them New Testament theology: The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719). Joy to the World is his arrangement of Psalm 98. The tune is frequently attributed to Handel, but there is no evidence for this. In 1836 Lowell Mason set this recently-appeared tune to Watts’ hymn. Lowell Mason (1792-1872) rose from a humble beginning as a bank teller. He became the first music teacher in an American public school. A prolific composer of tunes, he is often called the father of American church music..
| Joy to the world! The Lord is come Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven and nature sing. |
No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse if found. |
| Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. |
He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders of His love. |
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)
The numbers given after some of the titles refer to the pew hymnal used at PBCC, The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration (Waco: Word, 1986).
A good source for words, tunes, and histories of hymns is The Cyber Hymnal.