O come Emmanuel

We love the message of “Christ has come!” The CAROLS of this Christmas Season declares it in beautiful ways. The background of these songs that we know by heart is sometimes surprising. For instance, did you know that O come o come Emmanuel draws on a Christian tradition as old as the 6th century? In the 500s A.D. Christians would gather together and remember the messianic prophecies within the book of Isaiah.
They would gather and chant 7 different truths of Messiah. The Messiah would be Wisdom, Adonai, root of Jessie, key of David, Morningstar, King of nations, & Emmanuel God with us.
These Chants, called Antiphons, would declare the truth of Jesus Christ. These antiphons did more than just recite scriptural truth and declare who Christ is. These early Christians also invited Jesus to come and be everything he promised. O come Emmanuel…
This Christmas season we need to declare who Christ is, but we also need to invite this Jesus to come and be! O COME EMMANUEL!

Carols 3 – O come O come Emmanuel from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Carols 3 – o come, o come Emmanuel

Sermon notes by Pastor Chris Fluitt

Redemption Church Plano Tx

Hello Redemption Church and to all our podcasters, youtubers, facebook livers… It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. We are coming to you from Plano, Tx just miles north of Dallas Tx and we hope you are experiencing to joy of Jesus wherever you are.
We are in the 3rd week of our Carols sermon series. Today I want to bring to your attention an often overlooked, yet powerful, Christmas carol.

O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel

Our English translation of this song that you know so well was translated from Latin in 1861. That’s pretty old, but it’s origin goes back much further. There is evidence of this song existing and being spoken by Christians in the 6^th century. We aren’t the first people to grab hold of hope in the birth of Jesus Christ.

Antiphon

This song was originally a chant. They technical term for it is “antiphon.” There were 7 antiphons/chants that would be recited by believers in the days leading up to Christmas. From December 17^th to December 23^rd they would gather daily and declare with their voices a truth about Jesus Christ. Today As we are looking at God’s word together it is the December 17^th, so let’s just embrace this old tradition for a moment.
There are 7 chants and they all are prophetic descriptions of Jesus from the book of Isaiah.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Adonai (Lord), and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

This goes much further than a Church tradition. At the core is this…

In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be.

Isaiah 11:2 declares our Messiah to be the wisdom of God.
Isaiah 11:2 (NIV2011) The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Isaiah 33:22 declares the messiah to be Adonai, the Lord.
Isaiah 33:22 (NIV2011) For Adonai the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Isaiah 11:1 prophetically declared that the messiah would spring up from the lineage of Jessie.
Isaiah 11:1 (NIV2011) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Isaiah 22:22 declares that messiah is an authority greater than king David.. He is key to the house.
Isaiah 22:22 (NIV2011) I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Isaiah 9:2 declared the Messiah to be the great light that drives out darkness.
Isaiah 9:2 (NIV2011) The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Isaiah 2:4 declared that Messiah would be the King of all nations.
Isaiah 2:4 (NIV2011) He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Isaiah 64:8 declares our Lord to be Father, the potter who formed us from clay.
Isaiah 64:8 (NIV2011) Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.
Musician
And finally Isaiah 7:14 declared something so amazing.
Isaiah 7:14 (NIV2011) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
There is a sign given to us straight from the Lord. A virgin shall conceive a son. That son will be Immanuel… That son will be God with Us!
In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be. Come and save us, O Lord our God. O COME EMMANUEL!

You may be celebrating Christmas but are you seeing the light of Who Jesus Christ is? Are you inviting Him to come and be?
You may be singing Christmas carols but are you seeing the light of Who Jesus Christ is? Are you inviting Him to come and be?
You may know the story of Christ’s birth but are you really seeing the light of Who Jesus Christ is? Are you inviting Him to come and be?

In the light of what Christ is, we say come and be.

Jesus Christ has come and He is everything you need. Invite Christ into your life today!
Do not have a Christless Christmas. O come Emmanuel!
redemption-Church.com
Redemption Church is a nondenominational Church in Plano Texas. Our mission is to declare the good news and see others become followers of Jesus Christ. Our vision is to be a 1st Century Church connecting to a 21st Century world. To bring the community, the power, passion & dedication of that 1st century church to the fast paced, technologically advanced, and complex world of the 21st century.
We currently meet on Sunday afternoons at 3pm at the Corner of Parker Rd & Alma in Plano Tx. We would love to greet you in person.
Our lead pastor is Chris Fluitt.
O COME EMMANUEL