Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: https://read.jwpepper.com/i/72013
173 HOST: Christmas! The very sound of the word brings a joy like no other. We can't wait for the season to arrive, then hope it will never end. It brings memories of Christmas past, and wishes for Christmas future. It is the sound of a single child laughing, and the entire world singing. It is...and always has been...the season of joy. So tonight (or "today") we gather to celebrate joy. We have met in this place to lift our praise, raise our voices, and worship God's most precious gift—His Son Jesus Christ, who was born to bring us everlasting life! READER 1: Joy to the world! READER 2: Joy to the world! ALL: Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Joy Has Dawned with Angels We Have Heard on High HOST: The season of joy began long ago – before stables and stars and angel songs. It began in the solitude of a stone temple, with bowed heads and upraised hands. It began in the pages of ancient parchments and the petitions of midnight prayers. READER 1: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:2, NIV) READER 2: "Lift up your eyes and look about you…your light...has come..." (Isaiah 60:4a, 1b, NIV) CHOIR & CONGREGATION: O come, O come, Emmanuel. READER 1: "But you, Bethlehem… though you are small...out of you will come…a ruler... [whose] greatness will reach to the ends of the earth." (Micah 5:2a, 4b, NIV) READER 2: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call him 'Immanuel.'" (Isaiah 7:14, NIV) CHOIR & CONGREGATION: O come, O come, Emmanuel. READER 1: "When the time came... [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son." (Luke 2:6-7a, NIV) READER 2: "She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger…" (Luke 2:7b, NIV) CHOIR & CONGREGATION: Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee, O Israel. HOST: (more reverent) Rejoice. Rejoice. Emmanuel...has come! Once upon a Christmas HOST: And so, Jesus entered our world. Not with the thunder of heaven, but with the gentle lullaby of a young mother's heart. CHOIR & CONGREGATION: All is calm. All is bright. O holy night. HOST: He did not come to us with wealth and worldly position, but in poverty and humility. CHOIR & CONGREGATION: All is calm. All is bright. O holy night. HOST: He did not come to conquer; He came to set us free. ALL: All is calm. All is bright. O holy night. HOST: (with great awe) O holy night. Preview Copy