Have
you ever wondered what is on Britt Nicole's Christmas playlist? Wonder
no more! :) Check out her Christmas Spotify playlist to hear all of her
favorite tunes! Turns out Britt and I have a TON of favorites in common!
"Britt Nicole
is one of my favorite female artists. She has an incredible heart for
her ministry, is a wonderful role model for girls of all ages and has an
excellent singing voice. She has an infectious and upbeat musical
style, layering her strong and distinguished vocals over the top of one
hooky melody after another. Britt really has emerged as one of the top
female vocalists in any genre, and the messages of her songs are great
for anyone struggling with identity issues as evidenced by her hit song
"Gold."
Her excellent, Grammy-nominated album, Gold,
was re-released earlier this year, and features the aforementioned hit
title track, as well as "All This Time" and "Ready or Not." She's also a
new mom with her baby daughter, Ella Brave Crosby, having been born
this past year. She contributed to the WOW Christmas collection with a stunning rendition of the Christmas hymn, "O Come All Ye Faithful." I had the great opportunity to speak with Britt about her cover tune, and this is what she shared with me.
Please tell me about the story behind recording "O Come All Ye Faithful."
I love Christmas time. I have a big family and we all get together. I
usually go home to North Carolina, but this will be the first year that
I'm not going home. I'll be staying here in Nashville with my husband
and baby daughter. We'll have our first Christmas together as new
parents.
Normally when I go home, my grandfather has a big log house and we
eat lots of food, read the Christmas story and open presents, and my
grandfather loves to sing Christmas songs. We sit around the fireplace
and he says that before we open any presents we need to take time to
pray and sing and think about the meaning of Christmas songs, and read
from the Bible. We would always sing "O Come All Ye Faithful," and I
love how the song has a special place in my heart from singing it with
my family.
I love so many songs, and chose this one for a couple of reasons.
Mainly I love the song because it takes you to a place of worship.
Honestly, we were looking at a lot of different songs to record for the WOW Christmas project. Every artist would choose a different song. I was so happy that this song was available, because it is traditional.
I've only released one other Christmas song, "Last Christmas," to
Japan, which is kind of random. It's a fun, pop song, but not about the
heart of Christmas. I was really thankful that I landed on a song that
led me to a place of worship. I really didn't expect the song to do that
as much as it did.
My husband produced the song, and I was singing it in the studio and
words really spoke to me while I was singing them for the recording. It
is a worship song—not just a Christmas song. I really felt the presence
of God while I was recording it. Now when I listen to it, I go to a
place of worship. I love that, because that's what Christmas is all
about, the birth of Jesus and the worship of Him as our King and as our
Lord. To be able to do that with my first ‘real' Christmas song that
I've released was very cool. I really like how it turned out.
Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song? Matthew 2:1-6 (The Voice): "Mary
and Joseph name their baby Jesus, but sometimes He is referred to as
'Immanuel,' because by coming to dwell with us, living and dying among
us, He would be able to save us from our sin. Jesus was born in the town
of Bethlehem, in the province of Judea, at the time when King Herod
reigned. Not long after Jesus was born, magi, wise men or seers from the
East, made their way from the East to Jerusalem. These wise men made
inquiries. These men from the East come looking for the One who has been
born who will save His people from sin. Wise Men: 'Where is
this newborn, who is the King of the Jews? When we were far away in the
East we saw His star, and we have followed its glisten and gleam all
this way to worship Him.' King Herod began to hear rumors of the wise
men's quest, and he, and all of his followers in Jerusalem, were
worried. So Herod called all of the leading Jewish teachers, the chief
priests and head scribes, and he asked them where Hebrew tradition
claimed the long-awaited Anointed One would be born. Scribes and Priests: 'An
ancient Hebrew prophet, Micah, said this: But you, Bethlehem, in the
land of Judah, are no poor relation—For from your people will come a
Ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.'
What's the takeaway message?
When you read that Scripture and the wise men ask, "Where is this
newborn?" right away my mind went to my baby. I just had Ella a few
months ago, and thinking of her as a tiny newborn—and she's really
tiny—who can't do anything or say anything, to think at that moment the
wise men were coming to see the Savior of the world as tiny little baby,
that's amazing to me. Now that I've experienced having a baby, I
keep thinking about how God came in that form.
He could have come so many different ways, as a King, riding on a
horse, but He came in humility and it shows who Jesus is. That speaks a
lot to me about the character of God. We want people to notice us, and
we want to be recognized, but Jesus came as a baby. This time of year is
a time to come and worship God. I'm thinking about shopping for gifts,
and it is easy to get caught up in the distractions of the season.
That's not what it is about at all. It is nice to give gifts, but we
need to keep our focus on Jesus. I hope when people hear this song that
they experience God's presence. God is here right now. He's with you
wherever you are. He is alive. Go to that place of worship.
Lyrics: O come all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of angels O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord Let us come
Let us come
Let us come
Let us come Sing choirs of angels
Sing in exultation
Sing all ye citizens
Of Heaven above
Glory to God
Glory in the highest Come and adore Him
Come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord Let us come
Let us come
Let us come and adore Him Come and adore Him
Come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
That Matthew 2:1-6 Bible account in The Voice translation really sets
the scene for the Christmas story. We are familiar with the story, but
these words give some context about how God prophesied that Jesus would
be born in Bethlehem, in Micah 5:2, and told us through His prophet
Isaiah that His Son would be named Jesus, sometimes called Immanuel,
"because by coming to dwell with us, living and dying among us, He would
be able to save us from our sin." That's the Christmas story. Jesus
came to live among us, not as royalty, but in poverty, "with no place
for the Son of Man to lay His head."
Jesus lived the perfect life that we can't live and died the death
that we all deserve so that we could live with Him forever. We know from
Romans 10:9 (NKJV), "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved." That's the ultimate reason that Christmas is such a
celebration, and is the reason that Christians throughout the world
worship with all of our hearts, minds and souls along with the words of
this song.
As stated by the wise men in Matthew 2:4, "When we were far away in
the East we saw His star, and we have followed its glisten and gleam all
this way to worship Him." No matter how far away you are from Jesus,
follow His star and worship Him. As Britt sings in the song, "let us
come, let us come, let us come and adore Him…Christ the Lord." Amen.
Merry Christmas!
Posted December 17, 2013 | NRT Lead
Contributor Kevin Davis is a longtime fan of Christian music, an avid
music collector and credits the message of Christian music for leading
him to Christ. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three
daughters.
Credit goes to: http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/article.php?article_id=1243
