The Characters of Christmas Week 1 • Faith Lessons from the Life of Zechariah

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast.

We're so glad you chose to listen today.

In today's message, we explore the life of Zechariah and the faith lessons his story

teaches us.

From moments of doubt to profound encounters with God's promises, we see how trusting

in his word transforms lives.

Through Zechariah's journey, we're reminded of the joy found in God's faithfulness,

the growth that comes from obedience, and the ultimate fulfillment of his promise through

Jesus, the horn of salvation.

Join us as we reflect on the hope and assurance we have in Christ.

Thanks for listening.

It's Christmas, so there's a little extra setup that I need to take care of this morning.

So just be patient with me.

Don't fall.

Don't fall.

If you're curious of what's in the red bag, you will find out at the end of the message.

So in like Christmas fashion, let me put this right here.

This is where we will be.

Let me move this extension cord so I don't slip and fall too hard.

That will be used later.

Thank you.

And now, if you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join me in Luke

Luke 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

That's where we're going to be today.

We are getting started in our Christmas series as we look at different characters from the

Christmas story and begin to look at real faith lessons in their life of what we can do.

Also, I want to point to you.

One of these things popped up.

It was, hey, pastor, fill out this survey, and we'll send your church 100 free books.

I was like, sure, let's fill that out.

So filled it out.

Didn't really know what we were going to get at the time, but curious of what would be there.

And we got copies of this.

It's Everyday Gospel Christmas Devotional by Paul David Tripp.

I've read several of his books.

Wonderful, wonderful book.

This is a snippet of a year-long devotional that he has.

So we do have 100 copies of this that are available.

They are back at the table.

At the end of the service, please drop by if you would like to have one of these wonderful devotional readings as we work through this time of year.

Also, if you're a first-time guest, at the end of the service, if you would come back here, I would love to meet you.

Thank you for being here, and then answer any questions that you may have about Willow Ridge Church.

But as we get started, let's go ahead and read Psalm 18, verses 1 and 2.

Psalms 18:1

Would you pray with me?

God, I thank you for today and for this opportunity that we can be here.

Lord, I thank you for the truth of your word.

Lord, I thank you for this time of year.

God, may the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ penetrate our hearts today.

May through the kindness and the goodness of your Holy Spirit, Lord, may you bring us to that sweet, wonderful place of repentance.

Lord, may we live for your name and for your renown.

God, if there's any part of me that is in this message, may it be removed, and may what is seen and what is heard reflect the goodness of who you are.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So, in this series, we're going to work through two of the different gospels as we look at the narrative that is going to lead us up to that wonderful Christmas morning story that we all know so well.

But this morning, we're going to start by looking at the birth of John the Baptist in Luke chapter 1, starting in verse 5.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And it says this,

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abuja.

And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

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

Now, while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said to him,

Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

And you will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

For he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,

to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

Verse 18,

And Zechariah said to the angel,

How shall I know this?

For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.

And the angel answered him,

I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.

And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple.

And he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.

And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,

Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people.

So what is happening in this?

We hear about this story of this priest.

This priest who's going to enter into a temple and to perform some of the duties of the day.

Well, Zechariah is a priest.

And now only from a particular lineage could priests come to serve in the temple.

I think sometimes when we hear of these in the time of Christ,

that we think that this maybe would have been a small number of individuals at the time.

But what we find is that there are as many as 20,000 priests in the time of Jesus.

So what they did to determine who would go and perform these duties,

they would draw a lot to determine which priest would serve and when he would serve.

And this lot might fall to a priest only once in their lifetime.

So to be chosen was important.

To be chosen was significant.

Now, there were several lots that were cast to determine who did what at the morning service.

The first lot, there were three different ones.

The first lot determined who would cleanse the altar and prepare its fire.

The second lot determined who would kill the morning sacrifice and sprinkle the altar,

the golden candlestick and the altar of incense.

But the third altar determined who would come and offer incense.

And this was the most privileged duty for the priest.

Those who did the first and the second lots would repeat their duty at the evening sacrifice,

but not the third lot.

To offer incense would be a one-time, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And this is this day for Zechariah.

So before dawn, hundreds of worshipers would gather at the temple.

The morning sacrifice would begin when the incense priest walked toward the temple through the outer courts.

And he would strike a gong-like instrument, pointing everyone to the activities that would take place.

And at this sound, the Levites assembled and got ready to lead the gathered people who were there in song to worship God.

I was talking to somebody this morning and just said,

How's your weekend going?

And they said, It's the holidays.

I'm just kind of prepping and preparing the house for different people kind of coming and going.

That we have these moments that you guys know of in your life and mine where something of importance is going to happen and take place.

So we prepare.

We get ready.

But there's the expectation of what would happen and what would take place.

And so that morning, just as it would have been at any other time,

the two priests would go and walk up on each side of the priest chosen to offer the incense.

All three entered the holy place together.

One priest would set the burning coals on the golden altar.

The other priest arranged the incense so it was ready.

And then the two priests, they left.

And then the incense priest was left alone in the holy place.

This is where we find Zechariah.

By himself.

I can only imagine his hands shaking a little bit.

I want to make sure that I do this right.

I want to make sure that I do exactly what God's called me to do.

I want to be faithful.

I understand the weight of this responsibility that's there.

But then what we see and what we know, something even greater happened.

Greater than having your lot drawn.

Greater than being the priest who gets to light the incense.

In our Christmas season where we know that the angels speak with the authority of God.

There standing beside the altar, the angel of the Lord appears to him.

And he appears to him with a promise.

With a promise.

We've been in Genesis and we've looked at Abraham and his wife Sarah.

We know, we've seen before the promise of a son.

We've seen and heard about these promises that are fulfilled.

Even in the difficulty of human limitations.

But we see the faithfulness of God.

And so this angel comes.

This angel appears with a promise.

That a boy will be born.

A boy known as John.

To him and his wife Elizabeth.

And I want you to listen to again in verses 16 and 17.

Some of the promise of what he gives.

Will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

And he will go before him in spirit and in power of Elijah.

To turn the hearts of fathers to the children and the disobedient.

To the wisdom of the just.

To make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

But Zechariah in this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Of coming there to do his religious duty.

To do in his mind what he had comprehended.

What he had accepted.

What he agreed was right.

Doubted and struggled with the promises of God.

And so what did Gabriel do?

He struck him silent.

Struck him silent.

And the people waited outside.

And when Zechariah came.

He came out unable to speak.

As we look at these stories.

What we are going to draw from these.

Is how can we take what God has done.

In the life of these individuals.

In their struggles with faith.

In their application with faith.

And go from them.

And what does the Christmas story.

Continue to teach us about God.

And about who he is.

I say the first thing that we begin to see.

In this story of Zechariah.

That we can cling to be true.

Is this.

That God is too good.

And God is too true.

We've all heard the expression.

That something is too good.

To be true.

Correct?

Like if somebody promises you something.

That's too good.

That's too good.

Be careful.

Be careful.

Because what they're promising you.

Is not going to fulfill.

The expectation.

Of what is actually.

There.

I fall for these things sometimes.

The other day.

I was scrolling through Facebook.

A lady that we know.

That I served on staff with.

At first by the Sumpter.

She had posted on Facebook.

A Honda Accord for sale.

Now ever since I've known Jane.

Jane has always had Honda Accords.

She'll move from one Honda Accord.

To the next Honda Accord.

About every three years.

Getting a new Honda Accord.

And me.

Whether it's in the delusional moment.

Of the early morning hours.

As I'm laying in bed.

Should be getting up.

I'm doing something with my life.

But I'm scrolling through Facebook.

I saw that she had for sale.

A 2018.

Honda Accord.

With less than 80,000 miles.

For $5,000.

And in that moment.

I was preparing myself.

