November 26, 2023 / Ordinary People, Extraordinary God

Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest

questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search

and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead

pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth

for the life we're searching for. Well, please take your Bibles this morning and turn to

Luke chapter one today. Luke chapter one as we get into the message series called the

characters of Christmas, the characters of Christmas. Today I want to talk to you about

ordinary people and extraordinary God. You know, I've always been one of those guys that

have looked around at different people that God has spoken to, God has worked in their

lives and always in me from a very young age, I would think, you know, I'm not anyone special

like they are and I wish God would work in my life the way he worked in their life. In

other words, I felt like that someone would have to be extraordinary for God to speak

to them, for God to bless them or direct them and lead them. And imagine my surprise when

I realized that God works in the lives of ordinary people. How many ordinary people

are in the room today? Would you raise your hand if you're an ordinary person? You'd

be pretty unusual to not raise your hand today, wouldn't you? Luke chapter one, verse five

is a story of two ordinary people that God works in their lives in supernatural ways.

In fact, the entire Christmas story is about that. It's about people that are ordinaries

sometimes very common, in many cases a little strange and a little different and in some

cases a little weird how God works in their lives. But all those add up to a Messiah that

we can call Emmanuel, God with us. All the way through the scripture, God has made the

point very clear. I am your God, I am with you, I will be with you. And that's what this

series will help us to realize how God works in extraordinary ways in ordinary people's

lives. Luke chapter one, verse five, would you stand with me as we read this passage,

long passage, and there are a number of verses that we will hold off to read the end of this

story at the end of this message. But today I want to introduce it in verse five of Luke

chapter one, very early on in the story of Christmas. By the way, each of our series

messages this month, November and December, will be out of Luke chapter one, Luke chapter

two, and they will all culminate of course in one of our Christmas Eve services that

takes place on Christmas Eve, of course, which is Sunday this year. So beginning in verse

five of Luke chapter one, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias

of the division of Ibija, 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 child because Elizabeth was

barren and they were both advanced in years. Now it happened that while he was performing

his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom

of the priestly office, he was chosen by law to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And the whole multitude of the people in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering

and 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 for 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 while yet in his mother's

womb and he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord through God. It is

he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn

the hearts of the 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. So Zacharias said to the angel,

how will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife has advanced in years

and the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God.

I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news and 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. Obviously this is pointing

to the man we know as John the Baptist and what an incredible unfolding of that announcement

by Gabriel the angel. Ordinary people, extraordinary God. Father in Jesus' name I pray that you

would speak to us powerfully today. Father my prayer today for these in this room and

these listening online. If they would seek and also find what it means to have an encounter

with you that none of us would think that you do not see us or know us. That none of

us would be people who you do not look at. Fully aware of what we are going through.

Fully aware of what our needs are. Father help us to come to grips today with the fact

that you are an extraordinary God who knows each and every ordinary one of us. Thank you

for that. We ask this in Jesus' name. All God's people said amen. Please be seated if

you would. You know it is interesting how God interrupts us sometimes. It is interesting

how God surprises us and blesses ordinary people in extraordinary ways. As a matter

of fact when we walk through these characters of Christmas together we are going to see

some very unusual somewhat humorous sides of people that God is interacting with. That

God is speaking to. That God uses in order to bring about the Messiah. And Zacharias

and Elizabeth are two of those people. Now from the very beginning as we read about Zacharias

and Elizabeth we realize these people are righteous people. The Bible says that they

are blameless. They know the Lord. They serve the Lord. And this man is a priest as well.

As a matter of fact he served on a rotation of 18,000 different other priests and on this

day he is offering a temple sacrifice of incense in the temple which would happen only once

in a lifetime. So here he is Zacharias this ordinary man who serves in righteous ways

in a once in a lifetime opportunity to offer incense at the altar before the Lord. Now

I want you to know that some of the details of what he is doing are very important. Offering

of an incense in the temple was a reminder and it signified that as that smoke wafted

upwards that it was a reminder that our prayers as they ascend they ascend to the God of heaven.

