1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:02,520 Good morning. If you've made it here in 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,240 person, congratulations. You have survived at least part 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,600 of the plague thus far. If you're joining us online and 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,800 you're sick in bed or you're home with sick kids where you're 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,680 glad that you can join us there as well, turn in your Bibles to 6 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:22,080 Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter one, verse 5 is 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,560 where we're going to be today. Before I get started, I want to 8 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:30,280 recognize somebody this morning. It's Vern Farrow here. 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,720 Where's Vern? Oh, right there. 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,360 I I'm not going to make you come up on stage, Vern, because. 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:45,000 Because I love you. But some of you know, about 7 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,800 years ago, Vern stepped down from full time working on staff 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,800 here at the church to part time. Vern's now decided he's ready 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,600 for full retirement. And we are so thankful for Vern. 15 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:04,239 Yeah, you can give him a round of applause, Vern. 16 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:08,480 You can correct me if my numbers are wrong, but 25 years on staff 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,720 is what I heard. 2620, Oh, there you can take out with your 18 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,400 daughter. You guys can argue about that. 19 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:20,520 And then 35 or more years just serving in production as a whole 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,200 here on the church, both volunteer and staff. 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:30,640 So thank you for that. One of my favorite kind of 22 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:36,440 Christmas tropes is like the commercial that comes on where 23 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,160 kid has moved away from home and mom and dad are getting all 24 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,480 ready for Christmas and they think they're going to do it 25 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,560 like a video call with their kid. 26 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,560 They get on the call and all of a sudden they realized as the 27 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,480 doorbell rings, the kid they're on the call with has showed up 28 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,400 right there at the house that day. 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,840 That gets me every time. I think the older I get, the 30 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,920 older my kids get, the more I think about that, it gets me 31 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,000 even more. In fact, we had a personal 32 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,840 example of that this last Christmas. 33 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,360 At Christmas Eve. I was out there, I was greeting 34 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,720 people as they were leaving. And then all of the sudden I saw 35 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,080 Greg and Kate Isaac and I thought, what you guys are 36 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:23,200 supposed to be in Nicaragua? What are you doing here? 37 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:29,360 And it, it was just a joy that they were able to be present 38 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,240 right there in that moment. And I think that's because love 39 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,360 and presence go hand in hand, right? 40 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,120 We, we, we want to be with the people that we love and we 41 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,360 experience love in the presence of others. 42 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,600 So it's absolutely true, as the old saying goes, that absence 43 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,000 makes the heart grow fonder. There, there is a sense of a 44 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,920 longing that takes place when we're separated from people by a 45 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:00,080 distance. But there is a shift that can 46 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,880 take place in our hearts where, where there's just a long 47 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,600 absence, where it seems like we haven't seen somebody or heard 48 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,400 from somebody in such a, in such a long time that it starts to 49 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,080 feel like we wonder if we've been actually forgotten by them. 50 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:21,760 Maybe you don't get a phone call from a kid or from a loved one, 51 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,200 from a friend in such a long period of time that you start to 52 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,040 feel neglected and you start to wonder how important you really 53 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,640 are in their life. And I think that that's not just 54 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:38,080 true in our human relationships, but it's true in our 55 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,240 relationship with God, that there's a lot of people who 56 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,600 struggle. And maybe you're in those choose 57 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,080 today because you feel like you've been forgotten by God. 58 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:57,880 You're not sensing his presence. It feels like it's been a long 59 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,840 while since you've heard his voice. 60 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:07,320 Yes, sometimes doubt arises because of suffering, but I'm 61 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:12,240 convinced there's a whole lot of people where doubt in God, maybe 62 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:17,800 not in his existence, but in his love for them arises because of 63 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:23,320 his silence even more than the suffering when prayers go 64 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:31,680 unanswered. Years pass by when dreams seem 65 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,160 to fall to the wayside and life starts to turn out very 66 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,080 differently than we had hoped for or expected. 