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Well, it’s good to be back with you guys. Even though things are messed up today, we can still have fun in Jesus, right? That’s what we came here for. Today is just to learn about the Lord together. And so I’m I’m grateful just to have the opportunity. We’re going to begin a new series today. Um, it’s called Unbelievable Christmas. Not unbelievable in the sense that we don’t want you to believe in what Christmas is about, but unbelievable in the sense that the events were so uncommon. It was just it becomes difficult. You’ll see in the very early accounts of of Christmas for the the people who were a part of the birth of Jesus, to begin to wrap their mind around everything that Jesus was about to do on this earth. To them, it was unbelievable because it was uncommon before Jesus arrived to this earth, he was proclaimed through a message by an angel named Gabriel. We in our lives hear messages that seem unbelievable to us on a regular basis. Hopefully not too regular unless it’s good news. Maybe the first time that you realized you were about to become a parent, you might categorize that as unbelievable, right? Some of you guys, when you were nervously shaking before your future wife as you went before her to ask her to marry you, thinking there’s no way that I’ve tricked her into doing this. And she said yes. That was unbelievable, right? An uncommon event taking place, which just seems so surreal that you couldn’t imagine that it was happening to you.
Maybe the first time you got that great job that you were looking for, or even a tragic event like the death of a loved one can strike us as being unbelievable. We hear messages every day. Some are easy to hear and some are not. As a young kid, it’s way better to take the message that you got an A on your report card, rather than you failed as a more believable story. Some some are easy to accept. Some are not. Like we’re going to vacation in Disney World this year. I could accept that. Maybe parents getting a divorce, maybe not so much acceptable, maybe unbelievable. Some of the messages we receive are life changing, some aren’t. Some bring us closer to God, some don’t. Some of the messages that we hear in life tend to be unbelievable, and we think about this time of year in Christmas and what it means for us. To the original people who celebrated the first Christmas as they began to receive the news from the angel Gabriel, their first response was, this is unbelievable. If you brought your Bibles this morning, I’m going to invite you to turn to Luke chapter one. We’re going to begin the journey of an unbelievable Christmas together by beginning with the life of Zacharias. Zacharias was the very first person to receive any sort of message about the coming of the Lord to this earth.
It tells us in Luke chapter one, beginning in verse five, the account of Zacharias life. As we begin to read this story, we’ll see how this message was perceived as unbelievable. Christmas really is in a in a sense, starting with the first people. An unbelievable story says in Luke chapter one and verse five. In the days of Herod, the king of Judah, there was a priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But they had no children. Interesting. It tells us in Luke chapter one, it’s picking up in our in our Bible after over 400 years of silence from God. The Old Testament ended with the book of Malachi, picks up with the story of the Gospels, and in between your book of Malachi in the Old Testament. In the beginning of your of your New Testament, there are over 400 years in which God was silent to the people of Israel. In fact, in history you can find men like Josephus writing during that time period and sharing the accounts of Israel, wishing and desiring that God would once again bring his prophets to share his news with the nation. Because the nation of Israel was still long awaiting a messiah who would come and deliver them. And here we have a man, Zechariah.
After 400 years of silence. God begins to speak to him. You think just being a common man, as Zechariah was, it says in this passage of Scripture that he was an old man. He probably didn’t feel like anyone’s special or significant for God to talk to. Yet it was one that God, a person in which God chose to speak through. It tells us in verse six the reason this unbelievable Christmas story began in the life of Zacharias was because Zacharias was a faithful man of God. It says he and his wife Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God walking blamelessly and all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. Now think about this Christmas season for me, and you know, what I desire every year is for it just to be a memorable Christmas, maybe even to say an unbelievable Christmas. I want to say see good things happen in that time of year full of great cheer. Right? And I am on a roll with those rhymes. Look out! Who knows where it’s going to take me today. But can can can you think about just in your mind this first Christmas. God, after hundreds of years of being silent, coming to this humble man. And it says in verse six, the only thing that made this Christmas unbelievable. And the reason that God chose to work in this particular moment is because Zacharias was a faithful man of God.
We can think in our own lives, desiring for God to move into work in ways that we might think unimaginable difficulty and adversity that we might face in our own particular situations in which we are encountering, tells us. Zacharias. His difficulty was that he didn’t have a child. In verse seven, during the time in which Zacharias was alive, not having children was shameful in his time and point. It’s a little bit different than the way we view children today, isn’t it? Zacharias wanted more than anything a child to to pass on his lineage and his wife as well. And it says in this passage of scriptures, we’re going to come to find out that God begins to intervene in the life of Zacharias, to answer this need in his life, because Zacharias was a faithful man to do great things for God to be a part of an unbelievable Christmas story. The only thing that God asked for you is for you to trust in him. We talk about having an unbelievable Christmas season. We talk about keeping Christ in the center of Christmas, in which it should be. We always run the danger of making Christmas about anything other than Jesus. But in order to have that, the Bible tells us the way that this story unfolded in scriptures that God chose to work through faithful people. If we’re saying to ourselves this morning, God, just like you, worked through Zacharias, just like I read this miraculous stories in the Bible, I want you to work in my life and in my heart and to change my circumstances.
