Tremble Part 1 | Zip It Zechariah with Chris Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come to us.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

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Thank you and enjoy the message.

Well isn't it true that with the holiday season,

everybody seems to be looking for a miracle during Christmas.

There's just something special about this time of year that puts

a longing in our hearts for something new.

You know, New Year's on the dawn, we want to begin to make changes.

Let me think about the things we have to change in our life.

Everybody is looking for a miracle during the Christmas season.

For example, if you just do a simple Google search of Christmas miracle,

here are some of your results.

It's a faith-based movie, shocker.

It's a Hallmark movie.

It's a Thomas Kinkade collection.

It's a Reader's Digest article,

the seven true Christmas miracles that restore your hope for the holidays.

It's beyond an article, it's actually a book.

Ten Christmas stories that will comfort us from Guideposts International.

So people are always searching for something new, a miracle if you will.

We all are searching for it.

I mean think about it.

It's why we fill this season with warm and fuzzy memories, sentimental music.

We deck the halls, we string lights, we bake cookies that we only eat once a year.

Hmm.

We do this, I believe, to help mask some of the misery

and to escape the brokenness within our world.

However, we know that whatever miracle we are seeking,

eventually comes January 14th and the post-Christmas letdown kicks in

and everything that we had forgotten about for a month,

that dark cloud that hovers over us, quickly comes back within our minds.

And we experience disappointment.

To be disappointed is to have basically your predictions about the future proven wrong.

That is the definition of disappointment.

You had this idea of the future, what it was going to be like,

how it's going to turn out, and unfortunately you're about as accurate as the weather app.

Which never is.

Don't waste your time even opening it because today was supposed to be sunny and nice

and I was going to put my decorations up, but of course it's rainy, cold, and miserable.

Disappointment though, if we're honest with ourselves, it can be a small thing.

Like you were going to buy a new home and you were expecting to buy it

and you were excited about this purchase and at the last second someone snuck in,

gave a better offer, and you lost out.

Maybe this year we're expecting a marriage proposal

that you thought was coming from your significant other.

You thought this was the one, only now you're discovering

that your endless orbit of dating has no end in sight.

It's disappointing.

Maybe it's a friendship you've lost.

Maybe you've been expecting a phone call or a text message from a loved one

because you've been hurting and you didn't receive it.

Maybe just this past year you've realized unfulfilled dreams,

you have financial worries, you have secret health anxieties.

Whatever it is, quite often what happens in December is we forget about those things

and then when 2024 comes around, it just becomes another year of disappointment.

And see, if you're in a relationship with God,

that disappointment can leak into our relationship with Him.

Life is hard.

I mean, if we're honest, it's not a Hallmark Christmas movie.

And deep inside we begin to believe that God is just like the people that let us down.

Maybe He's not going to do what He says He's going to do.

We find ourselves beginning to question His promises, His provision, His presence.

We're just not sure we can trust Him anymore because we don't want to be let down.

Even those of us, you know, I teach weekly about hope, about meaning.

And here it is the Christmas season and I'm talking about the real miracle of God

coming to earth in flesh as a baby.

We can quickly be distracted with the pains of our world and the wars and the suffering.

See, theologian Flemmling Rudledge reminds us that the hope of Christmas is not acute expression.

It's actually grounded in reality of a fallen world when he says this.

The great theme of Advent is hope, but it is not tolerable to speak of hope

unless we are willing to look squarely at the overwhelming presence of evil in our world.

See, friends, this morning we're kicking off our Christmas series called Tremble.

And we're going to be looking at the different people that had encounters with God

through angelic visitations and their responses to these visits.

Just being honest, we're going to dive deep into the details of what Christmas is.

Because if we're honest, all of us know or have heard the details of Christmas.

You know, there's a baby, there's a manger, there's wise men and shepherds and donkeys.

And apparently somewhere along the line came a drummer boy and now a hippopotamus is involved.

So for the next four weeks, we're going to dive deep and we're going to critically examine the story of Christmas

because the story of Christmas is critical to our faith.

