Sermon Tone Analysis

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah.

His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

Scripture Reading () NKJV

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah.

His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

Ab-iah

Christmas, it really Happened!

(Slide-Off)

How was this week for you?

It is December!

And “it is beginning to look a-lot like Christmas”

I see our first Christmas decoration.

Yeah.... Thank-you Margaret.

Welcome to the first part of our 4 part Christmas Series.

Christmas Series

(Slide)

Welcome to the first part of our 4 part Christmas Series.

Christmas, it really happened!

(Slide)

Today - Birth of John the Baptist Foretold ()

8th - Birth of Jesus Foretold ().

Errol

15th - Birth of John the Baptist ().

I will be back here.

22nd - Birth of Jesus ().

Joint Service at GY

As I started to study for today it became clear we could have started this series some time ago.

There is just so much in each of these passages!

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

Today we will focus on the narrative in Luke foretelling the birth of John the Baptist.

(Slide-Off)

We read earlier the narrative in Luke foretelling the birth of John the Baptist.

The account in follows on from Luke’s Prologue, which we covered a couple of weeks ago.

Itfollows on from Luke’s Prologue, which we covered a couple of weeks ago.

, if you remember, is an “An Invitation to be Reassured” in our Faith.

To be Reassured today, yesterday and all our tomorrows!

Now Luke begins to tell us about those things in which we can have full assurance.

Hence why this series is called, “Christmas, it really happened”.

It is in Luke 1:5

Elizabeth’s Declaration of Faith

Luke’s account of the events foretelling the birth of John the Baptist end with Elizabeth declaration of Faith.

We can it in

It is a wonderful declaration of Faith.

Of Reassurance.

Lets read that verse again,

The Lord dealt with me

The Lord looked on me

The Lord has taken away my Reproach

(Slide)

We see in this verse three key declarations of Faith,

(Point at them)

The Lord dealt with me

The Lord looked on me

The Lord has taken away my Reproach

Lets us look at each one in more detail.

The Lord dealt with Me

(Slide)

(Tell as a story)

The Long Wait

The Right Family Line

Zacharias and Elizabeth had all the right credentials on paper.

They came from the right side of town as it were.

They had the right family line.

They traced their lineage directly back to Aaron, the very first high priest.

It was a coveted distinction in first century Israel.

It came with bragging rights.

They both had excellent Resumes or CVs.

The Righteous Couple

This couple were righteous before God

(Slide)

Zacharias and Elisabeth purposed to obey God.

Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

They were careful and diligent in their lives.

They sought salvation through the means provided, and as a result were accounted “righteous before God.”

Mrs White says of Zacharias that,

For many years he had prayed for the coming of the Redeemer

There is only one way to be righteous before God.

That is through Faith in the Redeemer.

In their case the coming Redeemer.

Their lives testified to a genuine faith and hope.

Such is the believer’s privilege—a present salvation; such is the evidence that he or she is called to it—a holy life.

The Childless Couple

(Slide)

You would think they walked with their heads held high.

They should have been those people acknowledge on the street.

But it was not the case.

They were not looked upon in a favourable light by their peers.

A huge cloud hung over them both.

It went with them everywhere they went.

Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the cloud just got bigger and bigger.

They were not seen by others as favoured by Lord.

“Look, it is that couple” was rather “Look, it is THAT couple”.

“Something had gone very wrong”.

God disapproved of them.