I love Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday. I love being able to pastor through the season of Advent. Each year, we take a break from the regular, digging into the Bible verse by verse work we do each week to think about what Jesus’ coming to earth means.

This year, we are using the colors of Christmas to inspire our imaginations.

We’ve already began with Red Christmas, showing that Jesus was born to die. Gold Christmas will point to our King being born. Blue Christmas will show how Jesus enters our despair. Finally, white Christmas will focus on Jesus taking away sins. It’s a simple way to worship Christ our newborn King.

Join us.

There are lots of tools that I use during the Advent/Christmas season. Each year, I’m trying to find new music, resources, to other things that might help my worship.

Some books/reading:

I’m reading Repeat the Sounding Joy by Christopher Ash. This is a simple devotional walking through Luke 1-2. Speaking of Luke, I saw on social media a reading plan that meant reading Luke 1-24 on the days leading up to Advent, so I designed this plan to read, using the Illuminated Scripture Journal on Luke.

Using Tony Reinke’s #IsaiahChristmas plan, I’m incorporating his notes into a fresh reading of Isaiah. And, I’m also reading the He Reads Truth Advent Devotional. Also, there’s a section of Paul Miller’s JCurve book that focuses in on Incarnation. Been thinking about this a lot.

I’ll probably do a follow up on some music for this year.

Many of us love the hymn How Great Thou Art.  For this year’s advent season, I wrote an additional verse to include.  I’ll include it where I think it would fit best in the original…

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the *worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the *rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

My addional verse:

Consider this: that God the Son eternal,
Came down to earth, becoming man for all,
Angels announced and shepherds marveled greatly,
Our God with us, good news of peace entralls.

And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then *I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, My God, how great thou art!

I hope you enjoy and are helped to magnify our Great God with this addition.

I love the music of Advent.  This year, Melanie Penn’s album Immanuel has been a great release.  It contains songs that showcase various perspectives of the characters in the Christmas story.  She even made a video, which I’m posting here, of her song Immanuel (The Shepherd’s Song).  I hope you enjoy it and dig into the fuller album.

Thomas Cranmer loved the Church of England and worked hard to keep her prayers (and prayer book) pleasing to God.  Here’s how Tim Keller describes the impact of Cranmer (with a little background):

Years ago when I wanted to become more skillful in public prayer, I was fortunate to come across the collects of Thomas Cranmer, the writer of the original Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. The “collects” (the stress is on the first syllable) that Cranmer wrote were brief but extremely ‘packed’ little prayers that tied together the doctrine of the day to a particular way of living. They were prayed by the minister on behalf of the people, or prayed in unison by the whole congregation.

As I have read them over the years they have brought me two great benefits. First, they have given me a basic structure by which I can compose good public prayers, either ahead of time, or spontaneously. Cranmer’s collects consist of 5 parts:
1. The address – a name of God
2. The doctrine – a truth about God’s nature that is the basis for the prayer
3. The petition – what is being asked for
4. The aspiration – what good result will come if the request is granted
5. In Jesus’ name – this remembers the mediatorial role of Jesus

So, what do we make of this?  Well, it’s encouraging because of the collects related to Christmas Day (and this year, we have a Christmas Day on a Sunday) and you can read these collects, with history, and a meditation here.

Christmas Day

The First Collect

God, which makes us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ; grant that as we joyfully receive him for our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge, who liveth and reigneth, &c.

The Second Collect

Almighty God, which has given us thy only begotten son to take our nature upon him, and this day to be born of a pure Virgin; grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost now and ever. Amen.

I like Paul Zahl’s summary: “The two Collects for Christmas are so arranged as to give priority in time to the for-ness of Christ.  The prayer for the First Communion of Christmas stresses the Atonement.  But Christ’s with-ness is also celebrated, in the prayer for the Second Communion of the Day, which stresses the Incarnation.”

So, Cranmer and Christmas helps us see these amazing theological themes wed: that Jesus became like us to do something for us, specifically save us from our sin.  I hope you’re building up to have a Merry Christmas.

Here’s the prayer that helped me along this past Sunday, reflecting on the 4th Week of Advent and Peace (from the Austin Stone Story Team):

MY GOD, MY PROMISE KEEPER,

Amen.

Here’s the prayer I included in my opening prayer for Week 3 of Advent on Joy from the Austin Stone Story Team:

O GIVER OF LIFE AND GOD OF INFINITE JOY,

Long ago we hid our faces in pity and fear, terrified at the reach of Your holiness.

Our overburdened hearts lay heavy with despair, aching with the lack of Your presence.

We were bathed in wickedness and shadowed by fear,

A hopeless people, drunk on worldly pride and self-indulgent pleasures.

We sought to gratify our desires with everything but You

Until we had only tears and foolishness as our feeble companions.

And yet,

You wrote a story of joy eternal before we even drew a breath,

That a human baby, born to the world in straw and dust

Would carry the name of salvation and the mantle of triumphant peace.

You have set our King before us, and His name is Jesus.

And all the lowly and exalted of the earth rejoice together

That a miracle was birthed for us

On a starry night foretold by prophets.

And now, through Him, You have made a way for all Your children

To fall headlong into the grace You freely supplied.

O God of our Salvation, Your love flows unabated and all-consuming.

Your love never fails and forever mends our hearts,

To swell with the fullness of joy.

His kingdom is of everlasting joy, founded on unshakeable truth.

All His ways are peace, and there is no shame in them.

All His ways are joy, and we are enriched by His promises.

He is the Rock upon which we are built; and He will not be moved.

He is mighty, and He is gentle; He is power, and He is joy!

You have set our King before us, and His name is Jesus.

Amen.

I loved using this prayer on hope from Austin Stone to open up week 1 of Advent:

LORD JESUS, OUR ONLY HOPE,
We have wandered and rebelled,

and we have walked away. Forgive us, Lord!
Forgive us for a hope misplaced—

for seeking a judge,

for crying out for an earthly king,

for running to idols, golden and gleaming—

when all the while, You alone could save us.
And we praise You, Jesus, our promised Redeemer, for You came!

Yours was a humble beginning:

A poor couple traveled to Bethlehem,

only to find no room at the inn,

for the Son of Man would have no place to lay His head.
“Glory to God,” the angels cried out,

a great star shone overhead,

shepherds and kings journeyed to see You,

a swaddled newborn, lying in a manger.
Hope wrapped in flesh, You dwelt among us,

the Spirit of the Lord resting firmly upon You,

bringing wisdom and understanding,

counsel and might,

knowledge and a fear of the Lord.
You judged with righteousness,

demonstrated faithfulness,

offered us forgiveness,

and stood in our place when the wrath of God poured down.
You died and rose again,

Son of the Most High,

and You are returning to reign.
So we hope once more, crying out to you, our Savior: Jesus, come quickly!

Defeater of Death, Victorious King,

seated at the right hand of God,

You plead and pray for your people,

who are no longer separated from the Father,

for You, Jesus, are the way!
Return again,

making right every wrong,

wiping away every tear,

and healing every wound.
Return again, Precious Savior and Righteous King,

not through the womb of a virgin,

but on a white horse, sword in hand,

this time not as a babe,

but as our Conquering King.
Keep our hope secure in You until the end of our days, Lord.

And in this season when the things of this world can blur our vision and steal true joy,

stir in us an undeniable anticipation.
As we celebrate that You came,

cause us to cry out for Your coming.
Oh, that we may have our request and that You would fulfill our hope.
In Jesus’ precious and holy name,

Amen.