And this morning we're going to begin where the Christmas narrative starts.

And we're starting in a place that many people don't even realize is a part of the Christmas story.

See, in the Gospel of Luke, we start not with the birth of Jesus, but with the birth of someone else.

The birth of John the Baptist.

Luke, as he's writing this Gospel, literally interweaves these two stories

because they help us to understand one another.

If we're going to understand the birth of Jesus, we have to understand the birth of John the Baptist.

Luke is one of four Gospels, of course, that start the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

And just because it's chronologically the third book of Gospels does not mean that it was actually the third book written.

It's just how the book was brought together.

See, all four Gospels begin with the start of Jesus's life.

They all four reference this brand new season, this brand new age, this end breaking of the Kingdom.

And everything prior to the Gospels is the Old Testament.

And to just simply oversimplify the story of the Old Testament, for those of you who may not know,

God, He created a world where everything was perfect, and mankind, you and I,

we decided to sin and rebel against God, allowing a brokenness, an imperfection to come upon the earth.

And for the rest of the pages of the Old Testament, God keeps telling His people,

I'm going to make it right.

I'm going to send a Messiah.

I'm going to make it right.

The Messiah is coming over and over and over again.

God keeps saying, I'm coming.

I'm coming.

I'm coming.

And then it stops.

And there's silence.

And last Christmas Eve, for those of you who are here, I actually taught on this page right here in the Bible that many people know nothing about.

A white blank page between the Old and the New Testament.

And that white blank page that seems like nothing is 400 years of silence.

400 years of nothing.

Four centuries of silence.

See, the Book of Malachi ends with this promise of a future hope, and then that's the last words that you would hear from God.

No prophets were sent to bring messages of judgment or prosperity.

No angels, no kings, no deliverers.

Israel was literally shaken by the revolution and war during those years.

Most of God's people were scattered all throughout the conquering nations.

A few had come back when Nehemiah rebuilt the city, but then the Syrians quickly came and ravaged the land again.

A revolution by the Maccabees brought temporary hope only to be crushed by Roman oppression so that the people were in bondage again.

And it had come to the point that every day that the people walked to the temple.

And remember, this temple is built by Herod, an illegitimate king of Israel.

They literally would see a Roman flag waving in the wind behind them to remind them that they were captives.

Yet in the midst of the darkness, in the midst of where it all seemed lost, nobody could be trusted, God was silent.

There's still his hope because God suddenly breaks his silence.

And when God breaks his silence, he speaks to a man named Zechariah, which leads us to our first thought this morning.

You see, God makes promises to his people.

God makes promises to his people.

You may not know about Zechariah, but just a quick recap of his life.

Zechariah was an old man at this point.

He was also a priest, and he spent his entire life doing his priestly duties.

And when we pick up this story, this is where we find Zechariah.

He's doing his duties.

He is standing beside an altar burning incense.

And whenever the priest would burn incense, the people, the people of God would gather in the outer courts of the temple and begin to pray to God.

Because symbolically, as the incense would burn, the smoke would rise to heaven.

And when the people saw the smoke from the incense rising to heaven, it increased their faith, realizing that their prayers are going up to God as well.

Now, we also have to realize that when it came to Zechariah, there were 24 divisions of families of priests, and each had 300 priests.

So every division of priests would have two weeks out of the year where they would serve in the temple.

Except during the major festivals, but during the major festivals, every priest was working.

This particular day that Luke is describing was a special day for Zechariah.

Because see, this man was chosen to go in the holy place, the holy of holies that no one else could enter and burn incense at the altar.

To decide who would get this honor, priests would cast lots.

And if chosen, this would be a once in a lifetime event, the highest honor in a temple priest's life.

And Zechariah would be the one to offer incense before God at the temple on behalf of all the people.

I mean, you have to realize this man had waited his whole life for this event.

So amongst the worshippers out in the outer courts, you have to realize there were friends and family who would come from far away to watch him celebrate this special moment.