67 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,760 And and there's questions that begin to bubble up in our hearts 68 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,640 and in our souls where we're like God, Why? 69 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,680 Why are you answering? I mean, you tell me you care, 70 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,280 but but I'm not hearing from you. 71 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,800 God, have you forgotten about me? 72 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,360 God, do you really still love me? 73 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,800 We've talked about this by we're in Advent. 74 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:11,840 This is the fourth week, the last Sunday of Advent, and 75 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:16,120 Advent is this season of waiting. 76 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,200 And often times that season of waiting feels like a season of 77 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,280 silence. And in the story that we're 78 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:30,200 going to look at today, I am sure that the 2 characters, 79 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:36,120 Zechariah and Elizabeth, had long stretches of time where 80 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:41,280 they struggled in the waiting because God felt so silent. 81 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,440 And I think that their story reminds us of this truth by the 82 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:52,560 end, that God's love never forgets his people, even when we 83 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,320 feel forgotten by him. So let's work our way through 84 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,760 this story, this passage together, starting at verse 5. 85 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,720 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of 86 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:11,320 Abijah's division named Zechariah. 87 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,280 His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was 88 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:18,640 Elizabeth. Both were righteous in God's 89 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,720 sight, living without blame according to all the commands 90 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,440 and requirements of the Lord. But they had no children because 91 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,680 Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along 92 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,840 in years. So we learn a few things about 93 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:39,280 these two characters, Zechariah and Elizabeth, in just this 94 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:43,480 first section of this passage. First of all, we learned that 95 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:44,880 they were righteous. This has been kind of a 96 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,320 recurring theme of characters that we've looked at and their 97 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,400 stories over these past four weeks. 98 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,960 But we learn again, in this case, Zechariah and Elizabeth, 99 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,680 God refers to them as righteous. They, they love God, they served 100 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:07,120 God, they were as far as we can be as human beings, obedient to 101 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:08,520 God. That doesn't mean they never 102 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,440 messed up or they never failed, but but they had a deep heart 103 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,720 and care for and faith in and obedience to God. 104 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:17,680 So we learned that they were righteous. 105 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:23,360 We learned they were childless and, and not a not a conscious 106 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,960 childlessness. This was not a choice that they 107 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,680 wanted to make. This is just a painful reality 108 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,920 in their life. And I think it's really 109 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,000 important that we recognize that this childlessness in the 110 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,120 society in which they found themselves in would be a deep 111 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,000 shame. It would point to many people 112 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,360 that they must be under the curse of God in some way because 113 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,200 children are a blessing. And so if God has not blessed 114 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,440 them, then why is that? And then we see they're both 115 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:03,720 well along in years, which means they're not just childless, but 116 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,080 they're hopeless about there being a child, about there being 117 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:13,000 a change in the childlessness that this moment seems to have 118 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,960 passed them by these, these righteous people. 119 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:20,240 For some reason, God has not blessed them with a child. 120 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,040 And there doesn't seem to be any hope on the horizon. 121 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:29,000 So what we have here is people, faithful people with unmet 122 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,640 longings, with unmet prayers, with unanswered prayers. 123 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,960 And the first thing I want us to see is that unanswered prayers 124 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,320 aren't necessarily evidence that we've failed to love God. 125 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:47,800 Luke, Luke is going out of his way to make this point. 