Zechariah's Song - Pastor Harlow 12/8/24

[Music] h [Music] than [Music] EX [Music] for [Music] l [Music] l [Music] h [Music] for [Music] in [Music] h [Music] h [Music] h [Music] for in [Music] for [Music] for [Music] for [Music] for [Music] have you ever wondered what exactly a missionary does maybe you're picturing someone in remote places like Jungles or Villages it's true some IMB missionaries serve in remote locations but you can find spiritual lostness anywhere because lostness is found everywhere I am missionaries serve everywhere in modern cities classrooms hospitals gyms cafes and virtual

Reality everywhere people gather is an opportunity to share the good news of God's love in Africa doctors cure physical ailments and disease but also share Jesus with all they serve even in bustling locations like Japan teaching English can lead to Gospel conversations in Europe there are missionary coaches who lead a team yet also lead through evangelism and discipleship beyond the cities to the most remote places missionary explorers are trained to search for and find the lost who have never heard the Gospel there's not just one type of missionary nor or is the Gospel confined to one location each missionary brings their unique passions experiences and skills to the mission field to reach the unreached in creative ways God has uniquely created you with your own passions experiences and skills how will you use them Faithfully you can be a missionary and reach the lost with the Gospel that's what a missionary does [Music] good morning so good to see you all this morning on this beautiful December morning I trust that as you've come into this room this morning or even to community group this morning that you've come looking forward to what God is going to do in our midst couple announcements this morning that I wanted to highlight next Sunday December 15th we're going to be taking the lah Moon Christmas offering we've set a goal $7,500 and I'm confident that we're going to exceed that so I would invite you to come expecting and having prayerfully considered what God might have you give to participate in that amazing opportunity the other announcement that I wanted to highlight is angel tree Ministry has started please

Select an angel purchase a gift and return the wrapped gift by the date have them returned by December 14th so please take advantage of that opportunity we've been highlighting the last few weeks just outside this on the other side that wall there to your right is a Family Resource Center and there are resources there that is provided for your use with the idea behind it is it's to help you in your walk with the Lord so please take advantage of that sign out what you take and then be sure to bring it back so if you're a first-time guest with us or a regular attender or member please take advantage of this Resource as well that's in front of you that's our way of hearing from you share you to share prayer request with us and if you're a first-time visitor of course for us to connect with you we would look forward to that opportunity so now as we prepare for worship I invite you to close your eyes as we prepare our hearts we are in the midst of a busy season as we lead as we move toward Christmas and this morning as we gather together I invite you just to ask the Lord to quiet your heart and your minds to put those things your to-do lists the things that are on your schedule between now and Christmas just to ask the Lord to mute those things and to just quiet your heart as we prepare for worship father I thank you and praise you that we are together this morning here in this facility to worship you as brothers and sisters in Christ I thank you and praise you that Lord we get to do this freely that we have your word in our language that it's not just something we do and check off a list but that Lord

It's a relationship that we have with you and with one another and I pray that father we would just be open and receptive to everything that you desire to accomplish in us through the music through the word through whatever it might be that you choose that Lord we would leave today incouraged and equipped and prepared for the week ahead I pray for Cody Lord as he opens your word to us that Lord we would just soak it in that we would that you would just strengthen him and Lord just use him mightily to encourage our hearts we thank you for bringing the harlo family back to us safely refreshed and Lord we just look forward to hearing what you have accomplished in their lives while on vacation we pray Lord for our brother Steve Warren this morning we pray that Lord as he just enters this seized difficult season of cancer treatment that Lord you would just continue to be his strength Lord help him to face this face these appointments with courage and that for him and Cindy Lord as they continue to look to you through this season that Lord they would just know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are loved and that Lord their Church stands with them as they walk this journey we pray for all the other needs we pray for our sister nandas Lord that you just continue to strengthen her body help her to recover and for the care that is being provided for her Lord for any others that we've not mentioned Lord you are well aware of those needs and we ask that your will would be done in each of those situations we ask these things now in your name amen let's all stand and let's worship together in the name of [Music] Lord blessed be your name in the that isams of

