HTB ALTERNATIVE CAROLS | FULL EVENT

[Music] a camera service finally i've been looking forward to this one i don't know about you but this year feels a bit different maybe we're just older maybe it's the weather or maybe it's too locked down saying we can't be together or growing fears and coveteers in a u.s election that lasts for years and masks farces and global marches and seemingly infinite tip-top dances it's been quite a year by any metric you choose we've all been exhausted challenged and confused at least we've still got christmas to see us through then i saw the news and sure enough it's somehow cancelled too so i thought about it for ages for almost 15 seconds and a christmas revelation beckoned this day's been celebrated for a couple thousand years it's been banned dictated appropriated and feared and somehow after all of that has led us here to our suffers so relatively speaking we've got it pretty good i know that it's been hard don't let me be misunderstood but we are marked by hope i know that when that is true the world takes notice one two three saw a four displaced jewish couple traveling for miles one probably terrified because the other was with childs could they have expected everything that was to come so one day a gangly londoner would write songs about their son the story is the same whether together or alone jesus born is killed for preaching love then points his home i guess if you're splitting hairs there's more to it than that but we're running out of time so let's celebrate the fact that this day's been celebrated for a couple thousand years it's been banned dictated [Music] we sometimes forget the church is more than just a building it's a global family [Music] and that was just fancy lights mikes and brian keep in time which isn't even his name i just changed it so it rhymed sorry tim don't let the beauty of the frame distract from what's inside it [Music] amazing grace sounds just as sweet however you find it if you've not heard this story before i think you're gonna like it in the sixth month of elizabeth's pregnancy god sent the angel gabriel to nazareth a town in galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named joseph a descendant of david the virgin's name was mary the angel went to her and said greetings you who are highly favored the lord is with you mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be but the angel said to her do not be afraid mary for you have found favor with god you will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him jesus he will be great and will be called son of the most high the lord god will give him the throne of his father david and he will reign over jacob's descendants forever his kingdom will never end how will this be mary asked the angel since i am a virgin the angel answered the holy spirit will come on you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so the holy one to be born will be called the son of god even elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month for no word from god will ever fail i am the lord's servant mary answered may your word to me be fulfilled then the angel left her [Music] mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new the child that you delivered would soon deliver you mary mary did you know that your baby boy would give a sigh to a blind man did you know that your baby boy would calm the storm with his hand did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels draw when you kiss your little baby you kiss the face of god [Music] the dead will live again [Music] is [Music] mary did you know that your baby boy lord of all creation did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb the sleeping child you're holding is the great i am so it's about nine months bc technically and we're in roman occupied judea which i imagine is not the easiest place to be expecting a child but it's about to get even harder because caesar orders a census for the entire roman world which at that time includes mary joseph and the bump so they have to travel all the way down from nazareth to bethlehem which is pretty dangerous so they're probably going to be traveling with some friends and family and mary's pretty far along by this point so by the time they arrive at the house they're meant to be staying in you know jesus is nearly with us in a manner of speaking so they arrive jesus is born and they wrap him in cloths and put him in a manger because it's the only option so jesus spends his first moments on earth in what's essentially a feeding trough for animals now i don't know about you but i'd quite like to hear all of that again but rhyming and in the form of a christmas cow [Music] [Music] a [Music] is jesus christ [Music] he came down to earth from heaven who is [Music] [Music] and our eyes through his own redeeming love for thy child so dear and gentle is our lord in heaven [Music] [Music] [Music] standing [Music] says [Applause] [Music] we [Music] so [Applause] at top of the hill where the shepherds lay watching their flocks by night and an angel of the lord appear to bring good news and great joy a descendant of king david the messiah christ the lord was wrapped up in swaddling clothes as he lay there in an anger [Music] give glory to god most high give glory to god and peace on earth to humankind on whom is favored give glory to god most high a savior has been born and peace on earth on this a holy night [Music] hello holy the stars are brightly shining it is [Music] and