Christmas Eve Eve 2016 History of Christmas Carols

so so you you Welcome to Holly Hills Christmas Eve Eve celebration. Glad to have you here. I think we've got a pretty neat program tonight. We've got a lot of participants. So let's open with a word of prayer. Our dear Father, how we thank you tonight for bringing us here. We might spend time together fellowshipping in your word and in celebrating the birth of your son, the Lord Jesus. We ask that everything we do tonight would be glorifying to you. and edifying to everyone who's here. We ask that the participants would be at rest, trust you and that what they have to do and say and perform is clear. And so again, we're joyful.

We thank you and we pray in your son's precious name. Amen. So a little explanation of what we're going to do tonight. This was Karen Jenkins' idea. No, that's not why we need an explanation. Now, she came up with a great idea. She said, let's take some Christmas carols that everyone knows, hopefully.

And we'll do a history of each one. And then we'll have someone recite the stanzas. And you'll find that the stanzas line up with, in a lot of cases, with what the history is. And then we'll we'll sing them and we'll sing. two out of the five, we're going to do five and then we'll have special music for three out of the five. And the last one will be Silent Night. And if you want to join in and sing with Katie, you're welcome to. So that's kind of how it's going to go. So there'll be a lot of shuffling of people up and down, up and down.

But I think it's going to be kind of interesting that the history of these carols. Some of them are just fascinating in terms of how the Lord and sometimes took 400 years to put a hymn together. He had somebody over here writing something and somebody over here creating a music and then somebody modifying it and in time they came together and here comes a Christmas carol. So the Lord has a way to do things like that. He's not in a hurry. So anyway, welcome and thank you.

I'm going to be reading God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was first published in 1833 when it appeared in Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys. The lyrics of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen are traditional Old English and are reputed to date back to the 15th century, although the author is unknown. It is believed that this particular carol was sung to the gentry by the town watchman who earned additional money during the Christmas season. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen continues to be enjoyed. The lyrics to this simple carol are reputed to be one of the oldest carols.

When people today say, Merry Christmas, the word means, the word merry means happy. When this hymn was written, the word merry had a very different meaning. Robin Hood's merry men might have been happy, but the merry that describes them meant great and mighty. Thus, in the Middle Ages, a strong army meant a merry army or a great ruler was a merry ruler. The other word that we need to look at is rest. This word meant keep or make and a comma in the right place and we have the correct meaning.

God make you mighty gentlemen. Using this translation, the Old Carol suddenly makes perfect sense. as does the most common saying of the holidays, Merry Christmas. We wish all of you a mighty Christmas. Even Charles Dickens would include this song in his classic, A Christmas Carol. This song was popular with the people because of a very strong message, one we desperately need today. Thus, the true meaning of the song is, God make you mighty gentlemen, which is a message for back then and a message for today. Now that is a mighty, a merry, mighty Christmas.

God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing ye dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day to save us all from Satan's power. When we were gone astray, O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy. From our Heavenly Father a blessed angel came, and unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the Savior. How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name, O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy. And when they came to Bethlehem, where our dear Savior lay, they found Him in a manger where oxen feed on hay. His mother Mary, kneeling down unto the Lord, did pray, O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.

If you'll stand, we'll sing that. but now you'll sing it with the right meaning. Okay, so a little bit of history behind the song, Do You Hear What I Hear? Noel Regney wrote The Seasonal Standard with Gloria Shane, then his wife, in 1962. It was recorded by Bing Crosby and Perry Como, among others. Mr. Regney wrote it as a clear and plaintive plea for peace at a time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. �I�m amazed that people can think they know the song and not know it�s a prayer for peace,� Mr. Regney said in an interview in the New York Times in 1985. but we are so bombarded by sound that our attention spans are so short that we now listen only to catchy beginnings.

Mr. Regni was drafted into the Nazi army despite being a Frenchman. He soon deserted and joined a group of French resistance fighters. While still with the Germans, he once intentionally led his platoon toward a group of French partisans and was shot, his stepdaughter Patricia Spiegel said in an interview with the Associated Press. Mr. Regni was born in Strasbourg, France.

He studied at conservatories in Strasbourg, Salzburg, and Paris. War interrupted his education in classical music, and in 1952 he settled in Manhattan, working for early television shows as an arranger, composer, and conductor. He also wrote radio jingles. One day he wandered into the dining room of a Manhattan hotel and saw a beautiful woman playing popular music on the piano.

