Christmas Carols

Can You Hear the Bells?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

For most of us, December 25th is the day we think of as Christmas. But in my home city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with a large population of Ukrainians and Russians, many people mark January 7th as their day of celebration. Sadly, this year, people who call themselves Christians in their part of the world are in combat rather than celebration. The poet Longfellow in the midst of the American Civil wrote of times like these when he penned these words, “And in despair I bowed my head; There is no peace on earth, I said” * But things were not really all that different 2,000 years ago when the wise men saw the star, while Herod plotted murder. And when shepherds were hearing angels sing, the Romans were still busy crushing any resistance to their rule in Israel and finding new ways to tax its inhabitants to maintain their empire.

Yet in the middle of suffering, just as Longfellow wrote, we can find hope, because “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.” Because of God’s bells that ring from Heaven, we have reasons to smile and can still celebrate, as we turn our hearts towards the Prince of Peace and remember his birth. Only He will give us real joy and a reason to worship, in this world filled with anger, war and hatred. If we set aside the tinsel and notions of Santa and turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, we will begin to experience a peace that goes far beyond a ceasefire or peace agreement. On Christmas, God sent Jesus as the light in our dark world. When He grew to be a man, Jesus died to set us free from our sins and give us His peace. Jesus is our hope, no matter our situation and Jesus can be our salvation, no matter our battle. Jesus is the one before whom shepherds and wise men bowed and God invites us to come to Him, not only at Christmas, but also on every one of our sunniest mornings and in each of our darkest nights. We can come with hope because Jesus came as the friend of sinners and as Immanuel – God with us. We have hope because we remember that He loved us enough to come as an innocent child and then surrendered His life to show us the depth of His love and bring eternal peace on the terrible Cross of Calvary.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

God’s Christmas Gift of Light

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
In Him was life and the life was the light of men. John 1:4 KJV

If we were to guess the meaning of Christmas from what we see on television or by way of internet marketing, we might guess that it is primarily about buying things for people. We see images of smiling people slipping on diamond rings, jumping into shiny new cars or cuddling up by the fire in luxurious clothing. But the Bible makes it clear, that while God knows there are things that we dream of receiving, there is nothing that we could purchase, that has eternal value. When God prepared to give His gift to us at Christmas, it was neither in the beauty of an expensive ring, nor the comfort of a fine home, but rather He gave us the light of Heaven. We all have heard how that on the night that Jesus was born, the first people to get the news were shepherds in a dark field, and the Bible says, “The glory of the Lord shone around them.” Luke 2:9. When the wise men showed up some time later, we are told that, they followed the light of a star that, “When it rose, went ahead of them.” Matthew 2:9. Everywhere we turn, God’s gift comes to the world by the light of His Son Jesus Christ. That gift still shines in our darkness, but if we follow Him, God promises to give us the light of life. Once we have received that light, then we will be able to give gifts to others, like forgiveness, encouragement or a listening ear. These never show up in commercials, but they are the ones that are eternal, because they point to Jesus, the light of the world and God’s Christmas gift to us!

Mary I Have News!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

As we end Christmas week, I begin sadly thinking of how I will need to soon take down the lights, the ornaments, candy canes along the walkway and put away the wreath. But just before putting the Advent season to bed for the year, I wanted to share an original Christmas carol which I wrote for a church program in 2017. This all started when I began searching for a carol about the angel Gabriel telling Mary the news of how she would have a miracle child. After looking through all my books, I realized there weren’t any, and so I prayed, and the Lord gave me this song called, “Mary I Have News.” You are welcome to freely use this in your own future pageants, just be sure to let me know. I do hope you like it!