Abund bless be your Blessed Be Your Name when in the desert place I walk through the Wilderness blessed be your name every you pour out to when thees still will bless be the of the Lord Blessed Be Your blessed be the name of the Lord blessed the [Applause] GL bless be your name when the sun shining out on me when the world as it should be blessed be your name Blessed Be Your Name on the withing in the offering bless your every blessing turn to when the darknesses still I will bless be the of the Lord bless be your blessed be the of the Lord blessed be your glor name you give you give take my heart will choose to say the bless be you give you give my heart will choose [Music] to blessed be the Blessed Be Your blessed be the name of Blessed Be Your glor blessed be the name of Lord blessed be your name blessed be the name of bless glor we're going to take a moment now and observe our Advent lighting and so if you would have a seat as the battle AOS come forward hi so last week we looked at the hope we have in Christ this week we light the second candle which represents love and the love of God is most fully demonstrated in the giving of his son

For the Salvation of Sinners so I'm going to read John 3:16 21 for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God and this is the Judgment the light has come into the world and the people love the darkness rather than the light because their Works were evil for everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his Works should be exposed but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his Works have been carried out in God and I'm going to read 1 John 47-12 beloved let us love one another for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God anyone who does not does not love does not know God because God is love in this the love of God was made manifest Among Us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him in this is love not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins beloved if God so loved us we also ought to love one another no one has ever seen God if we love one another God abides in us and his love is perfected in us let's pray dear Lord God of love we stand in awe of your mercy and Grace you have loved us not because of anything we have done but because you are love in sending your son you have shown us the greatest act of Love redeeming us from sin and bringing us into your family Empower us to love one another as you have loved us bearing witness to the transforming power of your Gospel May the world see in us the reflection of Your Love rooted

In Christ alone [Music] amen has the oceans in his who hased every great Kings and Nations tremble at his voice all creation Chistes to Behold our God see SE on his throne come let us adore him behold nothing can compare come let us adore [Applause] who [Applause] has and question of his words who can teach the one who knows all things who can all his mer Behold our God Seated on his thr come let us adore him [Music] [Applause] behold nothing can compare [Music] has the nails upon his be all the ofle he turn up humble to the gra Jesus Savior RIS now to behold Seated on his thr come let us behold how nothing can compare come us a oh you willever you will you will R you will for

You will forever you will R behold Seated on his thr come let us dark [Applause] let comp come let us adore behold God Seated on his thr come let us adore him behold [Music] K nothing can compare come let us adore good morning church boy that's some good singing let's continue our time of worship as we move into a time of offering and just realizing that God doesn't need our money but he needs us and he uses us for his ministry on this Earth Father in heaven we thank you Lord for this opportunity that you've given us to be a part of the ministry through giving Lord everything we have comes from you nothing that I have can I say I did it on my own so father we thank you Lord for the finances you've given us the talent and Lord now is the time that we can give a portion of that for the ministry of the church God I pray that you would use these funds not to make us look big but for the Gospel to go forth in Jesus name amen our catechism question this morning asks are there more Gods than one we find the answer to that question many places in Scripture but perhaps our primary reference is Deuteronomy 6:4 which says here o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord is one and in Jeremiah 10:10 we read but the Lord is the true God he is the Living God and the Everlasting King at his wrath the earth quakes and the Nations cannot endure his indignation First Corinth Ians

886 says yet for us there is one God the father from whom are all things and for whom we exist in one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we exist in 1 Timothy 2:5 for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and Men the man Jesus Christ let's stand and continue singing about our Lord and his [Music] Advent Jesus want to set the people will free from our and S releas us let us our rest in the is [Applause] and the all the Earth now heart to desire of Jo every longing world for th people to live for and a Lord to great in us forever the gracious kingom free all eternal spirit R in all our hearts the Lord I aome be raise us to the [Applause] [Music] Glorious oh are you one faithful we can save know you are not [Music] alone oh come there and waiting words we [Music] of come see what your done [Applause] Christ is Bor Christ is

Born Christ is you oh come and [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] tast Oh Come guil and [Applause] F there is no need to run see what your God has done Christ is [Music] born Christ is for you he's the Lord who was saor of part his prise is peace for those who we he's the L who was given for our Parton his prise is PE for those who [Music] believe so come though you have nothing come is the offering come see what your God has done Christ isor Christ is Bor Christ is born for you Christ is Bor born Christ [Music] is for [Music] you Jesus we come to you with all of our faults all of our sin we are truly unfaithful to celebrate that love father we praise you for this perfect plan in the way that we see you working it out in our lives I pray Lord that you'd be with

