- Each week, we have focused on a Christmas Song and a WORD from that Song…
Week 1: Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel = HOPE of Christmas - Week 2: Go Tell It on The Mountain = STORY of Christmas
- Week 3: O Come All Ye Faithful = GLORY (presence) of Christmas
Today, we are looking at one of the most well-known songs
JOY TO THE WORLD
1. Joy to the world; the Lord is come; Let Earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry Heart prepare him room, And Heav’n and nature sing.
2. Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns, Let men their Songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, Repeat the sounding joy.
3. No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow Far as the curse is found.
4. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness, And wonders of his love.
Song History
Written by Issac Watts
- Born in 1674, England
- Wrote more than 750 Hymns
Considered the father of “Praise and Worship”
- Most music was just Psalms put to music
- He wrote out of his theological convictions
Wrote “Joy to the World” as a part of a series of Poems in 1719
- Not put to music until 100 years later
- New “song” was released at Christmas time
But this song was not written to specifically be a “CHRISTMAS SONG”
- Meant to sung all year
A song about the Victory of Jesus and his 2ND COMING
This first verse has “NEWS” then a “RESPONSE”
NEWS:
1. Joy to the world; the Lord is come; Let Earth receive her King;
This is not just “new”; this is “GOOD NEWS”
News that we respond to
First, we learn that THE LORD IS COME…
- Has and will
Two things can be right at the same time
- Jesus has come – The Incarnation
- Jesus will COME AGAIN – The 2nd Coming
This song is about living in the Tension of what HAS HAPPENED and what WILL HAPPEN
What do we do when we hear good news?
WE CELEBRATE
This is why this song became connected to Christmas
- Celebrating the incredible thing happening; Looking to the future
RESPONSE:
Let ev’ry Heart prepare him room, And Heav’n and nature sing.
Theme of MAKE ROOM is central to the Birth of Jesus
Luke 2
6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
God came in the flesh to the world
- No room for the king of kings
We make room for what we value
Whether it is in your house or in your heart, we make space for IMPORTANT THINGS
Key Question:
What do you TRULY VALUE?
- What are you Making ROOM FOR?
- What are you proclaiming?
- What are you declaring?
If you want to have Joy, there must be room for the JOY GIVER
The first time Jesus came, He came in Humility
The Second time, He will come in VICTORY
How do we MAKE ROOM?
The Joy of Christmas is MAKING ROOM To Jesus
We make room by….
Finding Joy In Truth
- Because Jesus is truth
John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We make room by….
Finding Joy In giving
- Because Jesus came to give
Matthew 20:28
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
This gives us LIFE
John 10:10
A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
We make room by….
Finding Joy In God’s Authority
- Because he is worthy to be in charge, not us
Matthew 28:18
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
Luke 10:19
19 Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.
We make room by….
Finding Joy In God’s Grace
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
Mercy, not getting the punishment you deserve
Grace = Getting more more than you could ever earn or deserve
Psalm 98
1 Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has performed wonders; his right hand and holy arm have won him victory.
2 The Lord has made his victory known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.
4 Let the whole earth shout to the Lord; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.
5 Sing to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song.
6 With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout triumphantly in the presence of the Lord, our King.
7 Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy
9 before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly.