Five for Friday – Celebrating our Savior
Thanks again to Forget Me Not Ministries for a chance to encourage you all with some great Christmas music this year! The “Final Five“ will hopefully be appropriate as we begin today with a special Christmas Eve song…here we go!
a. Tonight would be the perfect time for this song! Imagine Mary and Joseph making their way to Bethlehem after the most incredible 9 months of their lives!
b. I hope you enjoy the lyric video…the words are so powerful….hereare just few…”You’re almost where… the journey ends…where death will die…and life begins…the answered prayer…Emmanuel… you’re almost there”
c. What an incredible mission Mary and Joseph were on….and it was just beginning……the passages are…
i. Luke 1:26-38…Mary gets the word from Gabriel that God wants her to give birth to the Savior of the world…
ii. Luke 1:39-45…Mary receives encouragement from her relative Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist and a few months ahead of her
iii. That encounter prompts a major worshipful response from Mary that has been called “the Magnificat” in verses 46-56.
iv. The John the Baptist story plays out which is amazing within itself…verses 67-80.
v. Meanwhile over in Matthew 1, we see the ancestry.com of Joseph, which then moves to the encounter he had with the angel Gabriel, which convinced him to proceed in faith and marry his fiancé, Mary in verses 18-25.
vi. But the real drama of the birth of Jesus unfolds back in Luke 2:1-7. Even though there are only a few verses covering this event, Mary and Joseph felt the weight of every step they took. Especially the journey to Bethlehem where Jesus would be born in seemingly the most humble way possible.
a. Alright….my recommendation would be to play this song on Christmas morning at full volume. I mean the kind where the police might even be notified by your neighbors! And I have to admit, this very well might be my favorite song of all time. The simple reason is the WHOLE story of Jesus is embodied in this one song. The story is told in profound simplicity. And therefore I need to give you the lyrics in their entirety…..and since it covers the whole story, I really don’t think I can condense all the passages of Scripture!
“In the first light of a new day, no one knew He had arrived
Things continued as they had been while a newborn softly cried
But the heavens wrapped in wonder knew the meaning of His birth
In the weakness of a baby, they knew God had come to earth
As His mother held Him closely, it was hard to understand
That her baby, not yet speaking was the Word of God to man
He would tell them of His Kingdom, but their hearts would not believe
They would hate Him and in anger, they would nail Him to a tree
But the sadness would be broken as the Song of Life arose
And the Firstborn of Creation would ascend and take His throne
He had left it to redeem us, but before His life began
He knew He’d come back, not as a Baby, but as the Lord of every man
Hear the angels, as they’re singing on the morning of His birth
But how much greater will our song be when He comes again,
When He comes again
Hear the angels, as they’re singing on the morning of His birth
But how much greater will our song be when He comes again to earth
When He comes….to rule… the earth!
(When He comes back, when He comes back, to rule the earth!)”
a. OK, I’m a “story-song” guy and this one tells this story in the Bible so well, that I’m thinking it deserves at least the chorus lyrics printed out, too! Trust me, if you read the passage of Scripture and then listen carefully to the song and the lyrics, it will be a powerful moment as you see how God keeps His promises!
b. In Luke 2:21-40, we see the record of Jesus being presented in the temple as a baby for the purification offering, which was an Old Testament requirement. While in the temple an incredible encounter with an old man named Simeon and an older woman named Anna.
c. I’ll let you experience the rest of the story….but the chorus is the precious words of Simeon as he lifts Baby Jesus in his arms, saying, “Now that I’ve held Him in my arms…my life can come to an end….let Your servant now depart in peace….for I’ve seen Your salvation…He’s the Light of the Gentiles….and the glory of His people Israel!”
4) “HALLELUJAH”….based on the traditional “Hallelujah Chorus” from the Messiah”, and this rendition from “Soulful Celebration,” which wasarranged by Andre Crouch, Quincy Jones and various artists.
a. Traditionally, whenever the “Hallelujah Chorus” is played at a Christmas concert, the audience always stands. On this version you should stand as well….but you’ll have trouble “standing still”!
5) “GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN”….an old spiritual song turned Christmas carol, done country style even with a fiddle by Sara Evans & her band.
a. This one is my favorite version of the song…..maybe because Rachel shared it with us about 12-13 years ago when we were visiting in Romania. She & Bella lived in an apartment in Oradea and having a presence in Tinca was a hope and a prayer back then. It was before we even had purchased the Isaiah Center and begun that ministry. As we danced with Bella to this song it simply reminded Sue Linn and me that we’ve got to do all we can to help Rach “Go Tell it in the Village” to the Roma people. So, thank you, Forget Me Not friends…you’re helping us “tell it in the village” the past 15 years!
Bless you this Christmas!
george
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