Pursuing Joy

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

“The great enquiry of the world in general in all ages of it, is after happiness.  Yet there is scarce anything that the world is more deceived about.  And thus, therefore, was no inconsiderable part of the errand of Jesus Christ, the great teacher of mankind, into the world, to instruct men wherein their true happiness consisted.”

~ Jonathan Edwards

Family devotions are important, but they are hard to have consistently.  Many people have a difficult time having regular family devotions and even Bruce Ware (theologian, professor, author, church elder, husband, dad) talks about starting and stopping family devotions hundreds of times and encourages parents to keep on starting back up.  Advent is a great time to restart family devotions.  I wanted to pass along three ideas for you to use during this advent season…

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus edited by Nancy Guthrie

Nancy couldn’t find an advent book that “reflected a high view of Scripture” and “put the incarnation in the context of God’s unfolding plan of redemption.” With excerpts from Augustine, Luther, Edwards, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Piper, Keller, Begg and many more, she put one together herself!  Each chapter begins with Scripture followed by a reading from a “trusted and respected” author. This would be a good one for families with older children.

Christ The King Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a page on their website dedicated to helping their families through the advent season.  They have two devotionals that are family-devotions-friendly, For Yonder Breaks A New And Glorious Morn and Born A Child And Yet A King.  The element we have liked about Born A Child is that they include references to The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones for each devotional.  For Yonder Breaks has 18 devotionals and is good for having many throughout the week.  Born A Child has six (one per week) but can supplement your other devotionals or you can use them during the days leading up to Christmas morning.

I trust these tools will help center our eyes and thoughts on Jesus during this holiday season and will help families remember where true joy alone is found!

My wife loves Christmas music.  As soon as those certain radio stations switch over on November 1st to non-stop seasonal music, the station is dialed in.  And it is not that I do not enjoy music about the birth of our Savior or the Advent season, but if I am going to listen to the same 20 songs for two months straight, I need a little variety.  Here are my five favorite albums that might help spice up your playlist…

Behold The Lamb Of God, Andrew Peterson

This is probably my new favorite of Advent 2009. This is why (in his own words):

What makes this bunch of songs unique is that I wanted to remind (or teach) the audience that the story of Christmas doesn’t begin with the birth of Jesus. Many people tend to forget or have never even learned that the entire Bible is about Jesus, not just the New Testament. So the musical begins with Moses and the symbolic story of the Passover (Passover Us) and works its way through the kings and the prophets with their many prophecies about the coming Messiah (So Long, Moses) to the awful four hundred years of silence before God told Mary she’d be having a baby (Deliver Us). After the song called Matthew’s Begats, which lists the genealogy of Jesus, the story picks up in more familiar territory with Mary and Joseph and the actual birth (It Came To Pass, Labor of Love). The final song is called Behold, the Lamb of God, which ties together the Passover and the beauty and scope of the story.

You can preview the whole album and its lyrics here for free (HT: Justin Taylor)

Glory In The Highest, Shane & Shane

My two favorite Christmas songs launch my favorite Christmas album, O Holy Night and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  Their original song, Born To Die is a great addition to our Christmas playlist.  There are a couple songs on here that are just plain old fun Christmas tunes and aren’t my most favorite additions to a Christmas album, but the first two songs set my affections ablaze and help me look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… most of the time with tears welling.

Advent Songs, Sojourn

The emphasis here is on the already/not-yet tension of advent. Advent comes to us in the darkest season of the year — a season when the nights are long, the days are cold, and we look with anticipation for the return of warmth in the spring. The songs have both a dark sense of anticipation and glimpses of light dawning in the face of the Christ child. As we celebrate this season, we celebrate that our Messiah has come, and we look with longing to the day when he comes again. As St. John says, “Amen! Come Lord Jesus.”

On The Incarnation, Daniel Renstrom

This is an excellent mix of old songs and new ones.  One new song, “Rise & Fall”, is my favorite on this album and talks about how Jesus is a “dangerous King”.  He not only brought joy and salvation, but also opposition to other kings and kingdoms.  One reviewer writes, “ 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.”

Silent Night, Mars Hill Church (Seattle)

This is one is for the rockers!  The songs are all classic carols with a little Seattle grunge… I love it! It is a little jolting going from The Nutcracker to Mars Hill, but like I said… I need a little variety in these two months!  If you click the link, you can download ‘What Child Is This?’ for free before buying the album for $5.99.

Enjoy and worship The King!

Today is the first Lord’s Day of Advent, which the church has celebrated since the fourth century.  It is a season of celebration of Jesus’ birth and also a season of anticipation of His return.  We gather this morning with both a spirit of celebratory joy that our Savior was born and watchful anticipation that he might soon return.  He is the great reward of his people and we take refuge in Him alone.

Our worship will be decorated with wreaths and candles through the next four Lord’s Days.  The wreaths are circular and green.  The green symbolizes the new and eternal life that Jesus bought his people at the cross with his life and the circular shape symbolizes God’s endless mercy and love.  The wreaths on the wall serve Five Points as visual reminders of God’s mercy and love he has bestowed upon his people through Jesus Christ.

The wreath next to the pulpit has five candles in it; four evenly spaced in the wreath and one in the center.  We light candle one this morning, and progressively light them each Lord’s Day.  This symbolizes Jesus as the “light for the nations” who comes into the darkness and brings hope, newness and life (Isaiah 42.6).  The past candles are lit with the new week’s candle each consecutive Lord’s Day to remind us that the Light of the World is nearing.

We pray that as we gather together these Advent Lord’s Days that you and your family’s affections are inflamed for Christ as we remember, celebrate and give glory to God for saving his people from their sin through Jesus Christ.