O Little Town of Bethlehem
Read: Ephesians 3:14-21 That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. (v. 17) There is a beautiful story behind this popular carol. Phillips Brooks was one of the most famous preachers in 19th-century America. He was pastor of Trinity Church in Boston for many years and later became the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts. While Brooks […]
In the Bleak Midwinter
Read: Philippians 2:5-11 He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. (v. 7 NIV) Have you ever seen a painting of the manger scene by one of the Renaissance masters? The setting is clearly European, with Italian ruins or snow-covered German villages in the background. The poet Christina Rossetti does something similar, […]
On Jordan’s Banks
Read: Mark 1:1-8; John 1:6-8 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt. 3:2) In one way or another, each of the four Gospels starts with John, that austere wilderness preacher of repentance. Matthew and Mark bring him onstage just before the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Luke tells about the announcement of […]
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Read: Genesis 3:22-24 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! (Ps. 34:8) ”You have made us for yourself,” prayed St. Augustine famously, “and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This truth is expressed with incomparable beauty in the carol “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.” This folk hymn compares Jesus to […]
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Read: John 3:13-16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son. (v. 16) ”Of the Father’s Love Begotten” is the best-known hymn of Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, a Roman government official born in northern Spain in AD 348. By his mid-forties Prudentius grew tired of the hustle and false glamor of the world, […]
Joy to the World
Read: Psalm 98 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. (v. 4) ”Joy to the World” has been a popular carol, right from when it was written. One reason is that its author was the best-known hymnwriter of the time (and one of the greatest of all time), Isaac Watts. Another is that […]
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
Read: Matthew 1:1-17 So all the generations . . . were fourteen generations. (v. 17) Charles Wesley, measured by both quantity and quality, was the greatest hymn-writer in church history. He wrote something like 6,000 hymns (estimates vary). Of all those thousands, ten or twelve are still commonly sung today, including “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” Jesus really was […]
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Read: Isaiah 11:1-9 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. (v. 1) This lovely German carol dates from the 14th century. The biblical verse on which it was based is Isaiah 11:1. The Rose of whom we sing is a flower on the “shoot from the stump of Jesse,” which is a […]
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Read: Psalm 130 I wait for the Lord . . . and in his word I hope. (v. 5) ”I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is a poem written by one of the most popular poets in 19th-century America, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The first line tells us the circumstances of the poem’s composition, but the key to […]