the soul [Music] [Music] a new and glorious [Music] [Music] oh when christ was born [Music] true [Music] chains he shall pray for the slaves sweet hands of joy with grateful cars raise we with all our hearts we praise your holy name in christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] divine i'm [Music] oh hey sorry i didn't see you there i've just been getting into the swing of uh virtual old carols it's the you know it's the first time we've ever done this it's quite exciting and i've got my virtual cup of tea i've got my armchair got my rug someone's checking on you guys how you're enjoying it you know jesus is a few days old we've had the shepherds coming in left right and center we've got a few interesting men on the horizon so we're going to meet soon i just want to see how you're doing and uh i've had an idea you know let's get a bit of music going maybe maybe andy if you can see through your beard maybe it's just a couple of chords just a couple of looping chords there yeah to kind of if you are a shepherd on that field you know you're there in you got the look and you're out there on the shepherds looking after the sheep and yeah that's lovely yeah keep that going keep that going and then dylan maybe then they see the star right and maybe a couple notes just just to kind of encapsulate the star come on that's beautiful that's really nice then james just kind of holding down you know the spirit is there it's present on the roots there yeah that's lovely come on and then um tim or brian uh just a bit of a bit of cymbal work just to this that's lovely fantastic keep it going that sounds great because this is an opportunity to talk about our initiative this year which is called love christmas now what we're doing is we're partnering with thousands of churches all across the country to try and deliver a million boxes of hope now these are going to be filled with essential items and christmas gifts to give to some of the most vulnerable people in our society so that's isolated people vulnerable children people in prison the homeless refugees and all sorts of people who are in need this christmas i would love your support on this if you feel able to give there are details on the screen right now and of course the more we get in the more we can send out so thank you so much and with that i'll bring the band off in a very dramatic way [Music] smashed it and let's crack on with the story [Music] after jesus was born in bethlehem in judea during the time of king herod mage i from the east came to jerusalem and asked where is the one who has been born the king of the jews we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him when king herod heard this he was disturbed and all jerusalem with him when he called together all of the people's chief priests and teachers of the law he asked them where the messiah was to be born in bethlehem in judea they replied for this is what the prophet has written but you bethlehem in the land of judah are by no means least amongst the rulers of judah for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people israel then herod called the magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared he sent them to bethlehem and said go and search carefully for the child as soon as you find him report to me so that i too may go and worship him after they heard the king they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was when they saw the star they were overjoyed then they opened their treasures and presented him with gold frankincense and myrrh and having been warned in a dream not to go back to herod they returned to their country by another route [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] staring at the sun your glory shines so bright i can see the stars shining on you all night one day we've been waiting for this one day yeah and we've been hoping for a long time that we knew you were coming someday but come on so come on come on [Music] out of love [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] amazing now we're going to zoom out of this forest scene and head across london for something a bit different [Music] we've been walking in the wilderness for a while now making our way step by step searching for the sun this journey hasn't been easy it's been hard i admit they say hope is for now but i cannot see it still our legs have been tired and our courage warmth in our hearts have been heavy more than they have ever been from the loss the space and the changes we've faced these days have felt like a struggle a trudge uphill but in all these things may we stop for a minute and breathe in lean in there is a road i see and it runs unravelling thread for miles along the mountainside as far as the eye can see there's a guiding light a star up ahead i don't know where it leads but i follow step by step [Music] i see it there is something on the horizon a spark a piece a mystery revealed i watch in wonder as far afield becomes close in reach maybe this loss we've been feeling can finally be healed maybe there's more to the story a change waiting to begin a gift to be received an answer conceived maybe there's more to the story maybe there's something to believe maybe it's calling breaking forth maybe it's him [Music] maybe it's hope so hope i ask where are you [Music] hope replies i am near i am here starting as a hum the voice grew louder to a song from a whisper to a shout until the whole world could hear loud and clear at last it's