Kyle Beutler
From Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, you won’t need to look—or listen?—far to run into a Christmas song or two. They’re playing in the background of grocery stores and coffee shops aplenty. But when we let Christmas songs sit in the background they lose their ultimate purpose—worship. No, I’m not suggesting you break out “Jingle Bell (Christian) Rock” at your next party or Christmas service. But there’s a beautiful thing that happens when we recover the joy and purpose in Christmas songs.
Here’s a list of Christmas worship songs ideal for leading worship, adding to a church walk-in playlist, or worshiping Jesus at home during the Advent and Christmas seasons.
Table of contents
20 popular traditional Christian Christmas songs
You can’t go wrong with the classics. These traditional songs are excellent sources of inspiration to find modern versions by your favorite artist or to hear and play in their original form.
- “Angels from the Realms of Glory”
- “Angels We Have Heard on High”
- “Away in a Manger”
- “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”
- “The First Noel”
- “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
- “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen”
- “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
- “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
- “In the Bleak Midwinter”
- “It Came upon a Midnight Clear”
- “Joy to the World”
- “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
- “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
- “O Holy Night”
- “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
- “Ring the Bells”
- “Silent Night”
- “There’s a Song in the Air”
- “What Child Is This?”
20 popular contemporary Christmas worship songs
Searching for Christmas songs that aren’t carols? These songs transform the themes of Christmas into powerful, singable songs that may feel more at home in a Sunday morning service than your typical carol section.
21. “Arrival” by Hillsong Worship
22. “Because of Bethlehem” by Matthew West
23. “Behold” by Phil Wickham feat. Anne Wilson
24. “Christmas Day” by Chris Tomlin and We the Kingdom
25. “Glory (Let There Be Peace)” by Matt Maher
26. “God with Us” by All Sons & Daughters
27. “He Shall Reign Forevermore” by Chris Tomlin
28. “Here Comes Heaven” by Elevation Worship
29. “His Name Shall Be” by Matt Redman
30. “Hope Has a Name” by Passion
31. “Hope Has Come (Behold Him)” by Red Rocks Worship
32. “Light of the World” by Lauren Daigle
33. “Manger Throne” by Phil Wickham
34. “Mary & Joseph” by Chris Renzema
35. “Noel” by Chris Tomlin feat. Lauren Daigle
36. “O Come, All You Unfaithful” by Sovereign Grace Music
37. “Prince of Peace” by Cross Point Music feat. Abby Vaughn
38. “Seasons” by Hillsong Worship
39. “To Christ Be the Glory (Emmanuel)” by Grace City and Chase Wagner
40. “What Love, My God” by CityAlight
10 Christmas worship songs blending contemporary & traditional
These songs have a little something for everyone. They add modern instrumentation to the classics, combined with worship songs you may already be singing throughout the year.
41. “Away in a Manger (Forever Amen)” by Phil Wickham
42. “Breath of Heaven (All of a Sudden)” by Elevation Worship feat. Tiffany Hudson
43. “Crown Him (Glory in the Highest)” by The Worship Initiative
44. “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by Zach Williams
45. “Hark the Herald (with King of Heaven)” by Paul Baloche
46. “Joy!” by Elevation Rhythm and Elevation Worship
47. “O Come All Ye Faithful” by Passion and Melodie Malone
48. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Christ Has Come)” by Journey Worship Co.
49. “Silent Night (with Saviour King)” by Hillsong Worship
50. “King of Kings/Angels We Have Heard on High” by Maverick City Music feat. Naomi Raine, Kim Walker-Smith, Mav City Gospel Choir
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Save time (and typos) by importing your song lyrics into Proclaim Church Presentation Software. Pro tip: You don’t need to manually import song lyrics from SongSelect by CCLI. You can directly connect your SongSelect account within Proclaim to access every song available to you in CCLI.
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