Welcome to Advent!
I’ll be honest. Advent kind of caught me off guard this year. I’ve spent most of November working hard on publishing my first book, “I Arise Today”, creating a professional author / ministry Facebook Page, reading for my next semester at Duke, and keeping up with regular life and ministry, I barely realized Advent is already here.
That being said, I’m going to keep things simple this year.
Each Wednesday throughout the season I’ll be sharing an original Christmas song to help us dive deeper into what it means that God became flesh and moved into our neighborhood. I'll begin today with a bonus track which I shared last year.
I had written a few dozen songs but I had never written a Christmas song. So one December evening in 2007 I sat on the kneeling rail at the altar with my guitar in the dimly lit sanctuary of our church and within an hour, this song poured out as if it came directly from the Holy Spirit. I had just finished a semester of Old Testament in seminary and all of those lessons were fresh on my mind. At first, I was frustrated because it didn’t feel like a Christmas song. But the more I thought through it, the more I realized that Christmas is bigger than the baby in the manger surrounded by shepherds and wise men. Christmas is even bigger than the great prophecies of Isaiah resounding from Handel’s “Messiah". Indeed, Christmas is the entire story of Scripture, from Eden to the New Jerusalem. From the beginning God has sought to restore all that was lost in the garden. Jesus came in the flesh to show us the way back home.
Eventually I merged this new song of God’s great love story with adaptations of two familiar carols, “O Come Emmanuel” and “O Come Let Us Adore Him” and together I believe they poetically immerse us in the full story of God’s redemptive plan. It is an invitation to dance again in the garden with your Creator. It will be beautiful, when we dance in the garden again.
The video below includes a bit of the story behind the song along with an extended time of worship with this Spirit inspired medley. If you are looking for a daily reflection during the Advent season, consider checking out my #adventword video series from last year.
Many blessings on your Advent journey as you seek to prepare the way of the Lord.
If you are a musician and would like to play along, you can link to the chord sheet for “Beautiful” here. These are free to copy for personal or public use in worship. I would only ask that you share with me how they are being used.
If you or someone you know would be interested in recording a more professional version of any of these songs, please contact me. I would love to work with you.
If you enjoyed our journey through St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer this year, consider sharing it with a friend for Christmas. Click here to purchase the entire journey in Kindle or Paperback. If you missed it, check out a few sample reflections here.
In the coming year, what “new beginnings” would you like to see on this blog? What would you find helpful in your spiritual journey as we learn together how to echo the still small voice of God?
Talk to me. I’d love to hear and connect with what God is doing in your life.
Blessings and Peace,
Craig