Doug Dezotell
I want to invite you to join me on Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. for a Candlelight Communion Service at Cannon Methodist Church.
We will rejoice together as we celebrate the Birth of Christ through music and the Word.
I won’t be preaching, but I will read the Story of Christmas from the Bible.
We will sing together…others will share Christmas Hallelujahs and songs of rejoicing on this Holy Evening…
And we will share Holy Communion in the Light of Candles together.
Bring your family, invite your friends, or come by yourself and join me and my family and friends as we bring Honor and Glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
***
Let me share with you a story I read about an 18th century composer, a Christian songwriter who fought depression as he went through life…
At one point in his life he battled with the successes of the past and the fears of the future. He was broke, bankrupt, and filled with fear.
On top of that he had a cerebral hemorrhage that left him partially paralyzed.
He was afraid that the musical genius that had made him a wealthy man was gone. And he was filled with sorrow.
The Bible verses that were once his friends and had brought him hope and comfort and peace, seemed to disappear and all that his soul could hear were texts such as “Why have you forsaken me?”
In the midst of his depression, a friend came by with a collection of Bible verses he had organized for him.
The man suggested that his friend put some music to the texts that he gave him.
The composer looked at the text that read, “He was despised and rejected of man.” And that was exactly how he felt himself.
He read other Bible verses such as the “one for whom no one had pity.”
He read about the one who trusted God in spite of it all.
He read the words, “I know my Redeemer liveth.”
Then he saws the words “rejoice” and “hallelujah.”
That night, the songwriter, George Frederic Handel, one of the greatest composers of all time, was blessed by what he referred to as a “gentle cosmic light.”
Through the prayers of his friend and the Word of God that he shared with him, Handel slowly came out of the darkness.
That sorrow and darkness was overwhelmed by the Light, and a desire to write music once again flooded his soul.
Handel read those Bible verses over and over, again and again, and God’s Word flooded his soul.
He then worked and wrote tirelessly for days until his manuscript was finished.
Handel then went to his bed, and he slept for 17 hours straight.
His friends thought he might be dead, and they called a doctor to examine him.
But, Handel was alive and he woke up filled with Joy.
Out of that depression and darkness came the Light of Handel’s “Messiah.”
Someone wrote, “Out of that depression was left for us a light that would light the corridors of the lives of countless millions for all ages. Out of that darkness, a man in a deep depression began punching holes in the darkness.”
God punches holes in the darkness through His Son, Jesus the Messiah…The Light of the World.
And He can and will punch holes in the darkness of your life too.
Put your trust in Jesus the Messiah, and celebrate the Heavenly King.
“Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”