As a matter of fact in the book of Revelation it is a reference to that that the prayers

of the saints are like incense to the Lord. It is amazing how God listens to ordinary

people and even what he was doing in that day and time was a reminder that God hears

the prayers of ordinary everyday people. And I just want to make a note to you today God

hears and answers the prayers of ordinary people. I want you to know I had you raise

your hand a few moments ago you said I am an ordinary person. God hears and answers

the prayers of ordinary people. Aren't you glad about that? I am thrilled that he does

that. Now he does that in the life of these two individuals in a way that is bigger than

they can possibly imagine. So under the Old Testament perspective these two were the most

pious of people. These were great Jewish people. However Elizabeth was unable to bear children

and by now in spite of her prayers and in spite of the desire to have children she is

past the age of child bearing. We know that there is another story about that in the Old

Testament that we will reference in just a few moments of Abraham and Sarah. But here

it is. It is happening again. They prayed and they have heard nothing from God as of

yet about that matter. And by now it may be that there is a place where they are really

beyond hope. Have you ever been there? Well you have prayed for something so long and

it hasn't happened and you haven't gotten any word from God. You don't know what is

going to happen in the future but you are almost beyond hope. That is where these people

are. And in addition to that Israel itself as a nation is in a place where they are almost

beyond hope. This is just after the intertestamental period between Malachi and Matthew. Four hundred

years of silence. And here they are in this dark valley as a nation. Here Zechariah and

Elizabeth are in this dark valley personally. And through all that God surprises them in

extraordinary ways. And I want you to see how all that unfolds not only in their lives

but I want you to see how God does that in our lives. Before I move on to what these

points are that I am going to share with you today. Just keep in mind that silent and even

barren seasons are often fertile grounds and fertile times for God to speak in our lives.

Most of the times that I have heard God plainly have been after seasons of silence. After

seasons where I don't know what He is going to do, what He is going to say. I don't have

answers on my own. In fact I have come to the end of answers for myself about my dilemmas

and it is after those times that God seems to speak the loudest and speak the most clearly.

And if you are in that situation today I hope this brings hope to you ordinary people, extraordinary

God. I want you to know some things about this story as it unfolds. First I want you

to notice that God breaks the silence in unexpected ways. It seems like every time I want God

to speak to me He doesn't wave that I don't expect. We have got ways that are our favorite

ways to hear from God. Sometimes God does beyond that and different from that and surprises

us and this is what happens with Zacharias. He is serving in the temple, once in a lifetime

experience and all the other people are outside from this very holy spot and it says in verse

eleven, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing to the right of the altar

of the incense. So in this moment in a very unexpected time he probably thinks that he

is at the pinnacle, at the top of his opportunity to serve God, once in a lifetime, serving

incense in the temple, offering it up to God and yet in that moment God trumps everything

else by sending his angel. It's not just any angel we learn later on. It is Gabriel,

the angel that always has an amazing message and there he is standing in front of Zacharias

and it's amazing. Now the last time we hear from Gabriel had been back in the days of

Daniel. Remember Daniel on the lion's den? Gabriel talking about the prayers that Daniel

had offered up and Gabriel comes and answers those prayers with a lot of information for

Daniel that we will save for another time but that's the last time Gabriel has shown

up. That was five hundred years prior to this moment. Malachi the last prophet that spoke

four hundred years from that moment to this one where Zacharias is and until that time

between that period there is no prophetic word, no angelic revelation, no new news,

no move from God, nothing unusual has happened. They are just going through the motions doing

the same thing they have always done and all of a sudden God surprises them in this amazing

amazing way. Gabriel stands before this man Zacharias. Now if you could look outside the

temple you would know these things were going on. Not only is silence happening but wars

and uprisings are taking place in Israel. Roman oppression is growing. Unanswered prayers

seem to be taking place. Hope for the Messiah is growing dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. After

all if you don't hear from God for five hundred years you've got to wonder what's up. You've

got to wonder if God is still going to fulfill His promise, if He's still going to show up

in any time at all. It was seven hundred years before this moment that Isaiah said something

that was pretty prophetic in Isaiah chapter nine verse two. Now do you know the verse?

It's a Christmas verse. We say it all the time. It says this, it says the people who

walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land the light will shine

on them. Even the prophet Isaiah said it will be a time of darkness. It will be a time of

silence and in the darkest of dark and in the most silent of all silent periods that's

when the light is going to come. That's when the Messiah is going to be revealed and that's

just what's unfolding right here in Zacharias day. He's seeing it all come to pass. I don't

know about you but I'll say this several times in the message today that defining moments

in my life come after silent moments. There's something about silent moments that make me

want to hear from God all the more. There's something about times where I don't see God

move but I don't see Him working around me in the way that I want to desire to see Him

work that make me listen better. That make me be more in tune to Him because my only

hope is in God and your only hope is in God as well. So you're not looking for some other

kind of rescue. You're not looking for some other kind of intervention. You're only looking

for the intervention of God. So when things are quiet and dark and silent listen even

more devotedly to hear what the Lord may say to you. God breaks the silent in unexpected

ways. Stay faithful. Stay focused. Stay in tune with Him. Secondly I want you to notice

this that as the story infos God brings extraordinary news that requires faith. You know whenever

God speaks He's going to require faith on your part to believe Him. He wants you to

believe. He wants you to trust His word before He brings it to pass. In chapter 1 verses

12 and following you see what's transpiring in this conversation. The Bible says Zacharias

was troubled when he saw the angel and fear gripped him. Now that's just normal response.

If you saw Gabriel you'd be in the same boat. You'd be gripped by fear. You'd be troubled

in your heart. You wouldn't know what to say and think. 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. Gabriel, Zacharias, this one on one and Zacharias

is required to trust, to believe that what God is saying and what God is doing is going

to come to pass. This is what we call the crisis of faith. First of all is this really

an angel? And second of all when he says his name is Gabriel am I really alive standing

in the presence of Gabriel? And then thirdly he says we're going to have a child and I'm

old and my wife is barren. Is this really going to take place? It's a crisis of faith.

It's a moment for him to stroke his beard and say are you kidding me after all this

prayer after all these decades of hoping and trusting and then getting to the place where

I don't even know anymore if this is going to happen or not. Are you kidding me? And

of course Gabriel the angel said no we're not kidding you. You're going to have a baby.

And it might have been that he was so stunned by what he heard that he didn't really hear

the whole message and the whole message had to do with not only are you going to have

a baby but it's going to be an extraordinary baby. It's going to be what we know now as

John the Baptist. And not only would he be great in the eyes of the Lord, not only would

he live up rightly but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb the angel said.

And not only that he will turn the hearts of many in Israel back to the Lord. And in

addition to that he's going to be a forerunner to the coming of the Messiah. I mean Zacharias

had barely picked himself off the floor at hearing that they're going to have a baby

and now all these other things are happening. An extraordinary promise that comes from this

angel that is an answer to the prayer that they've been praying for years and years and

years. But there's a problem in this story that Zacharias has. It's the same problem

that we have and that is that some respond in fear and disbelief. That's just how we

respond sometimes when God speaks to us. You notice what Zacharias says in verse 18. Zacharias

said to the angel, how will I know this for certain? For I'm an old man and my wife is

advanced in years. Now that at that point is when the angel said well I'm Gabriel so

I'm in. That ought to tell you that you can know it's going to come to pass. I'm Gabriel,

I'm the angel of the Lord. There's only two angels in the Bible that we have. The names

of one's Gabriel, the other's Michael. And here he stands in front of him. He says I'm

Gabriel. Now I see a picture of Zacharias looking puzzled about the Holy Spirit struck with

fear and disbelief. Now if I had an artist draw this picture of this man it would look

something like this. Zacharias and Elizabeth. And I actually asked someone, an artist, to

do a caricature of them because I felt like that's one way we could kind of see the facial

expressions of someone that's struggling to believe God. Now I want you to notice Zacharias

on the left and he's stroking his beard literally. He's looking at sideways kind of look and

he's going how is all this going to take place? Now we don't hear of Elizabeth's immediate

response but we hear of her ultimate response. Once she is with child she is filled with

gratitude, filled with joy. She knows this is really going to take place. But Zacharias

first responds, well that kind of look. I wonder how many times we have that kind of

look when God speaks to us about anything in our lives. I wonder how many times we back

off and say I don't know about that guy. I'm not sure that I'm up for that. Well the

Bible calls us to believe in God who is able to do things above and beyond what we can

even possibly imagine. Zacharias doubts and immediately the angel strikes him mute. This

is one of the more entertaining parts of this story is that immediately Zacharias loses

his ability to speak. Now he's just heard from Gabriel, the biggest news of his life.

He's got to go home and tell his wife we're going to have a baby. Because Gabriel doesn't

meet with Elizabeth, he just meets with Zacharias and now Zacharias has no way to say any words

to bring this news to Elizabeth. I think that's one of the most humorous things in the world

that he's got to go home and he's got to figure out how he has encountered the angel.

But before we kind of entertain that let me ask you, have you ever waited so long for

something that you don't even know if you can believe anymore? I don't want to be too

hard on this guy Zacharias. I just think he is aged out when it comes to the promise.

I think he's just thought that prayer request is just never going to happen. Now if I were

honest with you I would say there are certain prayer requests in my life that I have at

several different points said I don't think that's ever going to happen and yet I believe

it's the will of God. And I have to come back and wrestle with that crosses of faith and

say in spite of my unbelief I do believe that God will honor his promise. And I believe

we have those crosses of faith. I don't talk today about crosses of faith about some silly

thing that you want but something that you prayed in complete alignment with the God

of the universe about. When our lives are aligned with him and our requests are aligned

with him and we know he's laid something on our heart and yet we have almost stopped

hoping because we haven't seen it because God is allowing us and even making us wait.

Do you realize a hundred and sixteen times in the Bible the phrase wait on the Lord is

used in some way. And usually they come along just when I need them. Wait on the Lord. God

requires us to wait. For these two individuals the years have come and gone and no answer

to prayers, no answer to the dreams of a child. They're old now, they're beyond childbearing

and God still makes them wait. In Isaiah chapter sixty four verse four there's a great verse

that the prophet Isaiah gives us about waiting. It says from the days of old they have not

heard it perceived by ears or has the eye seen a God beside you who acts on behalf of

the one who waits for him. Isaiah said there's no God like you. We're going to willingly

wait on you because only you will act on behalf of those who wait on you. Isaiah knew something

about waiting. He was prophesying seven hundred years before the Messiah actually came and

his prophecies about the Messiah are the most prominent ones that we quote and talk about

and sing about. Seven hundred years before Christ came he was speaking these words. He

knows that waiting is important. It's really important that you and I know that it's important

as well in our own lives. And sometimes I wish I knew why God took so long but there

are those seasons where we have to trust his heart even though we can't see the signs around

us. It was Charles Spurgeon that made this statement, God is too wise to be mistaken.

God is too kind or too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand and when you

don't see his plan, when you can't trace his hand, trust his heart. We have to trust

the heart of a God who responds faithfully and who is immutable in character, unchanging

in the way he does things. We have to trust him even when we can't see what he is up to

or know what he is doing. What's God making you wait for? And then there's the human

part of this story, I think it's hilarious. This is where Dr. Rice has waited so long

and has responded in such disbelief that it's becoming awkward. God gives him this story

through Gabriel, this promise that's going to be fulfilled. Because he didn't trust,

he's now struck mute. You know what mute means? It means that you can't say a word. And so

he's got the job of going home and sharing this news with Elizabeth. He's got to break

the news to her at some point very quickly that they must very quickly and without delay

get in the bedroom. I mean think about it. I'm not reading into the scripture or anything.

They do have to conceive this child even though they're old and she's barren and he's got

to communicate this to her without words. I think that would be a very interesting conversation.

Did he write something on a piece of paper? Did he draw a picture? I don't know what he

was doing. Can you imagine him saying something in some form, Elizabeth we've got to get to

bed. And she's saying why? And he said well an angel met with me and said we must do this.

That's a new one, Zacharias. I really believe that God uses the ordinary, mundane, even

humorous things about our lives to help us be convinced that it would have been better

for him to believe in the first moment of that promise. But to bed they go and she conceived.

And that brought about the fulfillment of a prayer that they'd had for decades and it

brought about the fulfillment of the prophetic one who would come before the Messiah himself.

And I wrote this down to myself as I thought through the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth.

Oh how the things we do and the ways we respond to God before we finally obey make us look

so silly. Because God is the only one that we can trust and we can't trust ourselves.

Just trust him from the beginning. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on

your own understanding, acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make your pathways

straight. Zacharias knew he should have done that. But while some respond in disbelief,

others respond in faith and gratitude. This would be Elizabeth. Notice what's said in

verse 25. These are her words when she realizes now that she's conceived and she's got a child

growing inside of her, she says this is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days

when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men. Now we don't hear

her immediate response, but we hear her ultimate response right here as she begins to see signs

of the baby and she's speaking with great gratitude and with great joy and with great

faith. Maybe she remembers the story of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham who believed God even though

they were well past the age of childbearing, believed God for the promise and Sarah who

laughed and maybe she was determined not to be the one that laughed but the one who believed

God but there she is believing God. Eventually it was Elizabeth that visited Mary after the

angel Gabriel had broke the news to Mary that she would have a child by the power of the

Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us an amazing story of how these two women came together

and how the baby inside of Elizabeth John the Baptist leapt in the womb at the sound

of Mary's voice. She's believing, she's grateful and Zacharias is still mute. He's

still not able to say a word. It might have been her faith that opened the door so widely

for God to work in such a powerful way because it certainly wasn't his faith that allowed

all that to happen. We often need to believe for those around us, don't we? Sometimes

we just need to believe even though those around us are not believing and God honored

her faith in a powerful way. God uses imperfect faith. God uses imperfect faith. He knows

that we are dragged down by the realities, the physical realities of this world. It's

hard for us to imagine God breaking all those physical laws to do what he did for Zacharias

and Elizabeth but that brings us to how God really worked powerfully in their lives and

I want you to notice thirdly that God fulfills the greatest dreams imaginable. I'm not talking

about just any dreams. I'm not talking about some imaginary dream for prosperity or some

dream for health and wealth. This is not the prosperity gospel I'm talking about. It's

about God fulfilling the ultimate calling in our lives, whatever it is he's spoken for

each one of us in ways that are beyond our imagination. Notice what's said in verse 57

and 58. Now when the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, she gave birth to a son and

her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed his great mercy towards

her and they were rejoicing with her. If ever there was a woman who could say, my prayers

were answered by God, it was this woman right here. What a long wait. What a great answer.

But this is not just any son. And so often this is how God works. We see what God does

for us here and now but we don't see the bigger picture of what he's doing for others around

us even as he answers that prayer for us here and now. To Zacharias and Elizabeth, they're

having a son but to the world around them, they're having John the Baptist. They're

having someone that's going to be the forerunner, the prophet that leaves the way for people

to turn and face Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It was John the Baptist that ultimately

said, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It was John the Baptist

that ushered in repentance in Israel before Christ came. They had no idea all that God

was going to do in their life. They just had a baby boy but God had a bigger picture, more

imaginable than they could have had in their own minds. God always answers prayers in bigger

ways than we think he can. He's able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that

we ask or think according to the power that works within us. To him be glory in the church

the Bible says. Wow. So he answers this amazing prayer and answers the dreams beyond anything

they could imagine. And in doing so, God answers and takes people to an entirely new level

of trust. He takes them to an entirely new level of trust. They believe God for a baby,

an imperfect faith, an imperfect belief, but God positioned them for something entirely

different, much bigger than they could have imagined. And I want to pause at this moment

and just say I know there are many faithful believers in this room. You've trusted God

for many things in your life. You've prayed and seen God answer many of your prayers.

Some of you have been walking with the Lord for many, many years and you have a history

of walking with God and it's really admirable. But I would say that God is always wanting

to take all of us to another level of trust and belief. I would say God is always preparing

us for something even greater that he's going to use us for. Is he going to speak to us?

Is he going to use us in someone else's life? Is he going to lead us in a certain way that's

beyond anything we could have imagined? Never be settled, never be satisfied with the level

that you are in your relationship with the Lord because God is always doing above and

beyond anything we can ask or think. I have God sized dreams that I believe God gave me,

promises that I believe that I'm believing God for that I haven't seen happen yet. I

cannot let up on my trust factor because I believe I'm called to trust him for those

things. And I think the same is true for all of us from one perspective or another. It's

just a personal thing between you and the Lord. Believe him when he speaks. Look for

signs as you pray and as you wait and as you believe because what God did in answering

Zechariah's and Elizabeth's prayer is he brought the sign of the coming Messiah, John

the Baptist, coming to point to the way of the Lord and Jesus Christ.

