DID YOU KNOW.......

Green Altar Cloths …that for the Sundays after Pentecost we use green altar cloths. The color green is symbolic of growth and life. This is the time of the church year when we focus on our life with Christ. As we do so, we remember that we must grow in our faith or it might die. If you listen to the lesson over the next 5 months you will notice the theme of spiritual growth. Each week a new teaching about our lives in Christ is introduced.
The other symbols on the paraments also remind us about the beginning and the end of life. As Christ is the one who gives us real life, we know that he is the beginning and the end. So there is an Alpha and Omega, (first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) to show us that Christ is also our beginning and end. The other symbol used carries us through this life and the anchor of our faith is Christ Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper...that the Lord’s Supper is the sacrament Christ gave to his believers for the forgiveness of their sins and they ate and drank his body and blood. It is an intimate union with Christ and with one another. This most precious gift is not for everyone. This sacrament has qualification for anyone who desires to receive it. First, one must be a sinner, that is one must recognize the many sins they have committed and seek Christ’s forgiveness. Second, one must acknowledge that presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in, with and under the bread and wine. Third, one must be united in agreement with the fellow participants in the Lord’s Supper.

This most precious sacrament is given to the Christian to physically receive the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. After instruction, understanding and agreement, fellow believers are invited to join in the sacrament. If those qualification are not met, this precious gift of Christ can become a judgment and punishment on ones soul.

Chancel…the area around the altar in the front of church is called the chancel. It was not recognized as an official part of the church until the 13th century. It was set apart to ensure that the sacrament was to be kept protected from irreverent access or abuse; and accordingly the construction and upkeep of the chancel was the responsibility of the pastor, whereas the construction and upkeep of the nave (main body of a church for seating) was the responsibility of the members. Most chancels include seating for the minister(s), altar, pulpit, cross, font and candles. The chancel is typically set apart from the nave by open space, elevation, sometimes even a screen or a railing. The chancel serves as a location within the church to direct attention to the means of grace in both Word and Sacrament. Beauty, simplicity and focus are the hallmarks of a great chancel.

Pews…that pews were not commonly found in churches before the coming of the Reformation. The rise of the sermon as a central act of Christian worship, especially in Protestantism, made the pew an indispensable item of church furniture. Many ancient churches do not have pews; they have to stand instead. In some churches, pews were installed at the expense of the members, and were their personal property; there was no general public seating in the church itself. Pews were originally purchased from the church by their owners under this system, and the purchase price of the pews went to the costs of building the church. When the pews were privately owned, their owners sometimes enclosed them in pew boxes, and the pews were frequently not of uniform construction. Conversely, some churches were fitted with uniform pews throughout, while some of these may have been owned by families, others, would be available to the general congregation.

Mobile….that the mobile displayed this Sunday, was made as a gift for the congregation to teach us about the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit. In Romans 12:6-8 it tell us: 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. These seven gifts of the Spirit are displayed in the tongues of fire. This reminds us how the Spirit of God himself came down on the day of Pentecost and made his visible presence known over the heads of the disciples in the tongues of fire.The Spirit of God is represented by the dove at the center of the mobile. The Spirit of God displayed himself in the form of a dove at Jesus’ baptism, as we see him descending out of heaven onto Jesus. Still today the Spirit of God comes to us. He gives gifts to his people and is visible to all the world as the believers use those gifts for God’s glory.

Stained Glass Windows…that Divinity has 5 main stained glass windows in the church. Each stained glass window has a symbolic purpose.
The first window you would see when you enter the front doors, is the name and founding of our church.
The next window that fills the back wall, shows the symbols of our triune God. The lamb is the symbol of Christ our Savior, the hand reaching out to this world is the symbol of the Father our Creator, and the Dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit our Sanctifier.
The other 3 windows are over the altar in the front. There we have the symbols for the Waters of Baptism, the elements of the Lord’s Supper and the Trinity. Not only do stained glass windows serve to beautify the building, but have been used as art work for centuries in the church to teach the members.

Pentecost…that the day of Pentecost comes 49 day after the resurrection of our Lord. On this day, the Lord kept another one of his promises when he sent the Spirit to the disciples. This coming of the Spirit signifies the beginning of the Christian church. The Spirit came in the miraculous wind and fire, with power and prophecy. At that moment the disciples were given multiple gifts, the ability to speak in tongues, to preach boldly and to understand the works and words of Christ.
Today we continue such a celebration in the church, as God still sends out His Spirit on us, not in the supernatural visual presence as he did for the disciples, but through the gift of faith that comes from proper use of Word and Sacrament. The Spirit of God offers us gifts to use in service to our God. May we go forth into the world, just as those disciples did, moved by the Spirit of God, to share the gift of salvation with everyone. Thank God for the Spirit this Pentecost.

