Song for Sunday: Angels from the Realms of Glory

  My dad’s sermon this Christmas morning was about why Jesus came: because of how He viewed sin.  God sees sin as a serious thing and we’re supposed to look at it the same way.  I found this Christmas carol to be poignant in light of that.

 

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:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

Shepherds! in the field abiding,

Watching o’er your flocks by night,

God with man is now residing;

Yonder shines the heavenly light:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

Saints! before the altar bending,

Watching long in hope and fear,

Suddenly the Lord, descending,

In His temple shall appear:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

Sinners! wrung with true respentance,

Doomed for guilt to endless pains:

Justice now revokes the sentence,

Mercy calls you, break your chains:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

~ Thos. Hastings

 

Song for Sunday: On a Hill Far Away

  Christmas is all about Easter.  I wrote this song a couple years ago when the meaning of Christmas was coming to me in a fresh way.  I think the song speaks for itself. 

 

It’s Christmas time in Bethlehem town.

The shepherds awake with angels all around.

"Go to Bethlehem the Baby to see;

He’ll save you from your sins, your Redeemer is He.

‘Cause on a hill far away He will bleed and die,

The sacrifice for all your sins.

On a hill far away God’s plan will be fulfilled

In a perfect way."

 

It’s Easter time.  The Son of God is hanging on a tree.

The final cry is heard.  In death Christ won the victory!

Don’t go to the tomb because He’s not there!

He has risen, your sin He can bear.

On a hill far away Jesus bled and died,

The sacrifice for all our sins.

On a hill far away God’s plan was fulfilled

In a pefect way.

 

Now it’s today.  Sinners let’s run to His cross

And nail our sins there,

Count everything else as loss.

When we’re at His cross we see His face

And we are purified by Amazing Grace.

‘Cause on a hill far away my sins nailed Him there;

I left Him to die alone.

But on a hill far away God reached down in His love

And made the murderer His child.

On a hill far away Jesus bled and died,

The sacrifice for all my sin.

On a hill far away Jesus reaches out in love;

Sinner come to Him.

 

Jesus, I come

Jesus, I have sinned

I come

 

~DJ Friesen

 

 

 

 

Song for Sunday: Joy to the World!

  For the December Sundays I’ll be posting some of my favourite Christmas songs, or just good ones.  This carol became one of my favourites over the last year.  I think it’s a carol that could be song any time of the year and be appropriate.  It’s joyously poetic.

 

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

 

Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns;

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

 

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as the curse is found.

 

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders of His love.

 

~ Isaac Watts & George F. Handel

Overwhelming Excess

  This week I watched a movie.  In the special features they said that for this movie they built the biggest movie set ever (at least up til that time), covering 7 acres.  That’s quite impressive.  And of course, they built the buildings with all the little details, murals and landscaping.  As I watched this I had to ask "Is it necessary?"  I suppose that has a yes and no answer.  In one sense it’s not needed.  A lot of that detail will never be seen and most people will never grasp how big the set is, or notice the costume of the extra at the furthest end of the crowd.  Could it be done with less?  Oh yes, look at the older movies!  But on the other hand it is necessary in order to have a high quality movie.  Although all the details may not be noticed, it is possible and probable they would be noticed if they were gone. 

  But that leads me to another question.  Is it worth it?  With advancing technology, not only is more money being spent on creating our entertainment, but we’re also able to see how they make the movies and so, have a better idea of the millions and billions of dollars that are being spent, not to mention the enormous amounts of time devoted to these projects.  I personally am becoming a little overwhelmed at the excess.  Of course, I enjoy the privilege of sitting down and watching a well done, high quality movie.  But is it worth the cost?  Is entertainment as important as we have made it?