Luke 21:5-9 Dear Partner in Preaching, Want to shake things up a little bit this Sunday and invite a fresh hearing of an extremely challenging Gospel reading? Then move the hymn of the day to before the sermon and sing “Joy to the World.” Now, I suspect I know what you’re thinking: why would we sing a Christmas carol in mid November? The truth is, however, that “Joy to the World” wasn’t originally composed for Christmas but was part of hymn writer Isaac Watts’ attempt to translate, and set to new music, the Psalms for Christian worship. Watts’ inspiration for this hymn was Psalm 98, the Psalm appointed for this day....
The Christmas Scale
posted by DJL
Perhaps because I was such a reluctant student of the piano as a child (which, like so many others, I deeply regret as an adult), or perhaps because I admire such simple and beautiful videography, or perhaps because I love Christmas carols and never, ever noticed the simple scale that starts a...