A Raw Acidness

Each year, I recognize the season of Advent (the four Sundays leading up to Christmas) by adding traditional Christmas carols into our worship sets.

In the weeks of Advent, I typically add two or three Christmas songs to each worship set, and try to keep the focus on the "coming" of Christ (celebrating the first coming and looking towards his second coming) or on coming before the King and offering our gifts. It's always a challenge for me to get the right "blend" of our regular worship songs and Christmas carols.

Here are two lists that I hope will be helpful: (1) 5 Christmas songs that work well for worship, and (2) 5 Worship songs that work well for Christmas.

List 1: 5 Christmas songs that work well for worship.

1. Joy to the World - we do Bebo Norman's version, not the traditional version.
2. O Come All Ye Faithful - the "O come let us adore Him" part can be used as a tag at the end of songs - it's very worshipful.
3. Love Came Down - a Christmas song I wrote a few years ago listen to a demo here
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - we do it in 6/8 time like the version by Mercy Me.
5. Hark the Herald Angels Sing - awesome theological content!

List 2: 5 Worship songs that work well for Christmas.

1. Here I Am to Worship (Tim Hughes) - "Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness" - that's what Christmas is all about!
2. Glory in the Highest (Chris Tomlin) - the chorus of this song must have been what those angels were singing on the night Jesus was born :)
3. In Christ Alone (Keith Getty & Stuart Townend) - this song works well because it basically tells the whole redemptive story, including the Incarnation - "fullness of God in helpless babe."
4. Majesty (Jarrod Cooper) - a great "bowing-down-before-the-King" song.
5. You'll Come (Brooke Fraser) - a song celebrating the promise of His coming - "As surely as the sun will rise, You'll come to us."

Hopefully there are some good ideas in those lists. Merry Christmas! Remember to keep Your eyes on Him throughout this Advent season. Amen.