12/7/25 – Carols of the Coming King Part 2

This Christmas season at Refuge Church Byhalia, we’re slowing down to soak in one of the most meaningful carols ever written — “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”  Each week, we’ll explore a different verse of this ancient song, uncovering how it points to Jesus — the promised Messiah, our Rescuer and Redeemer. Along the way, we’ll rediscover a truth woven into every human heart: we were made to sing, and to sing of the glory of God.

Intro

• Good Morning!
• Welcome again to Refuge Church Byhalia.
• My name is MIchael & I serve as the Planting Pastor here at Refuge. 
• It is an honor to stand before you this morning and preach. 
• It’s responsibility I don’t take lightly. 
• My hope and prayer is that you leave with higher thoughts of Jesus and some insight into life with Christ, this side of heaven. 
• You’re welcome to forget my name, so long as you remember that. 
• WE are in week 2 of our Carols of the Coming King series. 
• Where we are diving into the classic Christian Christmas Hymn ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’
• While also trying to understand why, how, & what the church sings. 
• Before we dive into that, I want to remind the members of Refuge Church Byhalia about the special offering, the Gift for Jesus Our Lord offering. 
• There are some envelopes around the room for this special offering we do at Christmas. 
• And here’s the idea, every year, we challenge ourselves to keep Jesus #1 as we celebrate and remember His birthday. 
• Not only in what we sing & what we talk about
• But also in our gift giving.
• So the challenge is to give Jesus the biggest gift at Christmas. 
• These envelopes are out so you can take them home, think about them as a family, & give whatever the Lord encourages you to give cheerfully. 
• We will take these up the next 2 weeks. 
• These offerings, which are a pleasing aroma to the Lord
• Will help us to do many things as we turn the calendar. 
• Things like fund outreach efforts where we can love neighbors & share the hope of Jesus.
• Buy tools & resources to help Carla & Erin lead, teach, and invest in our kids ministry where our youngest hear the Gospel week in and week out!
• We take great care and are immensely intentional with all that is given to Refuge.
• In the lobby you saw 3 phrases on the wall.
• Those phrases are our pillars, our marching orders, our mission.
• Basically we are all about those Biblically Based Phrases.
• Sharing the Hope of Jesus,
• Loving Neighbors, 
• & Growing Together. 
• And as our budget stands the top line item, it’s not a mortgage, it’s not a salary, it’s not even keeping the lights on.
• It’s getting the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, the hope of Jesus, out and in front of people.
• Both in Byhalia, Barton, & Beyond
• And through international church planting efforts.
• So come ready – as we continue to aim to fill heaven, by God’s grace with the faithfulness of our feet, our hands, & our finances. 
• Now growing up, I was an Air Force kid
• My dad was in the Air Force until I was 17 years old and Uncle Same moved us around the world. 
• And 1 thing that meant, was we would have to regularly find a new church. 
• And when we moved to Texas there were very few churches that shared the doctrinal views of my parents in the area perfectly. 
• So we found ourselves visiting a lot of churches. 
• And 1 day we went to a church and as we visited, I noticed something before service started.
• There were no instruments on the stage. 
• I had spent the last 7 years in churches with full worship bands. 
• I thought for a moment maybe everyone would walk up with their instruments. 
• But nope, as the service started there was a song leader up front, without anything. 
• And about 350 people singing with gusto in 4 and sometimes 5 part harmony.
• Kids, teens, adults, married couples, old people all singing aloud and filling the room.
• It was shocking. 
• It was weird to me. 
• But eventually, it was awesome. I could hear men, women, children, & everything in between
• Singing.
• The congregation, the gathering of believers, singing together
• And being able to be heard was new for me. And I loved it. 
• And I thought to myself, well this maybe is their sunday morning routine 
• Maybe youth group will be different.
• Nope, I go to youth group, we gather up in a circle.
• Eyes open and some of the older kids would just start singing.
• No screens. No graphics. Not even a hymnal.
• And these kids, they would just join in. 4 and sometimes 5 part harmony. 
• I was floored.
• There was no fear, there was no shame, there was just joy in the words being shared. 
• But that’s nto even the height of my awkwardly amazing acapella experience.
• Over the years, as my family was at this church
• I grew in my joy for this style of musical worship. 
• I eventually became one of those kids at youth group that would throw down the start of a song for everyone to join in. 
• But the height of my experience in this came in the summer before my senior year of high school. We took a youth group trip to Colorado where for church camp we would backpack for a week and summit, or climb to the top of a mountain. 
• No cars, no bikes, no horses.
• Just us, our backpacks, & the great rocky mountains.
• Carry everything you need in, and carry it all out.
  • Which is pretty crazy. All your food. All you trash.
  • And yes even your used TP. 
• So we go on this trip
• Climb and climb and climb
• Eventually get to where we are so high, that trees cannot grow.
• And keep climbing.
• It’s july, and there’s still snow.
• We keep climbing. 
• And we get to the top, 13,792 feet in the air. You can see for miles and miles. 
• Its amazing. We take pictures. We high five everyone. 
• And then we do a devotional. 
• And to start our devotional, we sing
• At the top of a mountain.
• There was no electricity
• There was no instruments
• There were no hymnals because nobody wants to carry an extra 3 lb book. 
• One of the most amazing moments of my life. 
• And yet just 2 years prior – i was amazingly uncomfortable with my first visit to this acappela church. 
• And I say that, not to push for Justin to hang up his guitar.
• Not at all, 
• But I share that story, primarily to illustrate a couple ideas we need to have as we continue our Carols of the Coming King series. 
• First, to be developed next week, our musical worship decisions are made for the glory of God and to help the congregation’s voices be raised. 
• And secondly – when we think about how the church should sing, we should not answer that primarily with style of music, age of music, or things of that nature.
• But rather, when we try to answer how the church should sing – it should be about the posture of the congregation, not everyone’s preferences. 
• More on that in a moment.
• First let’s recap what we talked about last week. 

