Christmas Eve

Songs

o come o come emmanuel

Henry Sloane Coffin, Thomas Helmore, and John Mason Neale

VERSE 4
O come, our great High Priest, and intercede
Thy sacrifice, our only plea
The judgment we no longer fear
Thy precious blood has brought us near

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Has banished every fear of hell

VERSE 5
O Come, Thou King of nations bring
An end to all our suffering
Bid every pain and sorrow cease
And reign now as our Prince of Peace

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come again with us to dwell

VERSE 1
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

VERSE 2
O come, Thou, Dayspring from on high
And cause Thy light on us to rise
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadow put to flight

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

VERSE 3
O come, O come, true prophet of the Lord
And turn the key to heaven’s door
Be Thou our comforter and guide
And lead us to the Father’s side

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall by His word our darkness dispel

i heard the bells on christmas day

Jean Baptiste Calkin and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

VERSE 1
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth goodwill to men

VERSE 2
I thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th'unbroken song
Of peace on earth goodwill to men

VERSE 3
And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth goodwill to men

VERSE 4
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail the right prevail
With peace on earth goodwill to men

VERSE 5
Till ringing singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice a chime a chant sublime
Of peace on earth goodwill to men

Isaiah 40:1-5

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

comfort comfort ye my people

Johannes Olearius, Louis Bourgeois, and Catherine Winkworth

VERSE 3
Straighten out what has been crooked
Make the roughest places plain.
Let your hearts be true and humble
Live as fits God's holy reign

Soon the glory of the Lord
Shall on earth be spreads abroad
And all flesh shall surely see it
God is ready to decree it

VERSE 1
Comfort comfort ye my people
Speak of peace so says our God
Comfort those who sit in darkness
Burdened by a heavy load

To Jerusalem proclaim
God will take a way your shame
Now get ready to recover
Guilt and suff'ring will be over

Isaiah 11:1-9

The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
    and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

lo How A Rose E’er Blooming

Theodore Baker, Gracia Grindal, Michael Praetorius, and Harriet. . .

VERSE 3
O Flower whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air
Dispel in glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere
True man yet very God
From sin and death now save us
And share our every load

VERSE 1
Lo how a Rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As seers of old have sung
It came a blossom bright
Amid the cold of winter
When half-spent was the night

VERSE 2
Isaiah 'twas foretold it
The Rose I have in mind
With Mary we behold it
The Virgin Mother kind
To show God's love aright
She bore to us a Savior
When half-spent was the night

Jeremiah 23:5-6

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

what child is this

William Chatterton Dix

VERSE 1
What Child is this who laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping
This this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste haste to bring Him laud
The Babe the Son of Mary

VERSE 2
Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding
Good Christian fear for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading
Nails spear shall pierce Him through
The cross be borne for me for you
Hail hail the Word made flesh
The Babe the Son of Mary

VERSE 3
So bring Him incense gold and myrrh
Come peasant king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him
Raise raise the song on high
The Virgin sings her lullaby
Joy joy for Christ is born
The Babe the Son of Mary

It came upon the midnight clear

Edmund Hamilton Sears and Richard Storrs Willis

VERSE 3
And ye beneath life's crushing load
Whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow
Look now for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing
O rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing

VERSE 4
For lo the days are hastening on
By prophet bards foretold
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing

CHORUS 2
Raise raise the song on high
The Virgin sings her lullaby
Hail hail the Word made flesh
The Babe the Son of Mary

VERSE 5
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong
And man at war with man hears not
The love song which they bring
O hush the noise ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing

VERSE 1
It came upon a midnight clear,
That glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's all gracious King
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing

VERSE 2
Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing

CHORUS
This this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe the Son of Mary

1 Peter 1:10-12

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

angels from the realms of glory

James Montgomery and Henry Thomas Smart

BRIDGE
Come, come and worship
Come, come and worship
Come, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King

VERSE 3
Sages, leave your contemplations
Brighter visions beam afar
Seek the great Desire of nations
You have seen his guiding star

VERSE 1
Angels, from the realms of glory
Wing your flight o'er all the earth
Ye who sang creation's story
Now proclaim Messiah's birth

CHORUS
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King

VERSE 2
Shepherds, in the fields abiding
Watching o'er your flocks by night
God with man is now residing
Yonder shines the infant light

hark the herald angels sing

Felix Mendelssohn and Charles Wesley

VERSE 3
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

VERSE 1
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With th'angelic hosts proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

VERSE 2
Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of the Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail th'incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus our Emmanuel
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

Receiving Double from the Lord’s Hand

Isaiah 40:1-5 | Rev. Darin Pesnell

3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

oh come all you unfaithful

VERSE 4
O come, guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done

BRIDGE
He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe

VERSE 5
So come, though you have nothing
Come, He is the offering
Come, see what your God has done

VERSE 1
O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not alone

VERSE 2
O come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done

CHORUS
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you

VERSE 3
O come, bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come, taste of His perfect love

dawning light of our salvation

Wendell Kimbrough and Bruce Benedict

VERSE 2
He shall raise a mighty Savior
Born of David’s lineage He
Comes in covenant love to claim us
From our sins to set us free
Light to those who dwell in darkness
Life to those from death who flee
Joy unto the earth and gladness
To your pathways dawning peace

VERSE 3
Jesus Lord and mighty Savior
David’s Son and yet his King
Dawning light of our salvation
Of your saving power we sing
Stand O lame and dance ye broken
Know the Savior’s healing grace
Come O deaf and hear Him singing
Turn O blind behold His face

VERSE 1
Long in darkness Israel wandered
Long in mortal shadows we
Walked in bondage and self-pity
Trod in paths of sin and grief
In the prophets’ words He told us
Long the God of Israel spoke
He alone in strength would save us
From the hands of all our foes

CHORUS
Every valley be exalted
Every mountain be made plain
Crooked ways repent and straighten
All creation bend in praise

go tell it on the mountain

John W. Work

VERSE 2
The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed the Savior's birth

VERSE 3
Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn

CHORUS 1
Go tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and ev'rywhere
Go tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

VERSE 1
While shepherds kept their watching
O'er silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light