Pastor’s Corner December 2011

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

A little help from Handel this Advent

Right around Thanksgiving time, during the thick of deer bow hunting season, I hear Shari playing Christmas music. For me, I wait until our Hanging of the Greens service to officially jump into Advent mode. The Advent season gets me playing parts of my Chicago Symphony Orchestra version of Messiah daily. Messiah is the most popular, performed, recorded, and listened to choral work in the history of the world.
It ought to be the ambition of every follower of Jesus Christ to tell the world about their glorious Savior and King. This was the heart of George Fredreich Handel when he took the scriptural arrangement of Charles Jennens and set it to music in the summer of 1741. George Handel was attempting to proclaim Christ to the world when he composed Messiah. These two hundred seventy years later, it is safe to say that Handel wonderfully accomplished his goal.
Messiah tells the story of Christ. The story of glorious King Jesus the world desperately needs to hear. The story of Jesus Christ confronts people and demands a response. We grant that God must evoke such a response, however the means He uses is the ministry of the Word of God made effectual by the Holy Spirit.
The reason Messiah ascends higher than other great musical, choral works, is it’s complete reliance upon Scripture to tell the story. Scripture masterfully arranged has been used of God for over two and a half centuries to draw the church’s gaze toward Christ and introduce untold numbers to Christ for the first time.
A few years ago I delivered a two-part sermon based on Handel’s Messiah. Having done further study and consideration, I have decided to do a reprisal of that sermon series for the final two weeks of Advent this year. Together we will study the words of Scripture that make up Messiah, hear parts of the masterpiece, be amazed anew by the glory of God, and consider the importance of proclaiming the message of Christ ever more boldly. I am certain our reflection on this musical masterpiece will enhance our 2011 Advent and Christmas observations.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich