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Day 18: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Today’s carol is perhaps the most personal and heartfelt of any I know. I have always loved listening to its powerful message. During the Civil War, Charles Appleton Longfellow joined the cause as a...
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Day 19: Hallelujah Chorus
The Messiah is an oratorio composed in 1741 by George Friedrich Handel, using texts from the King James Version of the English Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed on April 13,...
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Day 20: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Part 3 of 3)
This is the only hymn or carol that will get three entries. It’s not that there aren’t great texts in the others – as we’ve clearly seen, there are! But this hymn is so rich in the weaving together of...
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Day 21: Angels We Have Heard on High
At first glance, this Christmas carol doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of theological depth. It’s just a re-telling of the events of the nativity in four stanzas. In fact, this old French carol...
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Day 22: Do You Hear What I Hear?
Only around since 1962, this Christmas song has been recorded by hundreds of artists. Not actually a hymn or carol, and not overtly theological, I immediately found myself relating the lyrics to Psalm...
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Day 23: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Today’s carol was first written as a poem by Edmund Sears, in 1849, at the request of his friend, William Parsons Lunt, who was pastor of the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. Its...
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Day 24: O Come, All Ye Faithful
In my earlier years as a pastor, I always chose the hymns to be sung for each worship service. I could easily spend hours each week reading texts and reviewing tunes so that the three hymns fit as well...
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Day 25: Joy to the World
Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. For...
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Rhythm OR Blues?
During worship on Sundays at Threshold Church, we are focusing on “The Good Life.” In John 10:10, Jesus promised that he came to give us life in abundance. The Greek term for “abundant” means...
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Playlist
Unless you simply hate music, chances are, there is a playlist for your life. You know, songs that were popular during certain foundational times of your life. Or the ones that you heard on your first...
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