Notes from the Music Director
Dear friends in Christ,
As we begin another new year, many of us will be trying to keep New Year’s resolutions. I used to be really good at keeping mine...at least for a couple of weeks. I’d begin to exercise fastidiously. I’d stop eating extra helpings (well, I’d try...). I’d try to keep in touch with my family and friends more often. The past few years, though, I really haven’t exerted much effort because I know that I cannot continue to accomplish my high expectations of myself for very long.
It is very easy to get caught up in all the festivities and resolutions of a new year, but we really need to remember our Lord Jesus in our New Year’s Resolutions. We need Him to begin the new year, to continue each day, to help us carry out our good intentions. Even when the festive first few days of this new year blend back into normal days and we fall short of what we had resolved to do, we remember that Jesus forgives us our shortcomings and is there for us, every day. He will be with us throughout this new year, making each day more meaningful and helping us to follow Him. We should resolve to do our best to serve Him in every way we can -- by giving of our TIME, our TALENTS, and our TREASURES. There are so many ways to serve! We all can easily find something that we can resolve to do this year--for OUR Savior!
So, get on that treadmill, give away that box of chocolates, and type out those overdue emails if you wish, but don’t forget to include Jesus in your new year 2026.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
Hope to see you in worship!
Scott Kamman​
Music Director
Song of the month:
The children in our school learn a special hymn or song of the month as part of their worship and religion class experience. For the month of January, they will be learning and singing the song, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.” This hymn was based on Song of Solomon 1:3, “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.” (NIV). Following a long tradition of reading the Church as the Bride and Christ as the Bridegroom in Song of Solomon, John Newton elaborated on the theme of the bride adoring her bridegroom's name. This undivided attention to Christ also brings to mind another verse: “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4 NIV).
From Hymnary.com
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LSB 524 How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds,
And drives away our fear.
2 It makes the wounded spirit whole
And calms the heart’s unrest;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul
And to the weary, rest.
3 Dear name! The rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place;
My never-failing treasury filled
With boundless stores of grace.
4 O Jesus, shepherd, guardian, friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King,
My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.
5 How weak the effort of my heart,
How cold my warmest thought!
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.
6 Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With ev’ry fleeting breath;
And may the music of Thy name
Refresh my soul in death!
Text: John Newton, 1725–1807, alt.
Text: Public domain
Chapel Worship
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Everyone is invited to worship with the school children each week as they gather for chapel
on Wednesdays at 8:45 AM in the sanctuary. It is an excellent opportunity for midweek worship. Come and join us!
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Jan. 7 Camp Lakeview Crew
Jan. 14 Mr. Davidson
Jan. 21 Pastor Richeson
Jan. 28 Mr. Kamman
Worship Notes!
In an effort to try to help us all learn about our worship life and liturgy, we offer this little “tidbit” of information each month. It can serve as a review for you, an answer to that question, “Why do we do that?”, or as a teaching tool for our children or grandchildren. Please share this with your family. Discuss it prior to worship. If there is something you would like to have answered, let me know. I’ll do my best to find out! Check out this month’s edition of “Worship Notes” below.
This month’s Worship Note:
What is Epiphany about?
Epiphany Day is January 6. The length of the season depends
on the date of Easter. Epiphany lasts until the start of Lent and could have from four to nine Sundays depending on the time of Easter.
Epiphany means, “to show or make known.” It was first observed as a feast commemorating Jesus’ baptism. In the fourth century, it became a celebration of Christ being made known to the Gentiles, beginning with the Wise men. The traditional color for Epiphany is green, though white is used to show light and purity on the Sundays commemorating the Baptism and Transfiguration of Jesus.
Monthly rotation of hymnal liturgies for
“Joyful Heritage” services:
First week: Divine Service Setting 1
(We’re changing back to Setting One for a while.)
Second week: Divine Service Setting 4
Third week: Divine Service Setting 5
Fourth week: Divine Service Setting 3
Fifth week: Matins (with communion)
*Scott Kamman can be reached at 426-1130 or by email at scott.kamman@gmail.com.
Communion reminder: If you partake of the individual communion cup, please clearly hold the empty cup in front of you to help the communion assistant who is serving the common cup to see that you have already communed. Thank you.
Worship Reminder: Please respect the quiet time of meditation before the service begins. Silence your phone. Enter the sanctuary reverently and with worship in mind. Socializing is best done in the narthex or lounge areas before and after the service. Also, please remember that if you arrive late for church, wait until the congregation begins singing a hymn or piece of the liturgy before being seated. That is the appropriate time to enter into worship. Thank you for maintaining a worshipful atmosphere.​