Now to Luke's Gospel, chapter one. We'll be reading verses five through 25 of Luke, chapter one. We completed our study in Luke's Gospel last week, and now we return back to the beginning for this Advent series, as we look specifically at chapter one, verses five through 25. Here now, once again, God's holy word. 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. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now, while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 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. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 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. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 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. And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. 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 this good news. 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. And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 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. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Would you join me now as we go before the Lord in prayer? Oh Lord our God, as we come to study this great text, the announcement of the forerunner of the Messiah, we bow before you in humble adoration, seeking to understand these words, seeking to understand the power of your word as you speak to us so that we might be people who are strengthened in our faith through your word and by your spirit. We pray these things now in Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. Well, today marks the first Sunday of the Advent season, and this is, of course, the beginning of the church calendar historically. Because the church is Christ's church and because Jesus is the head of the church and the center of the church's life, then the church calendar is centered upon the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Advent, at the beginning of the church calendar, is the time where we remember the incarnation of the Son of God. This is where we remember the beginning of the life of the Messiah, who is the promised one of Israel. From the pronouncement of the curse on Adam and Eve after the fall in the Garden of Eden, God also promised to them that a Redeemer would come, a second Adam, who would perfectly succeed in every way where Adam failed. He would rescue from sin all who believe in him and call upon his name. This promise grew and it developed. It was intensified and it was clarified as the years moved forward. God chose a people for his own possession, the holy nation of Israel, a kingdom of priests to represent him on earth. It was through this nation that the Savior would come. The people of Israel knew the promises of God. They were eagerly waiting the fulfillment of God's word. They were longing for Messiah to come just as God said he would. Advent is about remembering that God's word is sure and that he has fulfilled his great promise. The Redeemer of the world came. The Messiah was born in lowly conditions and in unexpected ways. And we'll be reminded of this soon as we are now returning to the beginning of Luke's gospel and as we see this unfold in these first two chapters. But Advent isn't only about remembering the longing and eager expectation of a people whose hopes were fulfilled in the past. It isn't only about waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise as a past reality that has been brought to completion and perfection. Advent is also about a future hope that is yet to be realized. Now we can identify with the people of Israel in this way because we too are waiting. We too are longing for God's promises to be fulfilled. Our waiting is not simply a remembering. It's a remembering with assured hope because we can be assured that the same God who fulfilled his word in Christ's first coming is the very same God who will surely fulfill his word in Christ's second coming. Jesus will come again, as we say, in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. In fact, he is making us, we who thus believe and hope and trust in this Jesus of Nazareth and his saving work through his perfect life, death, and resurrection, he is making us who believe in him a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, and we shall reign with him." And this is the full picture then of what it means to celebrate the advent of our King. Now, when we go back to the beginning of Luke's gospel, he doesn't begin his story of the good news of God's redemption by immediately telling of the Messiah's incarnation, although that's what we would expect. Rather, he begins by showing the deep and inseparable connection between God's promises in the Old Covenant and how they find their complete and perfect fulfillment in the New Covenant. But he begins with a story that actually reveals doubt. This is the story of the pronouncement of John the Baptist's birth given to his priestly father. We have much to learn from this story about the nature and object of our faith and about God's amazing grace, even in our doubt. And this story at the beginning of Luke's gospel and the announcement of the forerunner's birth, I want to highlight three points from this narrative. We first find the focal point of this story on two privileged servants who are second given a profound announcement and that leads ultimately third to their strengthened faith. So first, we learn about the privileged servants at the center of this story. Now this story is the first that Luke presents in his gospel after his magisterial prologue that we talk about so often, in which he lays out his purpose for writing. What does Luke want to do? He wants to give certainty about the things that his primary audience, that is, an important man who's named Theophilus, who we don't know who that is, he wants to give certainty to him about the things that he has been taught. Now, this work, of course, is meant for more than just simply a man named Theophilus in the first century. This work is really intended for every person in the world who will ever live after it's written to read it and digest it. Its purpose is to give assurance, to do everything possible in order to eliminate doubt. And through these efforts, it provides a rock-solid foundation and hope and a man who is the redeemer of the world, Jesus of Nazareth. One of Luke's primary themes in giving this certainty is to show the way that the kingdom of God and the redemption of the world comes through what we might call unexpected means. The economy of God's kingdom is upside down. He doesn't do things in the ways that we would expect. We have the privilege now of returning to the beginning of Luke's gospel for this short Advent series after having spent several years looking at the entirety of this gospel. We have seen clearly how this theme of God's upside down kingdom is everywhere all throughout Luke's writing. And in fact, if you were here in our study on Wednesday night through Luke's second volume, the book of Acts, you see this very same theme continued there. So Luke begins with the very first story by doing just that, by telling an unexpected story and contrasting the wisdom of this world with God's perfect wisdom. Yet, even in the midst of the unexpected ways that are antithetical to the world's ways, God makes his ways known without any confusion. Okay, that's what you need to see here. The historical setting is very clear. Herod is king of Judea during this time. This identifies the time period, but it also identifies the political conditions. Herod was powerful. He was notorious. He was a strong military leader, a brilliant politician, and even a cruel tyrant. who rose to power by gaining Roman favor and ruthlessly suppressing his opponents. This is the ruler who we read about in Matthew's gospel, who would order the massacre of all boys under two years old in Bethlehem after hearing of Jesus's birth. Despite his cruelty, Herod was known for his large building projects, especially the magnificent reconstruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He earned the title Herod the Great because of his reputation as a builder, and he was also responsible for constructing Caesarea, which became the Roman headquarters in Palestine. So Herod was great by the world's standards. Though he was called King of the Jews, he was actually an evil tyrant and the Jews rejected this title for him. So even in Luke's subtle opening words about the time period, we are called immediately to see a contrast. What is that contrast? Well, by the world standards, Herod was privileged. But the true privilege is bestowed upon the more important characters who are at the center of the story, and that is the privileged characters or the privileged servants of Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth. Zechariah was a priest. As we read, he served in the division of Abijah. The Jewish priestly class was at that time divided into 24 divisions, and each division would then serve in the temple duties for two weeks out of every year, plus during the national festivals, like Passover, for example. And Zechariah was married to Elizabeth, who herself was also from the priestly class. She was a daughter of Aaron. Now Luke tells us that they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. Now, the sense here is, of course, not perfection, as will obviously become very evident in the story, but rather the sense is that these two were chosen servants of the Lord. They had been justified by grace alone, through faith alone, as they trusted in God's promises to bring about a Messiah who would redeem the world and fulfill the covenant system of sacrifices. In other words, through Christ alone. They knew that there would be a greater priest and a perfect, actually a perfect priest who was coming. And their privileged righteous standing before God was also manifested then in their holy character. That's what the text is telling us. They were not perfect, but the Spirit of God was working in them to sanctify them and make them more and more conformed to the image of their God. They were, in other words, faithful servants who feared God. Now this, dear brothers and sisters, is the true privilege, is the definition of true privilege in the world. that are opposed to the world, rather. What do we view as privilege? What do we think about when we think about that word, someone being privileged? From the world's standards, do we think it's about being born in a certain family, in a certain culture, or with a certain amount of financial means and stability? Well, again, Luke's gospel is confronting this false understanding of privilege from the very outset. Privilege and power are not connected to birthright, but rather connected to being chosen for service by God for his glory. And this was true, of course, as we're seeing here about Zachariah and Elizabeth. Yet, despite their privilege standing before God, they were disgraced in the eyes of their neighbors. Luke says that they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. To be