126 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:52,560 If we understand the context and the culture, Luke is saying 127 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,280 Zechariah and Elizabeth, they're unable to have a child that they 128 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,800 desperately want to have. But for Zechariah and Elizabeth, 129 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,760 this is nothing of their do. They didn't do anything to make 130 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:09,320 God angry or to deserve this. They're righteous and faithful 131 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,840 people. And for some of us here or 132 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,960 listening online, I think the thing that you need to hear in 133 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:21,480 the midst of maybe your unmet prayers, unanswered prayers, 134 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:26,400 deep longings, is don't jump to the conclusion that just because 135 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,480 God hasn't answered your prayer, he doesn't care about you. 136 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,480 He doesn't love you, or more importantly, that you don't love 137 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,320 him, that you've failed him, but this is somehow God's punishment 138 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,680 in your life. Does God ever discipline us? 139 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:45,080 Of course he does. He wouldn't be a loving dad, He 140 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,680 wouldn't be a loving father if there weren't times where we 141 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:52,800 were disciplined. Hebrews 12/5 to 11 talks about 142 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,800 this reality that God disciplines those whom he loves. 143 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,320 If we're his kids, he's going to discipline us. 144 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:03,000 I remember growing up, I had a friend and I thought he was the 145 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,960 luckiest kid in the world, man, because that kid could do 146 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 anything and not get in trouble, right? 147 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:14,880 Like just anything. He, he would run out there, he'd 148 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,160 do crazy stuff. And I'd be like, are you going 149 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,600 to get grounded for that? And he's like, no, who's going 150 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,360 to do it? I thought he was so lucky. 151 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,320 And then one day I just realized, no, he's just so 152 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,840 unloved. Because when you love a kid, you 153 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,160 discipline them. You don't want them to do things 154 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:34,920 that are going to be hurtful or harmful to them. 155 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,600 You see where a roads are going to lead and you try and cut it 156 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,280 off before they get to a point of destruction. 157 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:47,080 So unanswered prayer is not proof of our failure to love 158 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,920 God, and unanswered prayer is not evidence that God has failed 159 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:55,880 to love us. Again, we need to understand 160 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,040 this. God never anywhere in His Word, 161 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,480 makes a promise that if you love Him and follow Him, everything 162 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:08,080 that you desire and want in that moment, every prayer you utter, 163 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:10,680 everything is going to go according to your plan. 164 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,560 If you find that Scripture, you come bring it to me. 165 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:19,440 We'll talk about that. But God's promise is this. 166 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,400 I love you so much. I sent my son to you. 167 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,800 I sent him to die for you. And if you place your faith in 168 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:36,360 him, I'll give you life and I'll give you life to the fullest. 169 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:41,800 And, and there will be a life that blows all of the realities 170 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,840 and expectations away that you could ever have in all of the 171 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,680 unmet longings of your heart will one day be met, but that 172 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:59,120 day is not going to be tomorrow. I imagine Elizabeth and 173 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,680 Zechariah had a lot of moments in the midst of what felt like 174 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:08,720 unanswered prayers in God's silence, where they sat there 175 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,720 and they wondered, so God did, did we fail you or are you 176 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:17,920 failing us? Right. 177 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,200 We know they've been praying for this child. 178 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:25,800 This, the story is going to show us this and I imagine their 179 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:31,240 prayers were like many of our prayers when we seem to go long, 180 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:36,000 long periods of time where God seems silent and answering a 181 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:37,440 prayer. I don't know if this is your 182 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,160 pattern, but I know it's been my pattern. 183 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,360 And in a number of things where I've just been praying and 184 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,680 praying and praying. And early on, right, you're 185 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:49,760 praying fervently, you're praying with hope. 186 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,120 And then that hope that those prayers of hope, they move to 187 00:12:54,120 --> 00:13:00,400 prayers of desperation. And then kind of as that 188 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:05,280 desperation kind of fades and you can't live in that space 189 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,480 anymore, desperation turns to prayers of resignation. 190 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,680 You kind of just going through the motions on it. 191 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:18,080 Like I, I should keep on praying for this, but you know, I don't, 192 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,160 I don't want to put my heart into it anymore. 193 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:26,320 And then at a certain point when it just seems beyond the realm 194 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:31,360 of anything ever changing or happening, at least for me in my 195 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,080 life, there's been a lot of times where the prayers just go 196 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,960 silent. I'm just, what's the point if I 197 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,240 keep on praying? You know? 198 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:45,160 3 weeks ago we looked at the story of Simeon as we kick this 199 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,680 off. And Simeon had a waiting in 200 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:53,280 expectation, right? He was showing up and God had 201 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,600 made a promise and he was living in expectation of that promise. 