Posts with the tag “christmas-2025”

Scripture: Luke 2:1-7Hymn: Away in a Manger Although initially a Quaker colony, because of Pennsylvania's constitutionally protected freedom of religious conscience, many Christian Germans fleeing per...  Read More

Since 1843, "O Holy Night" has resonated all around the world in music halls and churches, on radios, and in people's hearts. It is undoubtedly one of the most cherished and thrilling Christmas hymns ...  Read More

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25Hymn: The First Noel In late medieval England, the songs you'd likely hear people singing on the streets or in homes were called "carols." These songs were somewhat similar t...  Read More

Scripture: Psalm 98; Matthew 1:1-17Hymn: Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is one of our most popular Christmas hymns, written by one of our most popular hymn-writers, Isaac Watts. Actually, "Joy to...  Read More

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9Hymn: Thou Who Wast Rich John Fox wrote in 1563, "Christ will have a Church in this world," and "that same Church should mightily be impugned, not only by the world but als...  Read More

Scripture: Micah 5:2-5aHymn: The Birthday of a King Our hymns are full of rich and meaningful theology, and some are even more meaningful when we understand the context in which they were written. In ...  Read More

Scripture: Psalm 2:6-12Hymn: Once in Royal David's City "Once in Royal David's City" is another hymn that was originally intended to teach children the nativity story, first published in 1848 by Cecil...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-2aHymn: What Child is This? William Chatterton Dix was a successful businessman and manager of the Maritime Insurance Company in Glasgow, but in 1865, Dix nearly died from a sev...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9Hymn: I Wonder as I Wander On a July day in 1933, the American folk composer, John Jacob Niles found himself in a little town in North Carolina while traveling through the Appa...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11Hymn: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing When America declared its Declaration of Independence in 1776 from the tyrannical governance of King George III, the nation's founders sough...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10Hymn: Es ist ein Ros entsprugen (Lo, How a Rose E'ere Blooming) "Lo, How a Rose E'ere Blooming" is a 16th-century hymn that was extremely popular in the days of Martin Luther,...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7Hymn: Messiah An oratorio is a large-scale musical composition, usually on a sacred theme, that often comes directly from a passage of Scripture. Today's Christmas hymn, Handel'...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 8:9-18Hymn: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is one of America's most well-renowned poets. A direct descendent of the Pilgrims who established the Plymou...  Read More

Scripture: John 8:12-18, 23-30Hymn: O Little Town of Bethlehem Many of the Christmas hymns we sing today were originally written to teach little children to understand and remember the significance of...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 7:10-16Hymn: He is Born the Divine Christ Child After sin entered the world, "and death through sin, and death spread to all men because all sinned" (Rom 5:12), God revealed even in ...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5Hymn: In the Bleak Midwinter "In the Bleak Midwinter" is a much newer Christmas hymn by church standards. It was published just over 150 years ago, in January 1872, by Christina...  Read More

Scripture: Zechariah 2Hymn: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent" is another one of our most ancient Christmas hymns. Though most date the hymn to sometime in the 5th cen...  Read More

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-18Hymn: We Three Kings of Orient Are Written in 1857, "We Three Kings of Orient Are" became the first widely known Christmas hymn written in America. John Henry Hopkins was s...  Read More

Scripture: Romans 15:4-13Hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is certainly another Christmas favorite, and like so many of our hymns, it's been sung for centuries. It was original...  Read More

Scripture: Romans 13:11-14Hymn: Angels from the Realms of Glory Another one of today's most familiar Christmas hymns, "Angels from the Realms of Glory," was written by the Scottish poet James Montgome...  Read More

Scripture: Isaiah 60:19-22Hymn: Joy to the World Today's hymn was originally written by Isaac Watts in 1719, who wrote many more of our favorite hymns we still sing today, including, "Jesus Shall Reig...  Read More

Scripture: John 12:44-50Hymn: Nu komm, der Heiden Heiland (Savior of the Nations Come) It goes without saying that most of today's contemporary "pop" music lacks the substance and theological depth to...  Read More

Text: John 3:16-21Christmas Hymn: Divinum Mysterium (Of the Father's Love Begotten) Divinum Mysterium is another one of the church's most ancient Christmas hymns still sung today, and just as Veni Red...  Read More

Scripture: John 1:1-4Christmas Hymn: Veni, Redemptor Gentium (Come, Redeemer of the Nations!) One of our most ancient and beautiful Christmas hymns isn't very well known, but "Veni, Redemptor Gentium"...  Read More

Advent Devotional: IntroductionChristmas Traditions and Recovering the GospelAdvent: the coming of ChristChristmastime is full of many exciting and beautiful traditions, but some traditions last gener...  Read More

Be sure to join us for our daily Christmas devotionals as we celebrate the coming of our Savior! BEGINNING NOVEMBER 30th THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY......  Read More