“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” That’s the advice of Buddy in the beloved holiday film, Elf.
Buddy’s right. It is the best way to spread Christmas cheer. Music is one of our favorite traditions of the Christmas season. John Parker and I have written a book that taps into our love of Christmas carols. We’d like to give you a copy.
When we sing songs about the birth of Jesus, we unite with the musical testimony of Christians through two thousand years of church history.
As we sing “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” we join with the nineteenth-century Massachusetts Christians who first sang the carols.
Sing “Silent Night,” and we unite with the Austrian congregation who first sang it on Christmas Eve 1818.
We reach back and join John Wesley’s evangelistic vision in 1739 when we sing, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”
Reaching even further back we clasp the hands of sixteenth-century English Christians when we join them in their favorite tune, “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”
Keep going back in history, to the thirteenth century, where European Christian actors walked the streets singing the songs they had composed for their nativity plays.
Prior to that, in the fifth century, priests strolled around their parishes on Christmas Eve singing carols in Latin.
As early as the second century after Christ, the bishop of Rome urged his people to “sing in celebration of the birthday of our Lord.”
But there are Christmas songs even earlier than that. What about the first carols?
In the nativity stories in Luke’s Gospel, song breaks out four times. We want to give you a book that explores these four “Christmas carols.” It’s called Repeat the Sounding Joy! John Parker and I wrote it to help make your Christmas more meaningful. Those who attend in person can pick up a copy for free, one per household. If you want more copies, we’ll have some to purchase in the gym after the service. You can also order it from Amazon by clicking here.
I hope this book will give you reasons to sing this season!
--Tom
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.