Last year we released an album of songs celebrating the Incarnation. We called it Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man. It was the CD my family started the day with this morning. Here are the words to the opening song, Christ the Lord, written by my good friend, Mark Altrogge.
How my happy heart rejoices
I can hear the angel voices
“Christ is born” they all are singing
From the sky this good news bringing
Let the earth rejoice
O come and lift your voices
Christ the Lord is born today
He came from heaven’s throne
God is born a man today
To bring His children home
To bring His children home
Death and darkness surely tremble
Light has come to all the people
The Lion comes to crush the serpent
He comes a Lamb, a lowly servant
Let the earth rejoice
O …
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Last year we produced our first “Christmas” CD, called Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man. It contains twelve original songs that celebrate the incarnation of our Savior, and I think it’s one of our strongest projects. We wanted to put this album out because every Christmas a worship leader’s dilemma is finding new songs to sing. So we decided to contribute some new ones to the mix.
I’d love for more people to know about this CD. So I’m going to give away a free copy of the Savior CD to the first 100 people who e-mail me and fulfill the following conditions:
1. You write a blog that gets over 1000 hits a month
2. You’ll write a review of the CD by December …
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Last year we released our first CD for Christmas, Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man. It’s made up of twelve original songs that explore and respond to the miracle of the incarnation. When I say the songs are “original,” I mean that we didn’t include favorites like “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Although, I don’t know if Christmas songs get much better than that.
The CD contains many songs that can be sung all year round, but the focus is the Son of God taking on human flesh and giving up his life to bear our sins and reconcile us to the Father. One of my favorites is “Emmanuel, Emmanuel,” by Mark Altrogge. It has a wonderfully infectious chorus that boldly proclaim …
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Yesterday afternoon I took Julie and our two youngest daughters to see The Nativity Story. Although the movie has mostly received not-so-great reviews (too slow, not very creative, etc.) I thought it was very well done and enjoyed it. Mary and Joseph were well chosen for their parts and did a credible job capturing the differing emotions that would accompany their unique situation. Although I wondered if 21st century parent-teen relational conflict was read back into the story…
I’m always affected when I see biblical characters and stories believably portrayed in movies. I understand that except for the creative license taken with certain elements, the story is based on truth. It’s not simply a nice kid’s story that adults can enjoy. More to
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This question came from Jeff:
One of the members of my worship team is struggling with the line from one of your songs, Glory Be to God. The line is “Being’s source begins to be.” She feels that it communicates that God is not eternal, that there was a time when the second Person of the Trinity did not exist and then began to be. I have tried teach her that language always has to be interpreted in context and that the line is basically highlighting the mystery of the incarnation - that Jesus was both infinite God and somehow a finite man
(or baby)…Is it acceptable to change the line of the song when we sing it to “Being’s source becomes a babe”? I would rather not, but
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Kyle wrote in to ask:
Could you recommend any other CD’s of "contemporary" congregational songs about the incarnation? I always struggle planning worship services as Christmas approaches, because the songs with which we are all familiar seem strange in anything other than their traditional musical setting. Do you know of A) Good band arrangements of well-known Christmas carols, and/or B) New songs that are thoughtful and appropriate for congregational worship?
I hope it doesn’t sound self-serving to say that I think you’ll find a number of these songs on Savior, our CD that will be out next month. It will contain twelve new songs that celebrate and expound the miracle of God becoming man. Most of them are appropriate for congregational worship.
I also did a post last year on what
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No one sent me this question, but I was talking with a friend about this the other day, and I thought I’d answer my own question…
As I’ve led congregational worship through the years, I’ve realized that all Christmas carols were not created equal. Some are more sentimental than substantive (Away in a Manager, I Saw Three Ships, Do You Hear What I Hear?), some allude to but don’t say much about what the coming of Christ actually meant (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, O Little Town of Bethlehem), while others help us treasure the true significance of God becoming man.
This season provides us a wonderful opportunity to remind the world why Jesus came: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born …
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Keith Getty is an Irish composer who is passionate about teaching the Christian faith through theologically rich hymns. We had the joy of hosting him, his wife, Kristyn, and Stuart Townend for an event this past September. I was inspired and challenged by Keith’s vision to use music to teach theology in the church. New Irish Hymns #3 (he’s produced 4 thus far) is dedicated to songs about the Incarnation. The musical style ranges from orchestral to light pop, with a touch of Celtic influence. Keith did all the orchestrations, and vocals are handled by Kristyn Getty, Margaret Becker, and Joanne Hogg. This project steers clear …
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I want to take the next few posts to recommend some songs/CD’s that I think are worth hearing/singing during this season of focus on the Incarnation of our Savior.
Andrew Peterson is a gifted songwriter and lyricist who has put out a number of CD’s. Last year, he released “Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ.” The subtitle refers to the Gospel, the Great Story “that is bigger than life, but is astoundingly true.”
The CD is filled with creatively written, skillfully performed songs that focus on our need for and God’s provision of a sacrifical Lamb. Most of them are presentational songs, …
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