We continue our series on Melodies of Hope: Hymns From Advent and Christmastide. Each year, our churches sing a familiar rotation of Advent and Christmas hymns, often without knowing their meaning and context. To provide a fresh take on the Christmas carol canon, we’ve enlisted eight worship leaders, songwriters and thinkers from around C4SO to tell us a favorite Advent or Christmas hymn, giving us historical and musical context, and a word of good news each hymn speaks to us today.

This episode’s song is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” and our guest is Zac Hicks, who has been pastoring and leading worship for over two decades in churches all across the US. He is author of The Worship Pastor, and the forthcoming Worship By Faith Alone. Zac is also a songwriter and producer, and you can find his music on streaming services everywhere, including under the name “Advent Birmingham.”

You can connect with Zac on Facebook or Instagram, or on his website.

The recording featured in this episode is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” by The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, from the album Carols from King’s 2016.

• Our Cycle of Prayer Spotlight ministry this week is Christ our King Anglican Church in Azusa, California, led by the Rev. Daniel Stevenson.