Last week, I talked about the fact that one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story is the fact that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.  Not too surprisingly, one of my favorite Christmas hymns is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Since the song is in a minor key (at least I think it is – help me out true musicians 🙂 ) , the music is a bit somber.  Yet the words to this hymn are filled with hope.  Because God is coming to earth, we can rejoice.  Below is just a portion of the hymn, but if you click on the above link, you can read through all eight (yes, eight!) verses.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The version that I am linking today is by Bryan Duncan, one of our favorite singers.  (In fact our youngest has the middle name “Duncan” partially in homage to him).  This song is from the Christmas album, “Our Christmas.”  One of the first cds that I remember purchasing as a young adult.  Bryan does also have two beautiful Christmas albums of his own as well.  Another time I will feature what I consider to be his signature Christmas tune.