A New Year Has Begun

The readings for the first Sunday of Advent were:
Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

Our introit hymn this morning was Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying . The words were written by Phillipp Nicolai (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme) in 1599. The words may have been inspired by a 1523 poem by Nuremberg's Meistersinger Lutheran poet Hans Sachs, Catherine Winkworth translatee the lyrics from German in her book Lyra Germanica, 1858. I recently purchased a reprint of this important book through an EBay auction. Catherine Winkworth's translations are a great gift to all English speaking churches. The hymn tune Wachet Auf was composed by Phillipp Nicolai and harmonized by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1731.

1. Wake, awake, for night is flying:
The watchmen on the heights are crying,
Awake, Jerusalem, arise!
Midnight's solemn hour is tolling,
His chariot wheels are nearer rolling,
He comes; prepare, ye virgins wise.
Rise up, with willing feet,
Go forth, the Bridegroom meet:
Alleluia!
Bear through the night your well-trimmed light,
Speed forth to join the marriage rite.

2. Sion hears the watchmen singing,
Her heart with deep delight is springing,
She wakes, she rises from her gloom:
Forth her Bridegroom comes, all glorious,
In grace arrayed, by truth victorious;
Her Star is risen, her Light is come!
All hail, Incarnate Lord,
Our crown, and our reward!
Alleluia!
We haste along, in pomp of song,
And gladsome join the marriage throng.

3. Lamb of God, the heavens adore thee,
And men and angels sing before thee,
With harp and cymbal's clearest tone.
By the pearly gates in wonder
We stand, and swell the voice of thunder,
That echoes round thy dazzling throne.
No vision ever brought,
No ear hath ever caught,
Such bliss and joy:
To raise the song, we swell the throng,
To praise thee ages all along. Amen.

The hymn sung during the lighting of the first candle on the Advent wreath we sang O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. The words are a twelfth century Latin poem, translated in 1851 by John Mason Neale. The hymn tune Veni Emmanuel is a fifteenth century plainsong. We sang the first four verses this morning. We will sing different verse each Sunday in Advent as another candle is lit.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go. Refrain

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave. Refrain

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. Refrain

O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery. Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times once gave the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

O come, thou Root of Jesse's tree,
an ensign of thy people be;
before thee rulers silent fall;
all peoples on thy mercy call. Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid thou our sad divisions cease,
and be thyself our King of Peace. Refrain

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear. Refrain


The third hymn today was Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates.
The hymn was written in 1642 by George Weissel and translated in 1855 by Catherine Winkworth. Thank you again, Miss Winkworth. The hymn tune is called Truro, written by Thomas Williams in his Psalmodia Evangelica, 1789.

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;
behold the King of glory waits!
The King of kings is drawing near;
the Savior of the world is here.

O blest the land, the city blest,
where Christ the ruler is confessed!
O happy hearts and happy homes
to whom this King of triumph comes!

Fling wide the portals of your heart;
make it a temple, set apart
from earthly use for heaven's employ,
adorned with prayer and love and joy.

Redeemer, come, with us abide;
our hearts to thee we open wide;
let us thy inner presence feel;
thy grace and love in us reveal.

Thy Holy Spirit lead us on
until our glorious goal is won;
eternal praise, eternal fame
be offered, Savior, to thy Name!

Our anthem today was Christ Will Come Again by Paul Laubengayer.

Christ will come again.
Trust despite the deepn'ning darkness. Christ will come again.
Lift the world above its grieving
Through our watching and believing. Christ will come again.

Probe the present with the promise, Christ will come again.
Let your daily action witness, Christ will come again.
Let your loving and your giving
And your justice and forgiving.
Be a sign to all the living. Christ will come again.

Match the present to the promise, Christ will come again.
Make this hope your guiding premise, Christ will come again.
Pattern all your calculating
And the world you are creating
To the advent you are waiting: Christ will come again.
Christ will come again.
Christ will come again.
Christ will come again.

The final hymn was Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus by Charles Wesley in 174, published in his collection Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord. The tune is Hyfrydol, composed by Rowland H. Prichard in 1830.

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 for ever,
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.