Cody now as he brings your word give us hearts that are eager to hear and understand we pray in Jesus name amen may be seated if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Luke 1 ver 67 is where we're going to be thank you for Mo many of you that gave calls texts just checking in letting us know that you were praying for us and glad we're not dead but then again if I was dead I'd be with the Lord so short end of that stick I guess first thought was am I dead and then I heard children screaming and I said nope not dead and then I said I don't feel anything wait a second I don't feel anything and but I was for the most part we came through all right so pray for us we're going through it and anyways it was a very timely sermon last week from Craig thank you for that I needed that where where'd he go I'm looking over there near Cheryl so I guess he's counting or something something like that oh he's back there somewhere okay oh there you are hey good job last week PJ thank you brother for preaching the week before that's that's why we have Elders that's why we have men in our midst that can preach the word that's why even if I am here we allow for other men to preach because leadership begins in the church right it's not falling on special pastors or what have you okay it's not like there's a Heavenly Halo that ascends over my head while I'm in this Pulpit or anything like that but rather the spirit empowers those that are within this congregation I'm very thankful that we have several wonderful and Godly men that can fill that this Pulpit and so there we go praise the Lord this year our Christmas series a few years ago I guess

It was back in 2019 or so we did a series called car and we kind of looked at you know Christmas songs and but you know really the passages that those are based around this year we're looking at something a little bit different still with the idea of songs because musicals are hot right now right wicked wicked is very popular but you know there's a lot of a lot of songs surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ we got you know zachariah's song that's what we're going to be looking at today we're going to be looking at Mary's Magnificat we're going to see U other songs that are sung in the Scriptures and we're going to be analyzing them and applying them to our lives but before we dive into zachariah's song let's take a step back and reflect on what does it feel like for us to wait on God you ever been in that waiting season for a while maybe U maybe you had to wait days or weeks waiting is hard right if you've ever gone through a long engagement you know waiting can be hard for the people of Israel waiting wasn't just for days or weeks or months or even years we can measure it by centuries 400 years of waiting on the Lord and we're going to explore how Zechariah's song Bridges this long silence because the very last book of the Bible of the Old Testament excuse me is the Book of Malachi which was written around 430 BC it was a very dark time for the people of God what happened was that the first generation of Exiles they had returned to Northern Israel after their Babylonian captivity and God was reaffirming his love for them through the prophet Malachi and here's what God's word says it says I have love loved you says the Lord but you say how have you loved us I don't think that's the right passage up there I got it buddy

You see the Exiles in the state of their Nation had left them bitter had left them jaded had left them guarded even against the love of the Lord you ever felt that way towards God maybe you went through a tough season or someone reminds you while you're walking through that tough season of Romans 8:28 we know that all things work to the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes and so you know maybe you go I don't want to hear that right now I just want to grieve I just want to hurt maybe they remind you of the grace and the goodness of God and instead of speaking truth to your soul and reminding your soul of the truth you push back and you become hostile remember that you're not alone in that situation you're wrong for sure right but you're not alone the whole book of Malachi is about God's love for his people and the coming deliverer in the very last paragraph of the very last book of the Bible the very last Revelation from God is found in Malachi 4: 5-6 it says behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children the hearts of children to their fathers lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction and so for 400 long years the nation of Israel looked with eager anticipation to the Forerunner of Christ and these centuries of Silence weren't a sign of God's absence but rather preparation for his greatest work of ushering in the Messiah and that's where Zechariah's Story begins after that long period of Silence from the Lord there no new prophets no new words from God and the story of God's plan picks up in Luke 1 veres 5- 2 which you can study later but I'm going to summarize it

