O' Come All Ye Faithful: Sermon
This morning, we will focus on a Christmas carol. Not Charles Dickens’ story, but a song. We are doing a sort of hymn study. For years, the youth have done these each summer during their trips. Here is how it works, One kid shares about difficult words in the hymn, Another talks about the history of the hymn, A third communicates a scriptural lesson from that hymn, And a fourth sings it. We pastors thought we would spare you our solos. You can thank me later. [] What carol would you pick, if you had to choose? [] I picked O Come All Ye Faithful. HISTORY: AUTHORSHIP The lyrics are often attributed to a man named John Francis Wade. He was born in the 1700s. However, he may not have been the author. You see, Wade made his living by copying and translating songs. His copying offered a valuable service to the church and world. Wade never pretended to be the author of this carol. He lived in Douai, France, with other ex-pats from England. He wrote the earli...