With grateful thanks to a former organist of “The Mac” Church here in Bellshill, David Fisher, who is now organist at Orchardhill Church in Giffnock.

David and his choir recorded and prepared this Christmas Recessional during lockdown 2020 and due to David’s organ concert being cancelled it was more than appropriate to include David and his choir in our Christmas reflections.

Today we have chosen to highlight “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”.  It features an exhilarating melody written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and adapted by William Cummings, to lyrics originally penned by Charles Wesley, based on the Luke 2 account of the Birth of Jesus, and altered by his student, George Whitfield.

It is a privilege over the years to use wonderful arrangements of this Christmas Carol, by Sir David Willcocks and others, in Worship, and in concert; and have enjoyed listening to many recordings of it.“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is a celebration of the Incarnation of Jesus as Immanuel (“God With Us”) and presents many of the well-known names and descriptions of the Christ Child:  Newborn King, Christ, Prince of Peace, Sun of Righteousness, Everlasting Lord, Incarnate Deity, Emmanuel; as well as His role in God’s Plan of Salvation: Bringer of Peace, Mercy, Reconciliation, Joy, Light, Healing and Life.

let us pray

Glory to You, O Lord, God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  Glory to You, O Christ, our Newborn King!By the Light and Life You bring, reconciling sinners, be pleased to fix in us Your Humble Home, so that we too may join the triumph of the skies, where in Highest Heaven You are adored by saints and angels singing Your Praises, this day, on Christmas, and forever.  Amen.

From Matt Redman’s Christmas release, “These Christmas Lights”, comes the song “His Name Shall Be.” This song is a great choice to bring a spirit of worship to your home worship this Christmas season.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Immanuel: God with us

Immanuel means “God with us.” Like Isaiah 9:6, this verse is believed to be a prophecy about Jesus. In fact, the Gospel of Matthew quotes this passage in 1:23 as it recounts the story of Jesus’ birth.

This prophecy is an encouragement that God is indeed on Judah’s side, and an assurance that by the time this child is grown, Assyria and Syria will be defeated.

Watch Boney M. – Mary’s Boy Child
A firm favourite of many that reminds us A king was born today, and that we’ll live forever more because of Christmas day.

Mary’s Boy Child” is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. It is widely performed as a Christmas carol. The tune used in “Hark now hear the angels sing, a new king born today” comes from the folk song Bingo.

This is a song that many love. It’s certainly a favourite song of some BCPC members.

Do You Hear What I Hear?” tells a story loosely based upon the story of the Nativity of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew, incorporating fragments of the annunciation to the shepherds from the Gospel of Luke, though Jesus is never mentioned by name or explicitly identified. A “night wind” tells a lamb of a star, following which the lamb tells his young shepherd that he also hears a loud song. They are each led to a “mighty king,” whom they tell of a child in the cold and ask to bring the child silver and gold (much as the Biblical Magi, which in tradition with prophecies in the Book of Isaiah and Psalm 72 are often characterized as kings, did with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh). The king proclaims a prayer of peace and announces that the child will “bring goodness and light”.

The lyrics are inconsistent with the response of Herod the Great, the reigning monarch over the region at the time, who feared the arrival of a new “king of the Jews” and ordered the child massacred. The Magi did not receive word of Christ’s birth from the shepherds (who instead went directly to Bethlehem), but by noticing an astronomical event, interpreting it as a new Jewish king, and going to Jerusalem, where Herod informed them of Old Testament prophecies and pointed them toward Bethlehem

Regney wrote the lyrics for the song, while Shayne composed the music in October 1962.

This was an unusual arrangement for the two writers. Usually, it was Shayne who wrote the lyrics for their songs while Regney composed the music, as they did when they wrote a song based on the classic children’s song “Rain Rain Go Away”.

Regney was inspired to write the lyrics “Said the night wind to the little lamb, ‘Do you see what I see?'” and “Pray for peace, people everywhere” after watching babies being pushed in strollers on the sidewalks of New York City.Shayne stated in an interview years later that neither could personally perform the entire song at the time they wrote it because of the emotions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis: “Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of war at the time”.