Advent Devotions Door County 2022

Christmas Day December 25: Calypso Carol (English/Caribbean) - Links & Lyrics Below Is there a happier way to sing about the Greatest Story Ever Told than in Calypso? This song, with a rhythm that may inspire dancing, is a straight-up fun (much different from a Fum) retelling of the Christmas events, with Jesus, Mary, angels and shepherds. The usual suspects. The added feature to this carol is in the fourth stanza, where the composer, Englishman Michael Perry, flexes his theological muscles to give us these glorious lyrics:       Mine are riches, from your poverty,      from your innocence, eternity;      mine, forgiveness by your death for me,      child of sorrow for my joy. Here, he makes creative use of "The Great Exchange" -- the Christian idea based on 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Jesus took on himself the punishment of our sin, and in exchange, God reckoned to our account the perfect righteousness of his Son. In this carol, we see other exchanges, with humankind as the

Fourth Week of Advent: Love - Christmas Eve December 24: Fum, Fum, Fum (Catalan) - Links & Lyrics Below I grew up in a home bursting with Norwegian pride and tradition. As relatives would come to visit, the house would be filled with the languages and expressions from “the old country.” But also overheard were English words sprinkled in and, occasionally, an odd blending of both when the conversation required a word that neither language could do justice. Occasionally, I would ask about a particular word or phrase, and the response often was, “well…there’s no English word for it…” So it is with Fum, Fum, Fum . If I were a child, my question to an adult in the room would be, “What’s a fum?” Historians who have studied this carol from the northeast region of Spain can’t agree. Is the word meant to imitate the rhythm created by an instrument? Or is it a take on the word “smoke,” based on the dialect of the area? The carol has simple words that retell the story of Christmas, focusing s

Fourth Week of Advent: Love December 23: Wexford Carol (Irish) - Links & Lyrics Below  During the Advent Season it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season that we lose sight of what it is all about. When we listen to Wexford Carol and listen to the words and music, it slows us down to remember the true meaning of the season. It takes us to Luke 2:1-20, “The Birth of Jesus.” It is a reminder of a desperate world needing the love of God. Even though this took place over two thousand years ago, it seems that we are still a desperate world needing God’s love. We need to remember that God loved us so much that He sent his son into this world as a tiny baby and be born of meager means. God sent angels to appear to the shepherds in the fields to let them know what was taking place. The angels told them not to be afraid. Words that we need to hear this day as well. With haste they went to see the baby Jesus with thankful hearts and joyful minds. What things a

Fourth Week of Advent: Love December 22: Gesu Bambino (Italian) - Links & Lyrics Below Traditional Advent-Christmas carols come mainly from the nineteenth century and earlier, with relatively few written in recent years. One exception is Gesu Bambino , written by an Italian, Pietro Yon in 1917, with the melody composed by Frederick H. Martens. While this carol does not appear in several denominational hymnals I consulted, you may find it in supplemental song books. However, there is wide use among well-known singers, choral groups, and symphony orchestras.                                    When blossoms flowered ‘mid the snows Upon a winter night, Was born the Child, the Christmas Rose, The King of Love and Light.     Yon’s chorus was patterned on O come All Ye Faithful :                         O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him. Something stirred in Brother Yon’s life, inspiring him to share his thoughts on Jesus’ birth. Can it be said of us that s

Fourth Week of Advent: Love December 21: Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit (Filipino) - Links & Lyrics Below Today is the first day of winter, and tonight is the “longest night”. The Christmas season is marked by joy and excitement and for good reason: We celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ to the world. Many celebrate family members coming home, and church family coming together for special services.   But the season is also full of pain and grief that many experience and for good reasons. They have known personal loss, even very recently. Or pain lingers from losses suffered long ago. It is not unusual for churches to have a special service on this “longest night” to help hurting people in their struggle with the darkness of grief and despair.   A favorite Christmas carol in the Philippines is called Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit . I encourage you to plug that title into a search engine, and if you include “Filipino Choir of Los Angeles” you can get to a public performance. There is obvious delight i