To purchase.

A Honda Accord.

I went inside.

I went and told Aaron.

I was like.

You're not going to guess.

What's going on here.

She's like.

Bo.

That's too good to be true.

I was like.

Nah.

Sent Jane a text message.

Yeah.

Wasn't hers.

She had been hacked.

That's where we find ourselves.

Zachariah.

It's clear.

From the angels words.

That in his life.

He had prayed for a child.

That he had prayed specifically for a son.

And that God had not worked.

And moved in this capacity in his life.

And now.

On the best day of his life.

What he had been preparing for.

And training for.

Not only was he able to go into the temple.

Not only was he the priest chosen to burn the incense.

Not only was he that third privileged priest.

To lead the walk into the temple.

And to be the one who would come out to the people.

But an angel.

An angel was there.

And spoke promise.

And he didn't believe it.

And he didn't believe it.

You see.

It's not that he didn't want a son.

It's that his mind.

Could not comprehend.

And then therefore his mind could not trust the promises of God.

And therefore meant that he couldn't trust the God whom he was there to serve.

And you may be thinking to yourself.

How could he do that?

How could he not believe in the promises of God?

But be careful.

Because you and I fall into this mindset all of the time.

God's word is filled with his promises.

And God's word, oftentimes, many of us find that these promises that we know.

The holy God who is always true.

The holy God who is always in control.

The holy God who is all powerful.

We find them hard to believe as well.

Let me share with you just a handful of these promises.

Deuteronomy chapter 4.

Deuteronomy 4 · chapter mention

God promises that if we search for him, we will find him.

Yet we say, oftentimes, that God is too difficult to know and too hard to understand.

1 Chronicles 16.

God promises that his love will never fail.

Yet you and I walk through seasons of hardship and ask questions about how could a loving God allow this to happen to people.

In Psalm 1, God promises blessings for all who delight in his word.

Yet we struggle to find the discipline to open up our Bible and to read his word.

Romans chapter 1, God's promise of salvation to all who believe.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Yet we find in our judgmental minds that some are unworthy or incapable of being saved.

2 Corinthians 5.

God promises new life to all who are in Christ.

Yet every day we choose to live as those who were not saved.

Philippians 1.

God promises to finish the work he started in us.

Yet we become impatient and disobedient with God's plan and God's process.

You see, Zachariah is like so many of us.

I think he wants to believe.

I think he wants to cling to this truth.

But in the middle of this, the sin of disbelief creeps in.

So, you see, God is too good.

He is too good to you and he is too good to me.

His promises are not promises that you and I deserve.

His promises, though, are promises that we can cling to, that we can expect, and that no other means can fulfill them except for the holy, living God.

And so, as we come into this Christmas season, just like every time of the year, his promises are too good and too true.

Don't miss them like Zachariah.

But Zachariah does.

And he makes him mute.

I read a commentator who just wrote this line.

He said he felt like God was saying, fine, if you won't listen to me, then no one will listen to you either.

But notice this.

God doesn't revoke his promise.

God doesn't revoke his promise.

Zachariah's disbelief does not send God back to the drawing board.

And so, what I want you and I to begin to understand is that what does it mean and look like to enjoy the promises of God?

You see, God will not punish Zachariah by revoking the promise because God always keeps his promise.

But instead, God will allow Zachariah to live in the bleak reality of not enjoying the truth of God's promises.

Zachariah did like you and I often do.

He trusted his perspective, his logic, his thoughts, instead of trusting God.

And this is the hard truth of us.

When we live in the disbelief of the promises of God, those promises remain true.

But the joy that God would grant us by living in the truth of those promises is removed from our life.

Let me give you an example.

Psalm 1.

Psalm 1.

God promises blessings for all who delights in his word.

Let me read the first three verses.

Bless is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit and its season and its leaf does not wither.

God here promises us in this passage the blessing that comes for those who position themselves in obedience to his word and not in the conformity of the world.

