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Whose Birthday? #14

Archives: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? #14

Carols


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MORE CAROLS

Carols

Add these stanzas when you sing the traditional carols. Many more are available in the new collection "Carols with Justice" from Alternatives.

"Fear Not," the Angel Said

Sung to TERRA BEATA SMD "This is My Father's World"

"Fear not!" the angel said, "God's joy is in the air!
Now go to Bethlehem and see a newborn baby there.
A Savior, yet a child! So young, and yet the Lord!"
God's grace astounds, God's love surrounds This sinful, hurting world.

Fear not, you hungry child, You homeless refugee,
You battered woman, burdened down - God came to set you free.
For God's own Son was poor; He cried and suffered, too.
God's grace astounds; God's love abounds For people just like you.

Fear not when questions come: "How can I know God's way?"
"Do my possessions weigh me down?" "Can God change me today?"
For Jesus came to be True bread that satisfies;
And in his birth, God touched the Earth. Christ saves, forgives, and guides.

Fear not, you church of Christ, Distracted and distressed,
For long ago in troubled times, Christ came, and we were blest.
Our Prince of Peace is born - Our light, our life, our song!
In him we see our unity, In him God makes us strong.

 

Biblical References: Luke 2:1-20; 2 Corinthians 8:9; John 6:35
Tune: Franklin L. Sheppard, 1915
Text: Copyright ©1999 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
305 S Broadway, Pitman, NJ 08071; Email: Bruce.Gillette@ecunet.org

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is co-pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, NJ and author of "Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship" (Geneva Press, 2000). Her hymn, "God, We Await Your Advent Here" was published in the 1999 edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" See http://simpleliving.org/Archives/XB/XB19990929.php#AwaitAdvent

 

Angels We Have Heard on High

Born of God's own love divine,
We will feed the poorest one.
Christ brings peace to humankind.
Loving justice shall be done!
Refrain: Gloria in excelsis Deo;
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

(Cynthia A. Douglas)

 

O Baby Born in Bethlehem | AUDIO

by Beth Rice Luttrell

Read this hymn as a poem or sing it to one of the familiar tunes listed below.

1. O baby born in Bethlehem,
We sing about your birth:
You came to bring abundant life
And justice to the earth;
To bring the gospel to the poor,
To help the blind to see;
You came to heal the broken heart
And set the captive free.

2. O baby born in Bethlehem,
Injustice still is strong;
And we who strive to do your will
Must learn to fight the wrong.
The greedy still oppress the poor,
The hungry cry for bread;
And countless weary seek, in vain,
A place to lay a head.

3. O baby born in Bethlehem,
You grew to change the earth;
So may we grow in heart and mind,
Respecting human worth;
All earth's resources let us share,
Rejecting waste and greed,
That we may find, as love demands,
Enough for every need.

4. O baby born in Bethlehem,
We bring this gift to you:
We pledge to stand for right and good
As you would grow to do;
To speak for those who have no voice,
To shield the poor and weak,
To bring good news about your birth
To all who justice seek.
Biblical Reference: Luke 4:18
Meter: C.M.D. (Common Meter Double) 8.6.8.6.D
Tunes: CAROL: It Came upon the Midnight Clear; CONSOLATION; ELLACOMBE: Hosanna, Loud Hosanna; FOREST GREEN; KINGSFOLD; MARIAS LOVSÅNG; MATERNA: O Beautiful, for Spacious Skies; NOEL; TALLIS' THIRD TUNE

Reprinted by permission from Sing Justice! Do Justice! A Collection of New Hymns and Songs with Familiar and New Tunes, published by Selah Publishing Co. For permission to reprint and a catalog of Selah's music, call 1-800-852-6172.


Add to this holy season with new stanzas when singing traditional Christmas carols. Many like these are available in Alternatives' collection "Carols with Justice."


FOR MORE HYMNS FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS,

see Alternatives new collection Sing Justice! Do Justice!

For Advent

God of Justice Everflowing, #19
Hope Is a Candle, #17
We Walk Today in Darkness, #10

For Christmas

Dream a Dream, #22
O Baby Born In Bethlehem, #11 (also in Alternatives' "A Christmas Collection," one of the three Read Alone - Read Aloud booklets)


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This page last updated 12 Sept. 2013

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