What songs should we sing at Christmas?

November 8, 2022

Can you imagine any of the great Christmas carols ever being replaced? I can’t! They’re timeless. Christmas carols are so well known and loved that it might seem strange to consider the question of our Christmas song choices. But as with any songs at church, Christmas songs must be selected intentionally for the building up of the church (1 Cor 14:26) so that the gospel dwells in us richly (Col 3:16). And that intentionality should affect how church musicians approach playing and singing them too. So let’s take a few moments to consider some principles that might guide Christmas song choices.

1. The Goal

Christmas services are a high point in the church calendar – they mark a special time celebrating Jesus’ birth with church family and loved ones. But it’s important to be specific about what we’re seeking to achieve at these services.

Are we hoping to encourage those who already believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour?

Are we hoping to share the gospel with those who don’t yet know Jesus?

Chances are, it will be both. But clarifying your primary aim (and audience) will guide everything in the service.

I would suggest the primary aim is to encourage believers, with a secondary aim of reaching those who don’t yet know Christ.

And crucially, we want to ensure the gospel story is being told throughout the service, with the songs serving that end.

2. Songs that are accessible

Because we are selecting songs to be sung by such a range of people, the songs need to make sense. That might sound obvious, but church songs – and especially Christmas carols – can contain jargon or antiquated words. Sometimes we just keep singing them without exploring their meaning. But if we don’t know what we’re singing, the goal of building one another up cannot be achieved.

The great news is that most people are familiar with Christmas carols and have positive associations with them. So we can work from this base, and as we introduce a carol in the church service, we can explain its meaning and significance in the story of Jesus’ birth. Or we might need to explain a word. We could introduce ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ by sharing that ‘Hark’ means to listen or give attention – and then consider why the birth of Jesus is good news worth listening to. This provides a gateway into the carol and invites consideration of the gospel.

A brilliant song that explains the term ‘Emmanuel’ is God With Us by All Sons & Daughters. The writers unpack why God would choose to take human form and dwell among his people:

You've come
To be hope
To this world
For Your honour and name
You've come
To take sin
To bear shame
And to conquer the grave
 
Our Deliverer
You are Saviour
In Your presence we find our strength
Over everything
Our redemption
God with us
You are God with us

What a great way to ‘open up’ the Christmas message!

3. Beauty & Tradition

Christmas is a time when we slow down and treasure things of beauty and tradition. The city streets here in Melbourne are lined with incredible decorations; we plan traditional gatherings with family and friends; and many visit church at Christmas because of a love of the beauty and tradition on offer. We do well to embrace that reality in selecting and arranging traditional carols, acknowledging that we stand with believers who have gone before us. Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Silent Night are carols that I believe should be in all of our Christmas services.

And it’s not just which carols we sing, but how we arrange them. Seeking to serve the song, rather than distract from it, is key. That said, bringing an element of freshness may be good – perhaps a new interlude, or an unexpected instrument choice – but it should be done tastefully. Simplicity and space. Beauty and tradition.

4. Lament

We rightly focus on the joy of Christmas. After all, a baby – the Saviour of the world – was born! But we can overlook the lament in the Bible story of awaiting Jesus’ birth, with God having been silent for 400 years before the arrival of John the Baptist. We mark this waiting in the season of Advent – a season of longing, heart preparation, and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and of looking forward expectantly to his return.

In this context, O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a wonderful carol to sing. It speaks of Israel’s exile and deep yearning for a Messiah. It lifts us above our individual focus and reminds us that, like Israel, we are God’s people – “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

5. Hope

O Holy Night perfectly captures the tension in the Christmas story – “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” Yes, we are hopeful and rejoice – but we are weary. We feel that acutely after the last few years.

Also, we are sinful and broken. And for many, Christmas is a really difficult time of being apart from loved ones – “In all our trials born to be our friend, He knows our need, to our weaknesses no stranger”. O Holy Night is so musically and lyrically rich, I can’t imagine a Christmas service without it.

We want to present the hope of the Christmas story in accessible ways. Having a song item, with space for personal reflection, can be very effective in this space. Real Hope by Colin Buchanan, How Many Kings? by Downhere, and Jesus Strong & Kind by CityAlight are the kinds of reflection songs that beautifully balance life’s realities with the hope offered in Jesus.

Although not exhaustive, these five principles are hopefully a step towards helping us think with intention about how we sing biblically, joyfully, and inclusively as we cherish the birth of Jesus this Christmas.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born

Greg Cooper