STR Ambassador
November 29th 2004, 02:03 PM
This Christmas as you sing carols together with your family or with other Christians in church, would you do something for me? Would you pay close attention to the words? They’re magnificent. Consider these two examples:
Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace. Hail the son of Righteousness. Light and life to all He brings, risen 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 new born King"
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, ‘till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angels voices. Oh, night divine, oh, night, when Christ was born!
It’s hard not to be moved, isn’t it? More to the point, it is nearly impossible not to worship. There is no need to manufacture a response. It flows naturally from the force of the truth on our lips.
Did you notice there are no first-person pronouns—“I” or “me”? These songs are not about you and I. They are about God—His glory, His matchless plan, His priceless sacrifice on our behalf. Which is appropriate. It’s Christmas, after all.
Now give the same attention to the words sung in many of our churches the rest of the year. Do you notice the shift of focus? Christmas is over; we’re back to “I” and “me” again, celebrating our feelings, but saying very little of substance about our God.
Does this trouble you the way it troubles me? I suspect it does. The focus is all wrong. When the focus is on us, God is not honored and the Kingdom does not advance.
Anticipate 2005 with the words: “A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.”
Stand to Reason - Training Christian ambassadors in the areas of knowledge, wisdom, and character - www.str.org
Notice – The ministries featured in this section are guests of this site and very often not active members of debate forums. Additionally, this area is frequented and highlighted for guests who also very often are not acclimated to debate. As such, the rules of conduct here will be more strict than in the general forum. This will be something within the discretion of the Moderators, but we simply ask that you conduct yourselves in a manner considerate of the fact that these ministries are our invited guests. You can always feel free to start a related thread in general forum without such extra restrictions. Thank you.
Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace. Hail the son of Righteousness. Light and life to all He brings, risen 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 new born King"
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, ‘till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angels voices. Oh, night divine, oh, night, when Christ was born!
It’s hard not to be moved, isn’t it? More to the point, it is nearly impossible not to worship. There is no need to manufacture a response. It flows naturally from the force of the truth on our lips.
Did you notice there are no first-person pronouns—“I” or “me”? These songs are not about you and I. They are about God—His glory, His matchless plan, His priceless sacrifice on our behalf. Which is appropriate. It’s Christmas, after all.
Now give the same attention to the words sung in many of our churches the rest of the year. Do you notice the shift of focus? Christmas is over; we’re back to “I” and “me” again, celebrating our feelings, but saying very little of substance about our God.
Does this trouble you the way it troubles me? I suspect it does. The focus is all wrong. When the focus is on us, God is not honored and the Kingdom does not advance.
Anticipate 2005 with the words: “A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.”
Stand to Reason - Training Christian ambassadors in the areas of knowledge, wisdom, and character - www.str.org
Notice – The ministries featured in this section are guests of this site and very often not active members of debate forums. Additionally, this area is frequented and highlighted for guests who also very often are not acclimated to debate. As such, the rules of conduct here will be more strict than in the general forum. This will be something within the discretion of the Moderators, but we simply ask that you conduct yourselves in a manner considerate of the fact that these ministries are our invited guests. You can always feel free to start a related thread in general forum without such extra restrictions. Thank you.