Yet you and I, day in and day out, position our response to situations of life, not in how his word calls us to, but yet in the way that the world would drive us to.

And in this, we find our state of spiritual health and life in a struggle.

I'll give you an example of this.

Forgiveness.

Forgiveness.

God's word calls you and calls me in light of the fact of what God has saved us from, of how God has forgiven us,

to take that mindset and take that heart as recipients of forgiveness, and that we are then called to forgive, God's word says, as we have been forgiven.

And the blessing that comes from that.

Yet the world says, when we've been wrong, fight.

When we've been wrong, take matters into our own hands.

When we've been wrong, that we can do to others what they've done to us.

And in that, what we embrace in our life is bitterness and anger, which scientifically has been proven, as God is the great scientist,

to lower the quality of our mental, physical, and spiritual health.

So let me ask you, what do you think is the blessed life of joy, to forgive even when it's difficult, or to hold on to the grudge of what God has for us?

You see, God's promises are true whether you and I choose to relive in the reality of the joy that comes from those.

God had a plan and a purpose for Zechariah and Elizabeth.

They would give birth to a boy named John, who would go and proclaim and spread and prepare the way for a Messiah.

Whether Zechariah wanted to live in the truth of that or not.

I pray for you and I, during this Christmas season, and during every moment of our life,

that we'll cling to, find the joy not in the circumstance, but in the promise of God who's working.

So let's drop down, let's look at beginning in verse 57.

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth.

And she bore a son.

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her.

And they rejoiced with her.

Now remember, this is an improbability.

This is Abraham and Sarah.

This is, they've passed the childbearing years.

They see and they celebrate.

Verse 59.

And on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child.

And they would have called him Zechariah after his father.

But his mother answered, no, he shall be called John.

And they said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name.

And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted to be called.

So this is kind of like a little funny cultural thing that's going on here.

They're like, he hadn't talked in nine months.

I don't know what's going on.

Let's make sure that this is okay.

Verse 63.

And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, his name is John.

And they all wondered and immediately his mouth was open.

And his tongue lucid.

And he spoke, blessing God.

And fear came on all their neighbors.

And all of these things were talked about through all the hill country in Judea.

And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, what then will this child be?

For the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised

up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth

of his holy prophets of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of

all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.

The earth that he, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we, being

delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness

before him in all of our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the

Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness

of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from

on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet

into the way of peace.

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of

his public appearance to Israel.

I don't know if you've ever taken a break from talking, but we see an over nine-month period

where Zechariah did not, could not speak.

And something phenomenal happens when he does.

Why couldn't he speak?

Because the sin of disbelief.

The reminder for me of the truth of God's word in this is this, to let God use your sin

to grow your faith.

To let God use your sin to grow your faith.

Zechariah had nine months of silence to brood and to ponder and to pray, to meditate on the

truth of God's word.

His silence being the divine rebuke for his unbelief and the situation of where he found himself.

But God used this season of life to turn his rebukes into the reward of those who persevere

on in faith.

Remember that right now, the suffer from the scars of the past sins, of things that you've

taken and things that you've done, that God wants to work and move and empower you in that

in spite of where you were, to show himself, to reveal himself, to speak of his plan of salvation.

So that all will come to know.

I think sometimes we feel that God can't use me because my sin is too great.

And there's no greater attack on the gospel than that mindset.

The apostle Paul writes in Romans 520,

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the

more.

The grace is greater than the sin.

The grace wins time and time again.

And God uses that season to grow and to move for his name and for his glory.

Think about Zachariah.

Couldn't speak.

Couldn't share.

Left with his own thoughts of his disobedience.

Some think that he was even deaf during this time because it said that they had to write

down for him to understand what they were saying.

But in all of this, God was at work and God was moving.

One of the callings that God calls you and I to, a thing that I think you and I have a hard

time of processing, is to take the posture of Zachariah and be quiet and be silent.

And be still.

The psalmist writes in Psalm 4610, be still and know that I am God.

