PREACHING ON THE SONGS OF SCRIPTURE BY THE WYCLIFFE FACULTY
THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER, FOUNDER’S CHAPEL
On Thursday mornings at Wycliffe it is customary for the faculty to preach in a series that goes through the term. Sometimes we preach on a given book of Scripture, like Jeremiah; sometimes it is on some key aspect of the Christian life, like vocation. This term, we will be preaching on the biblical “canticles”, that is, on those parts of Scripture we know to be songs: the Song of Moses at the Red Sea in Exodus 15, the so-called “Magnificat” or Song of Mary from Luke, and so on.
Scripture is full of such songs, many of which are regular parts of worship services. Thus, Scripture not only describes the Israelite’s and early Christian church singing, on various instruments, it also contains portions which are song themselves. O Come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation! This opening verse of Psalm 95, is how we usually begin our Morning Prayer service every day – in Wycliffe Chapel.
Why do we do it? The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner points out in the opening sermon in the series that our singing—and that of all creation-- is a response to God. Scripture describes God as singing. “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee [is] mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph.3;17). God sings first and in response creation sings. In this shared song is the story of salvation.
We invite you to listen along to the weekly sermons on our SoundCloud channel.
Here is the schedule:
Canticles for Thursday MP Preaching, Fall 2016
1. Venite. Come, let us sing to the Lord. Psalm 95:1-7
The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
2. Magnificat, My Soul doth Magnify the Lord. Luke 1:46-55
Dr. Terry Donaldson
3. Sing to the Lord or Cantata Domino, Sing to the Lord a new song and his praise from the end of the earth. Isaiah 42:10
The Rev. Dr. Glen Tayor
4. Jesus Christ is Lord, Jesus Christ, by nature divine, did not grasp for himself a rank as equal with God. Philippians 2:6-11
The Rev. Dr. Ann Jervis
5. The Song of Moses, I will sing to the Lord for his glorious triumph, the horse and the rider he has hurled into the sea. Exodus 15:1-3, 6,11,13,17-18
The Rev. Dr. Peter Robinson
6. Nunc Dimittis or Song of Simeon, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy Word. Luke 2:29-32
The Rev. Dr. Alan Hayes
7. How the Mighty have Fallen. Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places. How the mighty have fallen. 2 Samuel 1: 19-27
The Rev. Dr. Annette Brownlee
8. Benedictine, Omnia Opera, The Song of the Three Children or Creation, Song of the Three from the Apocrypha)
Dr. Tom Power
9. Sanctus, Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8
The Rev. Dr. Judy Paulsen
10. Song of Deborah, Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!I, even I, will sing to the Lord;I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. Judges 5: 1-5, 10-12.
Dr. Joe Mangina
11. Deborah's Victory Song in Judges 5 and Ours.
Dr. Marion Taylor
12. A Song to the Lamb, Splendour and honour and kingly power are yours by right, O Lord our God. Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13
The Rt Rev. Stephen Andrews
