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    WEEK TWO | DAY FIVE | COLOSSIANS 1:15-20 This Arabic song, which emerged from Catholic and Orthodox traditions, dates back to the Byzantine Empire (4th century). Composed in a liturgical chant style, it is still one of the most-beloved Arab Christmas carols today and continues to resound through... read more →

    WEEK TWO | DAY FOUR | PSALM 63:3-8 Written in France in the mid-1800s, this song spread by word of mouth across Europe and North America. But it spread in a new way in 1906 when Reginald Fessenden, a former colleague of Thomas Edison, experimented one evening with... read more →

    WEEK TWO | DAY THREE | JOHN 1:1-14 Jesuit priest Father Jean de Brébeuf wrote this song in the Huron language in 1643, setting it to the tune of an old French song. It’s considered the first Canadian Christmas carol, and the first to enter the tribe's oral... read more →

    WEEK TWO | DAY TWO | ISAIAH 61:1-2 For many, sadness, grief and lament make it difficult to enter the joy and anticipation of the holiday season. This carol, adapted from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, expresses both the deep pain and the resounding hope Longfellow experienced... read more →

    WEEK TWO | DAY ONE | LUKE 2:8-20 Adapted from a traditional French carol, this song originally appeared as an eight-stanza dialogue between a choir of shepherds and the women of Bethlehem. The shepherds tell the story of angels, mountains, heaven and earth rejoicing. The women ask, “What... read more →

  As we enter week 2 of Advent, we celebrate the coming of Christ. We revel in the angels' announcement and the enthusiasm of the shepherds as they called others to come and see the newborn baby, the promised Messiah. And we rejoice that, like the shepherds, we too can... read more →

Due to publisher's permissions, we are unable to share the song lyrics for today's entry online. Visit this page for ways to interact with today's song.    WEEK ONE | DAY SEVEN | ISAIAH 9:6, REVELATION 7:9 At the end of this first week of Advent, we make our prayer... read more →

    WEEK ONE | DAY SIX | MATTHEW 1:1-17 "True man, yet very God"—from Jesse's line blooms the promised Savior. In much of the world, genealogies are an important part of one's identity. And while many of us might yawn through the genealogies in the Bible, for some cultures... read more →

    WEEK ONE | DAY FIVE | ISAIAH 11:1-10 Each verse of this beloved Advent hymn points to the Good News that God has come and is coming. Fear not, for the promise of God's presence is fulfilled in Jesus, Emmanuel! What good news to share with a world... read more →

    WEEK ONE | DAY FOUR | ISAIAH 40:5 This beautiful song from Handel's Messiah looks toward the day when all will see and acknowledge God’s glory. Its lyric—a prophetic verse from Isaiah—has filled countless churches, auditoriums and city streets. Initially written for Easter, Messiah was first performed in... read more →