barren and without child in ancient Israel was actually a far greater reproach than it is today in any culture that we know about. Many of the Jews falsely believed that barrenness was a curse in every circumstance. For a woman to be barren, it was a curse. It was because of her direct sin that she was barren. Yet, how often did God use the barrenness of women in the Old Testament for his glory and even as a sign of his redemptive work? Think about Rachel and think about Hannah. Think about Abraham and Sarah. In fact, the description that we read here about Zechariah and Elizabeth actually reminds us almost immediately of Abraham and Sarah, which should, in fact, alert us that something big is going to happen in God's redemptive plan. So despite their childlessness and their advanced age, Zechariah and Elizabeth faithfully served the Lord. They trusted in his provision and his sovereign plan. Then in verse eight, we get to the pinnacle point of Zechariah's priestly service. Zechariah was chosen by Lot, which was the custom of the day, to enter the temple to burn incense. Now this was a highly privileged service and opportunity. Because there were so many priests in each division, and because each division, as I said, only served two weeks per year, it was then very rare for one of those priests to be chosen to offer incense in the temple. Though this role wasn't as privileged as that of the high priest, it was still a very great honor. More than that, once a priest was chosen for this duty, he could then never be chosen again to perform the same duty. This was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity. This was the pinnacle of Zachariah's priestly career. What joy must have accompanied that day as he was preparing to go in for this selected service. The offering of incense was the closest that a regular priest could get to the presence of God in the temple. He would go in right outside the Holy of Holies. The incense were the visible and tangible sign of the prayers of God's people ascending to the throne of God. So Zechariah was acting as a representative for the whole nation of Israel, bringing their petitions before their God. So we read then that the whole multitude of the people were praying outside the temple at this hour of incense. Now this is the occasion where God presents his miraculous work and the even greater privilege that he calls Zechariah 2. And this is the setting that brings us to the second major point of the story. We've read about the privileged servants, and now in verses 11 through 17, we learn of the profound announcement. We learn the profound announcement. As the chosen priest for that day, Zechariah was expected to go into the holy place, just outside the veil that separated it from the most holy of place, the holy of holies. He was to offer the prayers and incense before God as the representative of the people of Israel and then relatively quickly he was to come back out. He would then lift his hands and he would pronounce the Aaronic blessing on the people from Numbers chapter six verses 24 through 26. The holy ritual would then be complete until it was time for it to be repeated later, either that day, later that day or the following morning. It would be a profound once-in-a-lifetime privilege, but it would be ordinary and perhaps we could even say seemingly mundane. There was nothing of fanfare or fireworks other than the fact that they were going into the most holy place for this privileged duty. But it was ordinary service. offering the incense, representing the people in their prayers, and then coming out and passing the blessing to the people. It was ordinary. But to Zechariah's great astonishment and amazement, when he goes in that day for his service, it was anything but ordinary and mundane. As he was offering the incense, an angel of the Lord appeared to him on the right side of the altar of incense. Zechariah then rightly responded to such an astonishing visitor. It says in the text that he was troubled when he saw the angel and fear fell upon him. This is the appropriate response when anyone sees the angel of the Lord standing before them. Just imagine it yourself, if you will, for a moment. You see the angel Gabriel, we learn in the later part of the text, standing before you as you're ministering in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It would astonish you. It would amaze us as we see this manifestation of God's presence. In such a moment, they are experiencing a visible and tangible manifestation of the Lord's presence right before their eyes. We remember that God's angels minister in the very presence of the Lord of hosts. And so they reflect the glory of God in a way that is almost, and in fact actually is, unbearable for sinful humans. So fear is right and fear is good in such moments. The vision that Luke records reminds us of the holiness, power, and majesty of our God. Though we have no need to receive visions of angels today, now that God has finally spoken to us through his son, as it has been recorded in the word, When we read things like this, we read such displays of power, we too should be moved to fear and reverence and awe because we understand the perfect infallible nature of God's word as it presents historical facts to us. We should see God's power perfectly on display just as if we were standing with Zachariah and ourselves with our own eyes seeing this angel in this moment. This is what these kinds of texts, these descriptions of these kinds of visions should evoke in us, a