We want to talk, we want to justify, we want to explain, we want to do, we want to work

out, we want to fix, we want to do all of these things.

And God brought Zachariah in this so that God could work in Zachariah, so that God would

use him for his work amongst the people to be still, to be silent, and to know that he

is God.

And I can't help but imagine in those nine months, Zachariah wondered, is God really true?

And in that still and in that silence, what God was doing in the mind, but more importantly,

in the heart of Zachariah.

What we see in my prayer for you as you walk through a season of silence before the Lord

is that God will do what God did in Zachariah and grow your faith through obedience.

Zachariah came out not bitter with God, not angry with God, but obedient to God.

It was breaking tradition for the child to be named anything other than his dad's name.

It was so to the point that the people in the community questioned, is there something

happening that is not above board that we need to take care of?

But John said, Zachariah said, he will be named John because this is what God was doing.

That also would grow your faith through praise.

Nine months of silence.

And he begins with, blessed be the God of Israel.

The heart of a man that is experiencing the goodness of God.

And that through it all, not just that God would draw us to obedience,

but that God would draw us through everything to praise.

There's a lot that's going to happen this time of year.

Erin told me that on Monday, she's going to start decorating the house,

which means that on Monday, I get to do the most important of all Christmas traditions.

I get to start decorating the yard.

Need to formulate the game plan of what we have and what we need to do.

There's a lot of things for us to be reminded of, of this Christmas season.

We'll begin to do our shopping trips.

We'll begin to make out our Christmas cards.

We'll begin to plan and coordinate the parties that we're going to go to.

We'll begin to coordinate the parties that we're going to host.

We'll begin to think through menus.

We'll begin to think through outfits.

We'll begin to think through Christmas pictures.

We'll begin to think through budget times.

We'll begin to think through when do I need to go to Harbison and when at all means do I need to avoid going to Harbison, right?

We'll coordinate all of those.

We'll begin to pre-plan and find out the deals on Black Friday and to see if Amazon already sells it for that price right now.

Find all of the things.

But may we never forget the last thing that we see in this this morning is that Christmas is about the fulfillment of a promise.

That on that night, in that manger, born is Christ the Lord.

And Zechariah in these verses, Zechariah in these moments where he's going to proclaim the truth of what God is working at and doing in the life of Israel,

shares a prophecy.

And in this, he gives a title for the coming Messiah.

I'll be honest with you, a title that many of us do not think about.

And when we read over it, it's easy to skip over.

But he says this.

He says, the horn of salvation is coming.

There's a lot of names that we use around Christmas time to talk about Jesus.

But I don't know about you, but I've never seen on the packs of Christmas cards the horn of salvation.

But it's what we see from Zechariah.

So why does he use this?

The horn in Scripture is a common word that is used to describe different things.

But it always is what associated with it is power and strength.

And in fact, in Psalm 18, David writes,

Zechariah stands up before this group of people.

And who the silence has been deafening in his mouth, but not in his heart.

And he says, listen, listen, here's what's happening.

The words of Psalm 18, the horn of salvation that we will see and that we will know that in this,

that God is the defense, the shield, the protection for his people.

God is our defender.

But God isn't just on defense.

That God is on the offense as well.

The horn of their salvation.

See, the horn, when a soldier would go into battle,

oftentimes he would have the shield, but he would have the horn as well.

The horn could be used as a sword.

The horn could be used as a club.

And with the shield he could protect, but with the horn came salvation.

And may you and I never miss the truth that when Jesus comes,

people were hoping just to get them a national deliverer.

Some that saves them from the reality of what they live in and face every day.

But Jesus came to be a spiritual conqueror for all who put their faith and hope and trust in him.

The greatest, the greatest gift we could ever imagine.

I've shared this before.

I love Christmas season.

I love the food and the cookies and the snacks.

And you're like, yep, we can tell.

I enjoy getting together with family.

I enjoy going to parties.

I enjoy the lights.