God is saying to us, just give me your heart then. Just trust in me. And God takes care of the rest. I want Christmas to begin in unbelievable ways. I want this to be for me this year, just an unbelievable Christmas in which God is just moving and working not only in my heart, but in those around me. But it starts in the commitment of our heart tells us in the next verse, in verse eight, what Zacharias has done in response to this. It says, now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division. Yeah, that was a mouthful. According to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense and just stop right here and point out the significance of this moment, because we have the opportunity just to breeze past this and not understand what’s happening in Scripture. And going into this temple and offering the incense was an offering of prayer for the nation of Israel. Every year a section of priests would go to the temple. Once. Once a week, a new section of priests were chosen to go to the temple and conduct the temple services and the lifetime of a priest. He would only have one opportunity during the time of Jesus to ever go into this temple and offer this incense in prayer to God.
This seems like a random selection to most people, and I would think that the nation of Israel has priests being selected to go into the temple would would think that it was just a random selection for Zacharias on this day to go into this temple and offer these prayers. It was only one time in your life you got to do it. And this just happened to be Zacharias moment. But what we discover as we read this passage of scriptures, though it may look random to us, God has his finger on this moment and could imagine the importance of this moment as a priest. Zechariah, serving the nation of Israel and only one time in his life, will have the opportunity to go into this temple and pray before his God. The Bible tells us until Jesus had died on the cross and the temple of God came to dwell within man, the temple of God or the presence of God dwelt in the temple. It was referred to as the Shekinah Glory. The presence of God was there. Men were supposed to go in without sin in their lives, and to walk into this temple and offer the sacrifices and the need of services for the nation of Israel. And now it’s Zechariah’s turn. This only opportunity is going to happen his entire life, to walk into this temple and on behalf of his nation, pray before his God.
I would imagine before Zacharias went into this temple, that he knew that that day was his day to go into this temple. Long before the day had come, the priest had drawn the lots and assigned the particular duties that would take place into this temple. I can imagine the conversation that existed in the home between Elizabeth and Zacharias as he prepared to go into this temple. It set us up for it in verse seven. Elizabeth might have said to Zacharias. Zacharias, what an opportunity you have just to go before your God and lift your nation up in prayer. But while you’re in there and you’re praying on behalf of your country and your people, do you think you could just talk to God about our need? Zacharias, do you think that you could just begin to open up your heart and share with God what we desire? You know, I look at this opportunity Zacharias had. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity just to take his heart and just pour it before God on his knees. I can think this morning, if there was just one thing in this world that you knew when you took it before God, that you were in his presence. What would you pray about? And what prayer in your heart is so important that you’re saying, God, if you could answer this in just an unbelievable way, God, it would just bring me great joy.
Do you realize as we read a story like this, it’s about telling a story of a God who can answer those prayers in the deepest needs of our hearts? That’s what an unbelievable Christmas is about. Zacharias went before God and all he did. We talk about prayers as if this this magnificent ritual that we do. But he just poured his heart out. It says in these verses later on that the the whole multitude in verse ten, the people were praying outside. This was an important moment. They’re all gathered outside of the temple, and they know the service is about to take place, and Zacharias is going into the temple on behalf of the nation of God that is still waiting on the delivery of a messiah for his people. And he goes in and I can imagine he says, God, will you save our people? Will you bring the Messiah to Israel? And God, if I could just bring this request, my family’s in shame because we don’t have a child. God, could you just give us one child? We see in the very recesses of Zechariah’s heart. He just reveals his longing and his need before God. And God begins to answer that miracle. Christmas begins with a prayer and it says in verse, verse 11, it builds on a promise. And it says, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.
But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. Well, he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The verse goes on, the passage of Scripture goes on to tell us in verse 17, it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of their fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. How does God answer this prayer? He answers this prayer, but not only giving Zacharias what Zacharias wants and having a son, but he also answers the prayer by bringing a messiah to the nation of Israel. Zacharias is told by God that John the Baptist would come to this world, and he would be the one that would proclaim the coming of Jesus. God takes both prayers of Zacharias and answers as if it’s one prayer for the nation of Israel. God builds Christmas, this unbelievable Christmas on a promise. Isaiah 714 says, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
And behold, a virgin will be with a child, and bear a son, and we shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah nine six says to us, unto us a child is born, unto us a Savior is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he shall be called wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Messiah. Zechariah is told he’s about to come. God’s promise was fulfilled through what is said in verse 17 through a prophet of Elijah. Zacharias knew very well what this meant when God said that this forerunner would proclaim the name of the Lord, as Elijah did. Malachi chapter three. The very last book of the Old Testament, and into chapter four and verse six, it says that before the coming of the Lord is to appear, a man like Elijah will proclaim the name of Jesus to people to return the hearts of Israel back to God. Christmas was built on a promise. You realize today that we live in the constant danger of forgetting that message. Bible shares a few passages in the New Testament where Peter and Paul said, I want to recall this, or I want to remind you of this. And the point of Christmas is for us is to take an opportunity in our hearts and our lives to remind us that it’s all about Jesus. In fact, this morning I hope you guys received this. It was a green, uh, book. If you didn’t receive this, we might be out of copies.
