OK,I feel as a worship leader, ( well, to my own little world,) I am going to make the effort to get the world to sing a new song with a powerful flow.
Most of us are very familiar with the melody of the traditional Christmas hymn, “Hark the Harald Angels Sing” written around 1739 by Charles Wesley. But today, try singing the words to the Wesley hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” …
to his ‘Hark the Harald Angels’ melody! Really! It is quite remarkable!
I tell you, if the lights are not shining bright this Christmas, this will bring the Christmas joy to any ‘ba-humbug’ heart! Jesus came to earth for each of us to…die for our sins and failures. But He didn’t stay in the grave! Sing with me a ‘new-old, switched around song: (remember to Hark the Harold melody),
“Christ the Lord is risen today, sons of men and angels say, “Raise your joys and triupmphs high, Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply.” “Lives again our glorious King, Where, O death, is now thy sting? Dying once He all doth save, Where thy victory, O,O, grave? Alleluia, Allelu….Glory to our Savior King!”
“Love’s redeeming work is done Fought the fight, the battle won! Death in vain forbids Him rise, Christ hath opened Paradise! Soar we now where Christ has led, Following our exalted Head, Made like Him, like Him we rise, Ours the cross, the grave, the skies…
Hark the Harold Angels sing, “Alleluia, Christ our King!”
(OK, I took some liberties at the end to make it flow!)The baby came to die and to rise again! He is ‘the author and finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2),
He is the one ‘who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Hebrews 12:2).
This is how we can sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth prepare receive her King!”
Yes, every heart needs to be prepared to ‘make Him room’. He is our victory. ‘Where, O death, is now thy sting, Dying once He all doth save, Where thy victory, O grave? Aaaaaleluia!
Christmas is a time to be encouraged in the light. The light of God has come into the world – to remind us what is true,(because there is one who lies and ‘steals,kills, and destroys’ roaming about to see whom he can devour), “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”(Romans 8:37).
“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (!)(Romans 8:34, exclamation point, mine).
Joy has come into the world, He makes intercession for us, and He has come to earth to die on the cross and to rise again and because of all of this, we can ‘be persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38,39).
Now we can rejoice and be exceedingly glad just like the shepherds that cold starry night, “A-a-a-a-a-le-lu-u-iah!”
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