Bells…that bells were installed in churches during the Middle Ages. A church bell is rung either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service. Before mass communication they were the only way to gather a village together, so they evolved secular functions also. Bells typically were rung at a specific time prior to the service, at the beginning of the service, at the beginning, middle and end of the Lord’s Prayer and also at the end of the service. The ringing of the bells during the Lord’s Prayer was for those who could not attend the service. They could still pray with the congregation when they heard the bells and knew that they were following along at just the right pace.
We still ring the bells at the beginning and end of each service to let our neighborhood know that we continue to worship our Savior here in the big city.

Liturgy .. that the liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. Typically in Christianity the term "the liturgy" normally refers to a standardized order of events observed during a religious service, be it a sacramental service or a service of public prayer. Below is the list of regular items that make up the liturgy. These parts have special focus and order. They serve not only as a guide, but through the use of each part, Law and Gospel will be clearly proclaimed at each service.

The Invocation–-Call to worship
Confession—Admission of sin and guilt
Absolution—Proclamation of forgiveness in Christ
Kyrie & Gloria-Songs —Lord Have Mercy and Thanks be to God
Collect—Prayer of the day
Verse of the day and Alleluia—Central thought and praise to God
Psalms—A song out of the ancient hymnal
Scripture readings, culminating in a reading of the Gospel—Main part of worship
The Creed—Statement of our most basic beliefs
Sermon—Explanation of a reading of the day
Offering—Opportunity to return thanks through the giving of monetary gifts.
Intercessory prayers—Prayers on behalf of others
The Lord's Prayer—As Jesus taught us to pray
Communion—Christ’s body and blood-offered every other week
Sanctus—Song with communion praising our Holy God.
Benediction—The sending off with blessings into the world
Hymns—Songs used throughout the service to teach, praise and worship.

Hymns...that our hymns range in history dating back to the early Christian Church right up to our modern day and age. The hymns we use in church has a distinctive sound, a sound we have come to associate with church and with worship. It is not contemporary music, but it is not old music either. Some of the music we use in our services has been written in the last fifteen years, while other music goes back a thousand years but has been rewritten in the modern style. It is music that is pleasing to hear and also easy to use. That is important because hymns are meant for singing along, for all of us to join in singing along. It has to have a clear melody and a regular rhythm and a tempo and a range that allows everyone to participate. If it is not music that all can readily use, then some drop out and don't participate in the worship. We need hymns that are nobody's music but that can serve as everybody's music.

And especially we need hymns that bring our God to us. The hymn is there to tell us something. We sing about the things of God, what he has done for us, how He cares for us, how great He is, how we can trust Him, and then we respond with words of faith and of praise and of thanks. The best hymns for church use are the very words God used in His Bible, and use the very thoughts and the very images that he chose to use to speak to us. Good church hymns makes us feel we are right there before the throne of God and that He is talking to us and that we are talking to Him. Good hymns don't make us think of anyone else or of anything else, but they make us think about our God and about our worship before Him.

Sermon ...that the sermon has been an essential part of worship going back even into the OT.  It was common for the priest to read from the books of Moses or the Prophets followed by an explanation to that reading.  In Scripture we have some famous sermons.  Here is a short list of them; Moses' sermon in Deuteronomy 1-33; Jesus' sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7; Peter's sermon on Pentecost in Acts 2.

 Modern sermons are usually, but not always, delivered in a house of worship, most of which have a pulpit or ambo, an elevated architectural feature. A sermon is also known as a homily within the Catholic Church. The word "sermon" comes from a Middle English word which was derived from an Old French term, which in turn came from the Latin word sermo; ("discourse"). The word can mean "conversation", which could mean that early sermons were delivered in the form of question and answer, and that only later did it come to mean a monologue.  The Reformation led to Lutheran sermons, many of which defended the schism with the Roman Catholic Church and explained beliefs about scripture, theology and devotion. Since the distinctive doctrines of Lutheranism held that salvation was by faith alone, and convincing people to believe the Gospel and place trust in God for their salvation through Jesus Christ was the decisive step in salvation, in Lutheranism the sermon and hymn came to replace the Lord’s Supper as the central act of Christian worship. To rouse deeper faith in the churchgoers, rather than have them partake in a ritual, was the goal of Lutheran worship conditioned by these beliefs. 

Today the sermon is still a central focus of worship.  May the message and insight spoken during the sermon strengthen the faith of all who hear it.