Noel (A Christmas Worship Moment)

Carol and Scripture share the stage here. The sung verses name the incarnation plainly, "Love incarnate, love divine," with a bended knee for the "Savior of humanity," then widen to the claim that the Son of God and Son of Man was "there before the world began" and was "born to suffer, born to save, born to raise us from the grave." The manger already points toward the cross and the empty tomb.

Between the choruses the lyric slips into the words of the Christmas account itself: shepherds keeping watch by night, an angel telling them not to be afraid, good tidings of great joy, a Savior born in the city of David, a child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and a heavenly host praising God. Reading the narrative over the music slows the pace and lets the story be heard before it is sung again. The refrain, "come and see what God has done," then returns as an invitation, and the song winds down on the single word "Noel."

Luke 2:8-14 is the passage the spoken section follows, and Isaiah 9:6 stands behind the promise that a child born to us "shall reign forevermore."