I enjoy the decorations.

I enjoy the smell.

It's the only time that my house smells like fresh cut, you know, pines in the house, right?

I love every part of it.

But one of the things that I do enjoy, and I think sometimes we can beat ourselves up about this,

is I enjoy gifts.

I think that, being very honest, people say you either enjoy giving gifts or getting gifts.

Complete transparency.

I enjoy both.

I enjoy both.

I love seeing that someone gets a gift that I've given for them that I think they'll like.

And I like seeing that joy and the surprise on their face when they get that.

At the same time, I like getting gifts.

I like seeing that someone has thought this of me, has valued me this much, that thinks this,

that then gives me something because they think it'll bring joy or satisfaction into my life.

And I got a thing in this week.

What makes a gift good?

What makes a gift good?

And I came that there's different types of gifts, but a good gift will meet a need or satisfy a desire.

Right?

A good gift will meet a need that you have in your life, and so you need this gift.

Or it will satisfy a desire, meaning you really, really want this gift, right?

And so you get that.

Every year for Christmas, my aunt brings me a huge tin.

I told her, like, this is all I want.

Like, in the practical nature of all gifts, just give me these.

And it's a tin about this big, and it's nothing but baked sweets.

I don't need one of them, but it satisfies my desire, right?

My kids like to give gifts.

My kids give really, really good gifts.

About four years ago, Grayson had gone to Lowe's for some reason.

I don't even remember who he was with.

But it was about May.

And he came home, and he said, Dad, I bought your Christmas gift today.

And I said, really, son?

That's kind of early.

I haven't even shared with you what I would like to have for Christmas.

He's like, well, when I was at Lowe's and I saw it, I knew that you would want this for Christmas.

And so I bought it.

I said, well, son, what happens if I'm at Lowe's and I see not knowing that this is what you got me?

And then I buy me one.

And he gets this grin on his face.

And he said, they were half off, and I got the last one.

So Christmas morning comes.

And we begin.

The kids are opening gifts.

And then the last thing is Aaron and I get to open the gift that Emma has bought us and that Grayson has bought us.

I'll never forget.

I told Emma, I was like, listen, this is the classiest thing that I could ever, ever have.

And Emma got me some brand new camouflage Crocs.

And Aaron wouldn't let me wear them.

That day was a Sunday.

She wouldn't let me wear them to church, and I don't understand why.

I didn't bring those with me because I've worn those out.

But then I opened up Grayson's gift.

And I think Grayson's gift wasn't just a good gift.

I think it was a great gift.

Now, you're finding out something about me and my family is I love Star Wars.

And you're like, Bo, why would your son get you if you don't know who this is?

Number one, I'm sorry.

Number two, Joel Van Ham's going to have a class immediately after service to walk you through all the characters of Star Wars.

But this is the head of R2-D2.

But you see, this isn't just the head of R2-D2.

It is a toaster.

Now, shh, shh, shh, shh.

I want you to listen to something.

I've got to get my microphone close.

So you wake up in the morning.

You want some toast.

Go downstairs.

Get that bread.

Put it down in there.

And then you press this little lever.

And we're supposed to test this out this morning.

And I'm petrified that it's not going to work right now.

That's pretty cool.

And as I opened up this gift, I saw my son, like, puffing up a product.

Made Daddy happy.

I thought about this this week.

This is a great gift.

You know why it's a great gift?

Because it meets a need.

I need toast in the morning.

And it also satisfies the desire that 365 days a year, there is sitting out on our kitchen counter a remembrance of...

And that's how you know it's done.

It's a reminder that Starbucks is good.

Not Starbucks.

That is, too.

Star Wars.

Star Wars.

I'm in the Christmas blend.

It's all kind of stuff.

It's a great gift.

It's a great gift.

I told him.

I said, son, you set the bar high.

You set the bar high.

What in the world does this have to do with Zachariah?

You see, this is a great gift for me.

