I love Sunday mornings in December! I love hearing all the traditional Christmas carols and hymns. How well do you know the Christmas carols and hymns?
I know all 3 verses of Away in the Manger. Beyond that, I only know the first verse of most of the carols we sing.
That’s really a shame. Those 2nd and 3rd and sometimes 4th verses are the true gems of these hymns. In these verses, the songwriters moved beyond Jesus’s Birth into the really amazing part of the story—His Death, Resurrection, and Grace. These are the reasons I can celebrate Christ’s Birth! Here are a few of my favorites.
Angels, from the Realms of Glory
(vs 3)Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the newborn King!
O Little Town of Bethlehem
(vs 4)O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today!
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell:
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel!
The First Nowell the Angel Did Say
(vs 4)Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
Who hath made heav’n and earth of naught,
And with his blood man-kind hath bought.