Notes on the Notes – December 14, 2025

Advent 3

This week’s music:

“We Light This Candle” (TLUS #55)

“We light this candle for Joy.
Await the new life within.
May our hearts now live each day,
So Joy can find a way,
So Joy can find a way.” 

Our Advent candle-lighting song was written by Pat Mayberry (2016) and arranged by David Kai (2016). It appears in the new United Church song book, “Then Let Us Sing.” 

“On Jordan’s Bank” (VU #20 v 1, 2, 4, 5)

“On Jordan’s bank, the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lamb is nigh;
Awake and hearken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of Kings.

Then cleansed be every life from sin; make straight the way for God within;
And let each heart prepare a home where such a mighty guest may come.

In you, we find, abundant life, our refuge in the midst of strife;
Without your grace we waste away, like flowers that wither and decay.

Stretch forth your hand, our health restore, and help us rise to fall no more.
O let your face upon us shine, and fill the world with love divine.

All praise to you, eternal Son, whose advent has our freedom won;
And praise to God whom we adore, with Holy Spirit evermore.”

The words of this hymn refer to the story of John the Baptist, a forerunner of Jesus.  John the Baptist urged his followers to repent and be baptized in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.  Charles Coffin, rector of the University of Paris, wrote this Advent hymn in Latin and published it in his Hymni Sacri (1736).  A century later, John Chandler translated it for inclusion in his Hymns of the Primitive Church (1827).  The 17th-century German melody (1690) was brought to England by John Wesley and was arranged by W.H. Harvergal in 1864.

“Come, Come Emmanuel” (MV #11)

“Come, come Emmanuel. Come, Emmanuel.
Come, come Emmanuel. Come, Emmanuel.”

This gentle chant will be used as our response to the Words of Assurance during the season of Advent. It was written by James J. Chepponis in 1995.

“From Advent to Christmas” 

“From Advent to Christmas we watch for the Lord.
We listen and pray – and ponder God’s word.
The prophets foretold it: a saviour would come.
From Advent to Christmas we look for the One.

From Advent to Christmas we hear John’s great voice
that beckons us all: – repent and rejoice!
The Baptist proclaimed it; we must change our ways.
From Advent to Christmas, we pray for that grace.

From Advent to Christmas we pray for the world
that warring may cease – and peace be restored.
The Scriptures demand it, oh, let them be heard.
From Advent to Christmas, we cling to God’s word.”

This Advent hymn has words by James V. Marchionda, OP.  We will be using the hymn tune by James R. Murray (1887), recognizable as the one of the tunes commonly used for the carol, “Away in a Manger.”

“Hark the Glad Sound” (VU #29 v. 1, 3, 4)

“Hark, the glad sound! The Saviour comes, the Saviour promised long:
Let every heart prepare a throne, and every voice a song.

He comes, the prisoners to release in Satan’s bondage held;
The gates of brass before him burst, the iron fetters yield.

He comes, the broken heart to bind, the bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of his grace to bless the humble poor.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace, your welcome shall proclaim;
And heaven’s eternal arches ring with your beloved name.”

This joyous hymn announces the Saviour’s imminent arrival.   The text is a paraphrase of Luke 4:18-19, written by the Reverend Philip Doddridge on December 28, 1738.  Doddridge was a pastor of a Dissenting church, which means that he did not accept the authority of the Church of England.  He wrote this hymn and many others –– perhaps 400 in all – not for publication but to be sung by his congregation.  His congregation didn’t use hymnals, but instead had someone sing the hymn line by line from the pulpit with the congregation repeating each line in turn.

“In this Advent Time of Waiting”

“In this Advent time of waiting may we serve the Prince of Peace.
Share our gifts with those around us, joy and hope in all increase.
Dream the vision, tell the story, healing bring to those in need.
Share the promises once more, Christ is near, who came before.”

Our offering response for the season of Advent will be sung to a variation of the traditional Polish carol, W ZLOBIE LEZY, known in English as the carol “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.”

“My Soul Cries Out” (MV #120)

The text of the hymn we are singing today is a paraphrase of Luke 1:46-55, the Magnificat text, Mary’s song of praise.  It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymn texts.   In the narrative, after Mary greets her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, the child moves within Elizabeth’s womb. When Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith, Mary sings what is now known as the Magnificat in response,  praising God, who, through her child, will change the world. It is a joyful text, full of hope for a time of change in a dismal world.

“My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight, and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me,
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame, and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight,
For the world is about to turn.

From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears every tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, every mouth be fed,
For the world is about to turn.

Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast;
God’s mercy must deliver us from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound,
‘Till the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
Who is turning the world around.

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
And the world is about to turn!”

 “A World of Joy” 

“May we be filled with joy in our hearts, in our lives,
May we be filled with a world of joy.
May we be filled with joy in our hearts, in our lives,
May we be filled with a world of joy.

Joy, now the promise begins.
Joy is the light within.
Joy in the mystery.
Joy holds all that can be. 

May we be filled with joy in our hearts, in our lives.
May we be filled with a world of joy.
May we be filled with joy in our hearts, in our lives.
May we be filled with a world of joy.”

Our benediction response for the season of Advent was written by Mary-Ellen Kish in 2010.