December 7, 2010

Luke’s Christmas Story
Luke 1:1-38

Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:5-13 (NIV)

”In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah . . . his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God . . . But they had no children . . .

“When Zechariah . . . was chosen by lot . . . to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense . . .an angel of the Lord appeared to him (and he) . . . was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.' " Luke 1:5-13

Pastor’s Thoughts

The Big Story of the world is this: God made the world good. God created human beings to be His managers of the this good world. Human beings “messed with God”. The world is now a mess (just read the news). But God loved the world too much to leave it that way. So he chose a certain group of people through whom he would bring healing to the world. These people were the Jews and you can read all about this in the Old Testament beginning in Genesis chapter 12.

Throughout that history there are hints, predictions and prophecies that one day a savior, a messiah would be born who would finally set the world to rights. Furthermore it was predicted that someone would come along, someone like Elijah, who would announce the Messiah’s coming.

In today’s passage we see God acting in history to prepare the way for the Messiah to arrive. It didn’t happen easily. Zechariah yearned for a son, he worked hard to be a good observant Jew, he struggled with disbelief, and Elizabeth had little hope of conceiving. But the angel said, “don’t be afraid”. “ What God is doing in the world cannot be thwarted. You are part of that plan. Trust Me”

What God is doing in the world cannot be thwarted. And you are part of his plan too. Don’t be afraid. Are you willing to trust Him?