Episode 6: Advent of Carols 6 - Coventry Carol
“Coventry Carol” is easily the saddest song in the Advent canon. The reason we sing it today is even sadder still. But it’s one of the prettiest, and it reminds us what we’re waiting for.
Listen to the Carol
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Episode 5: Advent of Carols 5 - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
An American Civil War poem dressed up as a Christmas carol, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is nothing like you think.
Listen to the Carol
- Bing Crosby - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
- Casting Crowns - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
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Episode 4: Advent of Carols 4 - In the Bleak Midwinter
A simplistic poem by a little-known author, set to music by none other than Gustav Holst. “In the Bleak Midwinter” teaches us to look for Advent theology in even the most basic carols.
Listen to the Carol
Tenebrae Choir - In the Bleak Midwinter
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Episode 3: Advent of Carols 3 - Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
A tune without a time signature, an unsingable poem, and a name for Jesus—Rose—not found in the Bible. Somehow, the hauntingly beautiful “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming” has become a Christmas mainstay.
Listen to the Carol
Sting - Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming
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Episode 2: Advent of Carols 2 - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
An eighth-century German prayer set to a fifteenth-century French tune, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is perhaps the most Advent-y of all Advent hymns with its seven names of Jesus.
Listen to the Hymn
- Simon Khorolskiy - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
- Mannheim Steamroller - Veni, Veni, Emmanuel
- Skillet - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
- The Piano Guys - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Instrumental)
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Episode 1: Advent of Carols 1 - Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
We kick off Advent with Charles Wesley’s Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus—a hymn that compresses the whole theology of Advent into a handful of lines: longing, liberation, rest, and the reign of the King.
Listen to the Hymn
Celtic Worship – “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”
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Scripture in This Episode
- Genesis 3:15
- Deuteronomy 18:15
- Hebrews 2:14–15
- Hebrews 4:8–11
- Matthew 11:28–30
- Luke 2:25–32
- Isaiah 9:6–7
- Ephesians 2:4–6
- Revelation 4
Episode 0: Advent of Carols Introduction
- Series notes
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