Here that while Zachariah he was a righteous priest and his wife Elizabeth who is a righteous woman were childless and they were very old and while Zachariah he was serving in the temple he got his once in a-lifetime opportunity to burn incense before the Lord and an angel his name is Gabriel appeared and announced that Elizabeth was going to Bear a son and his name was going to be John and he was going to be the one to prepare the way for the Lord and Zachariah doubts because because of his old age and Gabriel he declares that Zachariah will be mute until the prophecy is fulfilled as a sign I think that's important for us to stop and really think about that truth that Zachariah he really missed a big chance to take a step of faith and what do we do when we mess up because we're going to mess up we're going to mess up a lot in this in this life we can either run that's not really a good idea ask Jonah we can we can hide that doesn't really work out ask Adam and Eve we can try to cover it up that doesn't go well ask David we can get angry and frustrated react in sin that doesn't go well just ask Moses we can lack belief in the word of God that doesn't go well ask Zachariah or we can accept the truth of the Lord walk by faith and what happens is Zechariah he is struck mute he deals with the consequences of his faithfulness but God even in the midst of that is still faithful in his promises and Elizabeth does conceive conceive and in gratitude she Praises God for removing her disgrace from among the people and although Zachariah stumbled in faith God's fa faithfulness remains steady toward towards him and when his voice returned it wasn't filled with complaints wasn't filled with excuses it

Was filled with spirit filled praise so let's take a look at a song let's all stand together as we read Luke 1: 67 through 80 God's word says this and his father Zachariah 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 from of old that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show the mercy to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His Holy Covenant the oath that he swore to our father AB abrah 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 all 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 in 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 became strong in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel Lord we do thank you so much for this time that we have to just sit under your word we pray that you would open up our minds and our hearts to be receptive to what your word has to say to us today Lord we thank you for this Advent season where it reminds us that you have come to us once and that you will return one day Lord thank you for that hope that we have it is a Blessed assurance that you Reign right now and that you are coming to Reign and we just look forward to that time we pray for your peace to be on us we ask that

You would guide us that you would lead us Lord You Are The Shepherd of our souls and we just ask that you would just help us to drink deeply from your word this morning help us to taste and see that your word is good and we just ask that you would watch over us in Jesus name amen well before we start with Zechariah I think that's important to remind ourselves of some of the promises that God gives to us you see way back in the 18th century BC there was once a man named Tara is the father of Abraham and he lived in this land called IR this is the area right here This is and Heron right there Tara he decided that he was going to set out and they wound up sitting there in Heron for a while until Tara died I don't know how long that is the Bible doesn't talk about that but what is important is that Abram's father left her to go to Canaan and of course terara died it is after this that God then called Abram to leave that land to travel to the land of Canaan it wasn't for many years even after going to the promised land that Abram is considered to be righteous in Genesis chapter 15 God he made a with Abram and he walks walks him outside and he gives him this promise this is called the abrahamic Covenant and behold the word of the Lord came to him this man shall not be your Heir your very own son shall be your Heir and he brought him outside and said look toward heaven and Number the Stars if you were able to number them then he said to him so shall your Offspring be and he believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness the God of Scripture is a God that is faithful to keep his Covenant promises it is this Old Testament passage that Paul had in mind while

Teaching that we are justified by faith alone this is before the Covenant of circumcision this is before anything else God makes the promise and Abraham believes and it is counted to him then as righteousness because we are justified by faith alone in all of God's covenants I don't know if you know this but all of God's covenants are covenants of Grace the emic Covenant wasn't deserved in Genesis chapter 3:15 God didn't have to promise to send one that would crush the Serpent's head but he did God didn't have to set his bow in the sky after he had destroyed the world with a flood but he did he didn't have to give Grace to Abram God didn't see Abram's righteousness and said hey I see how good you are I'm going to call you as a result of your goodness no he called him by his grace and then blessed him God didn't have to give his holy law on that mountain he didn't see the good and awesome people of Israel and how obedient they are and how wonderful and righteous he gave his law on the mountain he didn't have to promise to David that through him there would be a king an everlasting King that would be set up he didn't have to promise a new and better Covenant but he did and he did all those things because our God is a God of magnificent Grace toward us and he loves loves us and as we look at this passage I think that you should notice God's covenant faithfulness firstly the Holy Spirit came upon Zachariah this is this is so unique and so special because it was the prophets and the judges and the kings that maybe had experienced that in that being filled with the Holy Spirit and for us as Christians we believe that we are filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment of salvation and it's accompanied by repentance and a declaration of faith in zachariah's Prophecy it begins with this blessing towards the Lord Zachariah recognizes the work of God in the birth of his son and he sees that God has visited Israel he has redeemed his people and he is in the process of redeeming his people by sending the Forerunner of Christ this prophecy if we were to look at it is called the Benedictus okay and the imagery in the style is clearly a song of blessing and of Prophecy Zachariah he had messed up and in a lot of ways this is a song of Second Chances and how many chances does God give to us I mean we second third fourth seven times 70 times the 10,000 times God he has abundant grace and mercy and this song and the songs that we're looking at are part of the inspired word of God in this in Zechariah's song highlights God's covenant faithfulness being displayed in his work of redemption through Jesus Christ that phrase when we look at this passage it says blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited you know what that word visit means in the Greek it literally means to look after doesn't mean that he's just coming to just check in on us our God is not a God that just checks in he's not apathetic towards us he didn't just s set the universe in motion and just allow it to just go God is involved in all of the details in the Old Testament a visit from the Lord was almost always in reference to a blessing from God whether it was the B Babylonian exile and being redeemed from that or the started the Exodus events that started with a visit from the Lord we know that the Holy Spirit is even with us right now and yet we do look forward to dwelling with the Lord when our faith becomes sight don't we it's like what the Scriptures say in