We’ll have some for you tomorrow or next Sunday. But making Christmas all about Jesus. Think about this novel idea for a minute. Do you realize that some of the things that we do on our Christmas during the Christmas holidays are in connection to who Jesus is? And you ever wondered why in the world you feel obligated at this time of year to drag a tree into your house and hang things on it? And that is weird. What is that all about? Why is it this time of year over every time of year, we eat candy canes. What is it with candy canes? I mean, do I even like peppermint? And yet someone always puts it in my hand. What are those things all about? But we run the danger when we forget about the importance of Jesus at Christmas, of making Christmas about something other than Jesus and Zacharias, we see that the coming of Christ was built upon the promise of a messiah who would save people, who would bring them life in him. I would say also that Christmas is shared through a message tells us in verse 17 what the angel said to Zacharias. Zacharias was the first to hear about the coming of the Lord and hearing about the coming of the Lord. He also heard that he would have a son who would share with this world about the coming of the Lord. God came in the flesh, and it tells us in the Bible in verse chapter one and verse 14 of John, that we beheld his glory full of grace and truth.
You think about as we as people consider the promise of Christmas and the message of Christmas, it’s all about beholding the glory of Jesus. May we take the opportunity in our days to behold the glory of Jesus in the most important thing that we can do with the message of Christmas is just share it with ourselves. I sound selfish for a minute, but to share the significance of Christmas with ourselves, because unless you understand the importance of what the coming of Jesus was all about, you’re never going to infiltrate that or share that with your family. Take time in your heart and the busyness of this season to make Christmas an unbelievable Christmas. Just like Zechariah. By being faithful, just giving yourself to God and and being honest. Just opening your heart to God and and looking to the point of the promise of Jesus coming for your life, and then understanding that message. Because what God desires for us is the same desire that he shared with Zachariah on behalf of John the Baptist, that we would go into this world and proclaim this message, and it becomes a joyful message to proclaim, because it’s a message of hope. It says in Romans 15, for such things were written in the scriptures long ago to teach us, and the scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
It is a promise of hope. The Christmas message is a promise of forgiveness, as it says in Malachi. Mike, excuse me. Micah 718. Where is another God like you who pardons the guilts of the remnant who overlooks the sins of his special people. You will not stay angry with your people forever because you delight in showing unfailing love. It’s a message of love. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Jesus is about a gift, and unless we understand the significance of Christmas in our life, we’re not going to realize that Jesus is the greatest gift this world could ever hope to accept. I know in my name this morning you should feel blessed by me sharing this morning because my name is Nathaniel, which means a gift from God. Everyone gets a glorious gift by me being here today. I know that sounds way conceited, but just throw that in. Yeah. That’s right. But, but the greatest gift you have to offer is Jesus. The greatest thing that you can do this holiday season, and everything that is going on in your busy lives and all the shopping and people you have to punch to get to the front of the line. Jesus, in those moments when someone cuts you off and the only parking spot left where you want it to be, Jesus. When you’re going around, you’re celebrating and Thanksgiving and everyone just made you want to pull your hair out.
Jesus. Right? It’s about Jesus. Where have we gone when we’ve lost the message of Christmas, of hope and forgiveness and love in Jesus? Christmas wasn’t a day intended for presents, though they are nice to receive. I’ll take mine anytime you want to give. But what it’s intended for is faith. Christmas is about faith. It’s about a time of decision. It’s about looking at the importance of Christ and His coming in this world, and whether you’ve trusted in him or not, saying to him, Jesus, what is it my life that you want to take control of? God, how can I open my heart to you to let you in by faith? Just continue to trust in the direction you desire for me to pursue in this world. It’s about taking the opportunity to quiet your mind and think. Just as Jesus arrived on a quiet night in a simple manger, to simplify our lives and just say, God, how can I continue to trust in you? It says in Luke chapter one and 18, Zechariah said to the angel, how will I know this for certain? For I am an old man. I would venture to say, before Zechariah asked for a child that he asked his wife if that’s what she wanted. I would hate for him to return home and pronounce this news without a discussion existing. Guess what? You’re old and we’re having a kid.