He introduced himself and in a month he was married to Ms. Shane. Do You Hear What I Hear had its origin when Mr. Regney was asked to write the flip side of a single that was expected to become a hit, according to an interview he gave in the Ridgefield Press in Connecticut. He wrote the lyrics based on his vision of a newborn lamb. He handed it to his wife and said to her, write the tune, the reverse of their usual procedure.

She was shopping at Bloomingdale's when she thought of the first music line. The finished version of the song moved the two creators so much that at first they could not sing it. It broke us up, she said. Can you read the song? So the night when, said the night. It's okay.

Said the knight went to the little lamb. Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb. Said the knight went to the little lamb. Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb. Do you see what I see? A star, a star, dancing in the night. With a tail as big as a kite. With a tail as big as a kite. And the little lamb to the shepherd boy.

Do you hear what I hear? Linking through the sky, shepherd boy. Do you hear what I hear? song a song high above the trees with a voice as big as a sea with a voice as big as a sea said the shepherd boy to the mighty king do you know what i know in your palace wall mighty king do you know what i know a child a child shivers in the cold let us bring him silver and gold let us bring him silver and gold said the king to the people The child, the child, sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light. He will bring us goodness and light. Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see? A star, a star, dancing in the night, with a tail as big as a kite. With a tail as big as a kite.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy Do you hear what I hear? Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy Do you hear what I hear? A song, a song High above the trees With a voice as big as the sea With a voice as big as the sea Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king Do you know what I know? In your palace, O Almighty King Do you know, I know A child, a child shivers in the cold Let us bring him silver and gold Let us bring him silver and gold Said the King to the people everywhere Listen to what I say Pray for peace, people everywhere But do what I say The child, the child sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and life He will bring us goodness and life All right.

Well, we get to tell you about Hark the Herald Angels Sing. And Mike said earlier that there were some of these songs that took quite a bit of time to come together, and this is one of them. It took four centuries and four men to culminate a Christmas carol that we all know as Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It began in 1440 when Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press, obviously a machine that changed the world. In 1740, we find Charles Wesley.

He was a poet of the New Methodist Church and was writing hymn poems every week. Of the more than 6,000 hymn texts, one of his favorites was A Christmas Carol. No one found a suitable music setting for this hymn. Many melodies were tried for the poem, but none matched the grandeur of the words. Charles Wesley originally wrote this poem to be recited on Christmas Day, but it wasn't the version that we know. The original was ten four-line verses, and instead of singing, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, he wrote the line, Hark How the Welkin rings glory to the King of Kings. If you're like me, Welkin is not a familiar word. Welkin means the vault of heaven makes a loud noise. That's a really cool word. Thus, when the heaven sends forth a loud pronouncement, the entire power of the king is revealed.

That line was changed by George Whitfield, a student of Wesley's, and he was also the one who eliminated the verses we no longer sing and who made the ones we do sing longer. Nonetheless, this hymn remains one of the most theologically rich carols we sing today. Then, Felix Mendelssohn was commissioned to compose special music for the 400th anniversary of the printing press. Felix's music did not have much of an impact past the celebration, but noted that he thought that one of his pieces would have life beyond that. Then in 1855, William Cummings took Felix's music for the Gutenberg anniversary, Ode to Ink, that's a good classy name there, Ode to Ink, and married it to Charles Versus. That culmination lasted for a century and a half and is what we know as Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King.

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconcile. Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies. With the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King. Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him come, offspring of a virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King. 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 newborn king.

And if you'll stand, we'll sing that together as a congregation. Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joy for all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies, With the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born! In Bethlehem. Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased is man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel! Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

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 lay His glory in. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give him second birth. Hark the herald angels sing, glory. Hark the herald angels sing. Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King. Please be seated. I don't know if you've been paying attention or not, but usually the offspring to the left is not fully grown. Are we talking about chronologically or emotionally? Joy to the world, right? All right.

Isaac Watts is called the father of English hymnody. Hymnody? Wikipedia, somebody look that up. Anyway, in 1692 he complained to his father, a deacon in the Congregational Church, about the awkward psalm singing. Many of you may complain of the same thing. His father replied, then give us something better to sing.

