I love music.
I love Christmas.
And I really love Christmas music!
Somewhere, somehow, sometime around Thanksgiving, someone flips a switch that alerts sound systems everywhere (even elevator music) to play Christmas tunes. School concerts, church community choirs, shopping centers, Pandora…there’s special music in the air!
But…have you noticed over the years a strange thing began to happen? Classic Christmas music morphed from incredible stories of Jesus’ birth to roasting chestnuts, partridges in pear trees, and other warm and fuzzy traditions that became “Christmas.” Like perfectly wrapped packages with nothing inside, Christmas music lost its reason.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have anything against jingle bells, Frosty, or Rudolph. But I long for kids to know our Christian musical roots that touch our hearts this time of year. I want our granddaughter, Cadence, to grow up singing carols. (Do you sense a musical theme here?) What if our children’s ministries could give the gift of…
- Jesus-centered music:Beautiful, memory-making lyrics that point to Jesus. No longer will Christmas be the planet’s biggest birthday party that’s forgotten the guest of honor!
- Music that’s stood the test of time:“What Child is This?” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” “Go, Tell It On the Mountain.” Beloved songs our grandparents and their parents sang.
- Contemporary music videos featuring kids like them: Kids everywhere love our VBS music videos—so now you can bring favorite Christmas music to the singalong screen for your ministry and home. Plus, the actions make the songs even more memorable for kids.
- Behind-the-scenes nuggets:Did you know…
- The words to “What Child Is This?” weren’t written by a musician or poet but by a man who sold ship insurance.
- “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” was an African-American spiritual sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers who toured the country to raise money for their college.
- A Sunday school teacher’s trip to Bethlehem inspired the song “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
- The tune to “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” wasn’t written to celebrate the birth of Jesus but rather the birth of the printing press!
The MORE Songs of the Christmas Story 4-week lesson pack contains all this and more! Available in both a download and a book with DVD—choose the one that best fits your needs. Need more carols for your Christmas playlist? Check out Songs of the Christmas Story, featuring “Joy to the World,” “Angels We Have Heard On High,” “Silent Night,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Use this special edition of KidMin Quick Picks to give these Jesus-centered gifts to kids in your children’s ministry this Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Joy!
Joani Schultz
1 Comment
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Even these that you mention, good as they are, pale in comparison to some older hymns of the Church. Of the Father’s Love Begotten. All My Heart This Night Rejoices. O Jesus Christ, They Manger Is. A Great and Mighty Wonder. From Heaven Above to Earth I Come. Savior of the Nations, Come. I do agree we should start with the tunes that are more familiar.