sense of awe and even fear, a holy and reverent fear for the majesty and the glory of God. But immediately, the angel of the Lord responds to Zechariah's fear, and he brings words of comfort and assurance to Zechariah that should then calm those fears. He says, 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. What prayer has been answered? Well, implied in the response, we would assume that Zachariah and Elizabeth have been praying for a child, perhaps even specifically praying for a son. This had undoubtedly been their prayer for many years, as we consider the reproach of barrenness. Perhaps due to their advanced age, at this point, they'd even stopped praying this prayer, or it has at least become less frequent. They realized that, humanly speaking, this would now be impossible. But they had remained faithful in their service to the Lord despite their present circumstances. Yet remember that Zachariah is now acting as a priest offering up the prayers and incense on behalf of the whole nation. So his prayer must be bigger and greater than simply a self-focused request for a child for he and his wife. Zechariah was offering up the prayer on behalf of the people that God would fulfill his promise to deliver the people of Israel. They were waiting. They were eagerly expecting that Messiah would come. And what's even more astonishing about this vision, and perhaps even contributed to how Zachariah responded, was the fact that God had now been silent for nearly 400 years. The appearance of an angel was beyond comprehension in the experience of reality. Yet it was not beyond comprehension in the testimony of Scripture. In fact, the appearance of an angel to humans signifies something spectacular. It represents God's breaking into time and space to move his plan of redemption forward and fulfill his promises. So what the angel arrives to pronounce to Zechariah has profound consequences. And he should have known that as a priest ministering in the holy place. This son that the angel is now promising is no ordinary son. The purpose in this faithful couple's affliction is now being made apparent. Though they are barren and they are beyond childbearing age, God is going to do something miraculous through them to accomplish his saving purposes. The son's name is to be John, which means God has been gracious. And interestingly, Zachariah's name means God remembers. And this is exactly what this moment signifies. God is remembering his promise to be gracious. God is ushering in the fullness of his grace toward mankind. So why is it significant that the first story about the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded by Luke is not an announcement about Jesus himself, but rather about another son who is to be born named John? Why is that the first thing we read in Luke's gospel? Well, it has something to do with God breaking His silence of 400 years as He begins to accomplish His work of redemption. The very last words recorded in the Old Testament are ones that we read just a few minutes ago in our service. The last recorded words of an Old Testament prophet are those of Malachi, and here's what they say. Let me remind you, verses five through six. Behold, listen carefully, 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 and the hearts of children to their fathers lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. Sound familiar? These are the last words of the Old Testament. than silence for 400 years. The way God breaks his silence is an absolute perfect fulfillment of his promises. Do not miss this. If you ask yourself why is John mentioned in all four of the gospels, why is he mentioned as so important, this is why. This is how sure God's word is. John will be the forerunner of the Messiah. He will be the one to announce his coming. He will be the one who introduces him to the world. He will be the one who says, upon seeing him for the first time during his ministry, do you remember what he says? Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. These are the words of the angel of the Lord to Zechariah about his son. This is who he is. This is what we read in verse 14. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 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. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 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. Do you see it? Do you see the parallels? Malachi, 400 years of silence, these words. John, the hoped for but unexpected son of righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth, will prepare the hearts of the people for the promised one of Israel. Because of this, he will bring joy and gladness. Herod may have been known as Herod the Great, but John was truly great, according to the angel Gabriel. Though he lived in the wilderness rather than a palace, though he wore camel's hair and a leather belt rather than luxurious fine clothing, and though he ate locusts and honey rather than the food of kings, he is the one of whom Jesus would later say, I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. So he was to be set apart as different than any other child. He could not drink wine or strong drink so that no one would mistake his seemingly eccentric life and message as drunkenness. Rather than being drunk on wine, he would be filled with the Holy Spirit in a special way, even from his mother's womb. Zachariah needed to be prepared for how he and Elizabeth were to raise their son, what they were to tell him about his unique calling, because he would, in