Revelation and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying Behold The Dwelling Place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death will be no more shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away and what a day that will be Zachariah thanks the Lord for the visit and the Redemption that will occur look at he talks about it in a past tense for he has visited and redeemed his people and we know this because he has raised up a horn of salvation for us now Zechariah he's not talking about his son here okay John is not the Horn of Salvation okay you could say that maybe he was a beckoning way for that but it says for us in the house of his servant David which John definitely wasn't okay Zachariah he's not from the House of David he's a levite David he was from the tribe of Judah now the horn is a very important piece of military equipment they were used by Israel to signify God's Victory okay in Jericho right it was it was those that were blown around that caused the wall to fall the horn was also used to communicate over battlefields you see this probably most famously in The Lord of the Rings where Boromir you guys know I got a work in a Lord of the Rings reference in there somewhere okay it's blowing the horn of Gondor yeah there you go but you know what that is that a call okay and just like that Jesus Christ is the Horn of salvation for us Christ is the reminder that God he fulfills his promises and his covenants the ones that he promised to Abraham to Moses to Adam to David to Israel this Redemption is not just simply being saved from political enemies but from

The greatest enemies of sin and death and hell and he calls out to you to believe on the name of the Lord of the Lord Jesus Christ to know him to trust in him all the days of your life that if you would just turn to him that if you would just trust in him you can be saved Charles Spurgeon he said that Christ is a strong Savior a Savior of infinite power Mighty to redeem Mighty to deliver he breaks the bonds of sin shatters the Dominion of death and makes his people free indeed he is no feeble Savior but a horn of salvation and this shows us the wonderful truth that God he never changes and is always faithful and he's full of grace see there's no difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament he is unchanging and God he has a purpose he has a plan and it's found in Jesus Christ God has in Jesus saved us from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us that's what he says here that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us in Psalm 106 it's a great Psalm that recollects all of the Exodus events at least a lot of the highlights there and here is what the psalmist writes he rebuked the Red Sea and it became dry and he led them through the deep as through a desert so he saved them from the hand of the Foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy and the waters covered their adversaries not one of them was left and it is because of Christ that we don't have to be afraid of those that are against us if God is for yeah no enemies can stand not for long there is no person no circumstance no power of hell that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus you are secure in Christ and he will

Never abandon you the Puritan Thomas Boston he said that the Horn of Salvation is raised up for us in Christ Jesus and all who come under the shadow of his wings are safe in him is power to Pardon purify and Preserve to the end those who put their trust in him and you might feel alone at times unloved you might feel forgotten that's how the Israelites felt after the Exile right but we do not base truth on our feelings in fact they're relatively unimportant when determining what is true and what is not what is the truth that you need to remind yourself of today it's that Jesus was sent by God to deliver his people from their enemies and because of that deliverance we can now serve the Lord with gladness and not fear it's what the word says that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies look at verse 74 might serve him without fear I mean when you get saved there is an entire change in your person an entire difference in your identity you get adopted by the blood of Christ and your whole status changes from an enemy of God to a child of God that we belong to God and as a result of that change he transforms us more and more into the image of his son day by day and the beauty is that because of that salvation and because of that deliverance we can now serve the Lord with gladness instead of fear I mentioned this before but Zachariah he had the once in a-lifetime honor of burning incense before the Lord can you imagine that's a once in a-lifetime event better not mess that up and there were so many different laws of how to burn the incense even with just simple offerings you know in order to give like offerings and bread in some cases you'd had to

