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Worship through music is a powerful teaching tool. Melodies imprint God's truth in a special way for easy recall through the years. Rebecca Hayford Bauer, a mother of three, built on this precept as she compiled Seasons of Praise: A 52-Week Worship Celebration for the Entire Family.
The combination of a hymn with music and a meditation with Scripture for each week of the year is beautifully designed for a family with children. As the title suggests, the book can be used at family devotion time, but it is also good for older kids who are taking music lessons, perhaps even playing the piano at church. The arrangements are fairly simple and easy to play.
The abiding worth of Seasons of Praise is found in the warm, well-written meditations facing each page with words and music to a hymn, most of them well-known. Looking at one for January, we find the story of Edward Mote, a young man growing up in a godless home in the early 1800s. He heard the Gospel for the first time at age 16, and from that moment on his life took on purpose. Later he served as a pastor, and many years later he wrote the song "The Solid Rock."
Bauer goes on to write about Jesus' parable in Matthew 7 about the wise man who built his house on a rock and the foolish man who built on sand. But she doesn't stop there. She brings the message home for children and adults when she admonishes us not to rely on "friends, money, or ideas." We can stand firm only when we build our lives on Jesus. The hymn on the facing page is, of course, "The Solid Rock."
Fifty-two of these fill this hardcover book. Full- color borders for each week's meditation set off the pages, and rebus-type symbols add interest to the text. This lovely book would also make a good gift.
Cheryl Langstaff is a reviewer from Olathe, KS.
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