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Monday

The 5 Best Quotes about Christmas & Free Printable - Coffee & Conversation



Here is my choice for the 
5 Best Quotes on the subject of Christmas








I am not a fan of QUOTES

In fact sometimes I get very annoyed at how people almost treat a quote
 as more important than the 
Word of God


I actually wrote a blog post about Do We Really Need This Quote?








However I do see that there are certain topics that there are some great quotes on from some very reliable people. This month of course we are thinking about Christmas so let's get encouraged with some quotes around this.

There are many quotes from so many people on Christmas but I prefer to only refer to or recommend ones from people who I trust as standing firm on the Word of God.

So in the list below I will quote


Not  Rick Warren    but   C.S. Lewis

 Not  Priscilla Shirer   but   Corrie Ten Boom

Not  Joel Osteen  but   Robert Flatt





1.  C.S. Lewis

"Once in our world a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world."






2.  Handel H Brown

"To prepare our hearts for Christmas, we must cultivate the spirit of expectancy."






 


3.  Corrie Ten Boom

"Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life."








Have you read the 5 Best Quotes on Christmas?










4.  Robert Flatt

"The giving of gifts is not something man invented. God started the giving spree when He gave a gift beyond words, the unspeakable gift of His Son."






5.  C.S. Lewis


   "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."   

 




Don't forget to download our
                      Christmas Quotes Free Printable 







Plus why not have a look at the other Free resources in our












 


Saturday

10 Songs for Advent & Christmas - Set 1


Last year Fred and I took on a challenge to go live on Facebook each night from 1st to 24th of December to sing Songs for Christmas. 






 

I thought I would gather the first 10 of those Songs for Advent & Christmas together here in one resource.


With the links to:

the blog's Facebook page   Sandra's Ark Facebook Page 

Fred's Facebook page Apostolic Worship Facebook Page 

Fred's YouTube channel Apostolic Worship on YouTube  
This link takes you straight to the Playlist of the 24 nights.

We wanted to encourage the listeners that even though we were going through a time of lockdown due to Covid19 we could still sing some Christmas Songs together or learn a few new ones.

We even did some that were more geared for children but then we are all kids at heart - at least Fred and I are.  

These Kids songs can be found on my 







So here are the first 10 songs we covered in the order of the days
 just click on the pics to go to the recordings of the individual songs




 1.  Away in a Manger

This is the Christmas Carol everyone knows and relaxes over because we are so comfortable about singing it (well the first verse at least).

It was written in the late 19th Century and originally it was known as the Luther's Cradle Song because it was believed to have been written by Martin Luther.  However in the 20th Century it was decided that it originated in the US and not in Germany.


However have you noticed that there are two tunes for this song?

The one we did for our Facebook lives is the one we grew up with in the UK and the quicker one is the one known better in the US.


This Christmas Song focuses on the association of Jesus and children because our Saviour came as a child He knows human life completely and all children can turn to Him.?????









2.  Once in Royal David's City

I have a great connection with the author of this carol.

Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander lived Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the city I was born in; but many many years before me.

She was the wife of the Bishop and loved to write hymns for adults and children to worship God.

There is a Green Hill Far Away  &  All things Bright and Beautiful are 2 of her most well-known Hymns but she also adapted St. Patricks Breastplate into a hymn.

Click on the Links above and you will get more info 
and free printables. 


This Christmas Song was written to focus on the fact that 
Jesus was born of the virgin Mary.









3.  Calypso Carol

This is a more modern Christmas Carol as it was written in 1964 by Rev. Michael Perry.

He wrote it while a student at Theological College and since that went on to write over 300 other hymns.

His work is widely represented at Jubilate Hymns

I learnt this one when I was a teenager and it has remained a favourite of mine throughout the years.



This Christmas Song draws our attention at the very start to the infant Jesus but continues to direct us to Jesus 
as the Prince of Glory.






 


4.  While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night

This is one of the most well-known Christmas Carols and features in many Carol Services each year.


It was written in 1700

and based on Luke 2 v 8

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."


This Christmas Song focuses us on the importance of the message brought by the Angels and stresses the gladness & joy.









5.  Light of the World / Here I am to Worship

Some people may have been surprised by the inclusion of this 21st Century song written by a young 19 year old Tim Hughes and may have never thought of it as pertaining to Christmas before.

But just look at the words of the verses and you will see Jesus the Light of the world leaving glory to come to earth in humble human form.

The chorus takes us to our humble worship of the King of Kings in all His glory and of course the bridge doesn't leave us at the Christmas stage  but also brings us to the sacrifice on the cross.



This Christmas Song focuses us the worship we cannot fail to give when we consider what Jesus did for us by coming as the light for us but in all humility in human form.








6.  Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Back to the 1744 and we have a hymn by one of the most prolific hymn writers Charles Wesley.

He originally wrote a prayer based on reading Haggai 2 v 7 and considered the state of the world at that time.

