Most of us know the timeless classic songs of the holiday.

Songs like “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.”

But do you know the stories behind those songs?

The pain, the longing, the surprise, the breakthrough that gave these songs life.

This Christmas, we’re unwrapping the hidden beauty behind the carols we love and seeing how they echo the very first songs sung around the birth of Jesus.

As we explore the backstories behind Christmas and the composition of these carols, we’ll discover that the gifts of Christmas—written in rubble, hope, joy, peace, and promise—have a soundtrack.

If you’re carrying pressure or pain into this season, there’s a deeper story waiting to be uncovered as you allow God to compose something new in you.

You’ve heard the lyrics…but do you know the story?

WHY STUDY LUKE CHAPTERS 1 AND 2?

Learned, experienced, and held in high esteem as a physician, Luke took notice of Jesus. While he had spent his life studying medicine and treating the sick, Jesus was different. Possibly the only Gentile among a growing group of Jewish converts to Jesus’ teaching, Luke became a follower of Christ. He witnessed Jesus perform miracles, teach with unmatched authority, and rise from the grave—and he knew the story had to be told with both precision and passion.

The Gospel according to Luke was written for the express purpose of confirming the historical certainty and eyewitness account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Luke, the physician and careful historian, wrote this Gospel as the first of a two-part volume—his second work being the Acts of the Apostles, which captures the birth of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit. He wrote this around 60–70 AD, before the destruction of Jerusalem, and addressed it to a man named Theophilus. His introduction is clear and compelling:

“Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account… so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:3–4)

Luke wrote to reach the lost and ground the found—to persuade unbelievers and give believers a pattern for living. In his gospel, Luke paints a portrait of Jesus not just as the Messiah of Israel, but as the Savior of the world—a God who is powerful, miraculous, compassionate, and shockingly personal. Jesus touches the untouchable. He heals outsiders. He elevates women. He welcomes sinners. Luke’s gospel is where prayer, joy, the Holy Spirit, and divine reversal are woven deeply into the story of redemption.

And all of that starts in Luke chapters 1 and 2.

These chapters are more than nativity nostalgia. They are filled with disruption, divine tension, prophetic songs, and heaven breaking into earth. In them, we find four different songs, each of them bearing the weight of centuries of longing and centuries of silence. These songs become the inspiration for many of the carols we sing today. So as we unwrap the history and emotion behind these hymns, we’ll also be unwrapping the original soundtrack of heaven’s arrival.

This series is about more than music. It’s about the movement Jesus started when he entered the world, and the hope, peace, and joy he still brings when we invite him in.