Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee
Rend Collective’s version of this traditional carol ‘Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee’ is delicate and reflective, reminding us that God is the giver of immortal gladness and that we can rejoice because He is with us.
‘Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!‘
Winter Snow
Hopefully this is not a weather forecast! Today’s song (delayed from yesterday, alas) looks at the fact that Christmas is the time when we remember specifically how God chose to come to us. We would have expected Christ to come in majesty, pomp and splendour, but instead He came to a stable in Bethlehem. Little wonder the wise men were confused about where to find the king! So often, God’s ways are not our ways and the way He works confuses and bewilders us, but as we pause and linger at the stable, let’s remember that chaos and apparent rejection can actually all be part of God’s will.
‘Could’ve come like a mighty storm,
With all the strength of a hurricane.
You could’ve come like a forest fire
With the power of Heaven in Your flame
But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below
You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts.
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we’ve scarred
But You came like a winter snow, yes, You did
You were quiet, You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below
Ooh no, Your voice wasn’t in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind
It was still, it was small, it was hidden
Oh, You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below.’ (‘Winter Snow’, Chris Tomlin & Audrey Assad)
Rejoice!
Here’s a traditional carol with a modern take on it!
‘Good Christian men, rejoice,
With heart and soul and voice
Give ye heed to what we say
Jesus Christ is born today.
Ox and lamb before Him bow,
He is in the manger now,
Christ is born today.
Christ is born today.
So rejoice, o rejoice,
Hallelujah, Christ has come.
So rejoice, lift your voice,
Sing Immanuel with us,
O rejoice.
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice.
Now ye hear of endless bliss
Jesus Christ was born for this.
He has opened heaven’s door
And man is blessed for ever more
Christ was born for this.
Christ was born for this.
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice.
Now ye need not fear the grave,
Jesus Christ was born to save;
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall.
Christ was born to save.
Christ was born to save.’ (‘Rejoice’, Aaron Shust)
Shining Star
Guidance is always a hot topic among Christians and it remains true that God guides us in a variety of ways, including speaking from His Word, arranging circumstances and using others to speak into our lives, as well as through the gifts of the Spirit. The wise men were guided by the star which rose and they followed this star to worship Jesus. (Matt 2:2,9) Today’s song celebrates the Incarnation and looks at how Jesus Himself is like a shining star.
‘Shining Star, come and guide our hearts.
The angels watched in mystery
As You took off Your glory.
Instead You put on human skin
To reconcile all things again.
You stepped into the darkest night
To blaze the skies with Heaven’s sign
That we all matter, we are loved
That Your heart beat’s strong for us.
What a picture of love!
You are magnificent,
You are magnificent,
You are my Rescuer.
You light the darkest night
You light the darkest night
You are the shining star
The Angels watched in mystery
As You bore all our misery
The hands that crafted worlds and stars
Chose the pain of human scars
You came to die the lowest death
To show the human soul its worth
And as You burst through the darkness
You raised the dead in all of us
What a portrait of grace!
Shining star, come and guide our hearts.’ (‘Shining Star’, Rend Collective)
Unto Us
‘Unto Us’ (lyrics taken from Is 9:6-7) is probably my favourite new Christmas song of this year. Taken from Aaron Shust’s Christmas album of the same name, the song captures the wonderfully lyrical piano music I love and has a truly epic feel to it whilst being eminently singable!
‘Unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given,
God with us, go and tell: Immanuel has come from heaven
And His name will ever be the Prince of peace, the wonderful Counsellor.
He’s the great and mighty Lord.
Bow before our holy Saviour.
Unto us a child is born, hope to all the world.
Unto us the Son of God has come:
Sing hallelujah.
Everlasting Father, Name above all names,
God is with us.
Sing hallelujah.
He’s the Prince of peace.
He’s the Mighty God.
He’s the Saviour born to set the captive free.
He’s the Promised One,
The Messiah come
And His love will reign throughout eternity.’ (‘Unto Us’, Aaron Shust)
If you have time to listen to this webinar, it’s well worth it, giving the background to all the songs on the album and giving a glimpse into the stories behind the songs. And if you’re still looking for Christmas presents, this one comes highly recommended!
Christingle Carol Service
Tonight’s carol service took the form of a Christingle service. The Sunday school sang a song:
Dave spoke about how in the beginning there was no light and yet how God has always existed and spoke light into being. His light now is available to shine in us. The origins of the Christingle service lay in the Moravian church when all were encouraged to bring their gifts to offer to God. One family had very little to bring and so came with just an orange, a red ribbon tied around the orange with sticks and some fruit stuck on the sticks. People laughed at this offering because it was so meagre, but the priest reminded everyone that the orange is circular, like God’s world, and the red ribbon represented Christ’s blood, shed for all the world. The sticks demonstrated that God is ruling over His world from north, east, south and west and the fruit and sweets represent God’s graciousness in giving us food to eat. Now the Christingle orange reminds us of these truths and the candle attached to the top symbolises that Christ is the Light of the world.
Everyone then had the opportunity to make their own Christingles:
Some Christingles were more personalised than others:
We sang a song written for this kind of service (sung to the tune of ‘Show Me The Way To Amarillo’) and concluded our service by singing ‘Silent Night’ and waving our Christingles:
We also had a special birthday to celebrate:
