{"id":23572,"date":"2014-12-24T00:15:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T05:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=23572"},"modified":"2014-12-24T00:50:46","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T05:50:46","slug":"oh-little-town-bethlehem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/24\/oh-little-town-bethlehem\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/phssChristmasgraphic2014.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23090\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/phssChristmasgraphic2014.jpg\" alt=\"phssChristmasgraphic2014\" width=\"560\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/phssChristmasgraphic2014.jpg 560w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/phssChristmasgraphic2014-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #a11e24;\">Oh, little town of Bethlehem<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> How still we see thee lie<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> Above thy deep and dreamless sleep<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> The silent stars go by<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> Yet in thy dark streets shine<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> The everlasting light<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> The hopes and fears of all the years<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> Are met in thee tonight<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #a11e24;\">For Christ is born of Mary<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> And gathered all above<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> While mortals sleep the angels<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> Keep their watch of wondering love<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> Oh, morning stars together<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> Proclaim thy holy birth<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> And praises sing to God the king<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #a11e24;\"> And peace to men on earth<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rvOluzGeCwA?rel=0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Traditional hymn written by Philip Brooks and Lewis Redner<br \/>\nArrangers for Elvis Presley: Steve Abbott \/ Ian Tilley \/ Martin Neary<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #a11e24;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271d \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2605 \u00a0 \u00a0*<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I love this song! It makes me think of the peacefulness of that night&#8230;and what Bethlehem was like. And what Mary and Joseph were thinking as Mary awaited the birth of Jesus. Here is some interesting history I found on what Bethlehem may have been like all those years ago:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c \u2018<em>O Little Town Of Bethlehem<\/em>\u2019 is one of the most famous Christmas hymns. Bethlehem has become almost a mythological place. Children imagine it with a few \u201chuts,\u201d a few camels and the Holy Family. At the time of Jesus, Bethlehem was a little town of 300-1,000 inhabitants. What people might not know is that the city of Bethlehem today is not in Israel but in Palestine, and that it is a bustling city with 28,000 people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.redletterchristians.org\/bethlehem-then-and-now\/#!prettyPhoto\/0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.crosswalk.com\/faith\/spiritual-life\/the-greatest-gift-of-all-the-birth-of-jesus-christ-11596506.html\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a>to read the entire article: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bethlehem, Then and Now<\/span>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at how the Scriptures describe that night:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod,<br \/>\nwise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying,<br \/>\n\u201cWhere is He who has been born King of the Jews?<br \/>\nFor we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.\u201d<br \/>\nMatthew 2:1-2<\/p>\n<p>I love the part in the song about \u2018&#8230;<em>Yet in thy dark streets shine the Everlasting Light<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The sun will no more be your light by day,<br \/>\nnor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,<br \/>\nfor the LORD will be your Everlasting Light,<br \/>\nand your God will be your glory.<br \/>\nIsaiah 60:19<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Jesus is our Everlasting Light. \u00a0Praises be to the Father for this precious Gift!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,<br \/>\nnot by works of righteousness which we have done,<br \/>\nbut according to His mercy He saved us,<br \/>\nthrough the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,<br \/>\nWhom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,<br \/>\nthat having been justified by His grace<br \/>\nwe should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.<br \/>\nTitus 3:4-7<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cGod&#8217;s gift to us, however, was a complete surprise. It was not expected, and as you examine it more carefully, you realize how great a gift it actually was.<br \/>\nSecond, God&#8217;s gift came to us in the humblest of wrappings. What would you think if you saw a gift under your Christmas tree that was wrapped in newspaper and tied up with string? At first, you would probably assume that a guy wrapped it.<br \/>\nBut think about God&#8217;s gift to us. Jesus was not born in a palace of gold; He was born in a stable. He was clothed with rags. He was laid in a feeding trough.<br \/>\nYet these things do not, in any way, diminish the story of Christ&#8217;s birth. If anything, they help us realize the great sacrifice God made for us. God&#8217;s gift to humanity, the ultimate gift of eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ, came in the simplest and humblest of wrappings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.crosswalk.com\/faith\/spiritual-life\/the-greatest-gift-of-all-the-birth-of-jesus-christ-11596506.html\" target=\"_blank\">Click here\u00a0<\/a>to read &#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Greatest Gift<\/span>&#8220;)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #a11e24;\">\u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271d \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2605 \u00a0 \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Father, thank You for the most precious gift of Jesus. May it never be something we take for granted and may we daily remember the great sacrifice for such a precious gift\u2026In Jesus\u2019 name. Amen !!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oh, little town of Bethlehem How still we see thee lie Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by Yet in thy dark streets shine The everlasting light The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight For Christ is born of Mary And gathered all above While [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":23090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4937],"tags":[4663,5788,1287,425,8100,4654,8099,4932,4814],"class_list":["post-23572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs","tag-christmas-carols","tag-elvis-presley","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-isaiah-6019","tag-kim-golds","tag-matthew-21-2","tag-psalms-hymns-spiritual-songs","tag-titus-34-7","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/phssChristmasgraphic2014.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-68c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23572"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23575,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23572\/revisions\/23575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}