You know most of us, amen, somebody celebrate the fact that he does that. You know this

summer was a hot summer to say the least. And I still remember the day when it got cloudy

and it was something like 175 degrees or something like that and the clouds came over and began

to get just a little bit cooler. And all of us had been waiting, right? We knew at some

point that the weather was going to change at some point. In Texas it doesn't nearly

happen fast enough but we knew it would happen. I saw the clouds and I did what everybody

else did. I whipped out my phone and I looked at the weather app. Now a few years ago I

thought only older people looked at weather apps or wanted to know what the weather is

about. Today I always want to know what the weather is about. And on that day I looked

at the weather app and it said, sure enough it's going to get a little cooler and rain

is in the forecast. And I still remember thinking, man it's about time God sent rain. And I'm

not just being funny here. The reality is it was a hot, hot summer. Well the rain didn't

come immediately. Clouds were there. The weather app said it was going to happen so, right?

That's almost like a fact. But soon I heard thunder in the background. I thought it was

coming. And after a little while that thunder got closer. I saw some bolts of lightning

out in the horizon and then the rain began to come. The rain began to come and I knew

it was going to come. I knew it was going to come because that's just the way of the

season. I knew it was going to come because the clouds had come. I knew it was going to

come because Pete Del 립le said it was going to come. I knew it was going to come because

I和ard the thunder. I knew it was going to come because I saw the lightning. I knew it

was going to come and it came. And it was awesome. It was amazing. Signs of the coming

of the rain. You know John the Baptist was the most sure sign of the coming of

the Messiah. The story looks like it's just on the surface but I will tell you

that it was the preaching of John the Baptist that helped people know the

Messiah is here. Where is he? Who's going to point him out? And it was this man,

John the Baptist that said, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

What a significant, significant promise. What a significant moment happening to

an ordinary person like Zechariah and Elizabeth. Well we're ordinary. You

said in this room a few moments ago, I'm an ordinary person. This extraordinary

God can work in amazing ways in your ordinary life. If we did it for Zechariah and

Elizabeth, He can do it for you. It'll be a different promise, it'll be a different

fulfillment but He is the God who comes and walks with us and manifests Himself

to us. Let Him do that in your life. Just a moment I'm going to close in prayer

and my encouragement to you is that you would look to this extraordinary God to

work in amazing ways in your life. We have decision stations that are available.

You know the truth is that what John pointed to when he began to preach was

the Jesus that we preach every single week. In fact when Zechariah came back

around and made his prophetic utterance, it's really amazing that he went from

being mute to being amazing in what he said and he gave four big indicators

that the one who was coming was the Messiah. After John the Baptist, the one

who was coming was the Messiah. Everything in this message points to

Jesus at some point and I want you to know today this Messiah has come through

the extraordinary ways that we'll look at during the characters of Christmas and

He's come for you. He's come that you might know Him. You an ordinary person

know an extraordinary God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

and I invite you to stop by our decision stations and say I want to know this

extraordinary Messiah Jesus Christ. I also invite you to our guest

reception room right outside the center exit doors and across the hallway. If

you're a guest here I'd love to talk with you more about Cross City Church. I

also invite you to be a witness during this Christmas season. I mean we're there

we're almost into Christmas and everything we say right now is moving

that way and what a great time to bring someone with you when they're thinking

about Christ and Christmas and all the things related to that. I invite you to

bring others with you. Would you stand with me as we have a closing word of

prayer. Father we are so very grateful that we are ordinary people and we can

pray to and know you the extraordinary God. Father thank you for these two

individuals in Scripture and their stories and how amazing it all was and

how they relate to us and we to them. Thank you that you sent your Messiah the

way you did. Thank you that you call us to walk with you. Thank you that you make

our lives extraordinary even though we're only ordinary. Father I pray that

you will lead each one of us to know you better to walk with you in these days

ahead. I pray that you'll draw many people to come to faith in Jesus. I ask

this in Jesus name. Amen. God bless.