Because see, after this, Zechariah would be looked upon like others chosen for this duty, a spiritual leader among the people.

It would literally become the first or second line in every conversation about him for the rest of his life.

Zechariah, the one who once served incense at the altar.

So picture that, a life changing moment that will never happen again.

And we read this in Luke 1, 10 to 17.

While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside praying.

While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing to the right in the incense altar.

Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him, but the angel said, don't be afraid, Zechariah.

God has heard your prayer.

Your wife Elizabeth will give you a son and you are to name him John.

Now, I just want to pause there a second.

Many people just assume that the answered prayer was that Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son.

But many scholars doing the research have come to realize that the angel was actually speaking to two prayers.

Because you remember, Zechariah is standing on the altar before God praying on behalf of the people.

And those prayers were for a Messiah.

That God would send a Messiah to save the people.

So when the angel says, I've answered your prayer, not only is he going to get a son, but the Messiah is coming.

You have great joy and gladness.

And many will rejoice at his birth, referring to his son, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.

He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks.

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth.

And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.

He will be a man with the spirit and the power of Elijah.

He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.

He will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.

So Zechariah is simply doing what he had been doing all day, every day for years upon years upon years.

He's going through the same routines that he's been going through for years upon years upon years.

His name is called, he's before the Holy of Holies.

He's burning incense.

Though this time it's extra special because he's not just burning incense for himself.

He's burning it for the entire people who are waiting on the Messiah.

They're waiting on God to speak.

Remember 400 years.

Zechariah is still waiting for a son or daughter to be born.

And in the middle of that stillness, God speaks.

He sends an angel with a message that says, you and your wife, even in your old age, are going to have a son.

There's going to be something special about this guy.

I mean, notice what he says.

He's going to be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he's conceived.

And then the last words that are spoken by the angel are fascinating.

Absolutely incredible.

Remember, God had not spoken for how long?

Over 400 years.

The last words that people heard from God were recorded in the Book of Malachi.

And they're written in the Old Testament, of course, Malachi chapter four, verses five through six.

And listen, if you can hear a connection between the old and the new.

Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah for the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.

His preaching will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

Otherwise, it will come and strike the lamb with the curse.

The last thing that God says in the Old Testament is the first thing he says in the new.

He's saying, Zechariah, all the things I have promised,

all the things you've been waiting for is about to come true today.

So get ready.

God's kingdom is coming.

See, God makes promises to his people.

And if you've been a part of our community of faith, you've probably heard me say that it's encouragement.

You know, in terms of, look, there's all these promises that God makes for us.

It sounds great.

But if we're honest, it's a little more complicated than what it sounds. Think about it.

How would you be feeling if you were Zechariah and you're like, well, Chris, what do you mean?

First, when you get past the initial shock that he's standing in front of an angel, right?

He's trembling. He's full of fear.

He spent his whole life waiting, waiting for Messiah, waiting for God to speak, waiting for his own child.

Then God appears and you know what he says to Zechariah?

Wait some more.

Hey, Zechariah, you got to wait some more.

And you're like, well, but the angel didn't say that.

But listen to what the angel says.

God has heard your prayer.

Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son.

He will bring you great joy and gladness.

Many will rejoice.

He will be great in the eyes of the Lord.

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit before his birth.

Zechariah has been waiting, waiting and waiting for years.

The people have been waiting for over 400 years and God says, wait some more.

It's not very helpful to us, right?

I don't know. But if someone says to you, hey, I can come help you fix your deck next week,

you're like, oh, OK, when?

Well, we'll see when it fits into my schedule.

Sure you will.

If you're anything like me, patience runs thin.

We're Americans.

We can have food delivered to our house in 35 minutes right after we order it on our

phone without communicating to people.

We don't have much patience.

Yet so often in the Bible, we discover God does not change things right now or right

away.

If you read the Bible, you'll notice this word will often.

What he will do.

And this just said in the Old Testament.

