Worship and Music Archive

Music Notes

Posted March 7, 2024 By admin

Zephaniah 3:14, 17

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart!

 

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A mighty one who will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness;

He will quiet you by his love;

He will exult over you with loud singing.

 

I recently came across this verse during bible study and that last sentence immediately caught my attention. I can think of so many wonderful reasons to sing out to the Lord especially as we come out of this Lenten period of reflection on our need for a savior. God is with his us, he has saved us. What a beautiful message that he quiets us by his love, but then He exults over us with loud singing. I’ve never thought of God singing over us. I know that God loves our song. It appears in scripture so many times. But to think that God is singing over us thrills me. So this Easter morning as we rejoice again and give thanks for the most important gift we have ever been given let us raise our voices in song and sing aloud with the Lord.

 

Our youngest choristers have begun choir practice on Sunday afternoons preparing to sing on Palm Sunday. Children’s choir is from 3-3:30 every Sunday afternoon. We look forward to singing to the Lord Palm Sunday morning and in the future. Children’s choir is open to all children under 4th grade.

 

 

Midweek Lenten Worship Series

Posted February 9, 2024 By admin

Thus It Is Written
Our Wednesday Evening Lenten Vespers will feature monologues delivered in first-person presentations from Gospel writers, Mark, Luke, and John. Hear from them why they wrote about our Lord Jesus Christ, his passion and crucifixion.

These services begin on Ash Wednesday, February 14th and continue through the Wednesdays during Lent preceding Holy Week. Below is the schedule for our Lenten worship. All services begin at 6:30 PM.

February 14th, Service 1 – Thy Will be Done
(The Gospel according to Mark)

February 21st, service 2 – Truly The Son of God
(The Gospel according to Mark)

February 28th, service 3 – I Have Prayed for You
(The Gospel according to Luke)

March 6th, service 4 – Father, Forgive Them
(The Gospel according to Luke)

March 13th, service 5 – I Am He (The Gospel according to John)

March 20th, service 6 – Behold, Your King (The Gospel according to John)

Please join us as we hear these reflections and consider all Christ has freely done for those who believe that he is indeed the Son of God and Savior of the world.

Ash Wednesday and the Beginning of Lent

Posted February 8, 2024 By admin

As always, the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday as we pray David’s words of Psalm 51.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit (Psalm 51:10-12).

David’s prayer is our prayer too. Only through Christ are we saved. Even as we are reminded of our mortality, through God’s grace, mercy and love, Christ extends the promise of God’s kingdom to all who believe.

Our Ash Wednesday service will begin at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, February 14th .

Lenten Midweek Series

Posted February 6, 2024 By admin

Our Lenten vesper services this year will feature a series of monologues entitled “Thus It Is Written.” These monologues will be delivered in the persons of three of the Gospel writers.

On Ash Wednesday, we listen to Mark telling about what he wrote in his gospel about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then in week two of Lent Marks speaks to the crucifixion of our Lord. In Weeks 3 and 4, Luke it will be Luke who tells us about the last days of Jesus’ life and ministry. And in weeks 5 and 6, we will hear from John.

Join us each Wednesday evening during Lent for this worshipful experience as we make our annual trek toward the cross of Good Friday and finally to the empty tomb of Easter.

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Posted February 2, 2024 By admin

In a desire to help the children of St. Jacob’s grow in their faith and discipleship, our choir director, Angela Nuottila has equipped the youth handbell choir members to lead worship services here at St. Jacob’s. Our older youth members have also been a part of this ongoing act of discipleship.
Each month with a fifth Sunday, our youth will be leading our services of worship. This is not to be confused with having a “Youth Sunday”, but it is a means to incorporate our younger church family members in the weekly worship of St. Jacob’s. Growing such faithful leaders for the church helps to ensure our youth remain engaged and connected to their faith throughout their lives. Please support these young Christians by attending and participating in weekly worship.

Choir Notes

Posted January 31, 2024 By admin

Psalm 92:2-4 Let Us Sing to the Lord For His Steadfast Love
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, 2 to sing
praises to your name, O Most High; to
declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music
of the lute and the harp, to the melody of
the lyre.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

February brings us Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday all on the same day. How fitting that we should come together to remember that God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us. Though Lent is a time of remembering our sinfulness and need for a savior, it is also a time to thank God for his steadfast love in prayer and in song.
During Lent, we will begin a new psalmody that includes an antiphon. Antiphons are a rich part of traditional sacred music in liturgical churches and are used in many Lutheran congregations. Antiphons are short passages of scripture sung at various places in the service. During the psalm, the antiphon is a verse from the psalm of the day sung as a refrain. To introduce the antiphon for the day, the choir will sing the antiphon once and then the congregation will repeat the antiphon. The cantor and congregation will then sing the psalm responsively including the antiphon at designated places throughout the psalm. It will be a little different, but I think we will all catch on quickly. The psalm helps tie the message of all the readings for the day together. I hope this use of antiphons will enrich our worship and our understanding of the message for each Sunday.

