The story of Christmas can be summed up in one word- love! God the Father had a great love for us sinners. Out of love He planned the way out of sin, death, and hell. We welcome the coming of the Christ-child with great joy. At the same time, we know that the reason Jesus was born was to offer His life as a sacrifice to God, so that we might be redeemed. This is the greatest Christmas gift of all!
Joy to the World is a wonderful hymn that reminds of why we celebrate this wonderful holiday! Since Christmas is only a bit over a week away, the students analyzed lines from the hymn. They explained what the lines meant and how they relate to Christmas. Keep reading to learn, in the students' own words, the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come”
My line means the world is in joy because the Lord is coming to the Earth to take away our sins by dying on the cross.
The true meaning of Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. That's why we celebrate Christmas.
- Shi Xuan
“Let Earth receive her King”
My line means embracing the arrival of Jesus Christ, who’s often referred to as the King. This event expresses the joy and celebration of the birth of Jesus and his coming to earth. His purpose in coming to earth is to save people from their sins by dying on the cross and resurrecting.
- Ivy
“Let every heart prepare Him room”
We can prepare our hearts by listening to God's word, believing it, and sharing it with other people. Christmas celebrates the coming of Jesus.
- Koel
Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns
Let all their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy
“Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns”
"The Savior reigns" means the birth of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and our Savior. Joy to the earth means that the earth is full of joy because Jesus loves us, so he sacrificed himself for us.
- Joice
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love
“He rules the world with truth and grace”
It means that God owns the world and that he is a good ruler. He has mercy and grace. Whoever believes in him will have an everlasting life forever because he loved us. He was born on Christmas day. He loved us so much that he died on the cross to save us from our own sins.
- Vincent
“And makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness”
It means that God ruling the world makes the world do things to prove God's existence. It is meant to show God's power in his glory and his achievement through Christmas and his Son’s death and resurrection.
- Maximus
The St. Stephen Lutheran Church Christmas Eve program is coming up this Sunday. Our theme for this year is 'One Small Babe - Salvation for All!' and many of our school children chose to participate. If you would like to hear more from our students about why Christmas is such a joyful and important occasion, we welcome you to join us.
The service is on Christmas Eve at 10:00am. Come to St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 320 Moorpark Ave in Mountain View. We would love to see you there!
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