202 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:02,160 But Zechariah and Elizabeth are living in a very different type 203 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,000 of waiting. So I think they have fallen into 204 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,120 living in the waiting of just acceptance. 205 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:12,640 Maybe that's the space you're in today. 206 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:19,280 We're you've long since moved past expectation and you're just 207 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,000 kind of in a place of acceptance. 208 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:28,000 You keep showing up, you keep moving forward, try and put 1 209 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:34,920 foot in front of the other, but to protect your heart, to keep 210 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:40,000 yourself from hurting too much, to protect yourself from getting 211 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:46,280 too disappointed in God, you've stopped expecting and you just 212 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:51,680 live in acceptance. I think that's where Zechariah 213 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:56,920 and Elizabeth were. But then one day when ordinary 214 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:04,040 day Zechariah is going to do his priestly duty, God shows up. 215 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,960 Verse 8. When his division was on duty 216 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,000 and he was serving as priests before God, it happened that he 217 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,000 was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to 218 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,280 enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 219 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:27,360 At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was 220 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,920 praying outside, and an Angel of the Lord appeared to him, 221 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,400 standing to the right of the altar of incense. 222 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,680 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified. 223 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,320 So overcome with fear, the Angel said to him, Don't be afraid, 224 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,440 Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. 225 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,720 Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him 226 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,640 John. There will be joy and delight 227 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:01,040 for you, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be 228 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,320 great in the sight of the Lord. He'll never drink wine or beer. 229 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:05,920 He'll be filled with the Holy Spirit. 230 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,520 While still in his mother's womb, he'll turn away. 231 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,600 He'll turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 232 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:19,000 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to 233 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,520 turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the 234 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:26,560 disobedient to the understanding of the righteous to make ready 235 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:31,760 for the Lord. A prepared people told you that 236 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,240 they've been praying for a child. 237 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:36,160 And here's where the Angel confirms it, right? 238 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,120 This is how we know it. He says don't be afraid, 239 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,880 Zechariah, because your prayer, it's been heard. 240 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:48,120 I wonder how long it had been since Zechariah had last uttered 241 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:54,520 that prayer. I mean, scholars agree that 242 00:16:54,520 --> 00:17:01,640 Elizabeth here is at a minimum 60 years old, that that when 243 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,720 when they talk about her age there, the cultural threshold 244 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,240 for advanced age was 60 at the time. 245 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,839 They're saying she's well past biological childbearing age. 246 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:20,160 I would guess that it had been quite a while since Zechariah 247 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,680 had uttered a prayer, expecting that a prayer would be answered 248 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:27,400 for a child for him. I mean, it's obvious as we're 249 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,200 going to see in a moment that he certainly was not expecting an 250 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,680 answer. He he wasn't expecting God to 251 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,280 show up in any way to answer this. 252 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:43,000 God tells him then through this Angel, hey, your prayer has been 253 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,080 heard, Zechariah, that prayer that you had forgotten about, 254 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,480 that you had given up on, it's about to be answered. 255 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,400 And then he goes on, he says more. 256 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:56,720 And it's about so much more than your longing for a baby. 257 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,480 It's about so much more than your longing for a child because 258 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:06,640 it's about fulfilling a promise that was made from the very 259 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,440 beginning of everything getting all messed up, that a saviour 260 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,360 would come, a rescuer would come, a Messiah was coming. 261 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,760 Your son is going to be the one who prepares the way for that. 262 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,360 And what I see in this, what we see in this, is that what seemed 263 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:31,720 like delay in answering Zechariah's prayers was actually 264 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,680 God doing something much bigger and better than he ever dared 265 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:41,960 dream. And I want you to know that the 266 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,360 ultimate proof of God's love for you is found in the coming of 267 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:50,680 Christ, not in the current status of your prayer. 