Christmas Morning Worship

Posted December 15, 2023 By admin

We’ve all seen the signs, billboards and bumper stickers: “Keep Christ in Christmas!” The truth is, without Christ, it simply isn’t Christmas. Christians everywhere urge others to remember The “Reason for the Season.” But you know, even some churches find it difficult to “Keep Christ in Christmas”. Just take a look at the many churches standing idle and empty on Christmas morning.

St. Jacob’s offers everyone an opportunity to “Keep Christ in Christmas” beginning December 24 at 5:00P.M. with our annual candlelight service. The service will certainly be beautiful and inspiring. Then all are encouraged to gather on Christmas morning at 10:00 for an informal family Christmas celebration. Children are welcome to come in their pajamas and are invited to bring a gift they received for Christmas. Each child may share with all of us the joy this gift brings. Adults may “come as you are” and enjoy time for family and fellowship. Plan to attend these wonderful services of worship with your church family. Join us and “Keep Christ in Christmas.”

Choirs Notes

Posted November 17, 2023 By admin

Oh come,
let us sing to the Lord;
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

King David’s words in Psalm 95 tell us how we are to come into the presence of God, with thanksgiving and making joyful noises to him with songs of praise! Each Sunday as you come in to the house of God, sing out boldly, making a joyful noise. This is a sacrifice and gift that is pleasing to God. Let us make this advent and Christmas season a time of true thanksgiving to our God. There is still time to join the cantata scheduled for December 17 during the service. We are rehearsing from 5:30-6:15 each Wednesday evening in the choir room. Every voice is needed. Please consider if this is a gift you are willing to give God this holiday season.

CHRISTMAS CONTATA
December 17th
10:00 am

Choir Notes

Posted October 16, 2023 By admin

Youth Handbell Retreat
The youth handbell choir worked hard each Monday through the summer learning new handbell techniques, music reading skills and practicing new music. To celebrate all their hard work, we took a trip to Union Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC for a handbell retreat.
We loaded up a 15 passenger van with all our gear on Saturday August 26th and headed north. Once at Union we met up with the members of Union’s youth handbell choir for a weekend of bell ringing, games and swimming. After some team building activities the two choirs got busy working on music and music skills. We rehearsed an anthem to play as a joint choir the next day in worship.
While not working on music the kids had a great time playing four square, ping pong and board games. Union church provided a great supper after which we went swimming at a church member’s house.
One more rehearsal and then we had vespers in the Union prayer chap el. After blowing up air mattresses and unrolling sleeping bags we had a late night movie and tried to get a bit of sleep in the fellowship hall.
Sunday morning we had an early morning rehearsal after breakfast and attended the joint summer Sunday school. The joint choir played the anthem All Creatures of our God and King arranged by Linda Lamb during worship as well as random ringing during the hymns.

After lunch together we headed to Albemarle, NC to see the Raleigh Ringers concert. Everyone was amazed by the number and size of the bells being rung. Bryleigh won one of the door prizes, a fleece blanket and each of the kids got a pair of tye-dyed Raleigh Ringer handbell gloves. After the concert the audience was invited on stage to meet the members of the Raleigh Ringers. We got to ring huge and tiny handbells. Emma received one on one instruction in the four in hand technique. We then loaded up the van and headed back home. It was an incredible trip. Friendships were formed and new skills were learned.
Christmas Cantata
Christmas cantatas have been an important part of the history of St. Jacob’s and we are bringing back the Christmas cantata this year to be presented Sunday, December 17th during the worship service. We need lots of assistance to put together this gift to God. We need volunteers to sing with the choir. This is a short term commitment to learn the cantata music. Please consider giving this gift of time and talent. We also need readers. I will be reaching out in the coming weeks to ask for your help. Please prayerfully consider how you can help make this service of praise a success. We will begin rehearsal in October.

Homecoming Sunday

Posted October 9, 2023 By admin

Our annual Homecoming celebration will be held on Sunday, October 15th. We will also be recognizing our “Golden Agers” (those 80 years and older) with a special prayer and gift. A fellowship meal will be provided immediately following our worship service and the congregation is asked to bring desserts. Please plan on attending and invite friends and neighbors to come celebrate with us.