From November 29th through December 20th we will spend four weeks in our Christmas sermon series, Angels We Have Heard On High. Prepare your hearts through reading the sermon texts with your family…
- 11.29 – Matthew 1:18-25
- 12.6 – Luke 1:5-25, 57-80
- 12.13 – Luke 1:26-56
- 12.20 – Luke 2:1-20
Daniel Renstrom’s new Christmas album, On The Incarnation, released on 10.29. It’s eight songs selected and written to encourage worship and not merely good seasonal feelings. This is a theology-minded Christmas album. Reflective.
First let me talk about a few Christmas staples on the album. “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” is joyous and upbeat. The popping strum of a mandolin colors this song folksy and fun. Love it. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” surprised me. I’m used to it being a collective, jolly sounding song like at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life. Daniel offers a beautiful, quieter, more contemplative version. Just great. “Angels We Have Heard On High” has an updated, worship band feel to it. I’m not a musician and I don’t want to explain this wrong, but it seems to have a minor key worked into the song that isn’t in the traditional version. That tweaks the feel of the song which I think is pretty cool. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is a short, music-only song leading into Daniel’s song, “Rise and Fall.”
The new songs written by Renstrom are excellent. The album begins with “His Company,” calling us to sing because Jesus is our Immanuel…
Who has believed
This message we have loved
Invisible God, came in flesh from above
Mighty, wonderful God, Prince of Peace
Bringing sight to the lost, calling us to singJoin oh join the angel melody
God with man is pleased to dwell
Sing confess, with all His company
Jesus our Immanuel
“Rise and Fall” will likely be the most recognizable song off the album. It’s the most curious sounding. I can’t listen to it without cranking up the volume and bass. What a great reminder, missing in the consumer Christmas world as well as too often in our churches, that the birth of Jesus wasn’t just about joy. It threatened those who oppose. Here’s the whole song…
The dawn of the light
Is breaking tonight
At the birth of this dangerous KingAnd shepherds and kings
Bow down and sing
At the birth of this dangerous KingMany will rise and fall
At the birth of this King, the birth of this KingThose who oppose
Stumble on this stone
The birth of this dangerous KingBut many will hear
Believing in fear
Will hope in this dangerous King
“Comfort Ye” has a more traditional sound. It starts acoustic and quiet with a hint of a rising and fading ambient sound behind it, eventually leading to the mountaintop of music and lyric that deserves exclamation points…
Immanuel / God with us / Son of God / Hallelujah
But the worshipful conclusion above doesn’t come without a recognition of our responsibility to the world. It’s preceded by…
In Christ we know hope for the hurting
In Christ we know love for the lost
In Christ we know no other one can save
The short, closing song is “Divine Messiah.” It’s a simple, short and quiet piano song expressing a longing for Messiah.
The truly great thing about On The Incarnation is that it doesn’t repel you when you are not in a Christmas season mood. It’s a gift from Renstrom that we can hear it outside the season and still enjoy it. I played the album for the kids in the car on the way to Louisville two weeks ago. Four songs in they said, “Are you sure these are Christmas songs?” The answer is yes, in the best sense.
On The Incarnation will make a great addition to your music library. You may want to give it as a gift to a Christian who needs to get beyond “Winter Wonderland” or a non-Christian who needs the Gospel.
The lyrics and chord charts are available for free. Download the album for $7.12 at Amazon.
Tim Keller’s church in New York City, Redeemer, has provided 150 free sermons and lectures. Go check them out.
Though we would have some disagreements on secondary issues (like baptism), I want to highly recommend his writings, sermons, etc to you. They are excellent.
The current series at Doxa has been dealing some of the most important areas of our lives and the idols of our hearts that can replace God. I’ve been reading Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller for the series and it’s an outstanding book on the subject. I want to recommend you pick it up and read it. It’s very practical and helpful.
The ministry of Tim Keller in NYC one that we highly recommend here at Doxa. His church, Redeemer, is a great example of a church making an impact in their culture. They have launched The REN3W Campaign with the goal of “drawing many more un-churched people into a relationship with God…[and have] a reputation for serving and loving those in the city who don’t share our beliefs as well as loving those who do.” They offer this beautiful video to explain REN3W. It’s profound. May we seek the shalom of Woodstock and McHenry County…
REN3W Vision Campaign from Redeemer Video on Vimeo.
Our message on Sunday was on parenting. There are many great resources out there for raising your kids. Here are two used in preparation for the sermon…
We all need to grow as Christians, as Christ-followers, as disciples. But temptation, struggle, apathy, and more make the fight for faithfulness very difficult. Jonathan Dodson has provided us with a great, new resource for growing as disciples called Fight Clubs.
We want to encourage you to pick up this book (Buy Fight Clubs or download it for free). At 55 pages, it should be a no-brainer.
Let’s grow together for the sake of the mission of bringing the message of the gospel of glory into our culture through Doxa.
What does your heart want most? Pastor Steve begins a new sermon series begins this Sunday, September 6th, called The Pursuit of Happiness: The Life You’ve Always Wanted. We will be hearing about topics that are at the heart of all of our lives…
This Sunday, August 30th, is Doxa Fellowship’s first “Pack-the-Place” worship service.
While our worship services are always open to the public, we are holding occasional services geared to introduce you to Doxa, our message and mission. We are also now meeting in the beautiful and historic Waverly House in downtown Woodstock and are excited for our friends and neighbors to experience this beautiful place.
Join us this Sunday morning and find out what Doxa is all about as we seek to be a church for the glory of God and the good of Woodstock & McHenry County.
Today we learned a new song at Doxa. It’s called “Refuge” and it’s from Sojourn Community Church’s new CD, Over the Grave.
I can’t find audio or video of the song online, but you can get the lyrics here. Soon you should be able to download it at iTunes and Amazon, but not quite yet. For now you can buy it directly from Sojourn.
More new songs from Sojourn coming in the weeks ahead, including “We Are Listening” and “Only Your Blood” (listen to both of these for free at MySpace).