268 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:58,640 You can't allow your heart to get pulled off course and to 269 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:05,240 doubt God's love for you because in this moment your prayer seems 270 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,680 to be left unanswered and unmet. I love the fact that the 271 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,320 unanswered prayer and the coming of the Messiah are tied together 272 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,560 because when we're in that spot, we're tempted to wonder, God, 273 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:20,440 what are you up to? What are you doing? 274 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,560 Do you care about me? Do you love me? 275 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,000 And what Zechariah and Elizabeth, what they may have 276 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,520 longed for was a son, but what God knew they needed more than 277 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:37,280 anything was a savior. The granting of their son was 278 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,960 delayed because God understood that they had bigger needs than 279 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:48,240 they even understood. So what is Zechariah's response 280 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:54,680 to this incredible news? Verse 18 he says, how can I know 281 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,320 this? Zechariah asks the Angel. 282 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,840 How can I know this? I'm an old man and my wife is 283 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:08,120 well alone in years. I love that when God finally 284 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:13,240 shows up and God finally answers Zechariah. 285 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,000 He can't even allow himself to believe it. 286 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,600 And I totally get it. I've been there. 287 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,000 Again, like, it's, it's dangerous. 288 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,400 It just feels dangerous to allow our hearts to begin to hope. 289 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:35,680 As Gabriel points out, though, an Angel showing up, that's 290 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,960 pretty good proof, right? He says the Angel answers him. 291 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:46,480 I'm Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent 292 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,240 to speak to you and tell you this good news. 293 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,920 How can I know this? You've got an Angel in front of 294 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,840 you, Zechariah. What more you looking for? 295 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:02,560 What I what I see is I look at this, I see a guy who knows in 296 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,640 theory that God could do the miraculous. 297 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,160 I mean, he knows in theory that God could even do this miracle. 298 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,720 This is a man who is well acquainted with Scriptures. 299 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,280 He knows this is not the first time this miracle has been done. 300 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,320 He he knows the story of Abraham and Sarah like the back of his 301 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,800 hand. Every good Jewish person knows 302 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,440 Abraham is the father of all those who believe. 303 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:35,560 He knows that he comes, that his story is one of a woman who was 304 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,960 barren, who gave birth to a child. 305 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,320 That's the story of his entire people. 306 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,520 He knows. But knowing and knowing are two 307 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,240 different things, aren't they? You know what I'm saying, 308 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:59,400 Knowing God loves you and knowing that God loves you and 309 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,000 trusts you are two different things. 310 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:10,240 I do wonder how many of us would say, yeah, I know God loves me 311 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:16,640 Intellectually, I would assent to that statement. 312 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,360 I could write it down on a sheet of paper. 313 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:29,240 But in this moment, I'm not sure that I know that God loves me. 314 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:37,320 With what's going on in my life right now, what my head knows, 315 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:43,200 my heart isn't feeling. I just want to say to you, no, 316 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:48,240 No matter what you're going through, no matter how silent 317 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,640 God seems, no matter how long you've been praying for that 318 00:22:53,640 --> 00:23:04,200 thing, I can tell you with 100% certainty with something that's 319 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:09,160 even more miraculous than an Angel showing up to answer your 320 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:14,720 prayer, that God loves you. Because Romans 58 says this. 321 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:22,840 God proves his own love for us in this while we were still 322 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:29,040 sinners, Christ died for us. The cross is a better proof than 323 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,840 an Angel of God's love for you. It's the ultimate good news. 324 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:35,840 The Angel comes and says, I got good news. 325 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:41,200 Your prayers been heard, but there's better news to come. 326 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:51,920 A Savior's coming. God's love is proven at the 327 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,840 cross. Not in the state of your current 328 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:04,240 circumstances, but the most famous verse in all of 329 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:13,080 Scripture, John 316 For God so loved the world in that world, 330 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,000 that's you and I. For God so loved the world that 331 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:22,480 He gave His one and only Son, so whoever would believe in him 332 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,560 would not perish, but have eternal life. 333 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:29,960 The proof of God's love for you. You don't need an Angel because 334 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,200 He sent you His Son. He sent you something better. 