When my husband and I were dating, and in our early years of marriage, we would go into New York City each year to hear a performance of Handels Messiah, it was performed every night for a week, if I remember correctly, and one night was a sing-along. We never went to a sing-along, but I would like too…hmmm…maybe it’s not to late.
In recent years we have been going to hear a beautiful performance of the Messiah done by the Cathedral Choir at a church 1/2 hour away from us…the choir is made up of people like you and me who have a basic ability to sing, professional singers for the solo parts, a chamber orchestra, and organist. This year’s performance was exceptional.
I love the Messiah, the music as well as the Man Himself. I always say it is what I want to be hearing as I pass from this life to heaven. Here is a nice series of video’s explaining the meaning of the Messiah and playing well-known pieces from the Messiah using beautiful pictures and scenes.
A man is explaining it in human terms, and some of the things he shares do not take into consideration the complete context of the Bible, I’d suggest you enjoy it, but also verify that what you are hearing is true in the Bible…for example (you’ll know why I’m explaining this after you listen), Jesus did not earn the position of sitting at the right hand of God when he died for the sins of mankind, He was God come down to dwell among man…fully God, fully man…a mystery hard for our human minds to understand. See John 1:1, 2 - “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made.” and verse 10 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him…” All of the gospel accounts of Jesus are good, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Also, Jesus death was not a universal death for all of mankind as these videos seem to indicate, it was conditional, we know this because John 3:16-17 tells us ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Romans 3:23 tells us that “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”….what greater gift can one receive at Christmas than the gift of salvation and eternal life by repenting of our past sins and believing in what Jesus did on the cross for us…this is the reason Christ was born, so that those who believe in what He did for them may have a loving relationship with God, free from guilt and condemnation, because of the blood of Jesus, and why “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”.
Today as I hear the news about deploying missile destroyers to N. Korea, for some reason memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis came to mind…maybe it’s the news report today plus the fact that we watched a movie we love, “White Squall” this weekend, and in it there is mention of the Bay of Pigs and a confrontation with a Cuban ship. I guess that’s all coming together to remind me of those tense days in the early 1960’s.
Starting my life in the 1950’s meant that we were steeped in “cold war” thinking, and at least for me, I found myself wondering when the button would be pushed that would annihilate us all, yes, I know, sounds extreme, but being one who thinks a lot, the mind can go in so many places it probably would be best to avoid….especially for an impressionable child. I remember “air raid drills” when we were in school, interesting, because I attended a private school that used old, abandoned army barracks for classrooms…going out into the hallway and sitting along the cold, cinder block walls with our hands over our heads. That can strike fear in any child!
Of course we had television, but the radio was on all the time, and during the hourly news updates, I found myself sitting very close to it to hear what the latest report would be. I remember praying a lot, and keeping my Bible close, even at at school, after all, God is not something you can touch and hold, but His Word was something I could hold in my hands, the closest tangible connection, and brought great comfort. I also remember Mom reminding her sometimes-fearful child that God would take care of us, there was nothing to fear.
At times I think that the world is more dangerous than it was back then, but the truths that Mom shared are the same, and my source of comfort hasn’t changed.
Published by admin under Church on
October 15, 2008
I’ve shared with you in past posts, one fairly recently, that my family was a church-going family. But our faith was more than just going to church on Sunday, it was a way of life, no, it was even more than that, it was all about relationship…relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I know that’s a statement that needs some explaining, but I think some of you understand.
I attended all kinds of churches as I was growing up, my only requirement was that they taught the Bible, God’s Word. Denomination wasn’t necessarily important to me, but the content of the sermons and the quality of the fellowship was.
While I can’t say that I’ve ever attended a church in a theatre, I have attended events in large settings, for example in concert halls. The thought of using a theatre as a church setting is something that is being considered, and there is something in the works to promote the idea. Find out more here, if you like.
What do I think of the idea? Any way that God be presented to people, as long as it is teaching from the Bible, is fine with me, whether it be a small home church, to a church in a meeting place as large as a theatre. God meets people and changes their lives in many different settings. The first-ever inaugural Theatre Church Conference will be taking place in Silver Spring, MD on October 22 & 23. Find out more and let me know what you think in a comment.
When I was a child, attending church on Sunday was an important…in fact vital…part of our life. I was thinking back trying to remember what the first church I remember attending was. I do remember my parents taking me to Hydewood Park Baptist Church when I was just a toddler. Memories that far back are vague, a little blond toddler walking among giants down halls, up stairways, that is about all that comes to mind.
Before that, I am told we attended the St. James Episcopal Church just around the corner from our home, but I was too young to remember that. My husband had a job down that way a bit over a year ago, and took some pictures of the old neighborhood, including the Episcopal church you see pictured, celebrating it’s 300th birthday at that time. It was later, when I started school, that our family attended New Durham Chapel. We attended there until our family moved from the Nixon/Edison New Jersey area to where my mother lives today in Hillsdale, NJ. Then there were other churches that followed, but the important thing was not the building, or the denomination, or anything but being with people who loved the Bible, believed what it taught, and worshiped the Lord….that remains true to this day.
