Prepare the Way!

Christmas is coming! Christ is coming! Get Ready! Prepare the way! Those are the themes we hear often during ADVENT. It's a hectic time of the year, filled with shopping and gift wrapping and decorating and entertaining and ... ...and...WORSHIP? Yes, Sunday Worship during Advent helps us prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Savior, our Savior, Christ the Lord, OUR Lord. The prophets foretold of his coming, but the Israelites had to wait 600 years for the prophecy to be fulfilled. We only have to wait FOUR SHORT WEEKS! Each week, as the December days grow shorter and darker, our church grows brighter as the Advent candles are lit; first one, then two...one more each week. On Christmas Eve, all four are lit, with the center CHRIST candle burning brightly, proclaiming the birth of the Christ child.

You will notice minor changes to the liturgy during Advent; the "Hymn of Praise", taken from the Christmas Song of the Angels (Glory to God in the highest) is not sung. It will return on Christmas. Sometimes we sing a "theme song" each Sunday, adding a new verse each week as the Advent candles are lit. The hymns and lessons all encourage us to PREPARE. Home Devotional Booklets are distributed. We encourage you to use these in conjunction with Advent Wreaths or Advent Calendars to help your family prepare every day. So, amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, take an hour each week to meditate, pray, and prepare the way!

We hear this question every Advent. The answer is the same as when your kids used to ask (30 seconds after you left the driveway), "Are we THERE YET?", and the follow-up question, "How much LONGER will it be?" During Advent, we don't sing Christmas songs, because "we aren't THERE yet.". We are still PREPARING the way; we are still on the journey. While the rest of the world "jumps the gun" to celebrate Christmas BEFORE Christmas, we WAIT and CONTEMPLATE and PREPARE. Then, when the secular world rips down all the decorations and sets the tree out for the trash at 8 AM on December 26th, we are JUST BEGINNING a TWELVE DAY celebration that ends with Epiphany on January 6th. Does that make us "out of sync" with everyone else? We HOPE SO...because we are called to "Let our lights SHINE in this dark world." So, we have ample opportunity to sing our favorite carols on Christmas Eve and the next two Sundays. Until then, sit back, relax, and ENJOY the journey, because we're ALMOST THERE!

Meet our Members - Alice Bledsoe and Carolyn Tolo.

This month, we feature Alice Bledsoe, one of our alternate organists. Alice is a life-long member of St. John. She took piano lessons as a child, before getting her degree in Music Therapy from Michigan State University. Alice has "perfect pitch", plays Piano, Organ, and Accordion, and gives private lessons to children and adults. She worked as a Music Therapist, and worked for 17 years at the Illinois Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. She occasionally plays the piano bar at Sky Harbor. When she and her husband Dick lived in Bartonville, she sang alto in the choir, and still sings solos regularly. Alice listens to WBNH (Adult Christian 88.5), WCBU (Classical 89.9) and WGLT (Jazz 89.1). She likes a variety of music, including Traditional Christian and Gospel, Jazz/Swing, "Oldies", Show tunes, New Age (space music), and EZ Listening. What does she say about music in worship? "Music affects our emotions like nothing else can. At weddings or funerals, in joy or sorrow, it is the music that makes us happy or sad, uplifts and comforts us. Almost everyone likes some type of music, and it is in our lives every day. Music in our worship services provides us with another way to glorify and praise God. When it comes from the heart, a choir anthem or the singing of a single voice is beautiful to our Creator. The organ music I play at church is my gift to God, given in thankfulness and praise."

This month, we also feature Carolyn Tolo, one of our council-appointed lay-members. Carolyn joined St. John in August 1998, after marrying Pastor Tolo. She took piano lessons as a child, "I wanted to play Clarinet, but the folks had a piano, so piano it was" She enjoyed accompanying band member solos, "Sometimes I had to suggest they face away from the audience so they'd have enough courage to blow that horn", and has played for Youth Group and Sunday School singing, and once played a simplified French horn called a mellophone, "Not well, but we had the off-beats and I loved it". Carolyn's experienced a wide variety of Christian Music through memberships in several denominations, including Grace Evangelical, United Brethren, United Methodist, and Presbyterian. She's a retired registered nurse, who now enjoys "Globe Trotting" with Pastor Tolo. When they got married, he inherited her 8 children (through birth, adoption, and stepchildren) and 22 grandchildren. Carolyn listens to Christian and National Public Radio stations. She likes a variety of music, including all types of Christian, Jazz/Blues/Swing (especially John Philip Sousa), "Oldies", Show tunes, and EZ Listening. What does she say about music in worship? "Music heals me when I'm grouchy. Some music seems made to use up excess youthful energy. I don't need that kind. I appreciate music that strengthens me, and lifts my heart. "

The Christmas Tree: Christian Custom or Pagan Practice?: Some "Fundamentalist" denominations discourage Christmas decorations and trees, claiming that they are based on Pagan "Winter Solstice" celebrations. Lutheran tradition tells us that Martin Luther first "invented" the Christmas Tree in Germany. He found sacred symbolism in the beauty of it's branches and way light reflected off icicles in the snow. Today, we can use this popular symbol as a way to teach our children about the TRUE MEANING of Christmas.

The SHAPE is like an arrow, pointing to heaven - where Jesus came from and rose to. The branches are ever-green, even in winter, reminding us of EVERLASTING LIFE. The TRUNK reminds us of the CROSS on which Jesus was crucified. We top our tree with a STAR or and ANGEL, both of which appeared on that first Christmas night. We place GIFTS under the tree, remembering the wise men from the East who came to worship the newborn king. We use LIGHTS and TINSEL signifying that Jesus is the LIGHT of the world, and WE are called to let our lights SHINE. We decorate with balls of:

Gold & Silver (representing the gifts of the 3 kings),

Blue (God created the HEAVENS and EARTH),

Red (for the BLOOD he shed for us),

Green (He came that we might have LIFE), and

Purple (Royal color for the King of Kings).

So...Let your Christmas Tree lights SHINE, and witness to the true GIFT of CHRISTMAS.

Until Next Month: Remember "Soon and Very Soon, we are going to see the KING" (Taken from the hymn "Soon & Very Soon" With One Voice, #744).

Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be the Glory)

Donald L. Bauer, Choral & Contemporary Music Director