335 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:38,320 That God came while you and I were still sinners. 336 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,000 We didn't qualify for that title Righteous. 337 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:48,880 And he loved us anyhow. And he sent his son, not just 338 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,680 ASA, not just a baby, but his son. 339 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:58,120 He stepped into his creation. That's what we celebrated 340 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:01,520 Christmas, God with us. The incredible mind blowing 341 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:07,480 reality of the incarnation that the Creator takes on flesh, he 342 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:11,920 adds to his divinity, humanity and and comes to be with us. 343 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,920 Not just to be with us, but to die for us so that he could be 344 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:20,840 with us for all time. That's the invitation that 345 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,280 you're given, the invitation that God has given to you. 346 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,000 His presence showing up to show you his love. 347 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:33,600 That's why we celebrated Christmas goes on. 348 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:40,760 Now listen, the Angel says to Zechariah, You will become 349 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,960 silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, 350 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:49,400 because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled 351 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:53,280 in their proper time. Meanwhile, the people were 352 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,000 waiting for Zechariah, amazed he stayed so long in the sanctuary. 353 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,400 When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and then they 354 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,840 realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. 355 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,440 He was making signs to them and remain speechless. 356 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,000 When the days of his ministry were completed, he went back 357 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,360 home. They won't even let him go home 358 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,920 and you got to stay and complete. 359 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,400 You think you got a bad boss? I mean, Zechariah is here. 360 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:22,920 He comes out, speeches are like Zach. 361 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,440 He's still got some work to do Stick around. 362 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:32,600 I think it's really ironic that Zechariah manages to stay 363 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:37,200 righteous and faithful to God when it seemed like God was 364 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,120 silent. But the moment God speaks, he 365 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,760 struggles to believe him. And so he says, OK, well, now 366 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,640 you're going to go silent. And it is important, I think, to 367 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,920 recognize when we fail to trust God and we fail to take him out 368 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,720 there, there's consequences to that. 369 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,800 And some of you, you're living in the mess of some of the 370 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,680 consequences of you failing to take God at his word. 371 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,640 You're, you're living in a mess where you didn't listen to his 372 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,600 commands and you're just living with some of the natural 373 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,720 consequences of being disobedient. 374 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,080 It's not because God doesn't love you. 375 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:15,720 It's not because God's punishing you. 376 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:21,920 Maybe today it's like you just you feel anxious and you feel 377 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,560 angry. And deep down, the reason that 378 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,600 you feel anxious and angry is because you're really refusing 379 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,560 to trust God and take Him at His word and believe His promises. 380 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,960 Sometimes there's times where I felt abandoned and I felt 381 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:39,680 forgotten by God. And in my heart, the reality of 382 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,320 that is I just am failing to believe that when He said in 383 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,680 Matthew 28, I will never leave you or forsake you, that He'll 384 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,240 be with me until the very end of the days. 385 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,520 I struggle to believe that. My heart struggles to believe 386 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,840 that and I deal with the consequences of that sometimes. 387 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,120 But the good news is the story doesn't end with us living in 388 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:04,840 the consequences of our struggle to even as believers sometimes 389 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,920 believe. Because verse 24 says after 390 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:13,040 these days his wife conceived and kept herself in conclusion 391 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,320 for five months. So first of all, God still kept 392 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,840 his promise despite Zechariah's failure to to believe that he 393 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,560 would. And then Elizabeth says this. 394 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:25,960 She said the Lord has done this for me. 395 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:30,720 He's looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace 396 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,640 among the people. What I want all of us to 397 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,880 understand is that God's love is demonstrated to us through his 398 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:47,000 unfailing grace. Question, did God owe Zechariah 399 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:52,040 and Elizabeth the child? Answer no, He doesn't owe them 400 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,480 anything. Something in US says, but they 401 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,760 were righteous. So surely at some point he 402 00:28:57,760 --> 00:28:59,000 should have answered that. Cry. 403 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,440 Let me point out to you that Romans 310 makes clear that 404 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:04,960 we're none of us are actually righteous. 