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

For Android Users:

1. Open this webpage in Chrome.

2. Tap the Menu icon (3 dots in upper right-hand corner) and tap Add to home screen.

3. Choose a name for the website shortcut (Christmas Music Calendar), then Chrome will add it to your home screen for quick access.

For iPhone or iPad Users:

1. Open this webpage in Safari.

2. Tap the Share button (it looks square with an arrow pointing out of the top, on the bottom of the page).

3. In the list of options that appear, scroll down until you see Add to Home Screen. Tap this, then the Add to Home Screen dialog box will appear.

4. Choose a name for the website shortcut (Christmas Music Calendar). You will see the link so you can confirm it, as well as the site's favicon that will appear as the "app" icon on your home screen.

5. Click Add when finished. Safari will close automatically and you will be taken to where the icon is located on your iPhone's or iPad's home screen.

6. Now simply tap the new "app" or shortcut on your home screen, and it will open this webpage in its own navigation window.

"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

"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

"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"

"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

“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?

"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

"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

"Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world."

C.S. Lewis, from The Last Battle 

"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

"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

“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

“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

 "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

“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

“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