Fourth Week of Advent: Love December 20: What Child Is This? (English) - Links & Lyrics Below Read Luke 2:8-21 We live in a time where we have access to whatever we want within moments or two-day shipping. It is hard to imagine the anticipation that must have filled the minds of those who were waiting for the Messiah. We can quickly forget that there was a 400-year gap of silence between the prophets and the birth of Jesus. When we sing songs like What Child Is This? , we struggle to know the weight of the joy and celebration that the savior has finally come. We can look to Luke 2:8-21 and see how the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. They at first were fearful but quickly the angel told them of the good news for great joy that would be for all the people. That this child who was born in Bethlehem is Christ the Lord. The waiting is over and the king has come. I love the lyric from this song, The King of kings salvation brings; let loving hearts enthrone Him . This season

Fourth Week of Advent: Love December 19: All Is Well (United States of America) - Links & Lyrics Below Matthew 9:36 The wait is almost over! Christmas is just a few days away. I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but I really do not like waiting. I’m so bad that if I see a line with more than 2 people, I will either continue shopping or put my items back. Recently, I went to the drive-thru with a friend. The nice young man at McDonald’s told me it would be a two-minute wait for my fries. TWO minutes? Are you kidding me? I was pretty upset, and my friend said the one word that has the complete opposite effect on me: Relax. Do you REALLY think I relaxed? I’ll give you a hint, NO. We all have had our moments. During Advent and the days before Christmas, it’s easy to let stress overwhelm us. Listen to the song: All Is Well . It’s like Jesus is whispering to us to just relax and to let His peace enter our hearts. But if we really listen to His whisper, we won’t get upset, we will st

Fourth Week of Advent: Love December 18: Laylat Al-Milad (Arabic) - Links & Lyrics Below I wonder what the most important part of the Christmas celebration is for you. Before you read on, maybe you’d like to jot down a few things about Christmas that are meaningful for you. Here are a few things that would be on my list:      • The quiet of Christmas Day.      • Singing the favorite Christmas carols.      • The candlelight part of the Christmas Eve service. I think for many of us, Christmas worship would be on our list in some form. Not surprising. The warm sentimentality of Christmas Eve touches my heart every year. And there are times when the prophets remind us that our worship is never for the sake of ourselves and our good feelings, even when the good feelings are true and real. Read Isaiah 1:10-18 for one of the most blistering indictments of worship that exists for its own sake. (Go ahead. I’ll wait.) Ouch. Our religious observances —even Christmas worship — are incomplete

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 17: Angels We Have Heard on High (French) - Links & Lyrics Below Eighteen notes for one word in this song. I remember as a youth when we would sing this Christmas hymn in church. It was a hymn that I liked but it was challenging. Do I have enough breath to sing the word “Gloria” as it is written? A lot of times I had to sneak in an extra breath. Why did the composer have to accentuate this word with so many notes and go for so long without letting us take a breath? Angels must have really good lungs. We’re singing about a special heavenly glory. Glory to God in the highest. Gloria in excelsis Deo. In the story of the Transfiguration, Jesus appeared in glorified form. His appearance changed. His clothes became dazzling white. A cloud came and overshadowed Peter, James, and John and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. To the shepherds living in the fields, the angel of the Lord appeared before them and the glory of the Lord shon

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 16: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (Polish) - Links & Lyrics Below Why is it such a big deal that God chose to enter our world as a baby? In a world more likely to associate saviors with muscle-bound men and women imbued with superhuman traits from the comic books, the classical Polish hymn Infant Holy, Infant Lowly paints a very different picture of salvation. In just two short verses the events of Luke 2:1-20, Jesus’ humble birth in Bethlehem and the angelic host guiding the shepherds to see their newborn king lying in the manger are beautifully described. Unlike our expectations of superheroes and saviors today, Jesus came to save us in the least-expected way. The Lord of all humbly came into our world to fulfill His Father’s plan of salvation, the plan He promised already at the end of Genesis 3 when He sacrificed an animal to clothe our sin and nakedness. This baby lying in the manger is the true sacrifice that has set us free from all our s

