O Come O Come Emmanuel – This Christmas
Find today’s Family Advent Activity at the bottom of today’s reading.
Today’s Reading:
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
According to the book, “The Soul Felt Its Worth,” by Cameron Frank and Preston Norman, some say “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” was written as early as the 12th century. But the oldest original form dates to 1710. It is based on chants sung by early Christians called the “O Antiphons” that focused heavily on the power behind the many names of Jesus.
“Names reflect identity. The names of God describe the attributes of God, and just as His names don’t change, His attributes don’t change,” Frank and Norman wrote.
While this Christmas is likely to be different than any other one you’ve celebrated, The Good News is: God is still the same.
Isaiah 7:14
“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
When people first heard the name Immanuel, they anticipated Jesus’ birth and his walking with them on earth. How thrilling it must have been to be alive at this time!
As we approach Christmas, we aren’t looking forward to a heavenly baby, but we can still celebrate God with us. Though he isn’t walking the earth, he is just as much with us when we follow Jesus.
As people anticipated the birth of Jesus, they expected the arrival of a king who would lead on their behalf and defeat their enemies. But what they received was much better. They received the humble, gentle, fierce, loving, bold, exciting, unpredictable perfect Son of God, Jesus. And we are still receiving that gift today. As Jesus said in John 16:7, the gift is even better now that we are able to receive the Holy Spirit to live personally and intimately with us. Always WITH US.
Questions:
What does the name Immanuel, God with us, mean to you?
How can you celebrate God never leaving your side this Christmas season?
Next Steps:
Check out “The Soul Felt Its Worth.” It unpacks a song for each day counting down to Christmas.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for never leaving our side. Allow us to feel your presence, especially as we enter this Christmas season in this strange year. Help us to stay focused on you through the craziness, and to know that while our world is always changing around us, you always stay the same. Amen.
Family Advent Activity:
Family Connection – Use the following prompt to have some meaningful family conversations.
How have you seen God take care of our family? Through good times and hard times, God is always with us. He never breaks his promises. We can thank God for his faithfulness.
Pray: “God, thank you for always keeping your good promises; especially the promise of sending your son, Jesus. He is the best gift! In Jesus’ name, amen.”
For more family fun, check out the monthly advent calendar full of seasonal activities.
This post was written by Ashlee Grosjean. Ashlee is a blogger at GratefulSheep.com and a stay-at-home mom and wife. She loves writing for this team, and she hopes to help convey God’s message through this study.
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