”Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
- Luke‬ ‭2:13-14‬

The original song Hope (The First Noel) is a song for the church to unite our voices together in worship to our Savior Jesus Christ. Hope tells the story of our brokenness and the reason God sent His Son. Even before creation and before the first sin in the garden, It was God’s plan to one day redeem us by sending Jesus to dwell among us. Jesus IS our hope. What other response to our loving Father but to join in with the angels and sing!

The chorus of Hope is nothing short of a celebration.  It’s an invitation to simply join in with the angels and all of God’s children and praise Him for what He has done.  Jesus the Savior was born!  The music is triumphant with all sorts of different instruments accompanying our many voices united.  Everything from accordion to banjo to organ, along with acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, piano, strings, harp and of course, sleigh bells!  The song eventually reaches the beloved carol The First Noel as we sing “Noel Noel” repeatedly at the end.  “Noel” comes from the French word “nouvelles” meaning “news”.  This song is about the shepherds proclaiming the good “news” of our Savior’s birth: the message of the gospel of Jesus.

Hope (The First Noel) is a project by a handful of worship team members at Westtown Church, written primarily by Nic and Stephanie Malara.  The song was produced by Peter Klett.

Merry Christmas!

Hope (The First Noel)

A modern take on the famous and recognizable Handel’s Messiah chorus, For Unto Us A Child Is Born. Our hope is that this original song will help point you to the only true source of hope and redemption this Christmas.

Unto Us

The song Peace (I Heard the Bells) is sung from the perspective of Mary and Joseph, from the night Jesus was born. They must have felt such a sense of fear, anxiousness and excitement as they wondered if everything would go as planned. After all, God would use them to carry out His redemptive plan. The true emotions of Jesus’ mother and father are hard to imagine, as they welcomed their baby boy – a promise brought to life. As all of heaven looked on, the Son of God breathed life on earth.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day is a famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, later set to music, with popular recordings by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and 60s. The poem describes the tension we all perhaps feel between an obviously broken world that lacks peace and justice, and the promise and truth of God’s peace and presence in our lives.

Peace (I Heard the Bells) depicts the celebration of the very first Christmas with the angels, as Luke 2:14 (NIV) declares, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests”. The song grows from the simple heart-felt melodies of a loving mother and father into an all-out celebration of the King of Kings, with bells, strings and other triumphant sounds ringing out in adoration of Jesus – the miracle in a manger. May the sound of church bells this Christmas bring you peace and remind you of the one who came to deliver us, Jesus our Savior.

Westtown Worship