ANTHEM: "Now the Heavens Start to Whisper"
Words by: Louise Bringle; Music by: Carlton R. Young
Asbury Memorial Choir
Director: Ray Ellis
Piano: Kay Deffley
Keyboard: Randy Canady
Violin: Effie Mydell
Tambourine: John Brooks

Now the heavens start to whisper as the veil is growing thin.
Earth from slumber wakes to listen to the stirring faint within:
Seed of promise, deeply planted, Christ to spring from Jesse’s stem!
Like the soil beneath the frostline, hearts grow soft to welcome him.

Heavy clouds that block the moonlight now begin to drift away.
Diamond brilliance through the darkness shines the hope of coming day.
Christ, the morning star of splendor, gleams within a world grown dim.
Heaven’s ember fans to fullness; hearts grow warm to welcome him.

Christ, eternal sun of justice, Christ, the rose of wisdom’s seed,
Come to bless with fire and fragrance hours of yearning, hurt, and need.
In the lonely, in the stranger, in the outcast hid from view:
Child who comes to grace the manger, teach our hearts to welcome you.