David McCullough tells the story of this carol, "Phillips Brooks wrote "O Little town of Bethlehem" in 1865 after he visited the Holy Land and Bethlehem. He wrote it as a way to remind himself of his trip. A few years later he asked Lewis Redner to put the poem to music. Redner felt like a failure, until Christmas Eve, and the melody came to his mind like a revelation, waking him from his sleep."
This is a nostalgic view of the first Christmas, and then of subsequent Christmases. It concludes with a personal prayer, telling us how to find Christ today. Come to us! Abide with us!
4. O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell:
Oh, come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
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