Music Mondays: Christmas Musical Edition

Our Kid's Choir performing their opening number last night.

Normally we don't have services on Sunday nights. But last night we made our annual exception. 

For several months, our Kid's Choir and Adult Helpers have been preparing diligently to put on their "Wrapping All the Way" Christmas musical. It was a program filled with creative songs that help share the true reason we celebrate this holiday.

There was a lot of plot drama, fun choreography, enthusiastic singing, 'rapping', puppetry, unplanned surprises, and even a couple of small confetti cannons that helped the play end with a literal 'bang'.

We capped the night off with a Christmas dessert in our gym featuring many delicious cookies and salty snacks. Our minds were filled with catchy songs and our bellies filled with tasty treats. All in all in was a great night.

You can Youtube "Wrapping All the Way musical" and find different interpretations of the same play. But for this video, I thought I would simply share a sampler of the songs that I found online.  I will warn you though, the songs got stuck in my head to the point that I found myself humming along twice this morning to two different selections.

 

Music Mondays

We tackled Isaiah 7 yesterday as continued to look at the clues or 'whispers of love' that God gave his people in the Old Testament about their coming Messiah. 

Isaiah 7 is one of the most scrutinized passages in all of Scripture, especially given it's 'fulfillment' in Matthew 1:18-25.

- Who is the virgin?
- Who was this child?
- Is it exclusively predicting Jesus' birth?  
- What bearing did it have on the original recipients, especially King Ahaz?

I'm not sure I handled it perfectly, but I am confident our people walked away with a better understanding of the original context and it's relevance to the Christmas story. Beyond that, I am also hopeful that they were able to wrap their arms around the important truth that God is with us. 

"Immanuel" was the name that predicted child was to be given. It literally means 'God with us' and I believe it had a symbolic meaning to the original context of Isaiah 7. But I also believe it was pointing ahead to that glorious day when "God became flesh and dwelt among us."

God being with us makes all the difference. When national and global chaos meet the reality that God is with us, we are given a sure hope of all things being worked out in God's plan. When personal troubles are confronted by God with us, we are given comfort and strength to persevere. When spiritual struggles collide with God with us, we are given a clean slate as well as the power of the Spirit to overcome our own frailties. 

Praise the Lord that God is with us!

Music Mondays

My wife and I are pretty proud of ourselves today. We took the time and effort to put up our Christmas tree yesterday, which for us is early. In fact, any time before Christmas Eve is early for us. Here's photographic proof: 

Despite the fact that my football game was on, I muted the TV and tried to give full attention to helping my better half decorate this tree. Also, I knew she'd appreciate putting in a Christmas CD while we worked on it. I found a Trans Siberian Orchestra album she hadn't even opened yet and it helped set the mood.

For this week's Music Monday, I can't think of a better option than one of the most enchanting T.S.O. songs that should put you in the mood for celebrating this wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas!