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Thank you for returning for another year of my Christmas Music Advent!
A warm welcome to anyone who is joining this year. All of the music and scriptures from last year still exist on THIS PAGE (including the 2022 playlist). Feel free to go back to the 2022 calendar and use it again this year!
If you would like to read a bit on why I began this little project, please go back and read the Welcome Intro for 2022.
This year, I am trying something a little different. Instead of passages of scripture, I have implemented a different quote for each day in December 2023. The quotes are centered on Jesus Christ our Savior and the season of Christmas. I pulled most of the quotes from various leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and also included quotes from different literature & poetry, movies, song lyrics, inspirational individuals, and other Christian faith leaders.
I hope you enjoy the selections and arrangements of music that accompany each quote. You will see that there are no repeats of songs from last year.
My desire is that this Advent will supplement your Christmas Season, and that you will find joy and peace in the Christ-centered messages each day.
Throughout this year, I have focused on uplifting music that centers and helps me have MORE faith in Jesus Christ. In this quest during 2023, I found some incredible artists and faithful individuals who praise and worship Christ and our Heavenly Father through song. They helped me to be more faith filled.
The goal of this project is to follow the lesson from Psalms 105: 2-4, which reads, "Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore."
May we sing and praise Him who is the reason of the Christmas season.
The music arrangements included, while not typical Sunday hymns (but some are), are true examples of faithful praise, worship, and joy in our Savior.
God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.
I pray that you gain insight and feel the love of our Heavenly Father as you follow along this Christmas Advent Calendar. Together, let us celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was born of Mary, He lived, He died, and then lived again, all for you and me. I know this to be true, and am grateful everyday.
He lives, and while He lives I'll sing!
Thank you for joining me in 2023.
Sincerely, Dayton B. Martindale
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"Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"
Charles M. Schulz, from A Charlie Brown Christmas
"As the Christmas season envelops us with all its glory, may we, as did the Wise Men, seek a bright, particular star to guide us to our Christmas opportunity in service to our fellowman. May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender, caring heart as our gift to the Savior. And may one and all have a joy-filled Christmas."
Thomas S. Monson, from Christmas is Love
“Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!”
Neal A. Maxwell, from Settle This in Your Hearts
"This Christmas season, through all of our various Christmas traditions, I hope that we are focused first upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise men still adore Him."
Russell M. Nelson, from Christ the Savior is Born
"God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it."
Pope Francis
"Jesus, my Savior, Lord, and King, What greater name could e'er I sing?
What greater joy than from Thee I know? What greater debt than mine to owe?
O how my words in vain impart, What glows within my grateful heart.
No tongue could ever right declare, What tender love is written there.
Ten thousand gifts could I employ, To show my praise, my thanks, my joy!
All of my life, yea, all my days, Still not enough to sing Thy praise.
Ever I'll sing Thy praise."
Rob Gardner, from Jesus, My Savior in "The Lamb of God"
“The sweetest gift given at Christmas will always be the one our Savior Himself gave us: his perfect peace. He said: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid’ (John 14:27). Even in a world where peace seems far off, the Savior’s gift of peace can live in our hearts regardless of our circumstances. If we accept the Savior’s invitation to follow him, lasting fear is forever banished. Our future has been secured. These are the ‘good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.’ ‘Fear thou not,’ the prophet Isaiah reminded us, ‘for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness’ (Isaiah 41:10).”
L. Whitney Clayton, from Fear Not
"A frosty Christmas Eve when the stars were shining
Fared I forth alone where westward falls the hill,
And from many a village in the water’d valley
Distant music reach’d me peals of bells aringing:
The constellated sounds ran sprinkling on earth’s floor
As the dark vault above with stars was spangled o’er.
Then sped my thoughts to keep that first Christmas of all
When the shepherds watching by their folds ere the dawn
Heard music in the fields and marveling could not tell
Whether it were angels or the bright stars singing.
Now blessed be the tow’rs that crown England so fair
That stand up strong in prayer unto God for our souls
Blessed be their founders (said I) an’ our country folk
Who are ringing for Christ in the belfries to-night
With arms lifted to clutch the rattling ropes that race
Into the dark above and the mad romping din.
But to me heard afar it was starry music
Angels’ song, comforting as the comfort of Christ
When he spake tenderly to his sorrowful flock:
The old words came to me by the riches of time
Mellow’d and transfigured as I stood on the hill
Heark’ning in the aspect of th’ eternal silence."
Robert Bridges, Noel: Christmas Eve 1913
To supplement today's selection, Noel: Christmas Eve 1913, click on the button below to read about its history, background, and adaptation into a song by John Denver.
"If the Savior, having breathed his last on the cross, had never come back to the world in life as he promised, then the Star of Bethlehem might as well never have flamed, the angels as well never have sung 'Glory to God in the Highest' in the midnight sky, and the wise men from the east need not have taken their journey to find the babe in the manger. We might have wept over our crucified king if he had never risen from the dead, but we sound his praises now because he lives and reigns forever and ever."