It's all throughout the New Testament.

Look at Philippians 419.

The same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs.

John 414, but those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.

John 14, two through three.

There's more than enough room in my father's home.

If this were not so, what I've told you, I'm going to prepare a place for you.

When everything is ready, I will come and get you.

HCV, I'm just encouraging you that God's promises involve waiting.

And unfortunately for many followers of Jesus, when they don't receive what they are asking

for right now, they begin to question if God is good.

Why is so much of scripture filled with God talking about what he will do, what will happen?

Well that's our next thought.

See God's promises, they require faith.

God's promises require faith.

Notice again what he says to Zechariah about his son John the Baptist.

He will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.

He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah.

He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.

And he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.

See the essence of faith is believing God for a reality that we cannot possibly see

in a broken world or in a broken situation that doesn't seem to be changing.

Hebrews 11.1, faith shows the reality of what we hope for.

It is the evidence of things we cannot see.

See we worship a God who makes promises to us because his promises require a faithful

response.

But this is the challenge of faith.

It's hard to trust God with things happening later when it doesn't feel like he's acting

right now.

Why should I trust you God with my future when I don't really like what's going on

in my present?

And all of us feel that way.

But oftentimes during the Christmas season those thoughts and those feelings they get

exaggerated.

The Christmas season could quickly bring up reminders that hey our life isn't perfect.

Our life is far from a Hallmark movie.

Our life is not how we envisioned it to be.

Because quite often during the holidays we can feel like God has forgotten us.

Well everyone else has the perfect family to celebrate the holidays with but I'm single

and alone.

My parents are divorced.

My parents are barely married.

There's a reminder that you've lost a loved one and you won't see them again here on this

earth.

You want to be married and every Christmas card you get is like another reminder that

you're single.

You want children and every Christmas card you receive is another reminder that you're

childless.

Christmas can bring about painful reminders that our life is not where we want it to be.

God I'm tired of waiting.

When are you going to do something?

Friends we have to realize that this is just simply a part of faith.

Waiting is part of being in a relationship with Jesus.

And all throughout scripture we find people questioning whether God will act on what he

promises which leads us to our next thought or third thought.

It's people question God in times of uncertainty.

Now remember Zechariah.

He's been waiting.

He's been waiting.

He's chosen to burn the incense for the people.

He's in the holy of holies and an angel is standing there.

He falls to his face in fear.

He's gripped with fear.

And then we read this in Luke 1 18.

You can almost see Zechariah standing back up.

How can I be sure this will happen?

I'm an old man now and my wife is also well along in years.

And it's like when I read those words how can I be sure this will happen?

It's almost like Zechariah just sounds tired.

Doesn't he sound tired?

He spent his whole life waiting for the Messiah but he's still under Roman oppression.

He and his wife spent their whole lives praying and expecting and wanting children yet they

remain childless.

And when I read this it sounds like he simply lost his energy to wait on God.

He lost energy to trust him and he begins to what?

Question.

In times of uncertainty we begin to question God.

Zechariah was used to being let down.

And just being honest some of you gathered here this morning are used to being let down.

You walk through these doors wanting more wanting a touch from God because you've been

let down this week.

Maybe your spouse let you down.

Maybe it was your boss or your co-worker or your children.

Maybe it was friends or family members or maybe you're just at a place where you're

just tired and burn out on religion.

Maybe just the nastiness of the world that we're living in has just wore you down.

Because I want to encourage you that throughout the Bible where God makes a promise to his

people immediately the people begin to question.

They begin to wonder is this true?

It happened with Abraham, Moses, Gideon.

You see it here with Zechariah.

God makes this promise and God's people begin to question that promise.

And hear me out.

God isn't surprised with our doubt or our questioning.

Please don't try to hide it because he knows our hearts anyway.

Like we have these doubts and these questions that we try to hide and pretend they're not

there.

No they're real.

And you have to remember who Zechariah was.

He was an old man and he's been following God for his entire life.

He wasn't just a man that followed God.

