Worship - December 2019
Church Family,
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I love Christmas. Christmas means a lot to me, and I hope it means a lot to you too. As Christians, we celebrate Christmas for more than just Christmas trees, lights, and presents. These things aren’t bad things, as I love all of these aspects of Christmas, and I look forward to them every year. But we celebrate Christmas because of one thing - the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the day we celebrate the world changing. Jesus came, and from the moment He was of born of a virgin, the world would never be the same. But Jesus would go on to live a perfect, sinless life as the son of God, and would die a death in our place, for our sins, so that we could have eternal life with God. Now isn’t that better than gifts, lights, and hallmark Christmas movies? I would say yes, and it’s worth celebrating not only during this season, but every morning of the year and we open our eyes to the grace that God has poured out into our lives through his son Jesus.
During the Christmas season, every year, I always get the question, “Will we sing Christmas carols at Church?” My answer is always a resounding, “Yes!” I love Christmas carols, and I think it’s important that the Church worships with them during this season. So why do we sing Christmas carols? I’d like to point to Keith Getty (author of “In Christ Alone”), and his thoughts on this. He says it well,
“When we look at the simplicity and focus of the early apostles, especially Paul, we see individuals who were uncompromising about the gospel but sought to use strategic opportunities and platforms for its spread to those who had yet to believe. Since Christmas is a time of year when many unbelievers visit our churches, we should be on the lookout for creative opportunities to share the good news.
If the question is about church music, I’d suggest that singing the great Christmas carols is one obvious place to start. The best of them tell the gospel story in some of the most innovative and inviting language we’ve ever seen in religious verse, certainly in the English language. In terms of art, they are the masterworks, the treasured heritage of the church we shouldn’t ignore. Young and old, churched and unchurched, are united in wanting to sing Christmas
carols during the Christmas season.
More than that, however, I’d say it’s our responsibility to have a high view of congregational worship. Our singing is always a witness; therefore, if our churches don’t sing well, or sing apathetically, or sing while distracted by iPhones and casual conversation, we become an appalling witness to outsiders. So let’s take these songs and use them as a galvanizing force for our singing—that we might declare to all who are present the breathtaking good news of Jesus.”
At Oakhill, we want to have a high view of Jesus and what he did for us. We want to sing about his birth, and how the birth of Jesus changed the world, and our lives. So join us on Sundays throughout this Christmas season, as we sing songs, old and new, to give honor and praise to our great God.
In Christ,
Jared