It was while studying Psalm 98 that Isaac was inspired to write his most famous song. In verse 4, what's studied the phrase, make a joyful noise unto all the earth. Make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praises. Focusing on that verse and that five that followed, he penned a four stanza poem called Joy to the World. It was usually sung to the tune of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. So in 1707, he published a collection of 210 hymns, the first real hymn book in the English language. But prior to that publication, churches only accepted translations and adaptations of the Book of Psalms.

He became a clergyman of the Reformed Church and received recognition as an acclaimed scholar. He wrote a textbook called logic that was then used in Oxford and in contrast with other famous books, such as this one, for children now that were widely read until the early 1900s. Forty years later, Lowell Mason was born in Orange, New Jersey. As a teen, he directed his church choir and taught at singing schools.

Over the years, he became the best known music publisher in Boston and would eventually write over 600 hymns. In 1836, he composed a new melody inspired by Handel. Handel's Messiah, actually, called Antioch. But it took three more years for him to find the message to go with this melody.

Reading a songbook entitled Modern Psalmist, Mason finally linked one of Watson's inspired lyrics to his tune, hence the birth of Joy to the World. But among all of Isaac's famous writings, there is only one memorable Christmas carol. Ironically, Isaac never intended it to be sung during the Christmas season. It was a carol chronicling Christ's second coming and his first It's to the joy of the world. Pay attention to the words and you'll understand what Isaac meant that he wrote.

If you haven't met or know my wife, now you do. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns, let men their songs employ, while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and wonders, wonders of His love. I'm in a choir in Telluride in Durango, and my mom always comes to the concerts and she says, do you have a solo? Why aren't you singing a solo? I said, no, I'm a member of the chorus, and I never sing solos. You don't do that as a choral singer. But hey, mom, you got your wish tonight. Mouse out the back door in embarrassment after this. This is called A Christmas Carol, and it's written by Charles Ives, if you know him.

He was born in like 1870, and he wasn't a religious guy. He was probably a progressive liberal, if he was alive today. He went to Yale. Yeah, but Yale back then was an okay thing. And he wrote a bunch of strange music, really strange music. But in the 1950s, Leonard Bernstein discovered him and made him famous. And now he's very famous. He's probably one of the most famous American composers of the 20th century. But all of his songs that little songs he wrote are very strange. He wrote them when he was young in the 1880s in college.

And there's a few, though, that are just perfect. And this is one of his his songs, because it's all in one key. And usually he'll put one key against the other and just sometimes hard to listen to. But except this one. And so it is called Christmas Carol. And even though he probably wasn't religious, these words are fantastic. So I'll do it and we'll see how it goes.

Very slowly, please. Little star of Bethlehem, do we see thee now? Do we see thee shining o'er the tall trees? Little child of Bethlehem, Do we hear Thee in our hearts? Hear the angels singing, Peace on earth, good will to men, Noel. O'er the cradle of a king, hear the angels sing, in excelsis Gloria, Gloria. From his father's home on high, Lo, for us he came to die. Hear the angels sing, Venite adoremus, Me and Poppy have Silent Night.

Joseph Moore was the pastor of the Church of St. Nicholas at Oppendorf, a village near Salzburg, Austria. After an evening Christmas program on the 23rd, Moore took a longer way home that took him up over a hill overlooking the village. Reveling in the silence of the wintry night, the Christmas play he had just seen made him remember a poem he had written a couple years before. and decided those words might make a good carol for his congregation the following evening at their Christmas Eve service. He was desperate because the organ in his church had broken and couldn't be fixed before the Christmas Eve service.

That evening, he went to see the church organist, Franz Gruber, who had only that evening to come up with a melody for a guitar. A few hours later, they met at St. Nicholas Church, and Gruber shared his new music with Moore. Moore approved, and after learning the guitar chords, raced to the waiting choir who were waiting to rehearse. What should have taken days was accomplished in just a few hours. On Christmas Eve, the little Obendorf congregation heard Gruber and Moore play their new composition. A few weeks later, Carl Maracher, an organ builder and repairman, traveled to St. Nicholas to fix the organ. While Carl worked, Moore shared the story of how he and Gruber had used a guitar in original composition to save the Christmas Eve program. Impressed, the repairman jotted down the words and learned the melody. Over the next few years, as he went about his profession, marcherer introduced stell knock to many churches and towns.

