S2_EP07 - Hymns of Advent Series (PEACE)

Transcript

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In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint that, for all you can tell, it may be only the sound of the silence itself.

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You hold your breath to listen.

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You are aware of the beating of your heart.

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The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens.

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Advent is the name of that moment.

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Frederick Beekner, this is the Bright Forever.

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Hello and welcome to our special series of the Bright Forever Hymns of Advent, where each week, we will discover the power and richness of some of the greatest Advent hymns in church history.

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My name is Andy P V House and I am your host and guide on this journey through the Advent season.

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If you're wondering why we are talking about this thing called Advent, take a minute, go back and listen to last week's episode, where I give you a quote-unquote quick reference guide to understanding the Advent season found within many different Christian denominations.

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For those of you that listened last week, I'll begin with just a quick recap of what Advent is all about.

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The word Advent is derived from the Latin word Adventus, meaning coming or arrival.

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It marks the beginning of the church's liturgical year and typically lasts for four weeks, the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day, it's typically marked by four key elements of expectant waiting, repentance and reflection, scripture reading and the use of symbols.

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Advent emphasizes the anticipation and expectation in the waiting for the coming of Jesus, as it prepares our hearts for the celebration of Christ's birth through self-examination, repentance and prayer.

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It highlights the Messiah's coming through the reading of the biblical prophecies found in the Old Testament scripture and through the symbols, like the Advent wreath, the candles and the colors.

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It helps to focus us on the themes celebrated.

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Each themed week in Advent highlights a specific aspect of the believer's journey Hope, anticipating the fulfillment of God's promise in the coming Messiah.

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Peace, reflecting on the peace that comes through the birth of the Prince of Peace.

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Joy, celebrating the joy found in the good news of Jesus' birth.

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And finally, love, embracing and sharing the transformative love revealed in the incarnation.

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These are the themes that will guide us through this Advent season.

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Last week we focused on hope by looking at Okum, okum, emmanuel, and toward the end of the episode, I gave a practical way that you and your family could celebrate the coming hope of the season in the life of your family.

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And, as I said last week, I want you to know that my family is doing each of these themed weeks alongside all of you who are listening.

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This week, we examine the theme of peace as we explore the powerful words of the hymn Let all mortal flesh keep silence and delve into its significance in the context of this season of.

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Advent.

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Isaiah 9.6,.

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For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace.

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Micah 5.2-5,.

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But you, o Bethlehem, ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me One who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

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Therefore, he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth.

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The rest of his brother shall return to the people of Israel and he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God, and they shall dwell secure, for now.

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He shall be great to the ends of the earth and he shall be their peace.

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Luke 2.14,.

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Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests.

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In these first two scriptures we witness the prophetic anticipation of the Prince of Peace.

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The Messiah.

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Isaiah foretells the birth of a child who will carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, identified as the Prince of Peace, micah 5.2-5 emphasizes the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies the temporary judgment of exile preceding that of redemption, when God redeems his people, christ's role as the shepherd and king, the universal scope of his reign and the centrality of Christ as the source of true peace.

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Micah prophesies about the small town of Bethlehem when a ruler of old of ancient times will bring peace.

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The promise echoes the theme of the Prince of Peace we find in Isaiah.

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He foretells of a Messiah who would shepherd his flock.

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In Luke, the heavenly announcement comes.

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But to who?

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The announcement of Jesus' birth, the declaration of peace on earth?

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To those upon whom God's favor rests.

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To whom does it come?

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The shepherds?

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I can't believe that it's just coincidence that the first to receive the news of Christ's birth are the shepherds.

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As we see in Micah, the Messiah will shepherd his flock.

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John 10 calls Jesus the Good Shepherd and Hebrews 13 calls Jesus the Great Shepherd.

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It says Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do, his will working in us, that which is pleasing in his sight.

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Did you catch that, the God of peace?

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The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our source of ultimate peace, this Great Shepherd who, according to Micah, shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God, and they, meaning us, you and me, shall dwell secure For now.

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He shall be great to the ends of the earth.

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And here it comes, and he shall be their peace.

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Advent becomes a time of reflection on God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promises and the peace that comes through the arrival of Jesus, who is our prince of peace.

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The hymn Let all mortal flesh keep silence echoes this theme of humble awe and peace in the presence of our God.

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As we reflect on the words Let all mortal flesh keep silence, we reminded of the awe and peace that envelops us in the presence of God.

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The hymn draws inspiration from the liturgy of St James, more specifically the cherubic hymn, and invites us to still our hearts in reverence.

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Let all mortal flesh keep silence and with fear and trembling stand, ponder nothing earthly minded.

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For with blessing in his hand, christ, our God to earth, descendeth our full homage to demand.

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The opening verse calls all mortal beings to silence before God.

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It sets the tone for reverence and awe.

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The call for us to keep silence reflects the humility and stillness required when we come near to our Creator.

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We can look to Habakkuk 2, verse 20, which says but the Lord is in his holy temple.

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Let all the earth be silent before him.

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This first verse begins preparing our hearts to receive not just a feeling of peace, but the Prince of Peace himself, King of kings, yet born of Mary as of old on earth, he stood Lord of lords in human vestsure, in the body and the blood he will give to all the faithful, his own self for heavenly food.

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The second verse acknowledges this paradox of the king of kings being born of Mary, jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, which is a profound mystery and paradox in Christian theology.

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It speaks to Jesus as our humble king and Prince of Peace and it connects us not only to his birth but to his death, which brings reconciliation and peace to the world.

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Paul explains it in Philippians 2, 6-8, when, speaking of Jesus, says who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.

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He humbled himself by becoming obedient, to the point of death, even death on the cross.

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Rank on rank, the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way as the light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day, that the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away.

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The first lines of verse 3 convey a powerful image of a vast army of angels, organized in ranks, leading a grand procession.

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This imagery reveals heavenly beings worshiping and serving God.

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The idea of a vanguard on the way symbolizes the forward front of this army preparing the way for a significant event.

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A momentous occasion is about to take place.

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I wonder what that could be.

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Can we come to my favorite part of this entire song?

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The light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day.

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In his light we find peace that dispels the darkness.

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Isaiah 9.2 points to the Messiah as the bringer of light.

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The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

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Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness.

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On them has light shown.

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This third verse, depicting the descent of the light of light, beautifully describes the incarnation, reminding us of John 1.14,.

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The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

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Jesus voluntarily takes on human form to enter the brokenness of our world.

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The title light of light reminds us of Jesus' own words in John 8.12, saying I am the light of the world.

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Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

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Beyond a historical event, the descent of the light signifies a present reality for believers.

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Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we experience the transformative presence of the light, of light bringing illumination and dispelling darkness in our lives every day.

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In 2 Corinthians 4.6, paul says For God, who said Let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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I love that verse.

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And then we get to the last verse, verse 4.

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At his feet, the six-winged seraph Cherubim with sleepless eye Veil their faces to the presence as, with ceaseless voice, they cry Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, lord Most High.

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The fourth verse goes back to the Cherubic hymn of the liturgy of St James as it introduces the image of the six-winged seraphim, angelic beings in constant adoration at the throne of God.

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The imagery highlights the heavenly and transcendent nature of the Prince of Peace, before whom even the mighty angels bow in reference and awe.

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As we meditate on these verses, we are invited to recognize the profound peace that comes from encountering the incarnate God.

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The hymn beckons us to keep silence, allowing the reality of the Prince of Peace to fill our hearts with quiet awe.

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Fear and trembling stand under nothing earthly minded.

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For, with blessing in his hand, christ, our God, to earth, descend them our full homage to demand.

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King of kings, yet born of Mary as of old on earth, he stood Lord of lords in human vesture.

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In the body and the breath he will give to all the faithful, his own self for heaven.

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Wink on wink, the host of heaven spreads its wings on the way as the light of light descended from the realms of endless day that the powers of hell may vanish, as the darkness clears away At his feet, the six winged tariff cherubim, with sleepless eye, veil their faces to the presence as, with ceaseless voice, they cry Hallelujah, Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

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Hallelujah.

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That was let all mortal flesh keep silence by Red Mountain Church Music, Silent Night and many other albums from Red Mountain Church Music on their website, wwwRedMountainChurchMusiccom, and the Red Mountain Hymn Collective at wwwHymnCollectiveorg.

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As we consider the theme of peace and the prince of peace, let's respond together as families.

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Last week, we created a hope chain to kind of remind us of the hopes that each of us in our family has this week.

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How about an advent space, like a peaceful advent space in our homes?

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Find a quiet corner where you can place maybe a candle, a Bible, perhaps a nativity scene, and use this space for family reflections, for prayer, for moments of silence throughout the advent season, where sometimes we just need to stop.

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Let the busyness and the craziness of this season just come to a halt and focus on the peace that comes through the presence of our coming Messiah, our Savior and our God.

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Thank you for joining us this week on the Bright Forever.

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Remember to follow us, review us and, of course, subscribe.

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We always want to hear from you.

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I would love to hear stories about how Advent is happening in your family, how you're celebrating it, what your family is doing like, how are they responding to trying some of this, new ideas, some new ideas, or maybe there are things that you've done for years.

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Like your family has celebrated Advent your whole life.

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I would love to hear those stories.

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There are a multitude of ways that you can share.

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You can always email us at podcast at thebrightforevercom.

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You can also click the Contact Us tab at the top of our website and send us a message through our contact form.

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You can go to our website and click the radio microphone in the bottom right corner and record a message of up to two minutes and let us know what you think of this Advent season, of maybe the series that we're doing.

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If it's been helpful to you, I would love to know.

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Thank you again for joining us in this Advent devotional series.

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May the peace of Christ be with you and may you find rest in the presence of your Savior.

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your Son, for the Prince of Peace.

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May the peace that passes all understanding fill our hearts and fill our homes.

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During this Advent season, we give you all the honor, all the glory and all the praise forever and ever.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Until next time, may you experience the deep peace that comes from knowing the Incarnate God.

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God bless you all.

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Have a great week and we'll see you back here next week.

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We're out you.

S2_EP07 - Hymns of Advent Series (PEACE)

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