♪
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square
welcomes Sir David Suchet to its annual Christmas concert on BYUtv.
The noted British actor sees the opportunity to join with the choir
as a time to reflect on the light each of us brings to the world.
I've appeared with other orchestras,
but never in a space like this and never with a choir.
When I first walked in, I looked around
and I saw something like 20,000 seats.
I was terrified.
♪
(applause)
In my experience, I'm a theater actor, and when I was at
the Royal Shakespeare Theater, we probably seated about 1500.
What an honor for me to to be with you.
All of the honor is ours.
But what happened was that the more I worked with everybody,
with all the wonderful staff and the crew,
the space seemed to warm up in the atmosphere.
And on earth, peace,
goodwill toward men.
The preparation of a Bible reading for me
is probably more important than the actual delivery.
The Bible itself never, ever says
read the word of the Lord.
The Bible always says, hear the word of the Lord.
And Paul himself says, by hearing,
you will come to faith.
♪
And it came to pass in those days ...
The experience of reading Luke Two,
it's one of my favorite passages anyway, because what is extraordinary
about the birth of Christ
is that it was so ordinary.
And she brought forth her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger.
What was extraordinary was the conception.
And what was extraordinary was the vision
that was given to the shepherds
And the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were sore afraid.
The angel says the sign
of this Christ will be a baby
in a feeding trough.
There's nothing extraordinary about the birth
and the narration that I need to give.
I just need to say it simply in an ordinary way
and as a man of faith, I leave it to the Holy Spirit
to do the work for God.
(Applause)
I didn't have any faith before 1986, so I came to faith
when I was 40 years of age.
I was in a hotel room.
I was looking for something
that would talk to me about the resurrected life of Jesus.
I didn't really know anything about that, but I knew about Paul.
So I read his letter to the Romans,
and in chapter eight is where it began for me.
I found a way of life
to which I could only ever hope to aspire.
♪
I've experienced the love of
the Lord in my life, but I think more than anything
I've realized I have to have the faith and the confidence
to know that a hand, the hand of a loving
father is guiding me,
guiding me through painful times
as well as good times.
Well, I thought I was just on another job with David, you know, I’ve
followed him around a fair amount since the children left home.
But this is something else, isn't it?
I've never been moved in quite the same way.
♪
The one word to describe being here is life
enhancing, really.
Well, I have to agree.
♪
Being here with you
and your amazing talent and gifts
that you gave so generously
from your heart, because I know where that sound comes from.
Because like you, I do it.
And if it doesn't come from there,
then they don't feel it.
And you make us feel it.
And it's such a privilege to be on the stage knowing that we're all together.
So thank you.
♪
Join Sir David Suchet
as he helps celebrate the season of light that is Christmas.
Tune in or use the free BYUtv app to watch
the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square Christmas concert.
Happy Holidays from BYUtv.
♪