Later that year he made the prayer into a hymn "with the intent for people to remember Advent and Christmas as commemorating the Nativity of Jesus and preparing for the Second Coming"


This Christmas Song focuses on the longing of the Old Testament Jews wishing for the Messiah to come and on god giving that Messiah - Jesus His Son.
 








7.  Joy to the World

This song is so triumphant from the first line.
The reason being that although we call this a Christmas Carol it is really about Christ's Triumphal return so we need to class it as an Advent Hymn.

It was written by Isaac Watts who was an English Minister and writer.
The inspiration came from Psalm 98.
It was published in his own set of Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1719.

It is so well-known that it was the most published Christmas Hymn in North America during the 20th Century.


This song is so triumphant from the first line.
The reason for this is that although we call it a Christmas Carol it is really about Christ's Triumphal return so we need to class it as an Advent Hymn.
 





 







8.  Oh Holy Night


Composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 this carol was originally a French Poem.

The Lyrics were written by Placide Cappeau in 1843 when he was asked to write a Christmas Poem to celebrate the renovation of his home town's church organ.  

In 1855 the French lyrics were translated into English by a minister called John Sullivan Dwight. 

The Carol features annually in the famous Carol from King's College, Cambridge.    


This Christmas Song focuses on the change 
the Lord Jesus would bring into the world 
both physically and spiritually.








9.  The First Nowell

This carol was first published in the form we know in 1823 and appears to have originated in Cornwall, UK.

The storyline of the carol is found in the Gospel of Luke where the angel announces the good news to the shepherds and the Gospel of Matthew where the star appears and leads the wise men.  However there is no mention of the star in the passage about the shepherds.


This Christmas Song focuses on the role of 
Jesus as the King over all 
from lowly shepherds 
to wealthy leaders.









10.  Unto Us A Child is Born

This is the shortest Christmas song we have included here.

It consists of one verse of 7 lines and is actually a good song to help with memorizing scripture as it is almost exactly the wording from 
Isaiah 9 v 6 where the prophecy is given of the birth of Jesus. 







This Christmas Song focuses on the role of Jesus as the 
Son of God born to be given for us
with
everything and everyone 
subject to Him 







There we have Set 1 of 
10 Songs for Advent & Christmas  


I hope you enjoy the videos and sing along with these great carols that herald the greatest birth of all time. 


All of the videos included in this post plus many others are available on You Tube

and you may also enjoy

 Apostolic Worship (Songs of Love)  










Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells - Christmas Songs for Kids




Do you find it hard to get visuals and recordings for different kids songs?






I have always found this a problem so I am sharing songs on the blog that I have used with children and providing you with


Visuals 
(Powerpoint or Picture or details of how you can make one) 


Words   
(chords also available)


Recordings  
(mp3 or video to learn the song) 



Then if you would like to download the visual of the song there will be a link provided to my creation, or I will direct you to where else you can find it.  

There will also be links for PDF's Fred has created for the words and chords. 



This month I am taking the theme of


CHRISTMAS


This song I have chosen is 


Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells


Everyone knows the tune of Jingle Bells so that means this will be an easy song to learn.

Many many years ago we worked with CEF Good News Clubs and this was one of the Christmas songs they gave us visuals for and so we learned a simple jolly song for kids and have used it in different kids meetings in schools and churches and homes for several years. 

We took this as one of the 2 Kids Christmas Songs that were included in our first

 Songs for Christmas 

Last year Fred & I went live on Facebook each night to get our friends and followers to sing 
Christmas Songs with us and have a little laugh as things don't always go as planned 
or we just had a happy memory of a song.
And plans are in progress for the same this year.


You can see all those live videos plus other post and videos at





VISUALS


The words were originally on different coloured bells






which you could draw by hand and cut out on different coloured card.

Then some (very happy to help) children could hold up for the others.





POWERPOINT


In later years with more opportunity to use projection on screens I designed powerpoints and pictures 










You can Download a copy of these four pictures for printing out HERE 





WORDS

Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells
Ring them out today
Christ was born in Bethlehem
To to take our sins away

Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells
Ring them out today
Tell all the world of Jesus' love
This happy Christmas Day


You can Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano HERE






ACTIONS


Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells
Ring them out today
- Lift hands up and swing them to pretend to ring bells

Christ was 
- Point up

Born in Bethlehem
- pretend to rock a baby

To take our sins away
- hands in at heart and then swing out

Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells
Ring them out today
- Lift hands up and swing them to pretend to ring bells

Tell all the world of
- Lift hands up move them out to form a circle

Jesus love
- Point up and them put hands over heart

This Happy Christmas Day
- Clap hands




RECORDING

 You can find the recording of this song on the video below from 





 



Notes:
I believe this was written by someone in Child Evangelism Fellowship many years ago but I don't think it is available as a printed song by them now.   



I Hope you enjoy the song and this is a help to you.









Previous Songs: 

Don't Forget!

You can find all our Kids Songs under Kid's Resources 

and 

all our Free Printables in our Resource Library