News
The Sounds of the Season
December 8, 2022
Advent and Christmas songs are all around us during this time of year! From the hymns we sing during worship, the piped-in music while shopping, the jingles that show up in commercials, and especially those beloved holiday tunes that you look forward to every year. Oftentimes, significant memories and traditions are wrapped in songs that share the anticipation, joy, and sometimes even sorrow that this time of year brings. This holiday season, the Nebraska Synod staff are sharing some of their favorite Advent and Christmas songs. Our list includes some classic tunes, modern melodies, and a few special arrangements.
Try adding a new song or two to your holiday playlist this year. Gather your parents, kids, and grandkids and make some new holiday memories to the sounds of the season! If you hear or sing a song or hymn this season that is special to you, snap a photo or take a selfie and tag the Nebraska Synod on social media or send us an email sharing your favorite tune- we would love to see what songs are meaningful to you as we await and celebrate Christ’s birth.
Listen to the full synod staff holiday playlist HERE.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Performed by Mannheim Steamroller
Recommended by Michele Herrick
Michele shares: I first heard their Christmas music when I was in college studying during exams week. Their Christmas album was amazing to listen to, and I loved the blend of rock and classical themes in some of their songs. I listen to their Christmas songs all year long!
Go Tell it On the Mountain
Recommended by Deacon Timothy Siburg
Timothy shares: Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, a land of mountains and water, along with a love of rhythm and jazz, no hymn quite says Christmas to me like the spiritual “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” On a personal note, it was the first solo I ever sang in worship. Imagine this little blue-eyed Timothy singing a solo on Christmas Day so many years ago. Little did I know that this song would still sit with me some three decades later with two young kids of my own. The words of the song tell the story, but they don’t just leave it as something that has happened two thousand years ago in the past. They move us to respond- for how we each are called to live out, share, and embody the Good News by spreading it near and far. This song sends us out of Christmas worship in praise with great joy, but also equipped and challenged in and for our daily lives as disciples and stewards as part of God’s on-going mission in the world.
In the Bleak Midwinter
Recommended by Pastor Jon Mapa
Jon shares: The hymn is based on a poem entitled ‘A Christmas Carol’ by English poet Christina Rossetti which was first published in January 1872. Simple and somber in tone, the carol focuses on the birth of Jesus Christ, and features many images we associate with the nativity—the stable, livestock, shepherds and the Wise Men. However, an interesting feature of Rossetti’s poem has the birth of Christ as taking place in a frozen, snowy English winter instead of the mild climate of Palestine where Jesus was born. Despite this historical inaccuracy, her words effectively communicate the vast difference between the glory of heaven from which Jesus came and the reality of the human condition. God almighty does not hide behind the clouds of indifference but enters into the very heart of our experience by coming down to us in Jesus who is born in the simple and lowly surroundings of a stable. The verse of the carol proclaims: “a stable place sufficed.” The final verse asks for an appropriate response to Christ’s sacrifice of love and grace. What can we possibly do in response to this great love for us? The answer is “I can give him my heart.”
Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah
Recommended by Pastor Juliet Focken
Juliet shares: The song of the season in our house is Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah. We sing it all of Advent as we watch and wait for what will be, I’ve never been good at waiting and this one reminds me to slow down and look around. We have a family tradition of putting one piece of the nativity set up everyday during Advent. As we unwrap each piece, we welcome an old friend back into the family as we sing the appropriate verses. We also sing this traditional Yiddish tune as our table blessing and as the blessing before bed. To often we jump just right to Christmas, without slowing down enough to remember that God’s own people have been waiting for the Messiah for generations. These have been generations of struggle and drought. Generations of bounty and plenty waited in anticipation. These generations of hope and wonder waited for the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Jacob and his family and the God of Jacob, to come to earth and live among his people. This song reminds us that waiting in anticipation is something our people have done for generations as we prepare our own houses for Christmas. Our nativity stays up through Epiphany, and we sing the song again as we pack up each piece of the set and put them away to wait for the next time we welcome them back into our story. That’s probably why we love this song so much, it reminds us that we are one part of the hope of the Messiah.
