Go, Tell it! - Part Four

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name. - John 1:12

Transcript of the Video:

Are you ready for Christmas? I’m not just talking about the shopping and decorating, or even wrapping presents, which I love doing. I’m talking about Jesus. Are you ready to receive the newborn King? Are you ready to love others the way Jesus selflessly loves you. The sacrificial love of God is what Christmas is all about.

This is the fourth and final episode of our Christmas Carol Advent series. Links to the others are provided in the description if you missed them. I’m very excited about this episode because it’s about Jesus, kids, and a little town called Bethlehem. I’ll share five recordings for you to check out at the end of this video – one of them is from Hong Kong.

We’ve been working our way through the Christmas story by looking at the verses to “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” We’re ready for verse 3, which says:

Down in a lowly manger Our humble Christ was born, And God sent us salvation, That blessed Christmas morn.

This was the message the angels shared with the shepherds. A message the shepherds believed, saw with their own eyes, and then told to people wherever they went. I love that God gave the shepherds the inside scoop on this story. Shepherds were not well thought of at the time of Christ’s birth. It’s ironic to me that the humility of the newborn King gave shepherds a place of honor in the nativity story as it’s retold all around the world.

This third verse of “Go Tell it” makes me think of the song “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” not just because this was where everything happened, but because of the last verse.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray! Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us to-day. We hear the Christmas angels, The great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel!

This verse is a prayer, a prayer of faith. Jesus is the gift we all need to receive. Are you willing to receive Him? You can pray with me now.

“Jesus, thank You for humbly coming to earth, being born in Bethlehem, growing up, and giving your life on the cross. Thank you that because you died and rose again I can have life. My sin separates me from You, but in Christ I can be forgiven. I want that today. Forgive my sin, and enter in, be born in me today. Thank You for coming - Emmanuel!”

A relationship with God is born in humble faith. It’s so simple a child can have a relationship with God, and it leads to a life of knowing Him better and sharing Him with those around you. This simple truth was the message that Philip Brooks, rector of the Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, wanted to communicate to the children that came to Sunday School. Brooks had recently taken a trip where he rode a horse from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, and ended up at the Church of the Nativity where he sang praises to God until 3 am with the other worshippers.

Brooks asked the church organist, Lewis Redner, to write a tune so the kids could sing the song at church. Redner struggled to come up with a tune, but as he slept one night a tune came into his head and he got up and wrote it down. The song was eventually published in The Sunday School Hymnal in 1871. Noted composer, Ralph Vaughn Williams, also took the text and set it to his tune, FOREST GREEN, for The English Hymnal in 1906.

The original tune is what we’re familiar with today in the United States. The King’s Singers recorded a beautiful acapella version of this in 1989 that I love listening too. It’s so simple and powerfully dynamic at the same time. Another stellar version came out this year, when Lynda Randle released her White Christmas album. You may not know her name, but you may know her brother, former DC Talk member, and Newsboys front man, Michael Tait. Lynda’s voice is amazing! And she even sings with her brother a few times on the album. I also, wanted to give you a version with the FOREST GREEN tune, and I found a really fun video out of the China University of Hong Kong on YouTube. The recording quality isn’t great, it was recorded live at what appears to be a shopping mall, but it’s worth the 90 seconds to check it out. I’ve got two other versions to share with you. Both share the familiar lyrics, but come with a new tune. One of my first Christmas albums was Amy Grant’s A Christmas Album. I’ve loved her version of "O Little Town" since I first heard it. And Matt Redman recorded a song he calls "O Little Town (The Glory of Christmas)". His extra lyrics add a richness to the truth of the glorious birth of Jesus.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Christmas Carol Advent series. More than that, I hope you’re listening to the glorious message God has given us, and your heart is ready to receive Him this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!