The Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season is often experienced as time folding in on itself. We visit the age-old story of a baby born in a manger with familiar songs, family traditions, and foods that help us celebrate. Still, we experience each retelling anew as we come to this time with another year in our rearview mirror and with it an awareness of things lost, things found, and things realized. So, we come home, back to our familiar beginning of the Christian year, older, wiser, and maybe more hopeful and thankful for what God has provided and where God is leading us in a new season.
“Come Home for Christmas” is an invitation to start over while also remembering who we are. It’s an invitation to a banquet feast with a table of grace filled to overflowing. It’s an invitation to remember what we’ve been through and remember that no matter what, God calls us to come home, where we are cherished and loved. So, let’s look at some songs of invitation that can be used throughout this series. The following pieces reflect the theme, and you will want to balance some of these pieces with songs that are familiar and meaningful to your congregation during this season. Coming home invokes a sense of familiarity and knowing what to expect. Balancing that with some fresh renditions of God’s story will enhance everyone’s experience this season!
Abbreviations:
- TFWS=The Faith We Sing
- UMH=United Methodist Hymnal
- W&S=Worship & Song
Theme Songs for This Series
- “Gather Us In” 2236 TFWS. Click here to read History of Hymns article.
- “A Place at the Table” 3149 W&S. Click here to read History of Hymns article.
- “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” 206 UMH. Click here to read History of Hymns article.
Service Music
- “Make Us One” 2224 TFWS
- “He Came Down” 2085 TFWS
- Doxology for Advent and Christmas
Other Music for Specific Weeks
November 28
- “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” 211 UMH
- “Come, Though Long Expected Jesus” 196 UMH
- “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” 206 UMH
- “He Came Down” 2085 TFWS