fact, prepare the way of the people. He would prepare the way for the Messiah. He would call the nation of Israel to true repentance, to prepare their hearts to receive the Holy One of Israel, who is the Redeemer of the world. Everyone who receives the Messiah must have their hearts prepared. That's what John teaches us. They must turn from their sin. They must repent of their idolatry. To receive the Christ with childlike dependent faith, we must turn from every false hope and false promise to the one alone who is able to save us from our sins. We must forsake our sin and find true righteousness in Jesus of Nazareth. So how did Zechariah respond to this profound pronouncement by the angel of the Lord? Well, not as we would hope or even likely expect, but if we know our own hearts and our own sinful tendencies, then we should not be surprised at how he responded. Zachariah responded with doubt rather than faith. Yet even in the midst of doubt, we see here in these words the grace of God on full display towards Zechariah. It's truly amazing. For the expression of doubt from Zechariah becomes the occasion for the strengthening of the faith and the assured certainty that he and his wife needed. It also provides a lens to the strengthening of our faith that we likewise need to be reminded of today. This is the third and final point in the narrative. We've seen the privileged servants, we've looked at the profound announcement, and now we find in verses 18 through 25 the means of their strengthened faith. Zachariah does not believe what he's hearing. He doesn't see how it could be possible. So through his words of response to the angel, he reveals the fundamental flaw of human doubt. How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. Zechariah doubted the promises of God because he didn't think it was possible from a human perspective. And from a human perspective, it was, in fact, impossible. And that is the entire point. We may sympathize with Zechariah's doubt. He was old. Elizabeth was beyond childbearing age. They had been barren for decades. How could they now have their first child when it was physically impossible? That's what we're supposed to see here. It was physically impossible, just like with Abraham and Sarah. All of this is understandable from a human perspective. Yet, Zechariah was without excuse. He was a privileged priest chosen to serve in the duties of God. He was supposed to be one of the most theologically knowledgeable people in Israel. He knew his Bible. He knew the promises of God. And even now, he was standing as a representative of the people as he presented their prayers to God for God's promised deliverance. Though he may have intellectually believed the promises of God, he did not yet trust the ordinary and even seemingly impossible means by which God was now fulfilling those promises. Do we too, like Zachariah, doubt the promises of God when our faith is tested? Do we too distrust God's ordinary means of grace to accomplish his work? Well, when we do, when we fail to respond in faith, trusting God to do what he says he'll do, then if we are God's children, God will then discipline us accordingly. And that's exactly what happens next to Zachariah. Look at verse 19. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. You can almost hear the power in those three words. I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 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. The angel's response to Zechariah is severe. He identifies himself as Gabriel, one of God's chief angels who often delivers important messages from God throughout both the Old and New Testaments. He stands in the very presence of God and he came to deliver a message directly to Zechariah from the very throne room of God about God's plan of redemption. Though God will use ordinary means in miraculous ways, He miraculously declares these things in a way that is absolutely unmistakable and trustworthy. Yet, Zachariah doubts. So in response, and appropriately, because Zachariah did not believe the word of God, and because he did not really trust God to fulfill his promises, he will not be able to speak. He will not be able to share the good news that the angel has brought to him. He will not be able to pronounce blessing on God's people like he should be able to do. How can someone who doubts God's promises be the vessel by which God then pronounces blessings on others? So he is disciplined, but he is not forsaken. God is graciously loving Zachariah. In this act of discipline, Zachariah is afforded time to reflect and even to see the promises of God being fulfilled. We too, when we doubt the promises of God given to us in his word, we also need to be silent before the Lord. We need to reflect on God's holiness. We need time to meditate on his grace and love. And we need time to inwardly pray that the Lord would strengthen our faith and our dependence upon the finished work of the Messiah in our place. So that when we open our mouths again, we will then be able to proclaim his excellencies. And that's what's happening to Zachariah. So when the angel departs and Zechariah exits the temple, he finds the people who had been impatiently waiting for him and wondering about his delay. And when he appears and they realize he cannot speak, they understand that he's seen a vision, but they will not be afforded the details of that vision until God's appointed time and after Zechariah's necessary silence. We'll read about that later in the chapter. So Zechariah returns home in silence