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 15: Adeste Fideles/O Come, All Ye Faithful (Latin) O Come, All Ye Faithful is a Latin hymn from the eighteenth century, now translated into more than 100 other languages. The original Latin text consists of four stanzas, but the second stanza is missing in most hymnals. Here are some thoughts gleaned from all four stanzas. First, the need for understanding. Christ was not created, but is eternal; only at the first Christmas was He virgin-born into the human race, to pay the ransom and make salvation available to all. He became the living Word - God in the flesh John 1:14. He was the promised Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world in John 1:29. He can forgive sin, but never excuses it. Hence, He is worthy of true and dedicated worship; every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. You cannot call Him Lord and not do the things which he says, Luke 6:46. We need to be obedient in our everyday walk. True worship is not always convenient, it should co

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 14: Los Peces en el Rio (Spanish & Latin American) - Links & Lyrics Below But look how the fish drink in the river, But look how they drink to see God being born . . . . The Virgin is combing her hair Between curtain and curtain. This popular Spanish Christmas carol alternates between scenes of the Virgin Mary consumed in mundane tasks like combing hair and the fish in the river drinking to the newborn God in Christ. The contrast between the devotion of the fish and Mary’s mundane distraction is startling. That’s not the way Christian art often portrays Mary! But, a closer look tells a different story. Fish have always drunk in the river, even before the birth of Christ. That’s what fish do. The coming of God in the flesh transforms this into devotion because Jesus’ Incarnation and death reconcile God and creation. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, . . . making peace

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 13: Rise Up Shepherd and Follow (African American Spiritual) Read  Luke 2:8-20 What must it have been like for the shepherds the night Jesus was born? Out in the fields with their sheep, stoking a fire as the temperature dropped. Something strange was already in the air – was that a new star in the sky? Suddenly an angel is before them and the whole sky lit up in a glorious and holy way. Shuttering with fear they heard the angel’s announcement “Don’t be afraid – I’ve got great news – the Savior is born in Bethlehem! Rise up Shepherds – go and see!” And they did! They left their flocks, the sheep and the lambs, the goats and the rams and went. And it was just as the angels said it would be. And they returned to their fields glorifying and praising God. The shepherds were blessed to receive news of the Savior in such an unexpected way. And they dropped everything and went to see Him. They did indeed rise up and follow the word of the angels. This passa

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 12: Sing We Now of Christmas (French) - Links & Lyrics Below Most days we don’t make the news. Important things happen in our region all the time, but most of the time the occurrences that take place here don’t reverberate across the world. Sometimes that can make people feel insignificant or overlooked. It is fascinating that out of all of the places God could have chosen to arrive on the scene, it was in a small, overlooked town.      Angels from on high say, ‘Shepherds come and see.      He is born in Bethlehem, a blessed lamb for thee.’ Micah 5:2 alludes to the small nature of Bethlehem and yet goes on to proclaim all of the hope that will cross the world because of our Savior who was born there. One of the advantages to being less notorious is the often times peaceful nature and pace it provides in life. This is especially beneficial with all of the adjustments a newborn causes a family. The early days of Jesus’ life were far from peaceful a

Third Week of Advent: Joy December 11: Joy to the World (English) - Links & Lyrics Below Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him …. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!  Psalm 98:1,4 (ESV) This psalm was the inspiration for Joy to the World , though its original author, Isaac Watts, never meant for his poem to be a Christmas song. It was merely his reinterpretation of the psalm in light of the magnificence of Jesus Christ. Over one hundred years later, part of his poem was set to music and became the beloved hymn we sing today. Now that is something to be joyful about this Christmas. Because of Jesus Christ, we can, as the psalm says, sing to our Lord a new song—a song of forgiveness, grace, and redemption from our sin. We have received our hope of deliverance through God’s right hand of salvation through Christ our Lord. Joy to the world

