A festival of Lessons and Carols and beyond~!!

A Festival of Lessons and Carols will be tomorrow at 5:00 in our Sanctuary. Please come and join in adoring the Lord, Jesus with us! There will be eight different groups will play, praise, and dance to praise Him who came to us as Emmanuel!

The chancel choir will sing " Come and Adore" as our anthem tomorrow morning with a trumpet and handbells.

I pray that May the Lord be with us in our worship services, and send people to worship Him with their whole heart!

Come, and Adore Him

Come and adore Jesus the newborn King!Glory and praise let voices be raised! Praise to the newborn King! Sing gloria, sing gloria! Sing glory to God on high!

O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O Come, Let us adore Him, Chris the Lord!For He alone is worthy, for He alone is worthy, for He alone is worthy, Christ the Lord!

Sing gloria! sing gloria! Sing glory to God on high!

Waiting for a King

It is our second Advent Sunday this week.

The chancel choir will lift up "Waiting for a King" as our anthem and the youth choir will sing "Ave Verum" at 11:00 service. The anthem is a rather simple but beautiful meaningful song for Advent. Ave Verum is a well known song by Mozart. I pray that we all get to have a intimate moment with the Lord during this Advent.

Here are text of two songs.

Waiting for a king; when will he come? Waiting for a king; God's holy One.
Will the world be ready? Is His advent near? Waiting for a king when will he appear?
Waiting for a king, when will he come? Waiting for a king, God's only Son.
Will the world receive him? Will He stand alone? Waiting for a king to come and take his throne.
In the fullness of time the Prince of Peace will come, the promised Messiah, God;s chosen One. For those who are righteous, hope will be restore.
Their eyes will be opened, eyes will be opened, eyes will be opened,
they will know the Lord.
Waiting for a king, ruling in might. Waiting for a king to shine in our night.
Will the world be ready? When he comes to stay?
Waiting for a king; will this be the day?

Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine,
cuius latus perforatum fluxit aqua et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae. Miserere mei. Amen.

Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for humankind,
whose pierced side flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet] in the trial of death.
Oh dear Jesus, Oh merciful Jesus, Oh Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

Emmanuel!

Wishing you all have a blessed Thanksiving this week!

This coming Sunday is first Advent Sunday. It is such a blessed time to think about Jesus who came to us as "Emmanuel", His salvation, God's grace toward us, and to have a heart for also coming Jesus again.

Our chancel choir will lift up "Born to set Thy people free" as our anthem, and I will lift up " We shall behold Him". Praying that we all worship Him with our desire and thirst for presence of God in truth and heart.

Here is the lyric of two songs. May the Lord bless you all with His Holy Spirit!

Born to set Thy people Free

O Come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until our God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
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 a yet a king, born 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.
Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free.

We shall behold Him

1. The sky shall unfold preparing His entrance. The starts will applaud Him with thunders of praise. The sweet light of His eyes shall enhance those awaiting, and we shall behold Him then face to face.

refrain: We shall behold Him, we shall behold Him. Face to face in all of His glory. We shall behold Him, we shall behold Him, face to face our Savior and Lord.

2. The angel shall sound the shout of His coming. The sleeping will rise from their slumbering place; and those who remain shall be changed in a moment, and we shall behold Him then face to face.

Thanks to God for My Redeemer

This Saturday is our 58th annual BBQ in our church. People have been cooking, making baked apples, and sauces. I have been praying that God's presence at our BBQ even though it is our fellowship and service to the community.

Also, on this Sunday, we all will get together for our community annual Thanksgiving service at 7:00 in the St. Anne Catholic Church. Eight churches get together to lift up our grateful hearts as one family to our Father.

The chancel choir will lift up a thanksgiving anthem "Thanks to God for My Redeemer" as our anthem on Sunday morning and a combined choir will also sing the same one at that night. The anthem has rather simple melody but good lyrics that makes us to think about what to give thanks to the Lord.

The Inspi-Ring(adult handbell group) will also praise " Rock a my soul" in both services.

Even though there are still bitter stuff in our lives, we need to grateful heart to our faithful Father.

Here is the text.

