My funeral service got longer again this summer. Let me explain. I came away from the WELS worship conference in July with hymns from the new Christian Worship: Supplement ringing in my head. Many were hymns that didn't take long to grow on me and work their way onto my "favorites" list and, subsequently, into my funeral service. You see, I love music, and when God calls me home, I'd like my funeral to be filled with music that proclaims the gospel and feeds the soul of anyone who may be there.

God has blessed the world with the gift of music. He has also blessed the world with his Word. When the two are combined and music is employed as the vehicle to carry his life-giving Word to his people, we are fed well. Lutheran worship strives to use songs and hymns and spiritual songs to help the Word of God dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16).

The Word of God at Christmas

Every Christmas we look forward to entering our beautifully decorated churches to hear the account of Christ's birth and to sing the familiar Christmas carols that tell of his birth. Wouldn't it be nice if we could take the joy of Christmas and spread it out over the course of the whole year?

We can—and we do—in several songs of the liturgy, four of which have found their way into our hymnals and liturgy.