This past weekend my wife and I had the privilege to once again sing in our church’s annual Christmas in Kissimmee worship services. We began working on the music in September and it was a challenge to learn everything. I want to briefly describe the service and then there’s a link at the end to the YouTube video presentation. I encourage you to watch it!

We began with a medley of secular Christmas songs, including Christmas in the Air, Deck the Halls, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and Ring Christmas Bells (with our wonderful children’s choir). It was a nice opening song which also served as a reminder that Christmas is a time of celebration for lots of folks, regardless of their beliefs or acceptance of the “reason for the season.” Christmas time can generate special memories and provide connections with family and friends. But without the “reason”, it’s nothing than just another holiday. That thought led us to the second medley.

The Christmas Carol medley introduced us to the “reason.” We began with the Carol of the Bells, segued into O Come All Ye Faithful, then Do You Hear What I Hear, and finishing with Angels We Have Heard On High. These hymns (with very modern settings) served to remind us why we celebrate Christmas. It is commemorating the birth of God Incarnate – Jesus!

The rest of the program then began to lay out and celebrated the sequence of the Christmas story. We sang He Shall Reign Forevermore, which is a wonderful combination of a Chris Tomlin/Matt Maher song and Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. The words are:

In the bleak midwinter all creation groans

for a world of darkness frozen like a stone.

Light is breaking in a stable for a throne.

And He shall reign forevermore!

Unto us a Child is born, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

If I were a wise man I would travel far.

And if I were a shepherd I would do my part,

but poor as I am I will give to Him my heart.

And He shall reign forevermore!

Unto us a Child is born, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Here within the manger lies the One who made the starry skies,

this baby born for sacrifice – Christ the Messiah!

Into our hopes, into our fears

the Savior of the world appears,

the promise of eternal years; Christ the Messiah!

And He shall reign forevermore!

Unto us a Child is born, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

The song then finishes with Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus which is a depiction of the heavenly celebration of the fulfillment of the Isaiah 9:6-7 prophecy:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Next we began the depiction of the nativity. We began with a ladies trio and choir backup of O Holy Night, which tells of the night that Jesus was born. Then Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus were on stage as the choir sang Here With Us. The song says, “It’s still a mystery to me that the hands of God could be so small, how tiny fingers reaching in the night were the very hands that measured the sky. Hallelujah! Heaven’s love reaching down to save the world. Son of God – Servant King – here with us!”

Then, in a foreshadowing of the shepherds and the appearance to them by the angel, we sang a very upbeat version of Joy to the World! This is the message brought by the angels to the shepherds. The shepherds were shown on stage at the conclusion of this song, bewildered and astonished by the appearance of the angel. Then, that night’s celebration continued with the song What a Glorious Night!

Next, Jesus appeared with his parents as a young child being approached and worshipped by wise men from the east. They presented him with gifts as the choir sang Still the Lamb.

“He came to be so meek and mild, a Savior, yet an humble child. A holy lamb – precious lamb – they called him Lamb of God.” This was such a powerful, moving song which reminds us that even though Jesus came (past tense) and died (past tense), he still lives through the power of His resurrection and he is still the Lamb of God – providing rescue to us from our sins through the shedding of His blood and fulfillment of God’s requirement for the penalty of the sins of the world.

“Now here it is, many years have passed. They say His time has come and passed – but I’m so glad that it still remains – You’re still the Lamb of God!

Still holy, still righteous, still Savior, still Redeemer, still Alpha, still Omega, still loving, still healing, still saving, still coming, still the Lamb of God!

We concluded the program with the gospel message from our pastor and a final arrangement of G.F. Handel’s For Unto Us a Child is Born. It was a glorious experience!

Watch it on YouTube and enjoy! NOTE: the sound quality may be poor at the beginning but is corrected after “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” begins!