Recap

• ‘The local church gathering of believers is to do ‘church’ as scripture guides and instructs. ‘ 
• This book, the Bible is our marching orders. 
• We aren’t going to go against this
• And according to the Bible
• ’Everything the church does, should be done well, in order, & for the glory of God. ’
• It’s not about me, it’s nto about you. It’s about God
• & His worthiness of our honor, attention, & praise. 
• So we do aim to do everything well
• And do it in order
• And not chaotic or surprising or spontaneous. 
• Then we asked questions. 
• ‘Why should the church sing?
  • The church should sing, because it is commanded & demonstrated throughout scripture. ’
• This isn’t some random idea
• It;s found in the Bible.
• So then we asked, if we are commanded to sing and we see it demonstrated. 
• ‘What should the church sing?
  • The church should sing songs, hymns, & spiritual songs. ’
    • We sing songs that say God is Awesome!
    • We sing songs that challenge & spur one another on towards glory.
    • We sing Gospelicious songs that remind us of our need for a savior & that Jesus is that savior. 
• Songs with meaning, songs of value
• Songs that help us in the valley
• Songs that help us keep the right perspective on the mountaintop.
• Songs with strong biblical basis
• Puritan Pastor Jonathan Edwards said. “The songs of the church ought to be full of the great doctrines of the gospel, that the understanding and affections together may be raised unto God.” -Jonathan Edwards
• And now our question of the day. 

How should the church sing?