405 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:11,120 We are only made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, 406 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:18,640 through faith in the Messiah. And Elizabeth and Zechariah had 407 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,800 faith that God would be faithful to His promise in sending a 408 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,160 Savior and sending a Messiah, so they were counted amongst the 409 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,240 righteous. We look back now and if we have 410 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,880 faith in Jesus, that He is our Savior, that He died on the 411 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:34,160 cross for our sins, then we're made righteous through Christ, 412 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,680 not through what we do, right? That's what 2nd Corinthians 521 413 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:43,800 says God made him to be who knew no sin to be sin for us so that 414 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,680 we might become the righteousness of God. 415 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,240 So through Jesus we can be made righteous. 416 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,040 But God doesn't owe us anything. He didn't owe Zechariah and 417 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,880 Elizabeth anything. We received that righteousness 418 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:02,360 by faith through by grace, through faith. 419 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:07,480 All of us in our sin, we deserve God's wrath and His punishment. 420 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:12,080 But God in his love offers his Son to us so that we can be made 421 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,840 right with him. He gives us forgiveness. 422 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:20,000 He gives us grace. He gives us freedom from shame. 423 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,960 That's what the love of God does. 424 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,280 That's what Elizabeth understands. 425 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,600 God is the type of God who gives a love that takes away disgrace. 426 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:35,120 God is the type of God who who pours out his favor on the 427 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,160 undeserving. That's the type of love he 428 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,560 offers up. That's the type of love that we 429 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:46,320 celebrate came at Christmas. A love that that that didn't 430 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:51,160 just hear our prayers, but that responds to our needs. 431 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,040 The love that doesn't just bring a son to Elizabeth and 432 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,960 Zechariah, but brings a savior for the whole world. 433 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,040 Some of you, you're coming to Christmas and you're wondering, 434 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,880 does God love me? Has he forgotten about me? 435 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,760 You've been waiting for him to show up. 436 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,240 You've been wondering when he's going to show up. 437 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,200 I just want to go back to that picture of the the child who 438 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,560 shows up at his parents house or her parents house for Christmas 439 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,000 to just be present and demonstrate love at Christmas. 440 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:31,640 God doesn't send a message. He shows up at the door because 441 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,560 God's love and his presence go hand in hand. 442 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,320 And so even in those moments, if you love Jesus, you feel like 443 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,640 he's gone silent. He hasn't forgotten you. 444 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:48,080 He hasn't forsaken you. Not if you know. 445 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:55,560 Emmanuel, God with us, I want to invite you to church to invite 446 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,280 some people along with you who need to know that message this 447 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,720 Christmas Eve. We got 2 Christmas Eve services 448 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:07,120 coming up and there's a whole whole world of people outside 449 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:12,080 our front door, outside of your front door in your workplace who 450 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,640 need to know that there is a God who loved them so much that he 451 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:21,000 showed up at Christmas. And so just be asking the Lord 452 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,680 who he'd have you just tap on the shoulder to invite to come 453 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,200 along with you this. I'm telling you, there are 454 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,640 people, they're itching to come. They just need somebody to 455 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:32,200 invite them. The story of Elizabeth and 456 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,760 Zechariah, the story of Christmas is this God always 457 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:39,160 shows up. He's not forgotten you. 458 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,960 He won't abandon you and he'll never fail you. 459 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:45,800 I'm going to, I'm going to ask the band to come out. 460 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:51,640 We're going to close today with a song called Oh come all you 461 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:55,320 unfaithful. We've already sang Oh come All 462 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,760 Ye Faithful. But I think we need this song 463 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,080 this morning. I think we need this song in 464 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:04,240 Advent. I want to read some of the 465 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:08,200 lyrics to you. The lyrics go like this. 466 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:14,160 Oh, come, all you unfaithful, come weak and unstable. 