Lessons

Songs of Christmas. The lesson on December 21, 2008 was a lesson celebrating Christmas which is the traditional holiday commemorating the birth of Christ. (Here is a poem that explain way Jesus is better the Santa Claus). Does Christmas have you all stressed out, running around trying to get all your gifts prepared and wrapped to be opened? Are you in a hurry and don’t know what to do next? The traditions of Christmas shopping seam to make people all worked up, running around with busy work and sometimes having to wait. Hurry up and wait seems to be the mantra during this time of year. The scripture tells us in Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God: …” Jesus is the reason for the season and Preachers should be telling the story of Christ to their congregations. We also learn of Jesus through songs in our hymnals. Christmas hymns tell to story of Jesus and his birth in a great way because the music of Christmas lifts our spirits, inspires our faith and increases our hope of the greatest story ever told. Phillips Brooks wrote a song entitled “O Little Town of Bethlehem” which he wrote after visiting Bethlehem in 1865 on a missionary trip where he wrote the song three years later. The verses of this song tell the great story. Isaac Watts wrote the song “Joy to the World”. Isaac Watts is recognised as the “Father of English Hymnody”, as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today and have been translated into many languages.