• The church should sing with enthusiasm, engaged minds, & engaged hearts. 
• Let’s Pray. 
• So the church should sing with enthusiasm, engaged minds, & engaged hearts.
• Meaning – we aren’t going to be robotic
• We aren’t going to be mundane
• We are going to get our diaphrams pushing air through our vocal chords
• And we are going to be engaged and involved physically in the singing.
• If we aren’t involved in the singing, 
• We need to ask why?
• If you don’t want to sing to the Lord, why?
• Why don’t you want your mind, heart, & body engaged in singing great truths and praises to God.
• Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:15 Page ___ ‘15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; ^dI will sing praise with my spirit, but I will ^esing with my mind also.’
• Haphazard prayers
• Not ok
• Haphazard musical worship
• Not right.
• So yes, we have musical instruments leading us
• We have mic’d up skilled and passionate musical worship leaders.
• But they are here to guide & lead, & help us
• Obey a one another command.
• Turn to Ephesians 5:18-19 Page ___  ‘18 And ^sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is ^tdebauchery, but ^ube filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in ^vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,’
• We are supposed to sing to one another
• With heart
• With vigor
• With energy
• When we hear each other sings
• It impacts
• It matters
• It affects
• And it glorifies the Lord
• Look, I don’t care how good your voice is or is not
• I don’t care how pitchy you are or are not
• It doesn’t matter to me if you have no idea what A 440 is
• What matters to me friends, is does how your mind knows the Lord
• And how your heart feels about the Lord
• Lead you to sing?
• In their book Sing! Keith & Kristyn Getty have this challenging paragraph for us.
• “When… you stand to sing, consciously focus on what is going on… Ask God to help you focus; think about the words you are singing and the images they are painting; respond in prayer to lines that particularly strike you; be mindful of those around you, enjoying being part of something greater than just yourself.” -Keith & Kristyn Getty
• This isn’t a style thing
• It’s not a skill thing
• It’s a matter of where are you on Jesus our Lord & Savior.
• Robot Christians mumbling along with musical worship need to examine themselves. 
• And don’t try to say – i don’t like the style or method.
• The New Testament does not prescribe a style or method.
• And that’s part of the brilliance of God. 
• John Piper ‘If the New Testament had given detailed guidelines for what a worship service should be, it would have enshrined one first century culture to be imposed on all the cultures of the world. It would have been a colossal failure given what God designs for his church to look like all over the world as it becomes embedded in, incarnate in all the cultures of the world.’ -John Piper
• Meaning – musical styles & methods of 1st century middle-east living
• Doesn’t fit Byhalia, MS
• And Byhalia, MS didn’t fit 19th century germany
• And 19th century germany didn’t fit California in the 70’s Jesus Culture movement. 
• And God didn’t specifically prescribe any 1 style. 
• But we should sing things of substance
• And things that we can find in scripture
• And not just 1 or 2 words 
• But thought out
• Intentional
• Poetic phrases
• Put to music.
• Don’t believe me? Let’s look at O Come O Come Emmanuel.
• Our verse from 

Bible Backing Of Verse

• Last Week – Reminded, there is hope in the waiting. 
• This week we will be reminded that there is Freedom for the Captive.
• So we sang about a stick. 

