There was a corn flakes commercial a while back that invited people to "taste them again for the first time." As I did lots of Christmas music planning this month, I kind of had that same of experience with an old Christmas carol.
To be honest, I've never been a big fan of "O Little Town of Bethlehem." The chromatic melody always seemed a little schmaltzy to me, and who wants to sing a song to a town anyway? But this year I looked at all four stanzas for the first time in a while. I'm still not crazy about the tune, but boy, the lyrics are just great. Why don't you "read them again for the first time":
- Words by Phillips Brooks, 1867
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
I hope this Christmas season you've been able to reflect on the "wondrous gift...the blessings of His Heaven...our Lord Emmanuel."
Happy New Year! I know it's been a couple weeks now, but I just got some great pictures of our New Hope kids' Christmas Pageant all assembled in a gallery on our web site. Click here to go to our photos page, then click on the Christmas Pageant link.
After a two-month broken-arm-related hiatus, Dewey Bertolini has posted a few new items on his Israel Connection blog. Click here to check it out!
New Hope Christian Fellowship has a new phone number! You can now call our office at (503) 472-1144 (easy to remember)!
We will be having an all-church Christmas Caroling night this Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. We'll meet at the church and sing to the folks in our new neighborhood, and then we'll thaw out with some hot cocoa and cider! Bring some warm clothes and an umbrella--it may get wet for us out there, but we'll just think hearty, Northwestern thoughts! :)
I've been hearing a great new Christmas song on the radio lately called How Many Kings? by a Canadian group called Downhere. it took me a while to find any details about it online, but I finally found it and thought I'd share it with you!
Well, the first 100 of our new chairs were delivered today! I can personally confirm that they are indeed comfy, and though I didn't test their durability with a sledge hammer (like the manufacturer does on their web site), they appear to be quite sturdy and handsome!
As I mentioned, these are just the first 100, and we plan to order 150 more once we have the money donated. So it's not too late to get in on the chair-a-thon! According to our chart we've "sponsored" 115 chairs, so we still need gifts for 135 more (they are $45 each). You can donate on Sunday morning (look for the display near the offering box) or contact us through the web site for other options.
For those of you planning to buy presents for kids this month, I ran across this intriguing recommendation.
