Handel's Messiah

A few weeks ago, our family had the pleasure of going to see Handel's  Messiah at our middle daughter's college. She is in one of the school's choirs so they had combined all five of the college's choirs for this performance.  The performance also included the Arizona  Philharmonic Orchestra and four talented singers to perform the solo parts.

The presentation included the complete work of Handel's beautiful piece of music. In all honesty, the only piece I'm familiar with from The Messiah is the Hallelujah Chorus. And even then, I never paid that much attention to the lyrics.
I happened to see my daughter's  music binder a few days before the concert. I read through some of the lyrics a few of the songs and friends, let me tell you, the lyrics are powerful!

I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to truly listen to what the singers were saying through their songs during the concert. There were songs that moved me to tears and I kept wondering how any of the singers from the choirs or the soloists could not be moved at what they were singing? Were the singers just singing for the sake of performing? Was the audience mostly Christian believers or were people there just because it was what they do as a tradition?

This brings me to the subject of Christmas. I know there are Christians who choose not to celebrate Christmas. I respect their choice.  We celebrate Christmas . At our home we honor Christ's birth, His death on the cross and His resurrection.  We thank the Lord for coming as a helpless baby, for dying for our sin and finally rising from the dead.  If Jesus had never come, where would we be?

So getting back to The Messiah, if you have never seen or heard this beautiful piece of music, you can find several presentations on YouTube. The Messiah is all about the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus dear friends!  As a side note, if your church has hymnals, you may find hymns written by Handel.