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 10: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (United States of America) Poets often give words to thoughts and emotions that touch us deeply. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the words to this American Carol when he was in a deep depression. He acknowledges the pain and despair he felt, and that many can feel in our world today. We love the joy-filled, robust melodies of Christmas, but for some they are hard to sing. Maybe you, or someone you know, is in a place of despair, grief, pain, uncertainty. One of the greatest gifts you can give someone is to really listen to them, to enter in to where they sit and to give them your full attention. That is what Jesus did. He who was God became man. He came to live with us and to bring forever hope to a world in great need. He shared His time and demonstrated His great love for all people. Wadsworth was reminded of the greatest truth: God loves you and will never leave you or abandon you. Seemingly all of a sudde

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 9: Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella/Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle (French) This is a French Christmas carol which you are probably familiar with – at least the tune if not the lyrics. It is a melody full of mirth and joy. The narrative of song is that Jeanette and Isabella are two female farmhands who have found the newborn baby Jesus and Mary his mother in the stable. They are excited by this discovery and run to the village to tell everyone. They all rush to see this amazing thing, and of course they bring refreshments to share and come knocking at the door. We get the idea that the women have already become nursemaids and protectors as the visitors are cautioned to quit knocking and to keep their voices down, It is wrong when the Child is sleeping, It is wrong to talk so loud. Silence, now as you gather around, Lest your noise should waken Jesus. Hush! Hush! See how He slumbers; Hush! Hush! See how fast He sleeps! The community t

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 8: Silent Night/Stille Nacht (German) - Links and Lyrics Below The beloved Christmas carol, Silent Night , comes to us from Austria. Stille Nacht in the original German, was written as a poem by a young Austrian priest, Joseph Mohr, in 1816, at a time Austrians were surviving the devastation of the Napoleonic wars and famine. It wasn’t until two years later, in 1818, in the Austrian village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, when Father Mohr, in need of a Christmas carol for Christmas Eve Mass, asked his choirmaster and organist, Franz Gruber, if he could set the poem to music. Due to recent flooding of the nearby Salzach River, the church organ was unable to be played, so Gruber composed the music for guitar accompaniment and that Christmas Eve night at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, the Christmas carol Silent Night was heard for the first time. Father Mohr’s congregation was traumatized from war, poverty-stricken and hungry. Silent Night gave them

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 7: Somerkersfees (Afrikaans) At first glance I saw that the song title Somerkersfees meant “Summer Christmas”, and being from Wisconsin, my mind briefly thought, “Are they talking about Christmas in July”, you know, when you put up Christmas-themed decorations in summer? Then, I suddenly realized that this hymn comes from South Africa, which is in the southern hemisphere, south of the equator, and therefore their Christmas, their December 25, happens during their summer. While we’re praying for a white blanket of Christmas snow for Christmas, this song asks God to Gift us a bright Summer Christmas . Now, I do love a nice blanket of snow for Christmas, but the idea of kicking back on the beach in the warm sun sounds nice, too. With that said, the same sun that warms their beach is the same sun that we see in December. Not only do we have the same sun in the sky that warms us more in July, and warms South Africa more in December, God also gives

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 6: The Friendly Beasts (French) Years ago, the children’s Christmas program depicted Jesus’ birth as witnessed by the various kinds of animals one might find on a small farm. Sheep, cows, chickens, a horse, and of course a donkey. Several of the animals had been given a voice and were discussing the events they had witnessed. In this charming retelling of the story, the animals were all in amazement of what they had witnessed but which had been outside their experience to explain. They were certain something wonderful had happened and that the world had been changed because of the birth of the child that lay in their manger. Luke tells us that the sign the angel gave to the shepherds was to look for the newborn child wrapped in cloth and laying in a manger in the town of Bethlehem. Like the animals in the Christmas program, they too were amazed by something beyond their experience, but realized that this birth was wrapped in wonderment and love i

