Advent couldn’t come soon enough this year. So much in 2020—a year that has felt like a decade—has been a perfect tee up for this Christian season of expectation and longing mixed with hope, joy, peace, and love.
Advent is both a season of celebration—with laughter, feasts, and fanfare—and a season of anticipation, with occasional tears and aching hopes. We celebrate the first coming (“advent”) of Christ, and the salvation he definitively secured through his death and resurrection. But we also anticipate his second coming, and the justice and peace he will definitively secure on this troubled and sin-plagued planet, once and for all. He came first as a frail, humble baby in the lowliest of social circumstances, vulnerable to Herod’s sword (Matt. 2:13–18). He’ll come again on a white horse, with crowns on his head, fire in his eyes, and wielding a sword by which he will exact justice on nations (Rev. 19:11–16).
In Advent we celebrate these contrasting comings, and their attendant ranges of emotions. Mystery and awe. Hope and fear. Jubilation and lament. Serene joy and angry justice. It’s all there, and it’s welcome, in Advent. It’s complicated, paradoxical, and sometimes messy. Perhaps that’s why the arts—and particularly music—are so central to our experience of this season. Whether a hushed acoustic dirge or Handel’s cacophonous “Hallelujah!” chorus, the expressive dynamics of songs and carols can capture well the complexity of Advent.
To that end, I assembled a new playlist of 100+ songs to help you worship God in this Advent season. You can find the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. May it bless you and your loved ones during this and future Advent seasons.
- “Joy to the World,” Sandra McCracken
- “O Come All You Unfaithful,” Sovereign Grace Music
- “Come to Us Lord,” Young Oceans
- “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” Wilder Adkins
- “Jesus You Come,” Tenielle Neda and Jon Guerra
- “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” JJ Heller
- “Immanuel,” Loud Harp
- “Immanuel,” Beautiful Eulogy
- “Emmanuel You’re One of Us,” Rend Collective, Ellie Holcomb
- “Sing We the Song of Emmanuel (Gloria),” Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Keith & Kristyn Getty
- “Gospel Christmas Medley,” The Recording Collective
- “Awaited One,” Lovkn
- “There Will Be a Day (Isaiah 2),” Caroline Cobb
- “Isaiah 9:6–7,” The Corner Room
- “For Unto Us a Child Is Born,” The Sing Team
- “Handel’s Messiah,” Jenny & Tyler
- “Isaiah 11,” Rain for Roots
- “Love’s Coming Down (Isaiah),” Melanie Penn
- “All Who Hear,” Young Oceans
- “At Last, the King,” The Gray Havens
- “Joy (Elizabeth),” Poor Bishop Hooper
- “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” Scott Mulvahill, Sarah Kroger
- “Once in Royal David’s City,” Keith and Kristyn Getty
- “City of David,” The Gray Havens
- “Little Drummer Boy,” Branches
- “Carol of the Banjos,” Beta Radio
- “I Heard the Bells,” Bridgetown Music, Matthew Zigenis
- “Advent 3: Stir Up Your Power,” Liturgical Folk, Liz Vice, Resound
- “When Love Crossed Over,” Paul Baloche, Madison Cunningham
- “Our God Came Down to Us,” Sarah Sparks
- “How You Choose to Come,” Ordinary Time
- “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” High Street Hymns
- “Silent Night,” Ella Fitzgerald
- “O Holy Night,” The Eagle and Child, Jon Foreman
- “The Incarnation,” Thomas Terry
- “O Magnum Mysterium,” Morten Lauridsen, The Concordia Choir
- “Behold the Lamb of God,” Andrew Peterson
- “Christ,” Poor Bishop Hooper
- “Do You Believe?” PJ Morton, Yolanda Adams
- “Saviour in a Manger,” Emu Music
- “Away in a Manger,” Nat King Cole
- “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree,” The Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” aeseaes
- “Grace of God With Us,” Passion, Chidima
- “Immanuel,” Lo Sy Lo
- “Hope’s Coming to Town,” Lovkn
- “Mary’s Song (Our King of Peace),” Wendell Kimbrough, Cardiphonia Music
- “Mary’s Arms,” Sandra McCracken
- “Why Does God Have to Look So Human (Mary and Joseph),” Waterdeep
- “What Beauty,” Future of Forestry
- “O Holy Night,” Andrew Bird
- “Little Baby,” Becca VanDerbeck
- “Redemption Plan,” Eliza King
- “When the Lord Came Down,” Nathan Partain
- “The Carol of Joseph (I Believe in You),” for KING & COUNTRY
- “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Jeremy Riddle
- “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” Shane & Shane
- “Mary Consoles Eve,” Rain for Roots feat. Sandra McCracken
- “Drive Out the Darkness,” The Porter’s Gate
- “Light Has Come,” Future of Forestry
- “Jesus Is Our Light,” Steve Thorngate
- “Light of the World (Sing Hallelujah),” We The Kingdom
- “His Kingdom Now Is Come (Behold! Behold!),” The Porter’s Gate
- “Thy Perfect Light,” Denison Witmer
- “Silent Night,” 116, Crystal Nicole
- “Flight to Egypt,” Ordinary Time
- “Refugee King,” Liz Vice
- “Greensleeves (What Child Is This?),” Canadian Brass
- “The King, Pt. 1,” Sarah Sparks
- “A Child Will Lead Us All,” Drew Miller
- “Angels We Have Heard On High,” David Andrew
- “Go Tell It On the Mountain,” for KING & COUNTRY
- “Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella,” Great Lake Swimmers
- “O Come All Ye Faithful,” Tommee Profitt, Sarah Reeves
- “Lord Remind Me,” Jon Guerra, Praytell
- “We Three Kings,” 116, Abe Parker, Lecrae, Paul Russell
- “We Three Kings (We’re Not Lost),” Rend Collective, Keith & Kristyn Getty
- “You Can Trust the Hidden One,” Lo Sy Lo
- “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Jon Bryant
- “The First Noel (Born Is the King),” Sovereign Grace Music
- “Angels We Have Heard On High,” Lowana Wallace
- “Joy to the World,” Aretha Franklin
- “Oh for Joy,” Folk Hymnal
- “I Wonder As I Wander,” Leif Shires
- “Hope Is Alive,” Ellie Holcomb
- “Nothin But You,” 116, Hulvey, Andy Mineo, Montell Fish, Becca VanDerbeck
- “Justice Delivers Its Death,” Sufjan Stevens
- “White Horse,” Over the Rhine
- “Revelation 22:20–21,” The Corner Room
- “In These Long, Last Days,” Sister Sinjin
- “Savior of the Nations, Come,” Cardiphonia
- “Be on the Lookout,” Caroline Cobb
- “O Day of Peace,” Josh Garrels
- “Peace on Earth,” Paul Baloche, Madison Cunningham
- “O Jerusalem,” The Porter’s Gate, Greg Thompson
- “We Wait,” Sara Groves
- “Light Will Dawn,” Rivers & Robots
- “Hope for Soon,” The Calendar Years
- “O Come All Ye Faithful,” Grace Worship, Kevin King, Lauren Deppe
- “Mvmt. IV: Every Bell on Earth Will Ring,” The Oh Hellos
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The Gospel Coalition