Sunday's Hymn: The Birthday of a King

In the little village of Bethlehem,
There lay a Child one day;
And the sky was bright with a holy light
O’er the place where Jesus lay.

Refrain

Alleluia! O how the angels sang.
Alleluia! How it rang!
And the sky was bright with a holy light
’Twas the birthday of a King.

’Twas a humble birthplace, but O how much
God gave to us that day,
From the manger bed what a path has led,
What a perfect, holy way.

—Will­iam H. Neid­ling­er

Recorded by Trinity Choir in 1923.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Update: O Come, O Come Emmanuel at Conjubilant with Song
• Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus at Gospel Grace
• Lead Me to Calvary at By Grace Alone
• Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne at The Happy Wonderer
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel at Hopeful Morning
• Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus at Field Stone Cottage
• Lord’s Day 50 at Tried With Fire 
• Lord’s Day 50, 2012 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: The Joy of Harvest
• Second Sunday in Advent at The Upward Call

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Round the Sphere Again: Book Reviews

One I’ve Read
Gerald Bray reviews Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves in the lastest issue of Themelios.

This book is an ideal introduction for young people, for those who want to know more about God but who cannot grasp academic theology, and for pastors who are looking for ways to communicate the faith to non-specialists.

Read the whole review.

(I recently reviewed this, too.)

One I Want to Read
I already had The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on my wish list, and Staci’s review make me want it even more (Writing and Living).

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert might be one of the most unusual Christian memoirs I’ve ever read, precisely because it’s written by such an unlikely convert.

Read the whole review.

Thankful Thursday

It’s been a busy day full of visitors and baking, and I still have church choir practice tonight. I’m thankful that my life is full of friends and family, and snickerdoodles and gingersnaps. I’m thankful for the opportunity to sing in a choir and the opportunity for us to sing for Christmas. 

It’s still cold, and I’m beginning to think that the warm-up trend in the forecast that keeps getting pushed back a day, and then another day, and then another, is just there to keep us from despairing. They don’t ever mean for it to actually come; they just don’t want us to lose hope. I’m thankful that my car starts, my furnace works, and my blankets are warm. I’m thankful for my warm boots and big down coat.

I’m thankful for electric lights, especially the incandescent ones (and I hope they never get rid of them!). I can’t imagine what it was like during the cold, dark winters without them. I’m thankful for books to read by lamplight on a cold, dark winter’s night.

I’m thankful that God sent his Son. I’m thankful the Son came and tabernacled among us. I’m thankful that we have seen his glory, “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” I’m thankful that Jesus made God known to us.

I’m thankful that my heavenly Father gives good gifts.