Sunday School From Home This week our study tells the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Included are ideas for you to try at home, with some printable to go with them. The activities are appropriate for a variety of ages including adults. You can forward this on to anyone else in or out […]
Author: Sarah Boice Stecker
Musical Advent Calendar – Days 18 and 19
December 18: Come, thou long expected Jesus Today’s offering is a hymn tune perfectly befitting of this season of advent. Among the most famous of the very many hymns penned by the Rev. Charles Wesley – whose birthday, incidentally, is December 18 – is an earnest call for the presence of Jesus. The text reminds […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Days 16 and 17
December 16: “Mary, did you know?” While I have mostly been focusing on selecting music that resonates with the previous Sunday’s scriptural themes, today we are looking forward to this coming Sunday’s focus on Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel announcing to her that she would bear Emmanuel, the Son of God. There have been […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Days 13, 14 and 15
A Song, a Carol and an Anthem: All earth is waiting; People look east; This is the record of John When I was a child and had a traditional advent calendar – you know, that fun kind that gives you a small sweet each day – I remember the exhilaration I would feel to discovered […]
Sunday School From Home for the Week of December 13
Sunday School From Home This week our Advent study is about Joseph and the angel who tells him about the coming birth of Jesus. Included are ideas for you to try at home, with some printable to go with them. The activities are appropriate for a variety of ages including adults. You can forward this on […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Day 12
“He shall feed his flock” from Handel’s Messiah Carrying on with the theme of prophetic foretellings of the Good Shepherd, today’s offering is an extract from Handel’s Messiah – “He shall feed his flock”, sung by MLUMC staff soloist Timothi Williams. As with much of that beloved work, Handel draws some of the text of […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Day 11
Psalm 80 (Tune: BOSTON, Wm. Billings) Today’s musical reflection is another selection from the Psalter that prophetically pre-figures the coming of the Christ. The 80th Psalm was the psalm appointed for use on the first Sunday in Advent, and the paraphrase Sarah and I are singing here was actually done by John Milton – yes, […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Day 10
Three Rivers Ringers Tenth Anniversary Celebration Today, I am pleased to offer you something very special indeed. Ten years ago, under the coordination of MLUMC member and director of handbell choirs Nancy Lutz, a new community initiative began under the roof of our church: the inaugural meetings of the ensemble known as Three Rivers Ringers. […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Day 9
“Zion hears her watchman’s voices” – “Wachet auf!” The piece of music for today is a perennial favorite for many folks. The fourth movement from Bach’s cantata Wachet auf! Ruft uns die stimme, BWV140, based on the tune of the same name, known to us as “Sleepers, wake! A voice astounds us” (UMH 720). The […]
Musical Advent Calendar – Day 8
E’en So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come Today’s offering is an a cappella motet based on the 22nd chapter of Revelation, composed by Paul Manz (1919-2009) in 1953. The piece has quite an emotional back story: Paul and his wife Ruth were sitting at the bed-side of their gravely ill son, praying to God for his […]