The Incarnation Through the Eyes of GF Handel
John 1:1-4, 14
Christmas celebrations and the winter solstice is upon us! Couple of important things to note. We are offering two Christmas Eve services to make plenty of room for you and your loved ones should you choose to come in person for worship. Please use our signup genius to sign up for either the 4:30pm or 6:00pm service. We will be caping our in person attendance at 50 people. We will live stream our 6:00pm service, that way we work out all the kinks before our 6:00pm service.
Last Sunday we took a glimpse into the Incarnation through the eyes of CS Lewis. This week, we are going to imagine the incarnation through the eyes of GF Handel’s Messiah. We will take a 40 minute journey through the Scripture of Messiah with 6 choral pieces mixed throughout. Sunday we will wander through the hall of the prophets, through the halls of time – from creation, the fall of humanity, redemption, and the consummation of all things. And Messiah weaves Scripture like a blanket around the incarnation of God.
George wrote Messiah in three to four weeks, 10 hours a day, equating to 10 notes a minute… stunning. Since there are roughly a quarter of a million notes in Messiah. He wrote it as a benefit for a hospital, originally for Lent and Easter, not Christmas. Messiah, believe it or not was very controversial for a number of reasons. The society of his day didn’t like the claims of ‘to God be the glory alone’… however, on opening night, the crowd was so large, the women and men were told to keep their hoop skirts and swords at home, so there would be enough room for everyone. Shortly after this performance, it became a yearly affair.
We will imagine the incarnation and more through the orchestration of Handel. Handel was a prolific composer, who had a huge influence on Mozart and Beethoven. Messiah is appreciated by many as the most well-known and loved Oratorio in history. You may also recognize a couple of his other works, Water Music and Royal Fireworks.
Last Sunday we used one text from John 1 to focus the message. This Sunday? All Scripture from beginning to end…
Looking forward to Sunday,
Peace and Joy be to you in Jesus name,
Pastor Mark
Wycliffe Advent Devotional: Weary World Rejoices!