How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. I like that he knows how his wife works. He calls himself old. She’s just advanced. The angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. And I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time. Zechariah’s first response was not to believe, you know the shame of the Gospels when when you read them. In the end, people believed. But throughout the time of Jesus they chose not to believe. When the angel came to Mary and to Joseph and shared that Mary would have a child as a virgin. At first Joseph didn’t believe. Now, as Jesus grew up, the Bible tells us that Jesus had brothers and sisters. You find in John, I believe it’s in chapter seven that his brothers and sisters mocked him. Could you imagine coming home to Jesus as your brother, bringing that report card home when Jesus beat you to the door? And they mocked him and the book of John in chapter 20, it tells us even to to the point where the disciples are running to the tomb, because they heard that the tomb was empty.
The disciples still hadn’t believed. It comes in John 20 and 28, but after the resurrection of Jesus, they believed. It tells us in acts chapter one that his brothers were were in a room gathered together with their mother Mary, and they were worshiping Jesus. It tells us that the disciples had turned from unbelief to belief and trusting in Jesus. The message of Christmas is all about faith and what you choose to do with Jesus. You know, what I love about Jesus is that God just takes the simplest things in this world and turns him for his greatest glory. You think about the promise that came to Zechariah, that that John the Baptist would come and proclaim the name of Jesus. You ever read about John the Baptist in the Bible? If I were to pick an incredible man in Scripture, I would not pick. John the Baptist tells us in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 11, this is what Jesus says about John the Baptist. I tell you the truth of all who have ever lived. None is greater than John the Baptist. Interesting that Jesus would say that, because when you read in other accounts about John, it says, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. That’s good. John is sharing the message. It says, in all the country of Judea was going out to him and all the people of Jerusalem, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
Look what it says in verse six. Think about this guy. John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist. He is a fashion king and and wore excuse me. And his diet was locusts and honey. If you were to go through this world and think about incredible people that you you would say, man, if this person would just trust in you, God, they’re going to do amazing things. God, if you would just get that famous person and he just got on TV, man, we wouldn’t have to share your name because Justin Bieber has the world, right? I don’t know if that’s true or not. Is that Justin Bieber’s name? Right? Bieber fever. Okay. Sorry. Think about John the Baptist, a guy in camel hair, wearing a belt, eating locusts. And could you imagine that you’re going to get baptized by this John the Baptist? And you’re like, John, you got a little leg hanging out your tooth. Can you take care of that? The point is this Zacharias was used by God because Zacharias was faithful. Zacharias wasn’t anything special. There’s not much written about Zacharias in the Bible. All it says was at his old age, God used him. And the reason that God used him is because he just loved him. And in that love, he was compelled to just go in prayer before God and open up his heart.
When Zacharias began to open up his heart, you know, what he experienced was just an unbelievable Christmas. You know, I have the the difficulty of just focusing on Christmas, as if that’s the only time of year that God can work in our lives. When we talk about an unbelievable Christmas, it’s an unbelievable Christmas because Jesus can work in our lives any time of the year. If people would just humble themselves before God and trust in him and open up their hearts and begin to pray. God can work in the message of Jesus to accomplish great promises in our world. Question for you this morning. Because if you had one thing on your heart, if you knew that you just had an opportunity just to come before the throne of God, and can I just tell you, the Bible says that when you are praying to God, you are before his throne. But if one thing even among your wife is Elizabeth and Zechariah would have had the opportunity to talk about the prayer that he would bring into the temple of God as he offered up the incense. One prayer you could just pour out to God. What would it be for Zacharias? It was important for his lineage. I could think about even my young son just holding in my arms and thinking, God, just work and move in his life. God, what? What prayer do you really need to bring before God? If I were to ask you whatever you’re thinking about, whatever that prayer is, have you really been praying for it? Think about that for a moment.
You think about the personalness of Zacharias coming into this temple and praying and lifting it up before God, because he believed that in that moment God would answer that prayer. Are you taking that need and just saying, God, give me that unbelievable Christmas. God, answer this prayer from the joys of your life into the depths of my heart. God, please bring this. Trusting in him. Maybe we could ask ourselves, are you taking the time to trust in him? I mean, have we fallen into the despair of thinking that Christmas is about everything but Jesus? In this book that we’re given out to you today is just answers the questions. Where did where did Saint Nick come from? Why do you have a tree in your living room right now? Why do you put a topper on that tree? I mean, that’s the most dangerous ornament to hang, but it’s all about Jesus. It’s intended for you to take these opportunities and realize people have done this throughout the years, so they don’t. We don’t lose the meaning of Christmas and forget that it’s about Jesus and to focus it on him. Here’s what we find in Scripture that even as a common, ordinary person, God can do some glorious things. If we by faith would just humble ourselves, open our hearts, and take the time to pray and God begins to move. Let’s close in a word of prayer.