where he then observes the faithful promises of the Lord being fulfilled right before his eyes. His elderly, barren wife, who is beyond the age of childbearing, conceives a son. She responds in faith, keeping herself hidden for five months and praising the Lord for taking away her reproach. When Zechariah's mouth will be opened again, this time there will be no mistaking God's kind grace and mercy, and he will be able to proclaim his faithfulness to fulfill all his promises. Messiah is coming, God remembers, and God has been gracious. So in this opening story from Luke's gospel, we learn what it means to be truly privileged as servants of the Most High God. The world's definition of privilege means nothing. If you're sitting in this room today, hearing the word of the Lord read, hearing it proclaimed and prayed and sung, and soon to see it on visible display, if you're hearing and seeing these things, then know that you too are privileged, just like Zachariah and Elizabeth. If your eyes have been opened to the light of the gospel and you have seen the glories of the Lord on full display in the Holy Scriptures, then you too have been given the greatest privilege in all the world. We also learn from this story the significance of John the Baptist. The arrival of the Messiah in human history requires nothing less than announcement by the greatest man who ever lived who has been born of women. His foretelling constituted the final words of the Old Testament canon. He is the forerunner of the savior of the world. His is a work of preparation. His is a ministry of preaching the good news. Repent of your sins and turn to receive the Messiah. His is a work that says, let every heart prepare him room. Even now, The call is clear. Messiah has come. We can be sure of this. All God's promises find their fulfillment and their yes in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is God, who came in human flesh. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world because of his perfect substitutionary death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day. This truth, dear brothers and sisters, is the most fundamental reality in all the world. It's the most important thing we must remember this Advent and Christmas season as we're distracted by all the consumerism and all the other distractions of the world. It is the resolution to all of life's problems. It is the joy and gladness and peace that every heart so desperately needs to hear and to receive. And because we know with undeniable certainty that He came in time, we also know that He will return in the same way that He departed this earth 2,000 years ago as He ascended to the Father's right hand where He is now. Christ is coming. Let every heart prepare Him room. Repent and believe that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Finally, as we daily live lives of repentance and faith unto life, let us seek to have our faith strengthened day by day like Zachariah and Elizabeth was. Let us always see God's purpose in our suffering and our affliction for his glory and for our great benefit. God's hand of discipline is his gracious handiwork in treating us as sons and as his children. If we have been adopted into his kingdom, then we are being treated as sons and not as illegitimate children. Every trial that God ordains is for our sanctification. It is so that we might be conformed more and more into the image of our Savior. So how do we do this? How do we trust? How do we wait? Well, we cling to the promises of God given to us in his word. We too are privileged servants because we have God's perfect, complete, and infallible word. And in that sense, we could say we're even more privileged than Zachariah and Elizabeth were. In them, in these words, we have everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. We walk by faith and not by sight as we face every trial in our lives. We trust in the saving power of Jesus's gospel that cleanses us from all our sins and also frees us from the power and dominion of those same sins. In moments of trial and confusion, let us also stand silent before the living God and meditate upon his fulfillment of his gracious promises through Christ. This Advent season, let us long with eager expectation as we wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, even as we trust in all his promises without wavering. Let's pray together. O Lord, our God, as we do humbly bow before you, We acknowledge that we are so often like Zachariah. We have every reason, every privilege to believe the promises of your word, and yet we so often doubt just like him. We believe that the things that are humanly impossible will also be impossible for you. So we come now remembering the ministry of the forerunner of our Messiah, John the Baptist, whose birth was foretold in these words, and we remember our desperate need to prepare our hearts to receive Christ every day of our lives. Help us to once again turn from our sin, turn from trusting in ourselves, and turn to faith in your finished work and the promises that are contained in your word. We ask now that as we have the opportunity to give, that we would respond in faith even in this act, that we would respond showing our trust in you in a material way, remembering that everything we have is a gift from your hand and that apart from you, we can do nothing. Help us to come now with cheerful hearts as we give. Help us to do this knowing that your promises are fulfilled in Christ. And we pray all these things in Christ's name, amen.