Drizzle and then in other cases you had to smear honey onto that bread and I don't know what the difference is I don't get it I'm not a levite I'm not a priest in that way but now we are free to boldly approach the throne of grace because of the Redemption that we have in Jesus Christ there's no more anxieties unless we put them upon ourselves there's no more fear or trepidation unless we're we're we're blowing it out of proportion you know God is the kind of God that receives us with gladness yeah he chastises us from time to time because of disobedience and yet the Lord is always gracious with us as well giving us far more abundantly with what we deserve God's Plan of Redemption included a forerunner someone to prepare the way and his name was John and John's entire purpose was to prepare the way of the Lord to give knowledge of Salvation to his people John he is that prophet of the most high in Isaiah 40 it says that he is a voice cries in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God his mission was to turn the hearts of the people toward God John he preached this I baptize you with water for repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to carry he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit in fire his winno Fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the bar barn but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire John's message sounds pretty Stern doesn't it's definitely not what we would call very tolerant and yet John he came to look at verse 77 to give knowledge of Salvation to his people in the Forgiveness of their sins the truth is that before people can receive the good news of God's grace people must be

Convinced that there is a lostness they must be concerned for the state of their souls they must understand that judgment is on them they don't need to be eased into that they need to understand the severity of their sins which the greatest man of all time According To Jesus made sure happen this is why John preached the way they did this is why preachers preach about hell and sin and judgment sin we should call it sin and be Unapologetic about it and graceful yes but even so-called little sins we have to be dealt with Even in our own lives because A little leaven leavens the whole lump yet John he also preached this Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world this is he of whom I said after me comes a man who rank before me because he was before me I myself did not know him but for this purpose I came baptizing with water that he might be revealed to Israel Jesus Christ he came to bring forgiveness of sin and this forgiveness is rooted in God's mercy and the atoning work of Jesus John he came to prepare the way because of the tender mercy of God in Christ look at what it says in verses 78 and 79 because of the tender mercy of 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 he is the dawn of redemption according to that passage the Scripture says that the sunrise shall visit us Zechariah's song isn't talking about the son he is talking about Jesus Christ the light of the world because Jesus said I am the light of the world whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life when Christ came into the world we see him clearly as the light that is shining towards men and the Darkness didn't overcome the light at all when the Gospel of Christ Goes Forth

You know what happens is that there's a dispelling of Darkness you know that's why we have it's why we call this the season of Lights it's why we put Christmas lights up it's why we light candles it's why we do that it's not out of tradition it's not because they look pretty it's because they point us to the truth of who Christ is the light of the world and the Darkness doesn't overcome it dispels the darkness from the room when the Gospel of Christ goes forth sometimes it can be scary sometimes it can be contentious violent Bible doesn't say that the demons simply fled they convulsed they fought back they tried to destroy on their way out even Christ himself the light of the world was killed crucified dead buried and he rose again but as the Gospel Goes Forth that goes out in power and in Victory like the march of a mighty Legion of soldiers it goes out not armed with guns or violence or threats or intimidation or anything like that but with love with Grace with meekness just like what Paul says for though we walk ACC In the Flesh we are not Waging War according to the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to dest destroy strongholds we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ being ready to punish every Disobedience when your obedience is complete the Gospel that we have is powerful enough to take every thought every argument every opinion every philosophy completely captive and bring it into submission to the glory of Jesus Christ and we do this by shining the light of God and at the same time showing love Grace and exposing sin and motives most of you know this I grew up in Virginia I spent you know

