All is Well

A recent performance of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra reminded me that music holds incredible power. It can make or break a mood, it can inspire you to action, it can take your mind to another time and place. And the right music performed with passion and excellence can cause you to worship.

I do believe I must make the DSO Christmas concert a regular part of my holiday tradition. The music included both popular, cheery holiday pieces as well as soaring, worshipful selections. I appreciated that Jesus’ birth was the primary theme as seen when, near the conclusion, this scripture passage was recited from the stage:

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-8)

Musically, nothing summed up the truth of Christ’s first Advent Iike Michael W. Smith’s original piece, “All is Well.” Maybe you, like me, need a little reminder that this weekend is not just about presents and family and a Bible story. Perhaps we need to remember that Jesus came to save us, the the manger leads to the cross, and the cross provides peace and freedom to all who embrace it.

Click this link, turn up the volume, and sit back for a few moments of worship. Hopefully you, like I did,  will leave the “concert” feeling spiritually full.