What a thrill to hear Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)! Although we associate it with the Christmas season, on any given day somewhere in the world a choir is singing Messiah. The stunning beauty of Handel's score, completed in only twenty-four days, might blind us to the power of the texts chosen by Charles Jennings (1700-1773). Adapting from the King James Version of the Bible, Jennings uses the Scriptures to tell the story of Jesus as the Messiah from before his birth through his death and resurrection to his glorification.
This book invites you to begin each day with a portion from the Bible verses in Messiah, giving a direction for the day, a signpost of how God is working in us.
- This allows us to hear God's voice in his word, the Bible, and to let God shape our day and our lives.
- At the end of the reflection are questions designed to lead you deeper into the mystery of God's gift of Jesus as the Messiah.
- After that, there are suggestions on how to live out the call to follow the Messiah.
- These are meant to be gracious ideas for our "to be" and "to do" list for the day.
- A brief prayer thought ends each devotional.
What Others Say About This Book:
Gary Holloway's passion to link meditations with Messiah is a great ministry. Handel's work is a microcosm of the entirety of human existence, from the Fall to the Final Redemption. It provides fertile ground for offering views of solutions to the myriad temptations we face on a daily basis.
-Gregory S. Athnos, author of Handel's Messiah: A New View of Its Musical and Spiritual Architecture
About the Author:
With a PhD from Emory University, Gary Holloway taught theology and spirituality at the undergraduate and seminary levels while also preaching at local churches. For ten years he led a global ecumenical ministry that allowed him to travel to over forty countries to see what God was doing in the world. He now spends most of his time reading and writing books, including his latest, A Month with Messiah: 31 Biblical Meditations on Handel's Masterwork.
