INTERN PASTOR JEREMY HALLQUIST

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev'ry heart prepare him room,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing.
 
Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;
Let all their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
 
No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
 
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, wonders of his love.
~ Isaac Watts
 
When I was a kid my favorite memory of Christmas day was when the grandiose pipe organ would begin to belt out the notes to “Joy to the World.” I remember vividly the echo of the celebrative cadence that would bellow off the stone walls. The entire congregation would take in a collective breath before echoing out the melody. Hearing the congregation belt out the words to this tune left me with goosebumps and chills. The organist would bellow out those notes with all the force she could muster and each refrain would linger in the room even after she would finish the melody line. There was something about this song that held such a powerful reminder for me of the Christmas season and over the years it is one of the hymns that I look forward to most during the holidays. 
 
As I have grown up the reminder of how I felt with that song still resonates with me. It is an invitation to take a collective breath. We have a reason to celebrate this today! Jesus, the promised and longed for Messiah has come. Jesus enters into our humanity with the greatest gift of all and we cannot help but echo back the joy of this holiday season and carry the message forward.  
 
No matter how you are gathering with friends and loved ones today, whether zoom, phone, or with those closest to you, my hope is that you would take even the slightest of moments and “Repeat the Sounding Joy” of Christmas this year. May a message of hope, love, peace, and joy reverberate off the walls of your spirit in such a way that it leaves you with goosebumps. 
 
Loving God, stir in our hearts a collective voice that rejoices in the birth of your Son, Jesus that the world may know of the hope born to us this day. Invite us to encounter the world this year with the newness of your spirit that we may find a way to bring peace on earth.  Amen.