A Great Christmas Service

By Khen Lim

Image Source: bondtribeca.com

We did what we had set out to do – to instil meaning and purpose in our Christmas celebration. We sang carols but we also discovered what each carol meant, who composed them and the inspiration behind the work. The liner notes for the carols are given after the end of this article.

Our carols were originally designed and developed music videos with built-in running lyrics. My brother, Chong, a professional musician in Australia offered his help to produce the orchestral backing to Silent Night and then his unique chords for Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas. All except one carol featured the use of videos of which one of them was a unique high-definition Christmas clip carefully sourced from the Internet.

First song off the list was Breath of Heaven, made famous by Amy Grant although in part, it was her lyrics brought to live in Chris Eaton’s composition. The video clip was straight off the motion picture soundtrack, “The Nativity Story” in which we saw excerpts of Mary and Joseph making their way to Bethlehem, giving birth to baby Jesus and then receiving, in utter surprise, the magi.

As it is often the contemporary position, there were three magi although the Bible had never confirmed, one way or another, that there were three. 

Image Source: fisheaters.com

The second song was Mary, Did You Know, which featured the popular group Pentatonix singing a capella. With over 400 artistes having sung this song, it has become a modern Christmas classic, a carol that now has its place in the pantheon of great carols.

Singing a capella means the congregation could enjoy listening to a performance that sounded as if there is a band backing them but in fact, the drum and percussion effects heard were essentially pure beatbox style.

The third song was the world-famous Silent Night with pure orchestral backing set against a falling snow video. The backing we had was the draft from Chong’s previous production of the song for the Salvation Army's Christmas CD in 2012, which he arranges and produces on a yearly basis on behalf of Myer Melbourne in Australia. 

The highlight story for Silent Night will always be the Christmas Truce of 1914 when warring soldiers from Germany, France and Britain laid down their arms and came together to sing the carol in three languages concurrently and in that space of time, they hugged, shared in gifts from home, took a few swigs and prayed. A Scottish minister was also present to help bury the dead from both sides.

The fourth and final song was a song with a twist to its title. Rather than the one we know with its secular title, this one is called Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas. If the word ‘Blessed’ were to be replaced by ‘Merry,’ most everyone would be familiar with it.

As it stood, some background information was necessary, revealing a beautiful and inspiring story of the composer, Hugh Martin’s encounter with God of which you can read in the Liner Notes given below.

Although the movie that came next took up 112 minutes, everyone was riveted to it. “God’s Not Dead” may not ever be shown commercially in Malaysia but the story was compelling, inspiring and motivating. We’ve waited for this moment for many months now and having seen it, everyone loved it for its message and not just a very slick film production.

At a low budget of around US$8 million, it became a blockbuster box office-smashing hit, tipping over US$80 million in just a single weekend in America alone. We’re told by online media that the movie went on to topple and put Daniel Aronovsky’s huge-budget but much-criticised Noah in the shade. 

Our sister-in-Christ Kit Yoong’s baptism was brief and poignant. And finally she’s now a Christian. Admittedly we would have preferred it to be a little longer perhaps but everyone was probably famished enough by then to bid welcome to the sumptuous lunch.

In the end, everyone agreed that it’s not the length that matters but the sincerity, meaningfulness and sense of purpose that are important in the baptismal service.

Image Source: lassiette.co.uk

Lunch came as we edged close to 1:00pm, which is uncharacteristically late for us at Hosanna EFC but given the chocked up programme we had this year, it was perfectly understandable...and thoroughly enjoyable.

And in the end, we are thankful and grateful for having the ability to stage something that is seemingly way beyond what such a small church can dare do. In more ways than one, we have outdone ourselves but essentially, it goes to prove that if you have the heart to do things for Christ – and do them well – nothing is impossible.

As the event was slowly coming to a close, we have had comments from various guests and visitors who commented on how they really enjoyed the manner in which carols were each introduced. The learning experience here was precious to many who heard them for the first time.

Almost everyone was hugely impressed with the movie and some were asking if we could re-screen it at some point in the future. That might not be very likely because we have other movies lined up for 2015 and beyond. 

In the past, an event like Christmas had only one strong highlight, which was the food. I believe this time, no matter how sumptuous and delectable the dishes were, the main programme took centre stage. For the very first time in a very long time, we have a Christmas Day celebration programme that is worth keeping a memory for. 

I take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in doing their bit to stage this very special Christmas Day celebration for without their assistance, it would have been impossible to get off ground. 

Thanks must go to Jonathan and Leong for their hands-on control of the slides and music videos as well as the live mixer control. Thanks also to Jack for helping to cover the drinks required. Thanks to Lim Tat and Khoon Lay for the loan of the esky (cooler box) and the HDMI media player. Thanks also to Florence and Mrs Lim for the decorations in and around the church.

Lastly thank you to Elita and my wife, Marianne, for orchestrating the washing up after lunch. And if I have missed anyone else who were also involved in helping in the clean-up, here’s the opportunity to say thank you to them also.