First like six years of my life in the Richmond area and then I moved out to the mountains of Virginia and there's a county out there called Rockbridge Virginia it's actually one of the darkest counties on the east of the Mississippi okay and it's done that way because the University of Virginia they have an observatory that's up there and they have to keep all of the light pollution at an absolute minimum so they even send out reminders to homes hey you know you need to make sure that all your outside lights are off by 900 PM you know because they don't want any light pollution to get into the atmosphere it's so dark this is what the naked eye would see can we take down like the lights in here just for a second that way they can see this that's just that's what the sky looks like to the naked eye okay it's absolutely stunning it's beautiful I mean that's that's just a little little patch of it you can bring the lights back up now ah just kidding the only indicator okay well the sky is so dark and the sky has so many stars it doesn't give any kind of light to the world though and there's mountains on either side the Blue Ridge Mountains I mean they're they're huge and yet you can't see these mountains because it's just so incredibly dark the only way that you can you can tell that there's mountains there is that well there's no stars there that's the only way that you can tell there's a there's a mountain there now I remember as an 18-year-old standing there and looking at these things and going you know if I can miss mountains because of Darkness what else can we miss when there's not light in our

Lives you know Jesus he didn't just burst onto the scene he came like a long Sunrise from Genesis 3 until zachariah's prophecy the world was becoming more and more illuminated by the coming of Jesus Christ and that's John's whole job is to get people ready to get them ready which led to him being despised and of course John he was beheaded we know that but it is through the faithful living and preaching of the Gospel that the Lost will submit to the Savior when that time comes true and Lasting peace is finally found for every single person that trusts in Christ he brings peace to those that are in darkness by sending the sunrise of his son into their hearts where they can know God and they can serve him with gladness that happens just we don't know how it happens we just know that the Holy Spirit's involved and he does the work we're just called to be faithful on our end amen you see as Christians one of the things that we do is we're called to Bear the Light of Christ to the world and we can help people see Christ a little bit more clearly by doing good works for them to see Christ but also by sharing the Gospel see John he went into the Wilderness to preach he didn't go into a temple or a city or anything like that he didn't even set up shop in a village he went out into the Wilderness into the Jordan to preach and he preached Christ that is the child that would grow and he became strong in spirit he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance and so what do we do with all this well firstly we must trust in the tender mercy of God that is revealed to us in Jesus his first visit was full of Glory his second coming will be even better okay and that's a fact and the best part is that's

Going to last forever never what a day of rejoicing that will be secondly you know what one of the things we should take away from this is that we ought to be walking with the Lord and bearing his light just as Zachariah song celebrates God's faithfulness to redeem his people we too can Rejoice that God's promises never fail that he is the same God who brought forth John as the Forerunner and Jesus as the Redeemer and that he is with us today working through his Spirit to bring the light of his glory into the world so may we live as people of light pointing others to the mercy that is found in Jesus Christ head heart hand head God he wants you to recognize his faithfulness to his Covenant promises in send in Christ he has proven his faithfulness and he continues to do so he is so good and you can trust him completely not in an experimental try out Jesus for a little while but those that come to God in Humble repentance will never be disappointed heart God he wants you to rejoice in the salvation and tender mercy of God which brings peace to our hearts that salvation that is in Christ it brings peace in the midst of chaos it brings light to the darkness and we can trust him and so Christian rejoice in that in hand God he wants you to live as Servants of the Lord walking in Holiness and sharing the Light of Christ with others you see you have been redeemed not to be a consumer of Grace but a reflection of Grace one of the ways that you can do that by doing what Zechariah did Worship the Lord let's respond in prayer and worship as we sing about the great Fai faithfulness of God let's bow our heads and close our eyes father we do thank you so much for this day that you've given to us we thank you for the truth contained in this passage that you are a God who is so faithful and so good Lord you keep your

Promises to the thousandth generation God we just thank you so much just for saving us and if there's anyone here that doesn't know you I pray that today would be that day that they say you know what I need Jesus and I had talk to someone about it I just pray that would be that's what H would happen Lord before they leave here today God we just declare that we love you we need you we want you God you are so good continue to show your faithfulness to us Lord that we might worship you in Jesus name amen let's all stand and let's worship together great is faithfulness for God my father th Shing [Music] change the will be hardon for and love peace by all presence to cheer and to th St for to and hope for Tom blessings are [Applause] 10,000 Great Is Thy Faithfulness great is th faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have th hand great is faithfulness Lord me greatest Thy Faithfulness by morning new meres I see all I have IID great is fa for church I love you so much glad

That you guys are here don't forget next week we have our special offering for the lmon Christmas offering that go in peace [Music]