Thanks to God for my Redeemer, thanks for all that you provide. Thanks for times now but a memory, thanks for Jesus by my side. Thanks for pleasant balmy springtime, Thanks for dark and dreary fall. Thanks for tears by now forgotten, thanks for peace within my soul.
Thanks for prayers that you have answered, thanks for what you have denied. Thanks for storms that we have weathered, thanks for all you have supplied. Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure, thanks for comfort in despair. Thanks for grace that none can measure, thanks for love beyond compare.
Thanks for roses by the wayside, thanks for thorns their stems contain. Thanks for homes and thanks for fireside, thanks for hope, that sweet refrain. Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow, thanks for heaven’s peaceful shore. Thanks for hope in the tomorrow, thanks to God forever more. We thank you, God.

Built on a Rock

November is one of my favorite months of the year. Even though it is the busiest time of a year, I have a chance to think about God's blessings over the year, and give Him thanks. Also, the Advent starts right after Thanksgiving. I love those time. Mostly, I love my Lord who came down to earth to be with us, Emmanuel. I always get amazed and blessed to think about Jesus who came to save us in that lowly place as the King of kings. How nonsense! If you see this matter with worldly eyes, it totally does not make sense. That is a mystery of God's world!

The chancel choir will praise the Lord with a song " Built on a rock" by Althouse. It is a simple song but has a bold message.

The children's chimers will ring a song at the 11:00 service on this Sunday.

May the Lord shine upon His face to you!

Here is the text.

Built on A rock, the church will stand, even when steeples are falling.
Built on a rock, in every land. Christ, our Lord, is calling. Calling to the young and the old to rest.
Calling to the souls of those oppressed.
Built on a rock, the Church will stand. Christ our Lord is calling.
This is a house of living stone built for God's habitation. He is a rock, on humble throne granting us salvation.
Whenever two or more come to seek His face, God will be among them to show His grace.
He is a rock, and this His place, granting us salvation.
Built on a rock, the church will stand firmly on one foundation.
Built on a rock in every land, this, God's new creation.
Together we have come for to give and receive.
In Christ, our Lord, we do believe.
Built on a rock, the Church will stand. This, God's new creation.
Built on a rock, the Church will stand, built on a rock, the church will stand. Built on a rock. Built on a rock. Built on a rock.
Christ, our Lord, is calling. Christ, our Lord, is calling.

With all My heart

From Mark 12:28-33
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'There is no commandment greater than these."
"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

The chancel choir will lift up a song " With all my heart" as our anthem on this Sunday. The song is related to what Jesus tells us. I pray that this song will be our tribute to the Lord.

The youth handbell and ensemble will praise God in both services with their songs. May the Lord be glorified by our hearts and music!

Here is the text of our anthem this week.

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus 'tis now.

In this quiet place with You, I bow before Your throne. I bare the deepest part of me to You and you alone. I keep no secrets for there is no thought You have not known. I bring my best and all the rest to You and lay them down.

Refrain:

With all my heart I want to love You, Lord, and live my life each day to know You more.

All that is in me is Your completely, I'll serve You only with all my heart.

You faithfully supply my needs according to Your plan, so help me Lord, to seek Your face before I see Your hand. And I trust You know what's best for me when I don't understand, then follow in obedience in every circumstance.

Come to me

We are having the Holy Communion and celebrating All Saints day on this Sunday. The chancel choir will sing "Come to me" as our anthem and the children's choir will praise "Bread of Life" that Jesus is the bread of life as our communion song.

The song "Come to me" gives warmth of God's arms of love with rocking motion.

I pray that May the Lord give His peace and comfort especially to our brothers and sisters who lost their loved ones lately throughout this worship service. Also, I pray that May the Lord fill our hearts with His Holy Spirit when we come to worship with thirst and desire toward Him.

Come to me

Come to me you who are in need of rest and are heavy laden, come, find comfort for your souls. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for my spirit is gentle, oh, come to me.

Come to me, Come to me, come find rest.

Bread of Life
You are the bread. (You are the bread) You are the bread (You are the bread).
Once we were hungry, (Whoa!) Now we are fed.
We bring our faith (we bring our faith) small as a seed (small as a seed)
Still You are faithful (Yeah, yeah, yeah) to fill every need.
Hands that are empty, hearts with a hole,
All who are starving in body and soul,
Be filled with the joy of a holy surprise;
All we are missing the master supplies.
You are the bread (You are the bread), You are the bread (You are the bread)
You are the bread of life! The bread of Life! The bread of life! The bread of life!