The Gift of Place 🌟 Message 1

🌟 The Gift of Place 🌟 Message 1

The Christmas story is about real people: Mary and Joseph, Zachariah and Elizabeth.  But it’s also about real places: Bethlehem, Judea, a stable and a manger.  All those places and spaces and locations in the Christmas story, they all matter.  And they all say something about Jesus.  

Scriptures | Luke 1:5-25, 57-66

Luke 1:5-25 | John the Baptist’s birth foretold

During the rule of King Herod of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old. One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God because his priestly division was on duty. Following the customs of priestly service, he was chosen by lottery to go into the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense. All the people who gathered to worship were praying outside during this hour of incense offering. An angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and overcome with fear.

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son and you must name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many people will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the Lord’s eyes. He must not drink wine and liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. He will bring many Israelites back to the Lord their God. He will go forth before the Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? My wife and I are very old.”

The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s presence. I was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news to you. Know this: What I have spoken will come true at the proper time. But because you didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered why he was in the sanctuary for such a long time. When he came out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he gestured to them and couldn’t speak. When he completed the days of his priestly service, he returned home. Afterward, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. She kept to herself for five months, saying, “This is the Lord’s doing. He has shown his favor to me by removing my disgrace among other people.”

Luke 1:57-68 | Elizabeth's Miracle

When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a boy. Her neighbors and relatives celebrated with her because they had heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy. On the eighth day, it came time to circumcise the child. They wanted to name him Zechariah because that was his father’s name. But his mother replied, “No, his name will be John.”

They said to her, “None of your relatives have that name.” Then they began gesturing to his father to see what he wanted to call him.

After asking for a tablet, he surprised everyone by writing, “His name is John.” At that moment, Zechariah was able to speak again, and he began praising God.

All their neighbors were filled with awe, and everyone throughout the Judean highlands talked about what had happened. All who heard about this considered it carefully. They said, “What then will this child be?” Indeed, the Lord’s power was with him.

Zechariah’s prophecy

John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,

“Bless the Lord God of Israel
    because he has come to help and has delivered his people.

Luke 1:76-77 | A Prophet Most High

You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people how to be saved
    through the forgiveness of their sins.

Question 1 | You don’t have to have heard the sermon from Sunday, but if you were in church, watched online, or listened to the podcast, what stuck with you?

Question 2 | They say that “seeing is believing.”  But that wasn’t the case in this scripture.  The one person who did see the angel (Zachariah) did not believe (at least not at first).  And the many people (Elizabeth and the crowd outside) who did not see angel immediately believed.  How have you found this to be true in your life?  When do you need to believe true things you have not personally seen?

Question 3 | There is an important geographic note in this scripture: The hill country of Judea.  It might not sound like much to us, but it is a big deal because this exact location is the origin for much of the Old Testament.  So the New Testament begins in the exact “place” (the hill Country of Judea) where the Old Testament left off.

Takeaways |  Jeremy said his three takeaways of this were:

1️⃣ Don’t forget where you come from.

2️⃣ Don’t forget what God has done.

3️⃣ Don’t miss what God is doing.

Apply these three questions to yourself:  

❔ Spiritually speaking, what helps you remember where you have come from?

❔What helps you remember what God has done in your life?

❔What is God doing in your life right now?  And what can help you “not miss” what God is doing in your life now?