The carol spread across northern Europe, and in 1834, singers performed Silent Night for King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who then ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas Eve. 20 years after Silent Night was written, the song was brought to the United States in New York City's Trinity Church. Silent Night is now sung in more than 300 different languages around the world.

Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, holy night. Shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar. Heavenly hosts sing alleluia. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born. Silent night, holy night. Son of God, love's pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

Silent Night, she kind of put her own little twist on it, so if you guys get the hang of it, feel free to join in. Silent night, holy night All is calm, all is bright Round yon virgin mother and child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace Silent night, holy night Shepherds quake At the sight, glories stream from heaven afar. Heavenly hosts sing hallelujah. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born.

Silent night, Holy night, the light of God, luster light, Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Pretty good, huh? Yeah.

I was thinking the last couple days about Christmas and you know what's going on really with Christmas and the verse that says something to me is that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him wouldn't perish but have everlasting life. And I thought about how God takes into consideration everything when He loves us.

He knows everything. He knows everything about the world, yet He still loves us. He knows what we are. He knows what we've done, yet He still loves us. And this is an out-and-out love. It's aggressive. Love in spite of everything. We may say, well, I find that there's so many things to hold me back. There's a lot of things that get in the way. I can't see how he could love me.

Do you think you found something that the Lord overlooked? No, the Lord sees all and he knows all and he loves to the very end. God so loves the world. He said back in Jeremiah 31, I have loved you with an everlasting love. So when you put your mind around the kind of love that God is, it doesn't have anything to do with the behavior pattern of the object love. It has everything to do with the one who is the lover, who is God. So he gives his son, who is the gift, to the world and says, here he is, the most precious thing I have is my son, and I give it to you because I love you. And if you will believe in him, I will save you for all eternity.

There's a great turning point, I think, in our spiritual history. And it's when the soul becomes consciously aware that we are an object of divine love. We become aware that He does really love us. We know what mercy is. We know what goodness is. We're often involved and we're thanking Him that He is so good to us. And it held us for a long time. But then there comes a day when we begin to enter into knowing that God really truly loves us.

The perfection of our salvation may be known. with clarity and certainty, and all the common difficulties and exercises of a convicted sinner may find its answer, that the conscience is now at peace, and yet the heart may not have found its perfect rest in the Father's love. It's one thing to know the peace of God which passes understanding, to know that we're saved. It's another thing to know that He loves us like this.

So, is the gospel simply and solely for the benefit of man? He died for me. Is good to men to be the center and the object of everything on earth? Or, is the Father to be the sphere where man is to find his fullest blessing? and the father finds that which satisfies him. If it be the former, everything thinks down and is limited to man's benefit. It is all human.

If it is the latter, man is brought to the father and placed in union with his beloved according to the great pleasure of his will. I think it's difficult for us sometimes to realize that this is God's will about us. His desire is for us to understand that we are beloved. And it's the good pleasure of His will that we know and that we abide and that we rest in the love of God. It's way more important to Him than it is to us early on. So what brings us into this? If we believe God, we take Him at His word, we take Him at His word that He does love us, that He did give His Son, that who would ever believe in Him should not perish.

Then we see, we see what the Father, we're seeing the Father and we're sustained though I see no external circumstances. There may not be any external evidence that He really loves me. But there's a rest of soul that we know. I now know I have the Father and He does love me, though I may not have anything else.

Nature does not like this, but it's the deepest blessing. The wasteland of this world is to teach us dependence on Him. What a real and most blessed thing it is to depend on the one who loves us. Not only all-powerful, which he surely is, but he's the one who loves us perfectly.

So, I thought everybody did a great job, didn't you? Especially the kids. So what we're going to do now is there'll be refreshments out in the vestibule. There is hot and cold, something to drink. Mrs. Doyle made more cookies than I want to talk about. And I hope you eat them all and they don't show up at my house. And then as you go out on the right hand side, there's a stack of books out there. Take one. It's our gift, the elders gift to you for Christmas. If the stack gets low, let me know. I've got more downstairs. Let's close with prayer.

Dear Father, how we thank you. We thank you for your son. We thank you for you, that you gave him out of the love of your heart. We thank you for the opportunity to be together to share, to praise you, to recognize the birth of your son and how important his arrival is to us. We thank you for the grace that we live under and we pray in your son's precious name. Amen. Thank you.