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It's almost Christmas, and the song "Joy to the World" is playing everywhere! But did you know that its author, Isaac Watts, never meant it as a Christmas song? And did you know that he faced some opposition when he proposed that Christians can sing more than just the biblical Psalms? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Grace, Isaac, and Sean talk with our expert, Rev. Jonathan Landry Cruse, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo, MI, and author of many books.

Thanks to the generosity of our friends at 10ofThose Publishing, we are pleased to award one of our listeners a copy of Jonathan Cruse's book, Sing in Exultation: A Christmas Devotional Exploring Our Favorite Carols. Enter here to win. Congratulations to Cherith N. from Greenville, SC!

Show Notes:

Several past episodes of Kids Talk Church History were mentioned today. Check out our website to listen to some of them: https://alliancenet.org/broadcasts/ktch/

More Jonathan Cruse books: https://reformedresources.org/authors/jonathan-cruse/

Isaac Watts and Christmas Hymns