467 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,560 Come. No, you're not alone. 468 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:23,040 Oh come barren and awaiting ones, weary of praying. 469 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,120 Come and see what your God has done. 470 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:33,280 Oh, come bitter and broken. Come with fears unspoken. 471 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:42,000 Come taste of his perfect love. Oh, come guilty and hiding ones. 472 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:48,200 There's no need to run. See what your God has done. 473 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:54,120 Christ is born, Christ is born. Christ is born for you. 474 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:58,560 He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon. 475 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,520 His promise is peace for those who believe. 476 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:08,320 Then it closes with this verse. So come, though you have 477 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:13,400 nothing, come. He is the offering. 478 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:17,320 Come, come see what God has done for you. 479 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,679 We're going to have some people up here ready to pray. 480 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,360 If those lyrics describe how you've walked in the door today, 481 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:34,199 if you find yourself in one of those spots, maybe you're 482 00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:37,920 sitting there with an unanswered prayer, waiting and weary. 483 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,719 We would love to be able to just pray alongside you. 484 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,679 Hold up your hands. If you've come today and you 485 00:34:46,679 --> 00:34:52,239 feel disgrace and shame, we'd love to pray alongside you that 486 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:56,600 you would know God's grace and favor and mercy and His love. 487 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,160 If you've come today filled with anxiety about what this next 488 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,360 week might bring, or you've come filled with a heart that is 489 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:09,080 broken over who won't be sitting at the table, we want to be able 490 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:17,800 to pray with you. If you're mad at God because you 491 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:22,920 feel like he's dropped his end of the bargain, then let us pray 492 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,520 and you can express that to him because he's big enough to take 493 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:30,880 it. But don't leave here today 494 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,720 taking the same burdens that you brought in. 495 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:39,080 Come on down and let somebody help carry the burden with you. 496 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:43,920 And I know, listen, I've been around this church long enough. 497 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:51,960 I know the amount of fear that it can exist in coming forward. 498 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:55,600 You know what? There's not a single person in 499 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:59,880 in this room who those lyrics don't describe today in some 500 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:02,600 fashion or form. It's not a single person in this 501 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,000 room who doesn't need prayer for something. 502 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,880 But there's an enemy who's come to seek and kill and destroy, 503 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,840 and he's the father of lies. And he's going to tell you, the 504 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:16,400 people will judge you that you don't really need it, that 505 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,360 somebody needs it more, that it's going to be too difficult. 506 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,720 You can't come down from the balcony because it'll take so 507 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:23,960 long. And your kids, what, how are you 508 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,800 going to get to them? They might run out of time and 509 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:29,200 they'll be 1,000,000 reasons why the enemy wants you to walk out 510 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:33,360 the door as burdened and as heavy laden and as broken as you 511 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:37,200 came in. But there's a God who loves you 512 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:41,640 enough that he beckoning you, if you need to, to come down this 513 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,480 morning and be prayed for so he could give you healing and so 514 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:47,480 you could sense his presence today. 515 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:53,600 And so let's sing this song. And if, if you don't need to 516 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,080 come down today, would you just be praying for those who do? 517 00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:59,680 And if there's people down here who come down, would you lay 518 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,240 your hands out and pray over them? 519 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:04,080 I love the fact that in this story, if you go back and you 520 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:09,760 remember at the beginning, Zechariah was in the place, he 521 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,520 was lighting the incense and all the people were gathered, 522 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,480 praying, and God showed up. I think there's some people here 523 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:18,640 who need you to be praying that God would show up for them this 524 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,840 morning as they come down. And we'll take as long as we 525 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:24,680 need to this morning. And if you need to get out for a 526 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,000 Turkey dinner, you're welcome to leave whenever you need to. 527 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,960 But we're going to sing and I'm going to ask the the band to 528 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:35,320 lead us, and I'm going to pray that many of you will have an 529 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,960 opportunity to have God lift some burdens off you today.