He was a priest which meant his entire life has been teaching the story of God to other

people for years and years and years.

He has taken the Old Testament stories and taught them to the people of God.

So when the angel of God appears and gives him this message that even in your old age

you will have a child it's very confusing that Zechariah would respond well how can

I be sure of this?

Because think about it.

Let's make Zechariah fast forward that Zechariah is alive today.

Think about it.

He was raised in church.

He attended Sunday school.

He was a part of groups through his teen years and his college days.

Zechariah knew the promises of God.

So much so that back then being a priest he memorized the promises of God.

He had to have them memorized in order to be a priest.

So his response is confusing because one of the most important people in the Old Testament

is this man named Abraham.

And Abraham is known as the father of the Jewish people.

And listen to what God said to Abraham in Genesis 17.

Then God said to Abraham, regarding Sarai your wife, her name will no longer be Sarai.

From now on her name will be Sarah.

And I will bless her and give you a son from her.

Yes, I will bless her richly and she will become the mother of many nations.

Kings of nations will be among her descendants and Abraham bowed down to the ground.

But he laughed to himself in disbelief.

How could he become a father at the age of 100?

He thought.

And how can Sarah have a baby when she is 90 years old?

See, Zechariah knew that story.

He taught that story.

He had the story memorized.

He said he believed in the story.

Yet when an angel of God comes and delivers a message personally to him that he's going

to have a son in his old age, what's Zechariah do?

How's that going to happen?

Sounds like you and me, doesn't it?

He knew that God did it before and if he did it before he could do it again.

If he believed that God gave Abraham in his old age a son, surely he could do the same

with him.

But here's the problem that Zechariah is struggling with and I believe that many of us struggle

with.

Zechariah is struggling to trust God with his future because he has forgotten what God

has done in the past and he's so wrapped up in the present.

Can I say that again?

Zechariah is struggling to trust God with his future because he's forgotten what God

has done in the past and he's so consumed with his circumstances in the present.

See whenever there's uncertainty in our life we begin to question the promises of God because

we feel like our life is out of control.

And when we can't control our life we don't like it.

We don't like how God is handling our present situation and it throws our entire relationship

with God into turmoil and doubt.

Then we find ourselves binge watching harm walk Christmas movies trying to stir up and

muster up Christmas spirit so we can make it through the holiday season.

It doesn't work.

Listen to what Zechariah says to the angel.

How can I be sure of this?

I'm an old man now and my wife is also well along in years.

How can I trust?

So do what you say you're going to do.

What I'm currently living with doesn't line up with what you're promising.

He's questioning.

He's questioning God and the format goes like this.

How God?

Because I am blank.

How God?

How is this going to happen?

I am old.

And for some of you, for all of us, you can fill that blank with anything.

Anything that is going on in our current circumstances are reasons for us to question God about the

future.

God, how?

How are you going to restore my marriage?

I'm not even happy at it.

God, how are you going to make me a person that loves others?

I'm too anxious.

God, how can I give to make a difference in someone's life?

I'm not wealthy.

I'm not good enough.

I don't have a job.

I didn't go to school.

I'm a failure.

I made too many mistakes.

How God?

How is this going to happen?

I am.

Fill in the blank.

We question God when uncertainty arises in our daily life, which leads us to our next

stop.

This is encouragement to all of you.

God keeps His promises.

Zechariah says, how?

And notice the response, Luke 1, 19 to 20.

I love this.

And you can almost see it.

It's like, then the angel said, and it's almost like he just stands up, sticks out his chest

and his wings flare out.

I am Gabriel.

Like, can you see that?

I mean, just gets up in his chest.

I stand in the very presence of God.

It was He who sent me to bring you this good news.

And he's referencing, pointing Zechariah.

Look, it's all God.

He says, but now since you didn't believe what I said, you will be silent and unable

to speak until the child is born, for my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper

time.

So Zechariah, he questions the angel, and the angel gets right back on him.

I'm standing in the presence of God.