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 5: Still, Still, Still (Austrian) - Links and Lyrics Below Still, Still, Still is a beautiful Christmas song, better described as a lullaby. While the actual origin of this Austrian song is lost to history, it can be traced as far back as the 1810’s. Over the years, the words have been slightly changed, but the enchanting arrangement of the melody results in the sensation of the melodic motion of a rocking cradle. The peaceful nature of the music is further reproduced in the words of the three stanzas. “ Still, still, still ” depicts Mary rocking baby Jesus tightly in her arms, as she protects him from the winter cold. Stanza two continues this image with, “ Sleep, sleep, sleep ” bringing to mind the peaceful baby Jesus as he is being watched over by Mary and the angels. And, “ Dream, dream, dream ” elicits the vision of a multitude of jubilant angels watching in wonder as they contemplate the “joyous day to come.” Perhaps, this Christmas lullab

Second Week of Advent: Peace December 4: Let There Be Peace on Earth (United States of America) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all people. Luke 2:13-14 Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me… It was an advent worship service in the 1960’s. I was in my teens. A young lady in a mini-skirt and knee-high boots was enthusiastically singing Let There Be Peace on Earth . I wondered how this could be possible. The headlines screamed of violence at home and abroad. People of peace, like Martin Luther King Jr., were assassinated. I felt as if the world was spinning into utter chaos. Where is peace? In a new century, we are asking the same old questions, Where is peace? A war is fought in Europe while gun violence shatters the peace at home. Where is the peace the angels promised so long ago? Where is the peace that we so long for? Dear Friends, peace

First Week of Advent: Hope December 3: Carol of the Bells/Shchedryk (Ukrainian) - Links & Lyrics Below "For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?" Romans 8:24 Within church communities, Advent is a time of anticipating and preparing for the coming of Christ Jesus. For children, the entire month of December can often be about expectantly waiting for the next great thing - a break from school, time with family, gifts under the tree on Christmas Day, staying up extra-late on New Year’s Eve. Carol of the Bells and Shchedryk , the Ukrainian folk chant it was derived from, are full of that same hopeful anticipation for the future. Shchedryk , which can be translated as “bountiful,” is a new year’s melody that tells the tale of a swallow flying into a home to predict a wonderful coming year for the family. Throughout Carol of the Bells, the lyrics encourage listeners to embrace the added goodwill and joy found during Christma

First Week of Advent: Hope December 2: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming/Es Ist ein Ros entsprungen (German) - Link & Lyrics Below Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming is a German carol dating to the sixteenth century. Translated into English by Theodore Baker in 1894, today it is beloved worldwide. At first glance, one might wonder what a blooming rose has to do with Christmas? But the carol is not mere sentimentality. Notice that this “rose” springs up from Jesse’s lineage (st. 1) and was foretold by the prophet Isaiah (st. 2). The carol recalls the prophecy of Isaiah 11. Please stop and read that chapter now. Though God had promised King David that one of his sons would reign forever (2 Sam 7), the story of Israel’s kings was one of faithlessness and decline. In the end, the house of Jesse (David’s father) would become nothing more than a stump. But God promised a king who would spring forth like a shoot from that stump and he would not disappoint. He would be guided by the Holy Spirit

First Week of Advent: Hope December 1: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus (Welsh) - Link & Lyrics Below When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, . . . to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Galatians 4:4,5 When the great clock of time pointed to the hour of the fullness of time, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The world was ripe for the coming of the long-awaited deliverer. God sent his son to save us, to release his people from fears and sins, that we can find our rest in him. As we look back and celebrate the Nativity of Christ at Christmas, we also look forward to the promised return of Christ at the Second Coming. The words of this hymn beautifully convey a heartfelt double meaning of Celebration and Expectation. The events and turmoil of our world today have many expressing anxiously, “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free”. But to me, the most comforting words in the hymn are, “By Thine own et