Author Unknown
“I ask anew the question offered by Pilate two thousand years ago, ‘What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?’ Indeed, we need continually to ask ourselves, What shall we do with Jesus who is called Christ? What shall we do with his teachings, and how can we make them an inseparable part of our lives? In light of these questions, at this season we ask another: What does Christmas really mean?”
Gordon B. Hinckley, from What Shall I Do Then with Jesus Which is Called Christ?
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
Charles Dickens, from A Christmas Carol
"Many of our memorable and enduring Christmas traditions include different kinds of lights — lights on trees, lights in and on our homes, candles on our tables. May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of him who is the source of all light.”
David A. Bednar, from The Light and the Life of the World
"To prepare our hearts for Christmas, we must cultivate the spirit of expectancy."
Handel H. Brown (former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in St. Cloud, FL)
"There’s Christmas in the home and church,
There’s Christmas in the mart;
But you’ll not know what Christmas is
Unless it’s in your heart.
The bells may call across the snow,
And carols search the air,
But oh, the heart will miss the thrill
Unless it’s Christmas there."
From "Christmas in the Heart," as quoted in The Instructor, Dec. 1933
“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.
“Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning — with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.”
Howard W. Hunter, from The Gifts of Christmas
"Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world."
C.S. Lewis, from The Last Battle
"And when we find him, will we be prepared as were the wise men of old to provide gifts from our many treasures? They presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These are not the gifts Jesus asks of us. From the treasure of our hearts Jesus asks that we give of ourselves."
Thomas S. Monson, from The Search for Jesus
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet, the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men."
Henry Waldsworth Longfellow
"Jesus Christ is not only our hero; He is our Lord and King, the Savior and Redeemer of mankind."
W. Christopher Waddell, from More Than a Hero
"For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself."
Charles Dickens, from A Christmas Carol
“At this focal point of all human history, a point illuminated by a new star in the heavens revealed for just such a purpose, probably no other mortal watched —none but a poor young carpenter, a beautiful virgin mother and silent stabled animals who had not the power to utter the sacredness they had seen.
“Shepherds would soon arrive and later, wise men from the East. Later yet the memory of that night would bring Santa Claus and Frosty and Rudolph — and all would be welcome. But first and forever there was just a little family, without toys or trees or tinsel. With a baby — that’s how Christmas began. …
“Perhaps recalling the circumstances of that gift, of his birth, of his own childhood, perhaps remembering that purity and faith and genuine humility will be required of every celestial soul, Jesus must have said many times as he looked into the little eyes that loved him (eyes that always best saw what and who he really was), ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ ”
Jeffrey R. Holland, from Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come from a Store
“Because of Jesus the Christ, we need never feel like strangers again. We will rise with the just when he returns! And because of His perfect life and eternal sacrifice, one day we can stand with the angels of heaven and receive with them an eternal gift.
May we, this Christmas season, remember our generous Heavenly Father and give profound and heartfelt thanks to our Almighty God, who has given all of his children wings to fly.”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, from The Generous One
“When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, he begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When we are ready to come to him, he is ready to come to us.”
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 6: 308
“I invite you to make room in your heart for those around you who may be struggling to see the light of the Savior and to feel His love. No gifts will mean as much as acts of pure love you offer to the lonely, the worn down and the weary. These are gifts that remind us and them of the true reason for the season: the gift of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who was born to cast out all fear and bring everlasting light and joy to all who follow Him.”
Russell M. Nelson, from The Light of Christmas: A Message from President Russell M. Nelson
“The day Jesus was born was a day of deliverance for the believers in the New World. Light as the sign of the Savior’s birth literally saved their lives.”
David A. Bednar, from The Light and Life of the World
"And when we find Him, will we be prepared as were the wise men of old to provide gifts from our many treasures? They presented gold, frankincense and myrrh. These are not the gifts Jesus asks of us. From the treasure of our hearts Jesus asks that we give of ourselves."
Thomas S. Monson, from The Search For Jesus
"Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens, from A Christmas Carol
“Hope, in a word, is the Savior. Hope is a part of the deity in us that attaches us to the Savior. Don’t let that thread be cut. No matter how tenuous or thin it might be, there is always hope."
John H. Groberg, from There Is Always Hope
"What is the cost of discipleship? It is primarily obedience. It is the forsaking of many things. But since everything in life has a price, it is a price worth paying, considering that the great promise of the Savior is for peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come. It is a price we cannot afford not to pay."
James E. Faust, from The Price of Discipleship
“As we follow [the Savior], He blesses us with gifts, talents, and the strength to do His will, allowing us to go beyond our comfort zones and do things we've never before thought possible."
Robert D. Hales, from Being a More Christian Christian
"Whatever questions or problems you may have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ."
Russell M. Nelson, from The Answer Is Always Jesus Christ