Second ago, you were trembling.

Now you're questioning.

You say you believe in God.

You have taught others your entire life to trust and follow God.

I have come from Him with the message of hope, of life.

Now you question.

See, listen, God loves to hear our doubts.

God loves to field our questions.

He loves to hear our anguished cries for help.

But God can't stand unbelief.

In fact, unbelief is a sin.

And Zechariah now is punished.

He is mute for the duration of the pregnancy, so that he can watch what happens and experience

what it means to sit in silence.

Zechariah questioned God.

How God?

Because I am.

Right?

He's making excuses.

Well, I am.

Well, there's another story in the Bible where once again, God's messenger appears out of

nowhere with a promise from God.

And once again, God's people, what do they do?

They question.

Look at Exodus 3.

But Moses protested to God, who am I to appear before Pharaoh?

Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?

God answered, I'll be with you.

And this is your sign.

I'm the one who sent you.

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.

But Moses protested.

Notice Moses.

I am.

I can't talk good enough.

I'm nobody.

I'm worthless.

I am.

I am.

Moses protested.

If I go to the people of Israel and tell them that God, your answers have sent me to you,

they will ask me, what is his name?

Then what should I tell them?

God replied to Moses.

Notice God's response.

I am who I am.

Say this to the people of Israel.

I am has sent me to you.

God says, tell them I am sent me.

Moses questioned God with an I am statement.

I'm not good enough.

What's God respond with?

I am good enough.

See, the answer to Moses' questions, the answer to Zechariah's questions, the answer to our

questions is the exact same as our question to God.

You just have to move the question mark.

You have to get rid of it.

When we say, hey, God, how can this be because I am, he responds, because I am.

Yeah, you can't do it on your own.

You need me.

God is saying, I am the one who parted the seas.

I am the one who said I would have a promised land for you and I did.

I am the one who said I would slay a giant and I slayed a giant.

I am the one who said I am coming again and now I am coming again.

I will defeat the enemy.

I will destroy death.

I will give you an eternal paradise in heaven because I am the God who says what I'm going

to do and I will do it.

And friends, this is why we have to start here.

This is why we have to start in Luke's gospel.

Just the birth of John the Baptist paralleling it with the birth of Jesus.

The point of both of these births is God saying, I am going to do what I promised.

John the Baptist's birth fulfills a prophecy.

Remember, Malachi chapter four, God said he was going to what?

Send Elijah, someone that would go ahead of Jesus, John the Baptist fulfilled that prophecy.

But Jesus' birth in life, listen to this, fulfills more than 300 prophecies in the Old

Testament.

While Jesus lived his time here on earth, more than 300 prophecies were fulfilled.

And these prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, he couldn't do on his own.

These aren't things that he just made up or were outside of his control.

Just think about when he was born.

He was born a virgin, he was born in Bethlehem, and he was born in the line of King David.

Those three truths fulfilled three prophecies from hundreds of years before they happened.

The point, Christmas is communicating to us that the God of hope can be trusted.

See, friends, we have a lot more in common with Zechariah than we think.

We all have a little Zechariah in us.

Zechariah was waiting on God, and the people of God had been waiting for over 400 years

in complete silence.

Remember that blank page?

Now Zechariah finds himself mute, unable to talk, just like God was not talking as if

God was wanting Zechariah to experience and live in his complaining.

And then when the time came for his baby to be born, and it was time to name him, notice

what we read in Luke 1.

When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony.

They wanted to name him Zechariah after his father, but Elissa said, no, his name is John.

What?

They exclaimed, there is no one in all your family by this name.

So they used gestures, they asked the baby's father what he wanted to name him, emotion

for a writing tablet, and to everyone's surprise he wrote, his name is John.

And then notice this part, instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.

All fell upon the whole neighborhood in the news of what had happened spread throughout

the Judean hills.

How did Zechariah respond?

He responded with praise, and praise spread throughout the land.

How will you respond this morning?

See, we are in the same position as Zechariah.

