Immanuel (or Emmanuel) means “God With Us”. What a profound statement contained in a name as God is with us in so many ways. Here’s a responsive reading to illustrate this point. P: God is with us in the flesh C: The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. – John 1:14 P: [...]
Archive for the ‘Advent’ Category
John the Baptist After 400 years of silence, John the Baptist came Preaching a message of repentance and avoiding any fame. His meal of choice – locusts and honey Didn’t care what he ate, didn’t care much about money. A camel hair tunic, clothing chosen without care Not a slave to fashion, he stood out, [...]
Contemporary Music for the Advent Season
Posted: November 29, 2011 in Aaron Shust, Advent, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Delirious?, Lectionary Resources, Matt Maher, Michael W Smith, Shawn StarbuckTags: Chris Tomlin, Martin Smith
Finding good contemporary Advent music is not easy. For some reason it is not a popular topic for today’s song writers. These are a few songs that I have found and used in the past. Contemporary Advent Songs Song Title Writer A Baby Will Come Bill Wolf All to Us Chris Tomlin Behold the Lamb [...]
John the Baptist’s Cry
Posted: November 22, 2011 in Advent, CompositeTags: John the Baptist, New International Version
About 2,000 years ago, John the Baptist broke a biblical silence of over 400 years to express this inspired message: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Mt 3:1-3) If the Kingdom of Heaven was near back when he said it, then it’s even closer now and his message is critically important to us. [...]
Mary and Joseph felt a tug, And so they went with reverent fear. To the city of David For the Messiah’s birth was near. The lowly shepherds felt the tug, And their wonder just would not yield. For they saw a heavenly vision, Whilst abiding in the field. The wise men also felt a tug, [...]
Contemporary Advent Worship Music
Posted: November 30, 2010 in Advent, Choosing Songs, Shawn StarbuckTags: Behold the lamb of God, Shawn Starbuck
“The voice that’s crying out, out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the way for Him. Let heaven open up and glory fill the sky. This is the Son of God, we sing and testify. So behold the lamb of God, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin [...]
Christmas Prophecies
Posted: December 15, 2009 in Advent, Christmas, Christmas Eve, CompositeTags: Prophecies
One of the many things that I love about Christmas worship is the OT prophecies and their NT fulfillments. I’m told that there are about 300 such statements in scripture. I don’t claim to know much more than a hand full of them but here’s a few of my favorites, collected into a responsive reading [...]
I have created an Advent Candle Lighting Ceremony for church or personal use. If interested, You can obtain the file by downloading the entire five week program from my file download area (file name “Advent Candle Lighting Ceremony”) or, drop me an email and I would be happy to forward a copy to you. It is [...]
Christmas Children’s Program
Posted: September 8, 2009 in Advent, Children, ChristmasTags: Christmas, NPH
Pastor Johnold Strey has written a new Children’s Christmas Worship program that is available at NPH. You might want to check this out if you are looking for Christmas materials as his writings and worship pieces are always nicely done. You can view samples of the service and listen to sound clips here: http://online.nph.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?servingyou/music/kits
A Christmas Offering
Posted: December 17, 2008 in Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Paul & Rita BalocheTags: Offering, Paul Baloche
Every year, around this time, I always try to fit in the song “Offering” by Paul Baloche in a worship service. It works well during the Offering for the Advent, Christmas or Epiphany seasons. Paul is very generous with free resources at his website, but you should report usage to CCLI if you have a license. [...]
