Faith Like a Teenager

Don’t you love singing Christmas hymns at this time of year? There are so many rich pieces of poetry and music that we only sing during this season, I typically need to make a spreadsheet (beginning in November) to make sure that we don’t miss any! I try to group the seasonal hymns around a central theme from week to week: for example, last Sunday we sang a group of hymns celebrating the annunciation of Jesus’ birth by angels. This morning, the hymns will focus on Jesus’ incarnation as a human baby. The three verses of the rustic English carol Come All You Worthy Gentlemen form the backbone of the service, occurring several times throughout the morning. Hymns like The Angel Gabriel and Gentle Mary Laid Her Child reference the narrative in Luke surrounding Mary’s experience carrying the Christ child, while Infant Holy, Infant Lowly and Lovely Child, Holy Childcontrast the humility of Jesus’ birth with His exaltation as King of the universe. The service concludes with What Child Is This, which looks forward to the day when this “babe, the son of Mary” will bear the cross for His people.  —Henry C. Haffner