December 16th, 2007 - Third Sunday in Advent and Agnus Dei Setup and Rehearsal
Pastor Dayle’s sermon continued an Advent message concerning our ability to overcome fear and hesitation to live as God wants us to live. She also asked about what we wait for in this season, particularly in relationship to what John the Baptist waited for concerning the messiah in the Gospel reading.
Do we wait for the messiah John the Baptist envisioned, a king and conqueror who overpowers our enemies and release us from captivity or do we wait for a baby whose life’s mission will be healing and salvation?
Pastor Dayle took a vivid illustration of two ways we can live our lives from the story of The Wizard of Oz.
The home many of us can feel that we yearn for is Dorothy’s black and white Kansas; a predictable world with easy right and wrong answers. Oz, on the other hand, has the logic of a dream and is about being on life’s journey. It is filled with color and is unpredictable. Dorothy is accompanied on her journey by friends who have problems. Dorothy will be changed by her experiences in Oz and cannot go back home being the same person she was before.
Between services, in Adult Education, we focus on a passage from Mary Lou Redding’s book While We Wait: Living the Questions of Advent. The passage is about a hesitation to pray because of a lack of faith that God will answer the prayer. Faith, the author maintains, is counter-rational. It always has been and always will be. What matters is coming to God with the faith we have. The author maintains we cannot come to God purely from intellect because faith is places importance on having a relationship with God. This turns into a great discussion that continues on the Advent themes we are following.
After the service is the set up of the space for Agnus Dei and a full rehearsal that includes the choir, the instrumentalists, the dancers, the children and the narrators who will be perform this Friday and Saturday.
The transformation of the space happened quickly thanks to Paul, Scott, Brent, Peter, Randy and a team of others. The stages were setup, the chairs moved into position, the microphones and places for the instrumentalists set.
In the rehearsal itself, the choir practices our moves from narthex to stage, where to sit and stand for the various pieces, when to surround the sanctuary, and when to move back to the stage. Experiencing the way all this will work during the performances is exciting. All of us have a much better feel for how the Friday and Saturday performances will run.
Actually seeing all the elements come together at full rehearsals for Creator Christmas events is amazing every year. The sound of the instrumentalists with the choir and watching the dancers perform left me breathless at times. This is not necessarily good for a choir member but, hey, it is only a rehearsal.
Kelly’s energy and devotion to Agnus Dei is impressive. His vision, his organization and leadership and performance in the various aspects of this cantata is evident at this rehearsal as it has been through choir practices. When he is making acknowledgements of those who contributed everyone there recognizes what he has given to make this happen.
We close in prayer. Many of us do a double-take as we gather to form our circle. This circle of those involved in the various aspects of the performance only includes those who happen to be there when this particular rehearsal ended. The circle fills a good part of the sanctuary. It includes individuals who are not members of Creator and all ages are represented. Everyone brings a unique talent to the effort and the thankfulness we feel for all this is expressed in Kelly's closing prayer.
Do we wait for the messiah John the Baptist envisioned, a king and conqueror who overpowers our enemies and release us from captivity or do we wait for a baby whose life’s mission will be healing and salvation?
Pastor Dayle took a vivid illustration of two ways we can live our lives from the story of The Wizard of Oz.
The home many of us can feel that we yearn for is Dorothy’s black and white Kansas; a predictable world with easy right and wrong answers. Oz, on the other hand, has the logic of a dream and is about being on life’s journey. It is filled with color and is unpredictable. Dorothy is accompanied on her journey by friends who have problems. Dorothy will be changed by her experiences in Oz and cannot go back home being the same person she was before.
Between services, in Adult Education, we focus on a passage from Mary Lou Redding’s book While We Wait: Living the Questions of Advent. The passage is about a hesitation to pray because of a lack of faith that God will answer the prayer. Faith, the author maintains, is counter-rational. It always has been and always will be. What matters is coming to God with the faith we have. The author maintains we cannot come to God purely from intellect because faith is places importance on having a relationship with God. This turns into a great discussion that continues on the Advent themes we are following.
After the service is the set up of the space for Agnus Dei and a full rehearsal that includes the choir, the instrumentalists, the dancers, the children and the narrators who will be perform this Friday and Saturday.
The transformation of the space happened quickly thanks to Paul, Scott, Brent, Peter, Randy and a team of others. The stages were setup, the chairs moved into position, the microphones and places for the instrumentalists set.
In the rehearsal itself, the choir practices our moves from narthex to stage, where to sit and stand for the various pieces, when to surround the sanctuary, and when to move back to the stage. Experiencing the way all this will work during the performances is exciting. All of us have a much better feel for how the Friday and Saturday performances will run.
Actually seeing all the elements come together at full rehearsals for Creator Christmas events is amazing every year. The sound of the instrumentalists with the choir and watching the dancers perform left me breathless at times. This is not necessarily good for a choir member but, hey, it is only a rehearsal.
Kelly’s energy and devotion to Agnus Dei is impressive. His vision, his organization and leadership and performance in the various aspects of this cantata is evident at this rehearsal as it has been through choir practices. When he is making acknowledgements of those who contributed everyone there recognizes what he has given to make this happen.
We close in prayer. Many of us do a double-take as we gather to form our circle. This circle of those involved in the various aspects of the performance only includes those who happen to be there when this particular rehearsal ended. The circle fills a good part of the sanctuary. It includes individuals who are not members of Creator and all ages are represented. Everyone brings a unique talent to the effort and the thankfulness we feel for all this is expressed in Kelly's closing prayer.
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