Trying to Read the Signs
(Actual sign at 4th and Walnut, Downtown St. Louis)
Live by faith, grow in grace, and walk in love with St. Martin's this coming Sunday as we come together, in person as well as online, for worship, thanksgiving, and praise. Wherever you are on your journey of faith, allow us to walk alongside you.
To download a bulletin for the Sunday Holy Eucharist at 10:30 am, please click here:
We begin a new church year with the first Sunday of Advent this week. During Advent, we prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus at Christmas, but also for the coming of Christ’s return as described in Revelation. We will sing a stanza of the carol O Come, O Come Emmanuel each week as we light the candles on the Advent Wreath.
Our Processional hymn is infused with the imagery of morning light and stirs hope in the hearts of all who look forward to the return of Christ. The King shall come when morning dawns is a confession of faith in the sure return of our Lord; his coming again will occur in a blaze of glory, which will far surpass his earthly death and resurrection. It was written by John Brownlie in 1907, who was a Presbyterian pastor in the Free Church of Scotland. He wrote and translated several volumes of hymn texts. (Psalter Hymnal Handbook, Hymnary.org)
Our Sequence hymn will be Come now, O Prince of Peace written in 1991 by Geonyong Lee. This elegantly simple hymn, paraphrased from Korean and set to the author’s own tune, gives voice to the hope of reconciliation between divided peoples. It appeared in the Iona Community’s second volume of Songs of the World Church. It is the practice of this community to devote the Monday evening office to prayer for justice and peace, where, on occasion, individual stanzas of this hymn are sung between intercessions. (GIA publications; from Wonder, Love, and Praise hymnal supplement, Church Pub.)
Our Communion hymn will be the traditional Cameroonian song, He Came Down. It was collected by John Bell from the Iona Community who stated in his Many and Great hymnbook, “The song was experienced in Germany at an international conference in 1986 when a group of Presbyterians from Cameroon broke into a song and dance. They moved in a circle, counterclockwise, using their hand to beckon Christ, as it were, from heaven to earth”. Hymn writer Carl P. Daw Jr. noted that the intention of the song was to evoke cherished memories and bring about a sense of thankfulness. (umcdiscipleship.org)
Our final hymn was written in 2015 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette: God’s World is Changing, sung to the familiar tune for Morning has broken. Gillette gives a meditation on this hymn: “…Jesus speaks about people having a sense of fear and foreboding. We are like children who peer out from the covers, longing for the light to show us where we are and what is happening around us…What should we do while we are waiting? Jesus gives us a way to face these changes: Raise your heads. Look to Jesus. Trust in God’s love. Jesus teaches us to wait actively. We do this as we live faithfully, serving God one day at a time. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, welcome strangers, work for the good of all people, and help individuals we encounter who are in need…As we follow the living Jesus, we find our hope, because we believe God’s love in Jesus Christ is greater than anything that could destroy or harm. This hymn reminds us: God is at work here, building, renewing; some are afraid, but we know God’s love.” (from God’s World is Changing, New Hymns for Advent and Christmas by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette 2022)
Ever wonder how to get your flower dedication into the bulletin?
HERE IS HOW IT WORKS:
Making a donation to the Flower Fund is an opportunity to celebrate a milestone event in your life or the life of a loved one. It might be an Anniversary, Birthday, Baptism or Confirmation, to honor a graduate, to simply say “thank you” for a kindness, or in memory of a loved one.
Put
ONLY your namebeside the Sunday date of your choice.
Watch for your reminder letter in the mail. Several
weeks in advance of your selected date, you will receive a reminder letterwith
a couponto return with your full dedication
.
Return the coupon with your donation to the Flower Fund. The cost of Altar Flowers for a Sunday is now $55. Your donation of any amount is welcome.
Please write
“Flower Fund” on the memo lineof your check.
Once the reminder letters have been mailed, the month will be closed
on the chartbut:
Anyone who would still like to make a flower dedication for that month may contact the church office to work out how to submit a dedication in time to be included in the bulletin.
Multiple sponsors may sign up for any given Sunday.
During Lent there are no flowers on the altar so these Sundays are blocked out.