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Loving God Through Xmas Music?
From Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, the sounds of Christmas music are everywhere: stores, TV specials, many radio stations. Every year, the biggest oldies station in Dallas becomes “The Christmas Station,” this year starting in mid-November. There are two ways to respond to Christmas music, I think. One way is to let it stream unfiltered into our hearts and minds as the background noise of our December lives. The other is to be intentional about categorizing what we hear, letting it all remind us of “the reason for the season.” I suggest that Christmas music falls into four categories, and we can mentally tag each song with the appropriate category as…
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Christmas Music
As we anticipate the coming of Christmas in our hearts, homes, and churches, we are already enjoying the sounds of Christmas music that accompanies the season. There are radio stations playing non-stop Christmas music and stores playing upbeat Christmas songs as we shop. Some of the most beautiful music we hear during this season comes from our churches on Sunday as we join our voices in singing timeless Christmas carols. Christmas music programs are at their best during Christmas and Holy Week as they present music to their audiences, all for the glory of God and to celebrate His coming. Liturgically we celebrate Advent until December 24, followed by Christmastide…
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“Christmas…A Time of Adoration”
The choir begins to sing as the orchestra plays one of the most familiar Christmas carols ever, “O Come All Ye Faithful.” The congregation stands to their feet as they join in with heartfelt voices, hands lifted in praise, and expressions of adoration to the Lord on their faces. This was the scene I observed this past Sunday during a Christmas candlelight service at church. “O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant Oh come ye O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold him born the King of angels; O come let us adore him Christ the Lord.” The lyrics of this classic Christmas carol were originally written…