Daily we live in the tension of the already and the not yet.

Daily we face the struggle, the temptation, the heartache.

We question God, why is this addiction still here?

Why can't I overcome this sin?

Why am I arguing and fighting with my spouse?

We're asking God to get involved.

He promises He will.

And how do I know that?

Because God promised Jesus, and Jesus came, He was born, He lived, He died, He was resurrected,

He ascended to the heaven, and He promises He will return.

We are still waiting for that promise.

And that promise is what we read in Revelation 19.

Then I heard again what sounded like a shout of a vast crowd, or a roar of a mighty ocean

waves, or the crash of a loud thunder.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns, let us be glad and rejoice,

let us give honor to Him.

For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself.

She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.

For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people, and the angel said to

me, write this, blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

And He added, these are true words that come from God.

And you say, Chris, why is that there?

Because Jesus is coming back.

And when He comes back, He's throwing a party.

He's having a wedding feast.

And the question is not whether Jesus will be at the party.

The question is, will His bride?

Will the church be ready, or will we slowly allow ourselves to conform to the patterns

of this world?

Will we forget to wait on God?

Will we fail to trust Him?

Will we begin to believe that He's not reliable?

The message of Christmas is not about manufacturing sentimental feelings of good joy.

It's about believing the reality that God has birthed something new in Jesus.

And because of this, God will birth something new in you and me.

And He will continue to do it day after day after day after day.

And that newness is breaking out this morning in the hearts of God people amidst the broken

world.

And we're diving into this series because I believe God wants us to fall in love with

Him again this Christmas.

I believe that God wants us to draw close to Him.

That we're tired of the sentimental time of the year where there's tree lighting and all

good stuff.

You know, I'm not going to complain about it.

I'm not going to say it's bad things.

All good things.

But what's the most important thing is are we praising Him?

Because when Zechariah was freed from being mute, what was the first thing that he did?

He praised God.

He thanked Him.

Which leads to our action steps.

The first is this.

We need to daily offer praise.

Luke 1, 68-70.

The cool thing about Zechariah is not only did he praise God, but they recorded a song

and he prophesied about what his son would do.

Praise the Lord the God of Israel because he was visited and redeemed his people.

He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David just as he promised

through his holy prophets long ago.

Zechariah praises God for the hope, the salvation that Jesus would bring.

And my question to you is do you daily thank God for what He has given you if you're in

a relationship with Him?

And you say, well, Chris, what did He give me?

John 3, 16-17.

For this is how God loved the world.

He gave us one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have

eternal life.

God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.

That alone, those two verses alone, are enough for us to offer praise back to God.

Do we daily take time in our busy schedules, in our craziness of the holiday season, to

reflect on the wonderful gift that God gave us this holiday season?

Jesus is the one who came in flesh.

He is the one who is the way, the truth, and the life.

He is the living and promised Messiah that offers grace and a relationship with our Creator

every single day.

Will you offer Him praise?

Which leads us to our next step.

We've got to be grateful.

Being grateful is a Thanksgiving reminder that it's already passed.

So many people rush through Thanksgiving to get to Christmas when in reality we are called

as godly people to be grateful every single day.

Luke 1, 71-75.

Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.

He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering His sacred covenant, the covenant He swore

with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.

And we have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear in holiness

and righteousness for as long as we live.

Zechariah reflects on the way that salvation has changed him and his people.

What is the gospel?

The gospel is good news that transforms lives today and every single day.

It never leaves someone unchanged.

We look back on the things we've done wrong, the mistakes we've made, the failures, our

own unbelief.

But because of God's mercy we are forgiven.

Zechariah reflects on God's salvation and how it enables him to be God to others every single

day.

And how do we do that?

You say, Chris, how can I show God to others?

Romans 8-11.

The spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies

by the same spirit living in you.

The Holy Spirit enables us to live for God every single day with boldness, with openness,

with love, with mercy, which leads us to our final step.