The Board of Hosanna Evangelical Free Church

December 25 2015

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PS: As we go to press with this article, I do not have any images with me that were taken through the event. If I can grab hold of them, I’ll display them in a separate article.

PS: For those interested in downloading our Hosanna Songbook for the Christmas Day event, click here.

PS: For those interested in downloading our Lux Mundi Special 2015 Christmas Day edition, click here.

Liner Notes for Presentation of Carols

Breath of Heaven

- Nativity story from Mary’s perspective; the dialogue is Mary’s

- Portrays Mary as a young, frightened girl, dealing with the divine circumstances; despite her doubts, Mary’s faith is in the goodness and mercy of God

- Written by English songwriter Christ Eaton; when Amy Grant first heard it, she wanted to record it but with verses rewritten to personalise them, which is how the dialogue became Mary’s own; she wanted to write them from a woman’s perspective; a woman with child, as she attempts to imagine Mary’s experience

- Known as one of 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music

- The song appears on the soundtrack of the 2006 movie, ‘The Nativity Story’; the song is so moving that Mike Rich, the movie screenwriter would begin each day of writing by first listening to it

Mary, Did You Know?

- Music written by Buddy Greene (1991) and lyrics by Mark Lowry (1984)

- First recorded in 1991; the song has gone on to become a modern Christmas classic, recorded by over 400 artistes around the world

- Mark’s pastor asked him to write a Christmas program for their church called The Living Christmas Tree; he began thinking of how Mary would realise the power, authority and majesty that she cradled in her arms for that first Christmas; wondered if she realised those little hands were the same hands that would perform miracles; tried to put into words the unfathomable

- Mark imagines questions he had as if sitting having coffee with Mary like, “What was it like raising God?” “What did you know…” “What didn’t you know”… the lyrics were hence moulded

- Used as basis for a stage musical also titled Mary, Did You Know;  that won the 1999 Dove Award for Musical of the Year.

Silent Night

- Originally called Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (German); German lyrics first written in 1816 by Joseph Mohr; music added two years later (1818) by Franz Xaver Gruber and then performed that same year on Christmas Eve at the St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg; in 1859 the first English lyrics were written by John Freeman Young

Image Source: wikipedia.org

- Sung simultaneously in French, German and English by troops during the Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I

- Declared an “intangible cultural heritage” by UNESCO in March 2011

Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas

Image Source: musicaltheaterproject.org

- Music first written in 1943 by Hugh Martin, an American musical composer, arranger and playwright best known for the songs that the late Judy Garland sang; original lyrics were written by Ralph Blane in the same year; original title was Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

- Martin rewrote the song in 2001 when he was 86 years old, with assistance from Garland biographer, John Fricke and Del Delker, a female gospel vocalist; was renamed Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas; he passed away 10 years later

Background

- Martin’s life during the tour of duty in WW2 was saved when they found out he was a celebrity and took him out of the shooting and placed him in a soldier show

- Upon the end of his service, he returned to Broadway where he faced his darkest years with the notorious Dr Feelgood who shot up amphetamines to celebrities but called them ‘liquid vitamins’; Martin endured 10 years of addiction with horrific problems like eating problems; realised drugs were the problem and he tried to quit cold turkey only to land in hospital with nervous breakdown; thought he was going crazy; he would look in the mirror and see a complete lunatic instead; in total despair, couldn’t sleep, felt suicidal

- One day, he wandered into the hospital chapel and he couldn’t hold back his tears; for weeks he cried; he threw himself to the floor saying, “God, if You exist – and I don’t even know if You do – if You’ll heal me and pull me out of this miry pit, I will do anything for You. I’ll be faithful to You forever”

- He was healed of his addiction and prospered in his career but still he had yet to learn to place his trust completely in God until 1974 when he went to the hospital for tests and was waiting for a private room; there he heard someone call him by name, saying, “Hugh, share your room;” though he was hallucinating but he heard it again, “Hugh, share your room”

- “I could feel this voice filling my whole body and soul and I obeyed it the second time;” his roommate was an assistant pastor from a local church and that was the turning point; the pastor was under strict orders to stay in bed but he didn’t; instead after five mins, he alighted from his bed and inched himself on his knees despite the pain from his surgery

- “I said, ‘Brother Lester, I heard what the doctor said and wasn’t it rather reckless of you to do that?”

- “He said, ‘Maybe it was but there are times when I just have to honour my Lord’;” Martin’s inspiration to rewrite with a more specifically religious focus probably began at this point, realising the significance of this pastor’s devotion

- His eyes were filled with tears; something triggered inside him and he asked the pastor, “Would you tell me more about your faith?” That day, Martin surrendered his life fully over to Jesus

- “I knew something really big was happening, and it sort of frightened me. It felt so significant that I felt shaken by it and yet it was wonderful because it was a feeling I had never had before – that I belonged, that there was Someone bigger than I was who loved me and would take care of me. It was the