Webster Baptist Church
12/24/25 - Sunday Morning
Isaiah 7:14NIV2011
Isaiah 9:6NIV2011
Luke 2:7–11NIV2011
Luke 1:30–32NIV2011
- Hark The Herald Angels Sing / King Of Heaven
- Doxology (Amen)
Proverbs 21:25–26NIV2011
Malachi 4ESV
Luke 1:5–25ESV
Luke 1:5–6ESV
Luke 1:7ESV
Luke 1:8–9ESV
Luke 1:10–13ESV
Luke 1:14–16ESV
Luke 1:17ESV
Luke 1:18–20ESV
Luke 1:21–25ESV
Luke 1:26–27ESV
- Noel
- What A Beautiful Name
- Joy To The World (Antioch)
Matthew 14:15–16NIV2011
- Anticipating God’s ProvisionAdvent: anticipating God’s provision. Waiting.Some people are waiting on the economy to recoverSome people are waiting on reports from a doctorTeenagers are waiting for their independenceSome of us are waiting for God to give us childrenJohn Mayer is waiting on the world to changeWaiting.Zechariah and Elizabeth were waiting at several moments in this story.Waiting on a childWaiting for Zech’s chance to enter the holy place.Waiting for his voice.Waiting for their boy to be born.Waiting with their people for deliverance and the day of the Lord.Zechariah and Elizabeth’s story is symbolic of Israels story.Israel was waiting 400 years of silenceWhere is God? Has He forgotten?God has not forgotten youBut still. Waiting.In your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsIn your waiting…God Sees Your Efforts
Luke 1:5–6 ESV 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.God knew their name. Their lineage, his division, his steps, his religion,God saw them...They loved God and desired to please God.God saw them. God sees you...In your waiting…God Knows Your AfflictionsIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsLuke 1:7 ESV 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.Barrenness is a dreadful and painful experience. Questions questions. Why?In that time it was viewed as a punishment for God’s displeasure. But, just as the verses indicate before this, that cannot be the case.Imagine being a priest or a priest’s wife and not being able to conceive.What this narrative is showing us is that God is not ignorant of their affliction. Just as He is not ignorant of your affliction.In your waiting…God is Working for Your GoodIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsGod is Working for Your GoodLuke 1:8–9 ESV 8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.Considered a once in a lifetime opportunity.Just as it was not Zechariah’s choice to be childless… It was not his choice to enter the temple to burn incense..Please understand, that I am not saying that God desires your suffering or affliction… Just the opposite is true. Your Father loves you. Desires life and joy for you. He desire “be fruitful and multiply”. Sin and satan are the authors of sin and suffering. But it is God who works them for our Good and His glory.In your waiting…God Hears Your PrayersIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsGod is Working for Your GoodGod Hears Your PrayersLuke 1:10–13 ESV 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 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.The people prayed: PRAY FOR EACH OTHERZech Prayed:Luke 1:14–16 ESV 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 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. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,Luke 1:17 ESV 17 and he will go before him in the 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.”God Desires Your TrustIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsGod is Working for Your GoodGod Hears Your PrayersGod Desires Your TrustLuke 1:18–20 ESV 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.” 19 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. 20 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.”Zechariah’s response is way different than Mary’s in this way…The greek construction of the words is deeper than English captures.Zondervan Exegetical CommentaryLuke Explanation of the Text“Many versions translate both questions identically as “how?” This rendering obscures the distinction between the two questions. Unlike Mary, Zechariah will not trust the angel’s word until he receives a sign (see 11:16, 29). By contrast, Mary asks in what way her pregnancy will happen,
Let down after let downwill I be bitter and barren or full of faith and fruitful?will I trust or will I rust?God Keeps His WordIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsGod is Working for Your GoodGod Hears Your PrayersGod Desires Your TrustGod Keeps His WordLuke 1:21–25 ESV 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 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. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”???[It might appear that…God grafted Zechariah and Elizabeth’s affliction into His redemptive plan. This is true…But for the sake of you understanding the Love of God… Please hear me say it this way…God grafted his redemptive plan into Zechariah and Elizabeth’s affliction.]???God comes to us… God brings His redemptive power into our fractured lives...God works out our affliction for His redemptive plan...God works out His redemptive plan for our affliction...John is a provision for Zechariah and Elizabeth. The long wait has ended.This is what our God does…Zechariah and Elizabeth’s story is symbolic of the nation of Israel’s story… It is foreshadowing the ultimate provision God was soon to provide.Luke 1:26–27 ESV 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.God’s people were waiting on the Day of The Lord.The birth of Christ was just the pre show to the Day of The Lord.Every longing, ever heart ache, every groaning we experience here in the fallen world is merely a shadow cast from the enormity of what every soul truly longs for, every heart truly aches for, and all of creation eagerly groans and hopes for… THE DAY OF THE LORD.The day of the Lord is not only the revealing of our Lord, but our transformation into His image.The first coming points to the second coming. The second coming finalizes what the first coming inaugurated.THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND. REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS!The good news… is that God has not forgotten you in your waiting for this Great Day of the Lord.God has not forgotten youIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsGod is Working for Your GoodGod Hears Your PrayersGod Desires Your TrustGod Keeps His WordPray over Kevin StephensIn your waiting…God Sees Your EffortsGod Knows Your AfflictionsGod is Working for Your GoodGod Hears Your PrayersGod Desires Your TrustGod Keeps His Word
Webster Baptist Church
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