You praise God, you be grateful, you daily ask God to be used.

And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High because you will

prepare the way of the Lord.

You will tell his people how to found salvation through forgiveness for their sins because

of God's tender mercy.

The morning light from heaven is about to break upon us and give light to those who

sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death into God as to the path of peace.

God enjoys using His people in His plan.

He loves to use the weak, the forgotten, to make a difference and to bring hope to those

who think they have it all together.

God loves to involve us in His plan.

And we are called to remind people, especially during the holiday season, of this good news.

We are called during this holiday season to our lives to reflect God's love and His mercy

to other people.

And friends, that's the good news.

The good news is Matthew 28.

Jesus came and told His disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on

earth.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptized in the name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.

And let these new disciples obey all the commands I have given you.

And be sure of this.

Church, be reminded of this.

Jesus is with you always, even to the end of the age.

Isn't it amazing that for many people, the Christmas story is one that hasn't even been

written yet?

They don't even realize there was a Zechariah.

They don't even realize there was a John the Baptist.

They don't even realize there's hope, there's meaning, there's purpose for their very own

lives.

And yet we've been given the ability to daily go out and share this good news with other

people to see their lives transformed, to see them set free.

But so often we get bombarded with the craziness of the holiday season, our jobs, our schedules,

our children, everything that's happening that we forget the main purpose and then we

lose the meaning of the season.

This season is about God's promises being fulfilled in our lives.

And those promises happen when we go back to God and we allow Him to speak to our life.

Will you stand with me?

Now listen, I want you to stay focused with me a second.

Okay?

I want you to stay focused with me a second.

I know that as we close, everybody's preparing to leave, packing up, listening.

I need you to come back to me a second.

I've been, I downloaded a book that's been helping me with this series and I just want

to read a quote from the book because I believe it really reflects where we are as the American

church.

One of my least favorite phrases I hear pastors and worship leaders say, forgive me because

I've said this.

God showed up today.

It strikes me as odd as if God is a lazy teenager whom we are trying to rouse to get in the

church.

My response in my mind of course is always, God didn't show up, He's always here.

The real question is, will you show up?

And see, I believe that was the word for all of us this morning.

Will you show up?

And how I felt like we were going to close is this, we're going to close by worshiping

because that's what Zechariah did.

And if we're going to follow the biblical example, we're going to follow what Zechariah

did and we're going to allow ourselves to unibidly worship God.

And I want to challenge some of you.

You've never even sung a song.

Just being honest, you've never had a word come out of your mouth and we have the words

on the screen.

You can't sing, well God, I'm my good voice isn't good enough.

I'm embarrassed.

I'm an introvert.

There's too many people here.

It's a big church.

I am.

God is challenging you.

Listen, God is challenging you to get over yourself and praise Him this morning because

I believe He's going to unlock chains that are on your hands and your wrists and you're

going to walk in a freedom like you've never walked in before.

But it's your choice.

It's your choice.

So before we sing, first, if you have arthritis issues, if you have arthritis, I'm sorry,

we want to pray for you.

There was a word that God wanted to heal arthritis.

Our prayer team would be over here on the right to pray for you.

So if you feel like you want to call, pray for arthritis, get over there.

Or you need prayer for arthritis, get over there.

Second, the best gift that you could give back to God is yourself.

Make a choice.

I'm going to pray a simple prayer.

I'm going to invite the entire church to pray it with me.

And some of you will pray it for the first time or recommit to it for the first time

in a long time.

And if that's you, give me a big hug on your way out or text me.

Okay?

Let's pray together.

Jesus, I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.

Change me.

I believe you're God's son.

I believe you died for me.

Set me free.

Fill me with your spirit.

Allow me to share the good news with others.

In Jesus' name, amen.

This is going to be an incredible series for the entire month of December.

It's going to come late, Christmas Eve gatherings, Christmas gatherings are going to change lives.

Are you willing to praise God and to put Him first?

I want to invite you now to sing and to worship and to allow your change to be broken.