Week Four: Love: Day Two This is traditionally a children’s carol and a sweet one.  It seems real fitting to include it here during the last few days before Christmas. Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no [...]

Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent.  Christmas is almost upon us.  For four weeks we have waited for this day.  We started out with Hope.  We started out remembering our sins and our need for a Savior and the prophecies to the People of God telling them that God would send them [...]

Week Three: Joy: Day Seven As we leave this week and enter the last and final week of Advent, our feelings of joy at Jesus’ birth turn to worship of Him, the promised one. Matthew 2:11a And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell [...]

Week Three: Joy: Day Six For some reason this sounds like a modern song, but it’s not. It was written in 1890.  I especially like the second verse.  God did give much to us that day.  From the manger to the cross–indeed, what a perfect, holy way. Jeremiah 23:5 “Behold the days are coming,” says [...]

Week Three: Joy: Day Five Matthew 2:1b-2 Wise men from the East came…saying, “Where is He who is born king of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (You can hear it here.) There’s a Song in the Air There’s a song in the air! [...]

Week Three: Joy: Day Four Luke 2:13-14a And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest.” (You can hear it here.) Angels We Have Heard on High Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o’er the plains, And the mountains [...]

Week Three: Joy: Day Three This carol, along with “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” reminds me of Dickens-era England for some reason. Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. (You can hear it here.) Good Christian Men, Rejoice Good Christian men, rejoice with heart and soul, and voice; Give [...]

Week Three: Joy: Day Two This is not a very common Christmas carol, but I have heard it before, and it does carry the theme of joy very nicely.  I like the chorus where it says, “Joy, joy joy.”  Please do listen to it so you can get an idea of how it sounds, especially [...]

This is the third week of Advent.  This Sunday is sometimes also called Gaudete Sunday because the first word of the latin liturgy is gaudete, which is translated: Rejoice.  The theme of this Sunday is joy, and instead of a purple candle, the pink candle is lit.  This Sunday marks a change in mood from the [...]

Week Two: Peace: Day Seven Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. (You can hear this here.) God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, Remember Christ our Savior was born [...]