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O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant;
O come ye; O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold him, born the King of angels!
O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
This Sunday, we will worship together at our annual Lessons and Carols service! Lessons and Carols is a service of Christian worship where the story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in nine short Bible readings or lessons from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns and choir anthems.
Before this service became popularly associated with King's College, Cambridge, it began in Truro Cathedral in Cornwall. Up to the late 19th century, Christmas carols were usually performed by singers visiting people's homes, singing mostly secular music, which had been excluded from Christian worship. In the Victorian era, hymns became more popular, and church musicians were encouraged to introduce carols into worship. The first formal service of nine lessons and carols was held on Christmas Eve of 1880, conducted by Edward White Benson, who became Archbishop of Canterbury three years later. While the popularity of the service has spread to mostly Anglican churches, numerous Christian denominations have adopted the service as part of their Christmas celebrations. At JCPC, we have celebrated this service during Advent for several years.
This year is a little different! Due to COVID-19 concerns, we are not yet indoors. And we can't have the choir sitting in any kind of choir loft together, singing shoulder to shoulder, as they are accustomed to doing. Instead, some of our carols are solos and duets, some are congregational hymns (sung from your cars or your living rooms), some are sung by our virtual choir (recorded separately and pieced together digitally), and we will even hear the voices of two of our preschool classes singing a carol! Lesson readers include pastors and staff members. We believe that it's very important to maintain this tradition, not just because this is a tough year, but because of our need to remember this story again and again, to be reminded of God's coming down to earth to be Emmanuel (God With Us), and to rescue us.
"Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." -1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV
Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation;
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest!
O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
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