Mary, Did You Know
Performed by Kathy Mattea
Recommended by Pastor Kat Montira
Kat shares: The first time I heard this song, it was sung by her. The idea of asking Mary these questions makes her a very real person to me. The melody is hauntingly beautiful and the lyrics speak reality to me. Mary, did you know?
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Performed by Pentatonix
Recommended by Pastor Heidi Wallace
We have ways of tracking Santa’s journey around the world. We look at how Santa — and all the names he is known by — is welcomed in other countries. Yet somehow, we sometimes manage to miss what it means for Christ to be born for us and for all people. Throughout Advent and Christmas, I will be listening to and singing and dancing along with O Come, All Ye Faithful by Pentatonix. The addition of other voices to the five of the a cappella group, the repetition of “O come all”, and the rhythms that remind me of my time in Africa give voice to the global celebration of Christ’s coming.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Recommended by Pastor Greg Berger
Greg shares: There is just something about this hymn that speaks to me of the longing for and celebration of, “God with us.” I love the juxtaposition of the haunting melody with the reality of “lonely exile, gloomy clouds, depths of hell, Satan’s tyranny, and death’s dark shadows,” over and against the call to “Rejoice!” in each verse’s refrain. For in all the depths and darkness, God has come, will come and is coming!
O Holy Night
Performed by Josh Groban
Recommended by Stephanie Lusienski
Stephanie shares: O Holy Night reminds us that Jesus was born in a manger. Through his humble beginnings, we remember to love mankind through Jesus’ example. We fall on our knees in awe and worship of him. And we recall the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus underneath brightly shining stars on a very special and holy night. And who doesn’t like a little Josh Groban singing O Holy Night!!!
Sign
Performed by Lost and Found
Recommended by Pastor Kristen VanStee
Kristen shares: I love Advent so much as a season but there aren’t that many catchy “singable” songs to honor this important time in the church year. So that’s why one of my favorite songs is “Sign” by the Lutheran band Lost and Found. When I play this song in my car, I can’t help but sing along to the chorus “This shall be a sign!”. And when I am inevitably still singing it later in the day, it serves as a great reminder to be on the look out for signs of God at work here with us in the world. God isn’t far away from us. There are signs of God’s salvation all around us. If you have been to an ELCA Youth Gathering sometime in the last twenty years, you should be familiar with the duo Lost and Found. Their album “Pronto” is still a stand-out favorite of mine. If you want to sing any of their songs, including “Sign”, in worship this Advent, you can purchase sheet music and a one-time license at their website. www.speedwood.com.
Silent Night
Recommended by Angie Geir
Angie shares: When Landon (my first born) was a baby I would sing this song to him every night. It was calming and always helped him drift off to sleep. Needless to say, it became part of our nightly routine for many years. I have continued singing this song every night for all my kids. My daughters love to sing it together, then after they want me to listen to them sing it 🙂 While there are many versions of this song, Angie’s favorite version is when her kids sing it.
Stables
Performed by Peter Mayer
Recommended by Bishop Scott Johnson
Scott shares: Peter Mayer writes some especially poignant music, including this song from his “Midwinter” album. I have always loved Peter’s gentle openness, expressed beautifully in these lyrics: “O Love, the prophet’s only word / the only lesson left to learn / the only end of heaven’s work / and the only road that goes there / Love that sees with mercy’s eyes / Holds its arms out open wide / Threads its loom with separate lives / And weaves them all together.” This song has had a place in my Advent playlists for a couple of years now – when I feel overwhelmed by brassy, cheerful holiday music this song helps me get centered and peaceful again.
We Are the Shepherds
Performed by Johnny Cash
Recommended by Morgan Tranmer
Morgan shares: In a season that can sometimes feel flashy and extravagant, ‘We Are the Shepherds’ reminds us that the simple gifts we bring to this world are valuable and worthy. We don’t need to perform, meet a quota, or put on a false mask for our Savior – we are invited to put down our task at hand and come just as we are. This old country Christmas song is best sung by the great Johnny Cash.
What a Glorious Night
Performed by Sidewalk Prophets
Recommended by Deacon Sunni Richardson
Sunni shares: What a Glorious Night starts with children telling the story of Jesus’s birth and then burst into song with the band . The song is full of energy! You find yourself rocking on your air guitar, drumming the beat and singing along with joy. Jesus Christ is born – glorious night!