good news the earth falls to her knees suddenly a company of heavenly hosts appeared with the angels praising god and saying glory to god in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those whom his favor rests emerging in color bringing us closer trading separation for celebration and tribulation for our salvation despair collapses in the wake of his light and hope which was lost now stands restored revived renewed hope hail his arrival heaven and nature sing hope awake hope hug tight hope for the city hope burn bright hope the birth of a babe our savior king our victory win emmanuel god with us so hope i ask as i open up the door to let him in will you stay here with me walk with me step by step wherever life will lead hope replies i am near i am here for now forever and for always for i am your savior king jesus i wonder if hope feels near for you right now i'd love to speak to you just for a few moments about carrying hope do you know so much of mary's journey echoes all that's gone on this year for us i know it does for me the the kind of total disruption of her life being turned upside down in just a moment and we've all experienced that haven't we in different ways i love to come walking in places like this in a woods like this and usually bring my little dog luna who's full of energy and she loves chasing squirrels it's her favorite pastime she'll see this little poor squirrel who then darts away and she'll go chasing i've got no idea what she'd do if she ever caught a squirrel i don't think that's likely but these squirrels they just run for the trees and they shoot up the trees and luna will run out pace after the squirrels and it's just so hilarious to watch it every single time because she gets the tree the squirrel's gone up and luna's got no idea where the squirrel's gone it's like she's totally perplexed she's looking around you know her ears pricked up and she's got no idea what's happened and i was watching her doing that just the other day and uh just think you know that that it feels like that for me this year where i feel like i've chased after this thing and it's just evaporated you know we wanted to do that holiday it's gone uh i was hoping for that for the job but then it was furloughed you know all the different things that have happened where we've had to change and we're just not working out i feel totally perplexed by most of the situation from this year but i wonder if there's an invitation at this christmas time for us to look up if luna only just looked up she would work out where the squirrels had gone and for us maybe there's the sense in which the invitation to look up may help us make some sense now mary's world was totally interrupted when that angel appeared to her we heard that in the reading a little bit earlier and gabriel speaks to her and tells her that this thing's going to happen she's going to carry hope quite literally going to carry hope there's this moment in which gabriel is saying you're going to carry the son of god his name's going to be jesus which means he's going to be the savior of the world it must have been a crazy moment for mary um as she received that that that moment of heaven breaking in on earth and i wonder how she responded and how the people around her responded well her husband-to-be who was called joseph he doesn't come off very well in this story at all unfortunately because joseph's response to this heaven breaking in on earth moment that we celebrate at christmas was disbelief and disqualification joseph just was like mary you're crazy how could it be how could god do anything how could god break into our situation where where we're in this occupied country by the romans things are not how we want them to be the situation of our life is not easy and now you're telling me this is happening are you serious total disbelief in joseph and then he moves on to disqualification he's like well i'm going to divorce mary and he quietly plans to divorce mary and to finish everything right there and then because he can't get his head round the possibility that god might just be bringing hope to all people mary comes off much much better in her response and that's where hope begins to bubble up in her literally she starts to carry hope as jesus this little baby begins to grow deep inside her her response is not disbelief or disqualification her response is faith and favor she says back to the angel we've got all things are are possible i am the lord's servant i'll do what god wants me to do i'm here i'll do it and it's this it's this yes moment in mary's life where it's like yeah it's like a back of the net moment you know when when when your favorite team they score the goal that is the winning goal for that moment and it's like the goal goes in everyone's like yes and this is the moment for mary it's like yes mary's saying yes to this offer of hope from god this moment where god breaks into human history and says do you know what hope is coming for everyone and mary's response of yes immediately begins to have an impact on the world around her she goes off to visit her cousin elizabeth who's actually older on in years and and herself is miraculously pregnant uh having been told by an angel she was going to have a baby called john who would be a cousin to jesus and when mary walks into the room to see elizabeth we're told in the bible that that the baby inside elizabeth literally left for joy and in that moment elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit you see elizabeth experienced faith and favor just like mary had responded when she received that message from the angel so mary carrying hope in her begins to see that hope multiplied in people around her as the holy spirit of god rests upon them and fills them with hope as well i wonder if you need hope this christmas i wonder if there's a moment whereby you might stop from all the perplexed complexities of a disrupted year to look up and just like mary to say yes to god to say yes i need your hope yes jesus come be born in me today and absolutely believe that you can receive the power of his holy spirit even today as you say yes to him maybe it's an invitation that you want to make because you see jesus is the hope of the world his hope wants to bring healing his hope wants to bring breakthrough and his hope will fill you so you can bring hope to others let's take a moment to pray together and wherever you are whether you're sitting in your front room or you're out walking in a place like this i absolutely believe that god can meet you with his hope right now just like he met elizabeth when mary turned up to her house and so we're going to pray with the film crew here who are all socially distanced and covered secure and even in this environment god can meet with us so let's pray lord we ask that you'd come by the power of your spirit right now lord you come to those who have never prayed before and would you come to those who pray a lot and would you meet all of us right now come and fill us with your holy spirit that we might know there's hope we so need that this christmas just receive his hope wherever you are and if you've never spoken to god before perhaps this is his moment of interrupting your world and inviting you to look up why don't you just say to him god i'm here i say yes to you today make that your prayer and it'll be the beginning of a journey just like mary had of discovering a hope that will continue to fill you and empower you for the days the weeks the months and the years ahead thank you for all you're doing god amen [Music] is [Music] it's been a long year but you've seen us through through trials and tribulations i've seen you move you're there in the river man you're there in the blues see we could have chose fear but as you we choose whenever we danger it's the baby in the manger that we choose to put our faith in jesus is our savior yeah now we rejoice with the angels that's right forever we're gonna praise you [Music] they're ringing live [Music] [Music] that's right and against it [Music] everybody singing when i wake up and i see the sun rest and now when i go to bed and see the star shine i know that it can only be the work of somebody that's so amazing this play and it was designed by your savior that's irreplaceable that's exactly what you are you're immense you rose on the third a legendary event yeah and we'll worship you again and again because of you we have the hope of heaven till the end see [Music] [Applause] that's right that's right [Music] [Applause] here we go well that's pretty much it we're nearing the end of our alternative carol's service and we just wanted to say thanks for joining us really and as i play this slightly cheesy lounge jazz i wanted to tell you that we've got a christmas service as well christmas day service you'll find it in the same place as you found this one if you'd like to join us we'd love to have you the only other thing to say is that if you've got any questions or anything you'd like to explore maybe that was sparked by this service then there's a thing called the alpha course which i'm not going to undermine by playing jazz underneath it yeah of course it's amazing you can find details online for that too somewhere where you can explore some of the deeper questions of life so the only other thing to say is let's finish with a carol seems to make sense for carol service so one last time we love you very much thanks for joining us see you soon [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] oh come let us [Applause] [Applause] things [Music] glory oh jesus oh [Music] oh [Applause] we [Applause] is [Applause] foreign alpha online is a free course designed to give you the space and time to ask the big and often challenging questions about life faith and meaning from the comfort of your own home no filters just honest discussion alfred online is made up of a film series which are designed to create conversations around topics such as how can i pray who is jesus what is the meaning of life why is there suffering in this world each week you will have an opportunity to watch a short video and then chat about it with a small group of people who like you are also grappling with life's big questions and no question is off limits to attend an alpha online all you have to do is sign up and then join a weekly online call all from the comfort of your home everything else is taken care of by your host so feel free to pour yourself a drink get comfy get your laptop ready and you are good to go what have you got to lose try alpha online you

Channel: HTB Church

Views: 79,064

Rating: 4.9339499 out of 5

Keywords: Christmas, Carols, HTB Church, Guvna B, Jake Isaac, Beth Porch, Jacob Riddall, uplifting, O Holy Night, Once in Royal, O Come All Ye Faithful, Mary Did You Know, joy, peace, celebration, heartwarming, feel good, London

Id: y84yTOYXnbw

Length: 44min 45sec (2685 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 20 2020