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

Thine own from Satan’s tyranny

From depths of hell Thy people save

And give them victory o’er the grave

• Where do we get this idea from. 
• Remember we say o come o come
• To remember the longing
• The waiting
• The time spent looking forward to Christ’s arrival
• The long awaited arrival of the messiah
• Promised in Genesis and prophesied or predicted over an Dover again
• And this phrase about a stick is the backdrop of this opening line .
• O come, Thou Rod of Jesse,
  • Turn to Isaiah 11:1 Page ___  – ‘¹  There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of ^lJesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.’
  • Go a few verses down. 
  • Isaiah 11:10 Page ___  – ‘¹⁰ In that day ^xthe root of ^yJesse, who shall stand as ^za signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.’
  • This is talking about the family tree
  • Of Jesse, one of Israel’s sons. 
  • And his tribe, was the tribe that produced King David
  • That family tree was big and important to Israel. 
  • But then, in the aftermath of David’s life, his family tree seemed to more or less fall apart. 
  • Almost like it was cut down
  • David’s family tree was cut down.
  • Just a stump remained.
  • But in this promise from Isaiah
  • We see from the stump
  • The chopped down family tree of Jesse & King David
  • Something will grow
  • And bear fruit
  • And be a signal for everyone everywhere. 
  • Paul confirmed this when talking about Jesus, the hope for Israel & the hope for Gentiles. Romans 15:12 Page ___  – ‘¹² And again Isaiah says, ^ij“The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; ^kin him will the Gentiles hope.”’
  • Pastor & Theologian Charles Spurgeon says ‘“Jesus was the sprout, or the shoot out of the withered stem of Jesse… when the dynasty of David was like the tree cut down, and only the stem of it left, there sprang up out of it the Nazarene.”’ -Charles Spurgeon
  • So we look back and remember looking forward to the fulfillment of that promise. 
  • And we sing with that mindset
  • And sing with that thought.
  • Matthew Henry ‘He (Jesus) comes forth out of the stem of Jesse when the royal family was cut down and almost levelled… the house of David was brought very low at Christ’s birth. His humble origin signified that His kingdom was not of this world.’ -Matthew Henry
  • Away in that manger humbly came the Rod, the stem of Jesse, to establish His Kingdom.
  • Now the next part of this verse from the song. 
• Free, Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
  • Satan reigns for now in this world
  • The prince of darkness
  • So the line, free thine own from Satan’s tyranny
  • Free us God from Satan’s control & dominion.
  • Turn to Hebrews 2:14–15 Page ___  – ‘¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise ^hpartook of the same things, that ⁱthrough death he might ^jdestroy ^kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who ^lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ’
  • Deliver us from our lifelong slavery
  • And the power of death.
  • Turn to Colossians 1:13 Page ___  – ‘¹³ He ^dhas delivered us from ^ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to ^fthe kingdom of ^ghis beloved Son, ’
  • Next line.
• From depths of hell Thy people save.
  • This line forces the question, how lost are we apart from Christ
  • How dead in trespasses and sins are we without Christ
  • How far down are we, without Christ.
  • Turn to Psalm 86:13 Page ___  – ‘^{13  d}For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have ^edelivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.’
  • Turn now to Jude 1:23 Page ___  – ‘²³ save others by ^asnatching them out of ^bthe fire; to others show mercy ^cwith fear, hating even ^dthe garment⁷ stained by the flesh.’
  • On our own, we are immensel lost
  • In the depths of sheol
  • The depths of hell.
  • Without hope
  • But this song, is a song of longing & hope 
  • Hope that God can get us out of the depths.
  • Matthew Henry ‘Our God alone possesses almighty power and infinite love… The compassion, mercy, and truth of God will be the believer’s refuge and consolation… David’s deliverance from the lowest hell illustrates God’s past mercies and strengthens his faith for future rescue.’ -Matthew Henry
  • Next line.
  • Remember – we are looking at the depth of the music, that we are to engage our minds, our hearts, & our bodies with. 
• And give them victory o’er the grave.
  • Oh God – who can take us out of the depths of hell
  • The depths of sheol
  • Give us victory
  • Victory over death.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:54–57 Page ___  – ‘⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ^x“Death is swallowed up in victory.” ^{55  y}“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^zthe power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^awho gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
  • Old testament verse.
  • Hosea 13:14 Page ___   – ‘^{14  b}I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; ^bI shall redeem them from Death.^{3 c}O ^dDeath, where are your plagues? ^cO ^dSheol, where is your sting? ^eCompassion is hidden from my eyes.’
  • John Calvin ‘The victory of Christ over death is the believer’s victory… Christ’s rising again lays the foundation for our conquest; so that death, once dreaded as our master and our tyrant, is now a vanquished foe, robbed of its terror. Hence Paul exults that ‘death is swallowed up in victory.’ -John Calvin
  • Oh what a marvelous thing to sing about
  • The conquering of death
  • But not just death
  • Freedom from sin!
  • Our last line for the day
  • Oh what a great victory we have because Christ was born!
  • ‘If sin enslaves us, Christ delivers us; His blood redeems us from the guilt of sin, and His Spirit brings us into liberty from its dominion.’ -Charles Spurgeon
  • Liberty
  • Freedom
  • Rescuing
  • What a thing to sing
  • What a thing to think about
  • What a joyful reality
  • What a hopeful  reality!
  • ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ rescues His people from the bondage of sin; His grace does not leave a man in sin, but changes him from being a slave of sin to being a servant of God.’ -A.W. Pink
• Do you know this hope?
  • Have you trusted in the rod of jesse
  • That offers freedom from death, hell, & sin?
  • GOSPEL Moment.
• So we sing
  • We sing with engaged minds, engaged hearts, & with our bodies by more than mumbling 
  • And we can do this
  • Because there is great beautiful biblical truths
  • Style doesn’t matter. 
  • Our amazing God is what matters. 
  • So as you go this week
  • Sing for Joy
  • Sing as you work
  • Sing as you drive
  • Sing as you parent
  • Because God, sent His son
  • The long promised rod of Jesse
  • To bring us victory

Let’s pray.