Christmas Hymns

12/22/23 • 17 min

Music and verse capture, preserve, and allows the participant to access deep truths with a melody that matches the beauty, mystery and hope of the message. This is what we have in Christmas hymnody. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Katie Miller, Arlan Miller, Isaac Funk, Shauna Streitmatter and Matt Kaufmann share their favorite Christmas lyrics that capture the wonder of Christmas – God with us.

Show notes:

Arlan:

O Little Town of Bethlehem by Phillips Brooks

The hopes and fears of all the years

are met in thee tonight.

Isaac:

In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti,

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and Seraphim thronged the air;

but His Mother only, in Her maiden bliss

Worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

Shauna:

O Holy Night, by Placide Cappeau

The King of kings lay once in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend;

He knows our need,

To our weakness is no stranger.

Behold your king.

Katie:

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Henry W. Longfellow

In despair I bowed my head

“There is no peace on Earth,” I said

For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men

...

Then rang the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep”

Matt:

Angels, From the Realms of Glory by James Montgomery

Justice now revokes the sentence,

Mercy calls you, break your chains.

Show notes:

Arlan:

O Little Town of Bethlehem by Phillips Brooks

The hopes and fears of all the years

are met in thee tonight.

Isaac:

In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti,

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and Seraphim thronged the air;

but His Mother only, in Her maiden bliss

Worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

Shauna:

O Holy Night, by Placide Cappeau

The King of kings lay once in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend;

He knows our need,

To our weakness is no stranger.

Behold your king.

Katie:

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Henry W. Longfellow

In despair I bowed my head

“There is no peace on Earth,” I said

For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men

...

Then rang the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep”

Matt:

Angels, From the Realms of Glory by James Montgomery

Justice now revokes the sentence,

Mercy calls you, break your chains.

Previous Episode

Tech & Kids Part 2

Parenting our children through the highs and lows of our technological world can be a challenge. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Jon Moser provides us with four helps. He gives us one technology lesson to instruct our children in. He gives us one technology danger to protect our children from. He provides one issue that we should be able to engage our children about and he gives us one redeeming quality that technology offers our kids.

Show Notes:

Instructive:

· Help your kids understand how social media algorithms work to populate their feeds. Help them understand the goals of the social media platform.

Protective:

· Protect your family’s privacy. Encourage the use of privacy settings on social media platforms. Have a conversation about contact lists and who should be allowed into them. Consider using a VPN to protect against malware infection.

· Example: protonvpn.com

Engaging:

· Engage with your children about technology use. Have a discussion about using technology well. Learn to identify when technology is controlling us. Learn to detach from technology and connect with the real world.

Redeeming:

· Technology can be used well. When we are better able to redeem our time because of the convenience of technology, we are using it well. Connecting loved ones across distances offers wonderful advantages.

Next Episode

Whole Brain Living: Understanding the Left and Right Brain (Part 1)

Two halves make a whole. This is true for everything. But it is uniquely true for our brains. Each half, the left and the right, bring a wholeness that without either one, we are much less than half. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Ted Witzig Jr., Brian Sutter, Kaleb Beyer and Kathy Knochel help us better understand the vast wonder of our created brains and give us a vision for healthy functioning that uses whole brain living.

Show notes:

The left brain (hemisphere) is understood to be the seat of rational logic. It excels in language, math and science.

The right brain (hemisphere) is understood to be the seat of emotional perception. It excels in music, art and fantasy.
It is common that people tend toward one side over the other. That is, they view the world, engage in relationships and respond to their environments by leading with one side of the brain over the other.
Whole brain living is seeking to understand the value that each brain hemisphere brings.
It is possible to grow in our ability to use whole brain thinking. In fact, whole brain living will aid connection in our relationships, understanding of other people, processing our environments and the worship of God.