But I guarantee you, there are some of you that are like, that is the worst gift I could ever possibly imagine.

And Erin is way too good to him to allow that to be in her kitchen on full display for all to see.

Right?

This, you know, I don't, I don't need an R2-D2 toaster.

I don't want an R2-D2 toaster.

It does nothing for me.

And I could go around and I could ask you all of the different gifts that you've received in your life.

And what is a great gift that you've received?

And that gift is going to be, its greatness is going to be reflective in your personality, of your pursuits, of your wants, of your needs, of who you are.

And I guarantee you that our greatness of gifts of what you and I can come up with, our greatest of gifts that you and I can think of that we can obtain so that we can give to others.

Our greatest gift of what we think of that we can save our money and file it away because we can give it to the person that we know would love it with all that they have.

Our greatest gift that we could possibly think of pales in comparison to the greatest gift that's ever been given to humanity, that of Jesus Christ.

And during this season, we're going to go out and we're going to pursue and we're going to chase and we're going to create moments and we're going to make lists and we're going to buy presents and we're going to put them in boxes and we're going to wrap them in pretty paper and we're going to put bows on them and we're going to put gift bags and we're going to have tissue paper coming out and we're going to fill up our houses and we're going to stack things up and we're going to give them away to people and we're going to see the joy that comes in their face because of just a physical item that we've been given.

And my fear, my concern, because I know that it happens to me and if it happens to me, then it happens to you, that Jesus becomes an afterthought.

That really the culmination of where our mind and hearts go during the month of December is really the culmination of where our hearts go from January to November as well.

That Jesus is the cherry on top.

That Jesus is the added moment.

That Jesus is the peace that's here.

But Zechariah,

at least

nine months and eight days,

comes and says,

blessed is the God of Israel because he is going to give us the horn of salvation

who will come as Jesus.

You see,

Jesus

is the greatest gift

because every need that you have

can be met and satisfied

in his goodness.

Every satisfaction

of your heart

can be surrendered

to him

and complete joy

found

in him

and in him alone.

I'm going to unplug this

because I'm going to take it with me.

Not that I think

any of you

would steal it,

but I don't think

Berger wants this up here

for the last few worship songs.

One day

this gift

is going to stop working.

One day

it's going to break.

One day

the electrical system

is not going to be quite right.

One day

it will get a crack in it

and it will

become trash.

But not Jesus.

God's word tells us

that all of our gifts,

all of the things

that we fight for

to consume,

to have,

they'll all rust,

they'll all be burned up.

But Christ,

Christ reigns

for all of eternity.

Folks,

may Jesus

not be

the afterthought,

but may Jesus

be

the pursuit

not just

of this season

but of your life.

Would you pray?

God,

I thank you

from

the story

of Zachariah.

God,

that when he

in his moment

and his time

to speak

or that his heart

was one

that pointed

and settled

on you.

God,

I pray that we

would enjoy

this season.

Pray that we

would look forward

to making

wonderful memories

with friends

and family

or that we

would look forward

to times of

giving and

receiving gifts,

sitting down

at a table

over good food,

over laughter,

talking about

memories

and looking forward

to making new ones.

But God,

may we never,

whether it's

in the month

of December

or any other

time of our year,

any other stage

of season

of life,

not forget

that Jesus

is the reason.

Jesus

is the hope.

Jesus

is the salvation.

Jesus

is the greatest

gift.

God,

I pray today

that in this

gift of Christ

and the salvation

that he offers,

that everyone,

that all

would receive it,

putting their faith,

their hope,

their trust in him,

recognizing

that they

in and of themselves

are incapable

of saving themselves

and will live

in full surrender

to you.

And so Jesus

let me pray.

Amen.

That's it

for this week's message.

Be sure to check back

next week

for another episode.

In the meantime,

you can stay up to date

with everything

happening at Willow Ridge

by visiting us

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YouTube,

and online

at willowridgechurch.org.

Thanks again

for listening.

We'll see you next week.