WEBVTT 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.440 Well, it's good to be here this morning. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.200 Who's glad they came to church today? 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:17.280 Awesome. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:26.240 I know uh Pastor Brody is in Hawaii right now, so pretty cool, but he's running a marathon, so I'd rather be here. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.359 Not a marathon guy at all. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:35.119 Apparently it's raining in Hawaii, so I mean he's got like the worst of everything right now. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.759 Pray for Pastor Brody today. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.359 I don't know how many miles in he is, but I'm sure he's got a long way to go. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:45.600 He'll be done hopefully by the time we're done service, give or take. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.159 I thought he could do it in two hours, but that was unreasonable, apparently. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:53.759 It would take me two months. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.960 We're gonna get into uh Luke chapter one. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:00.079 So if you got your Bible on you, go to Luke chapter one. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:02.079 Have it on the screen as well. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:08.159 Luke chapter one, verse uh five to seventeen. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:12.960 So I'm just gonna read it today. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:18.319 Uh in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, we're getting some feedback. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:19.039 Are we okay? 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:20.560 We're all good. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:28.079 The king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abusha. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:30.319 That's an interesting pronunciation. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.480 I had to write it down so I didn't mess it up. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:37.840 And he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:39.840 Her name was Elizabeth. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:42.799 Verse 6 says something interesting about the two of them. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:50.159 It says they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 00:01:51.039 --> 00:01:57.120 But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:01:59.519 And that's a really nice way to say that they were older. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.519 Um, you can use that for your knowledge. 00:02:03.679 --> 00:02:04.799 You can, you know, how old are you? 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:06.560 Well, I'm advanced, you know. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:10.080 Instead of saying old, I'm I'm advanced. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:11.280 Way better. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:12.800 Um, that was free. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:28.800 Now, while he was serving as a priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot, by essentially lottery, to enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:34.319 The whole multitude of people were praying outside during the hour of incense. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:36.639 And this is where it gets really cool in verse 11. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:47.039 It says, And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the incense, and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him. 00:02:47.359 --> 00:02:52.000 Probably should be, and angels are kind of crazy, really wild experience. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:03:03.439 And it said that fear fell upon him, but uh the angel classically says to Zechariah, do not be afraid, as angels often had to say that to the people that they were meeting. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:07.759 Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.000 And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:28.319 And we're talking about John the Baptist this morning, and it says that you will have joy and gladness, and you will rejoice, and many people will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:35.359 Uh, because it says that the uh the angel says that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother's womb. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:54.719 Verse 16 says he will turn many children of Israel to their to the Lord their God and will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and to disobedient to the wisdom of the just and make ready for the Lord a prepared people. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:56.800 I just want to pray before we get into it. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:58.319 So would you just pray with me this morning? 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.240 Father God, I thank you for your word. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.840 I thank you for this amazing community of people. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.000 God, that we get to gather here today. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:12.879 We get to gather weekly just to focus on you, to encourage one another, to remind each other of why we're here and what we're doing. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.560 And Father, we just pray that you would speak today. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:25.920 God, that we would open up our hearts, we would open up our ears, God, you would soften our hearts today to be able to hear what you have to say. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:29.360 We're thankful for your word in Jesus' mighty name. 00:04:29.760 --> 00:04:31.120 Someone agree, say amen. 00:04:31.760 --> 00:04:32.240 Amen. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:33.520 Thank you, Bernice. 00:04:33.760 --> 00:04:34.240 You're awesome. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:35.760 Give it up for Bernice. 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:41.280 Um we're coming up to Christmas. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:42.800 Who's excited for Christmas? 00:04:43.840 --> 00:04:44.560 Most of you. 00:04:44.880 --> 00:04:45.440 That's all right. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:46.320 We'll get there. 00:04:46.640 --> 00:04:47.440 It's okay. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.160 Uh it's sometimes controversial. 00:04:50.400 --> 00:04:54.800 But uh, I was thinking about Christmas, and I was thinking about when I was a kid. 00:04:54.880 --> 00:05:00.720 If anybody remembers when they were a kid during Christmas, who's a kid now, but who remembers being a kid during Christmas? 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:05.120 Um, and I was and I was thinking about the idea of waiting. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.520 And I remember hating the I hated waiting for Christmas. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:15.760 It was like as soon as December 1st hit, my parents kind of like tortured me and they put the presents under the tree right away. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:20.800 And I and I would just sit there and I would stare at them, trying to figure out you know what was in those boxes. 00:05:20.880 --> 00:05:28.800 And I remember, I don't know if you remember that feeling, especially when you're younger, just waiting for the day of Christmas to come. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:32.640 And it was just like, it was frustrating, and it was waiting was really hard. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:39.120 And I and I was thinking about uh on the flip end of kind of being an adult now, waiting for those things is a little bit easier, right? 00:05:39.280 --> 00:05:41.680 We have a little bit more patience for those things. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:47.840 We are often just buying ourselves the gifts anyway, so we know what's in them, so we don't really have to have any patience, right? 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:48.560 We kind of cheat. 00:05:48.640 --> 00:05:52.800 Like me and my wife were like, we don't really buy each other gifts because we just like, I'm gonna go get this. 00:05:52.880 --> 00:05:54.560 And you're like, okay, go get that for yourself. 00:05:54.640 --> 00:05:56.720 And like we just say that's our Christmas gift, right? 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:58.560 That's just that's just being an adult now. 00:05:58.640 --> 00:06:00.320 You don't really have to wait for anything. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:10.560 Um, but I was thinking about this idea of waiting, and this time last year, I think it was actually the week uh last year, we were waiting for our child to be born. 00:06:10.880 --> 00:06:17.040 And uh, and if you were ever pregnant in your life for the ladies, uh, you know that feeling, right? 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:25.200 That especially if you're past your due date, you're like kind of like stirring in the house and like you're ready to be done with the waiting, right? 00:06:25.280 --> 00:06:29.120 You're like you're ready for the baby to be out and you're you're just over it. 00:06:29.280 --> 00:06:31.840 Any any ladies, any ladies remember that feeling? 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:32.400 Yeah. 00:06:32.640 --> 00:06:38.000 Um, first of all, I have to commend all of you because uh the story that I'm gonna tell. 00:06:38.080 --> 00:06:59.440 Well, I'm not gonna tell all the details, obviously, because we're in church and um no one wants to hear everything, but I have to commend all the ladies and them and the moms in the room because it is a crazy audacious miracle the the when when you can literally like grow a child inside of you, and all of a sudden now we have we have our daughter with us, and it's just an incredible thing. 00:06:59.520 --> 00:07:02.240 So just kind of the give give it up for the moms. 00:07:02.400 --> 00:07:03.200 Come on. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:08.880 You go through a lot of changes and a lot of sacrifices, and it's just insane. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.720 Uh, all the dads, you know, we're just here for the ride, right? 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:26.960 But uh, you know, the season uh last last year for us, waiting for our our child to be born, it was like exciting, but it's also like nerve-wracking, filled with anxiety a lot of the time. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:33.600 And I and I think even getting closer to the day that uh Vienna was supposed to be born, it was like, you know what, just stay in there. 00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:35.280 I'm not ready for you. 00:07:35.520 --> 00:07:37.200 Like, I'm not ready for a child. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:38.640 I don't know what I'm doing. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:42.880 And it's kind of like that nervous, like you're excited, but you're you're scared. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:48.160 And and I want to say this that nothing can fully prepare you for the birth of your child. 00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:51.120 Nothing, no book, no, no class. 00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:54.640 I remember we took a few classes and I was like, yeah, we got this. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.840 And then I don't got this as soon as it happens, right? 00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:59.840 Like, there's there's no story. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:02.320 Like, I remember my buddy Josh was like telling me stories. 00:08:02.400 --> 00:08:06.880 He's like, Man, he's like, I could write a book on this, and it would help so many dads prepare. 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:12.720 But it's like I could read that book and it wouldn't have prepared me for what I was about to experience. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:18.160 And uh, all the fathers, if you were in the room for the birth of your child, like we understand each other, right? 00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:21.200 Yeah, I'm talking and you're like, I know where this is going. 00:08:21.440 --> 00:08:25.920 Um, but uh again, nothing can prepare you for that moment. 00:08:26.080 --> 00:08:27.840 And when the baby is coming, right? 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:51.440 Like, I remember we were at home and uh my my wife's mom and her sister were coming to just help us with that week, and I remember the contraction started coming, and it was like actually terrifying because I I don't know if you've ever like had that experience before, but just seeing, you know, when I was sitting there, I see my wife in that much pain, I was like freaking out, right? 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:55.840 I thought I'd be like cool, calm, and collective, but I was like, I don't know what to do. 00:08:55.920 --> 00:08:57.920 I was like calling the midwife, like, what do we do? 00:08:58.240 --> 00:08:59.120 Like, just keep waiting. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:00.560 I was like, I can't keep waiting. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:01.519 We're going to the hospital. 00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:04.480 Like, and uh, I remember we got to the hospital. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:09.600 Again, nothing can prepare you for when your wife is in so much pain she can't even speak words. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:11.600 She's just making noises, right? 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:16.800 And I don't know if you've ever like held the hand of a pregnant woman that going through contractions. 00:09:17.040 --> 00:09:21.120 It's like it's like putting your hand in a vice grip and just keep tightening that thing. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.440 And I remember just like my hand was just like, oh, okay, we're going, and this is real. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:30.480 Like the pain is real, and I uh I'm just trying to like wrap my mind around it. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:36.879 Um, and I remember I remember getting to the hospital, and I'm not sure who actually enjoys going to the hospital. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:37.840 Nobody. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:39.040 Um, didn't think so. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:40.800 Someone said, yeah, maybe a little bit. 00:09:41.040 --> 00:09:46.480 But uh I you you know, when you go to the hospital uh and you and you have to like wait in the first waiting room, right? 00:09:46.560 --> 00:09:53.040 And you're just waiting there, waiting there, waiting there, and then they call your name and you like a little bit of hope, right, rises in your heart. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:58.240 And then just to just to walk down the hall into another waiting room, right? 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:02.480 And you're waiting in that waiting room four times as long as the first one. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:04.399 And it's like it's just like painful. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:14.800 But I remember we got to the hospital and we're we're sitting in the first waiting room, and and I was honestly, like, when I walked in that room, like I didn't know what to expect. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:19.519 I didn't know if like we were gonna like do everything there, or if it was like I had no idea. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.040 I'm like, I'm completely oblivious. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:32.240 I remember we walked into that room and uh they admit Rebecca, and she's into the first waiting room, and I remember walking into there, and I opened the door, and all of a sudden I just hear down the hall like screaming. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:39.120 Like, and it wasn't Rebecca, it was just like way down the hall on the other side of the hospital, just like it just was terrifying. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:45.120 It sounded like a war zone, and again, nothing can prepare you for the birth of your child. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:51.200 And I remember we were sitting in that waiting room, and it feels like you just lose all concept of space and time, right? 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:52.480 You're just in that room. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:55.920 I don't even know if there was a clock, but I just remember it just didn't move. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:06.800 Like the clock just never moved, and we're in that room, and it's just it's overwhelming the amount of emotions, and the it's like an emotional roller coaster that we're on. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:16.240 And uh we finally, we finally come to the point where she's far enough along that we get to uh get admitted into the room that we're actually gonna meet our child. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.960 And I remember like obviously, like the hope, right? 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.440 You're like, oh sweet, okay, a little bit of relief. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:22.160 This is great. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:23.680 We start walking down the hall. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:26.080 That relief went really quickly, really fast. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:38.639 It just disappeared because I remember walking past one of the rooms, and I'm not gonna give you too many details, but it was like the aftermath of a baby being born, and it was just the doors were wide open and no one was in there. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.040 It was like no, nothing, like no one was in there. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:48.720 It's just like they just like gave gave birth and they left, and like they just left everything, and I just remember looking and I was like, that's what's gonna happen. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.560 Like, that's a lot of blood. 00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:57.680 I don't understand this process. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:58.800 Please help me. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:04.080 Uh like I said, nothing can prepare you fully for what you are going to walk through. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:10.320 And this is like birth control for everybody who's like in a in a dating relationship right now. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:11.840 Like, uh I don't know. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:13.680 Maybe we should wait. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.320 Someone said, Yep. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.759 Um, but it's like an emotional roller coaster. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:24.560 There's like highs and lows, and it's exciting, but you're also like, I'm absolutely terrified. 00:12:24.800 --> 00:12:29.680 Walking down the halls, there's just like ah, it's like a it's like a award after like the war, right? 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.600 Like people are just screaming and there's babies crying, and it's it's overwhelming. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.639 And obviously, like I'm just the guy, right? 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.160 Like, I'm kind of not doing much. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.279 I'm just trying to help my wife through this process. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:47.840 And you know, you go through, I'm not gonna get into all the details because that would just be we'll save that for a podcast sometime. 00:12:47.920 --> 00:12:48.480 I don't know. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:13:05.840 Um, but uh I I just remember obviously the the ups and downs, and the and and you just you're in that room for so so long, but but it's the moment that you see when I saw Vienna, it's like all of that just kind of disappeared. 00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:09.519 You just kind of forget that you went through absolute hell with your wife. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:15.279 And and I and I know that there's actually a scripture that talks about how women don't even remember childbirth, they don't remember the pain of it. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.399 It's just like it's crazy, but the guys remember. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:21.519 It's like we remember the trauma of it. 00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:26.960 And uh, but it's but as soon as I saw that little girl, it's like all that melted away, right? 00:13:27.040 --> 00:13:32.320 All that you're just overwhelmed by love and nothing else matters in that moment. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:44.480 And I say all that to say that, you know, the the in-between that stage, the waiting season to those moments of kind of like these big glorious moments, uh, can be really, really tough. 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:45.440 Right? 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:59.040 And and I talk about the waiting season, and and and we're all human and we all kind of go through seasons of life where we're we're we're maybe in the middle of a waiting season, maybe we're at the start of a waiting season, maybe we're at the tail end of a waiting season. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:04.800 But we're whether whether regardless of where you're at, we're all kind of in this like ebb and flow. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:19.920 And sometimes those seasons of life, and I'm sure all of you could probably remember, especially those advanced today, those who are advanced in age, they they probably remember all of those longer waiting seasons of just trying to be patient, trying to hold on for hope. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:28.240 And and I was just thinking about this idea, is like, what are we doing and how are we waiting in those seasons? 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:29.040 Right? 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:40.960 It's it's it's it's important to know like what season you're in in life and what kind of waiting season it is, but it's it's more so important to know how you are waiting in those seasons. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:51.840 Because if I'm honest, you know, you've probably experienced this too, where it it maybe you're in a season where it just feels like nothing is happening, right? 00:14:52.080 --> 00:15:19.440 And it's just like it's just the next day comes and and it's the same thing, and you're just kind of like just sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting, and nothing is happening, and it's really easy for us to kind of lose hope or even like check out like mentally or spiritually, or maybe you're in a season where it feels like everything is going wrong, and it's like the next thing is just stacking on the next thing, and the next thing is stacking on the next thing, and you're just waiting for relief, and it's and it's these waiting seasons that we go through. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:30.160 And again, whatever life looks like and whatever that is for you, the most important thing for you to know and to actually ask yourself, and it's a question that you want to ask yourself is how am I waiting? 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:31.680 How am I waiting? 00:15:31.920 --> 00:15:35.680 Not am I going to wait, because you're going to go through seasons where you're going to be waiting. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:50.240 Whether you're, you know, waiting for a breakthrough in your life, or you're waiting for a breakthrough in your business, or you're waiting for a breakthrough in your marriage, or you're waiting for, I think all of us collectively could probably agree that we're waiting for something good to happen in our nation, right? 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:57.279 Where it kind of feels like we're in this really long season of just waiting for something good to happen in Canada. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.000 I don't know about you, but that's how I feel sometimes. 00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:05.360 And I think, I think even just if you're waiting for, uh, you know, you're waiting for things to change maybe in your family. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:16.720 Maybe you're waiting for things to change in a relationship, maybe you're waiting for things to change at your your business or your school or in your friend groups, or maybe you're just literally a kid today and you're just waiting for Christmas. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:17.519 Anybody like that? 00:16:17.680 --> 00:16:26.639 Like I'm just waiting, or maybe you're maybe today you're like just waiting for the Christmas season to be over because it's it's so busy and it's so like up and down for you. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:31.519 Whatever that is, what are we doing in that waiting season? 00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:40.879 Sometimes waiting seasons can be very painful, sometimes they can just be like just long and drawn out and and brutal to get through. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:17:02.160 But I think again, it's how we wait because if we're just uh I I shared this with our our team this morning, if we're just like constantly staring at all the problems, or if we're just constantly staring at all the things that we would like to change, or we're just staring at all the obstacles, it's almost as if we're like, that's the only thing we can see. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:06.160 Because if we put our hand up really close to our face, what can I see? 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:07.599 Just my hand, right? 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:14.160 And it's and it's the things that we focus on in the waiting season what will help your outcome of what's gonna happen in that season. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:40.160 Because if we're constantly just like, oh man, I just I can't stand everything that's going on, and like I'm just waiting for things to change, and like this is a problem, this is I I'm tight with money, and uh and all we think about is the problem, and we're just only focused on the problem, and we're we're like the little kid that's just staring at the presence like I used to, just sitting there waiting and just like looking at the presence, just like it's like December 1st, there's 24 more days to go. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:46.960 Okay, it is extremely excruciating to just sit there and stare at the problem while we're waiting. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:49.360 You guys with me? 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.600 What are we doing when we're waiting? 00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:00.559 And I think too, um, as Christians, we are in a perpetual waiting season, right? 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.120 We're waiting for the second coming of Christ. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.400 We're waiting for Christ to come back and take his bride. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.200 We're waiting like that's the that's our Christian life. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:16.559 We're kind of like in the meantime, we're in the middle of this whole scenario for our entire Christian walk. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.839 And so what are we doing in that season? 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.799 Some of us may be staring at the sky, right? 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:24.400 Like any minute now. 00:18:27.600 --> 00:18:31.120 You know, like we're just waiting here, God, like come get us. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:31.759 We're ready. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.279 Like, I've had enough. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:43.360 You you have people, you know, literally, there was a news story of people going out to the woods because they thought that Jesus was gonna come back in the specific place on September 28th, right? 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:46.400 And they all looked foolish because like nobody knows. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:54.960 Nobody knows, and it's not gonna help you just to go and stare at the at the trees and be like, God, God, show up, you know, you're gonna come take us. 00:18:55.120 --> 00:19:02.720 But it doesn't help anything, it doesn't help our season because it's going to make that season feel infinitely longer. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:10.240 How we wait is so important, and how we wait is really crucial to the outcome of the waiting period. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:22.160 I kind of want to jump back into uh Luke Pat Luke chapter one, and I just want to give you a little bit of a thousand-foot view before we kind of go into uh a deeper look. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:28.960 Between the book of Malachi, which is my name, cool, but it's also the last book of the Bible. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:30.720 Um, someone laughed. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.960 It's it I'm so grateful for your laughter. 00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:49.759 Um, between the book of Malachi and Luke, right, and really, really, we can look at the Gospels as kind of like the starting point, but it uh specifically in Luke chapter 1, what we're gonna be talking about today, Luke kind of goes into a little bit of detail, what happens before the birth of Jesus. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:20:00.240 And it's actually really, really important because between the book of Malachi and the book of Luke, we have 400 years of God not speaking. 00:20:03.120 --> 00:20:17.120 Four hundred years of no new revelation, no prophets are are are relaying anything to the people of Israel, God's not coming down and doing anything to what they could see. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:30.720 On top of that, there's 500 years, uh an extra 100, not an extra 500, but we have 500 years of a time where uh since an angel last appeared. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:44.079 So you have 400 years of God's not speaking, you have 500 years of there's there's no angel appearances, and you have a total of 800 years since the last miracle has taken place. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:47.680 So think about that waiting period. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.839 Like that's that's like a nightmare in the hospital, right? 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:55.279 Like 400 years of waiting. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:21.600 And you have this like promised, like, think about this from generation to generation to generation, they're passing down the prophecies through the the Old Testament, they're talking about this Messiah that's gonna come, and it's like they're like some of them are probably staring at the sky, some of them are probably just like twiddling their thumbs, and they're and they're they're getting restless and antsy and they're they're losing hope, and it's like 400 years of silence from God. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.600 And we complain when our Amazon delivery is one day late, right? 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:28.480 It's like uh it just drives us nuts. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:33.120 Imagine 400 years, we're not even gonna be around, right? 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:45.440 But Israel was essentially in this very long waiting room, waiting for God to show up, waiting for the promise that he had promised. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:53.839 And and I can just imagine the turmoil and the even just like the weariness of the nation. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.880 There's actually a line in the song that we we sang, it was like the weary nation. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:02.799 They were probably like just tired of waiting. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:10.079 And although, although God was silent for those 400 years, he was continuing to work. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:16.160 He was maybe silent to the people, but he was still working in the background. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:22.880 And I actually just want to go through uh there's four major nations that were kind of controlling uh the nation of Israel. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:27.839 They were over, they were kind of oppressing and in charge over the nation of Israel. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.920 First, during the time of the prophet Malachi, we have the Babylonian rule. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:41.519 But what was happening in this time was uh synagogues and scribes were kind of allowed to be present, and a synagogue is a place of worship. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:53.279 And so instead of the people having to travel from wherever they lived all the way to Jerusalem to be able to worship, they could actually, they had access to worshiping their God in their synagogue in their local area. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:23:06.799 The scribes, they were allowed to begin to copy the scripture and to teach the scripture, and so it was actually in that time making scripture more accessible to people because they always had to rely on only oral teaching. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:12.640 And so that's what's happening in the Babylonian time, and then we moved to the Neo-Persian rule over Israel. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.360 This is again, this is just between the 400 years. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:40.640 Uh, during that time, the temple was rebuilt, and so it kind of restored this like hope to this nation during this time, even though it's like not looking very good, like they're not, it's it's not what God was kind of talking to them about, or they didn't maybe feel like this is what was supposed to happen, but at that same time, God was still moving, God was still working, and the temple's rebuilt, purpose is again restored, and there's a central place of worship. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:46.960 Next, uh, the Greeks took over, which is really interesting to me that they began to adopt the language of the Greek people. 00:23:47.120 --> 00:23:51.200 And so what happened is if you've ever heard of the Septuagint, right? 00:23:51.279 --> 00:24:02.480 It's the it's the Old Testament that was in Hebrew translated to Greek, and so what was happening is now this this language, this uh the Bible was being cross-cultural. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:13.120 It was able to be read by other people, not just the people that spoke Hebrew, and so God was kind of like doing something, opening the doors, and then finally you have the Roman rule, right? 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:20.000 And this was this was again just a setup for what was gonna take place in the New Testament. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:32.880 This was just a setup, and the Romans, they were all about trade routes and they were all about infrastructure, and they they began to build roads so that they could trade to different lands, and and and they they had made their uh roads accessible. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:41.920 And so what happened is, and they didn't know this was gonna happen, when the gospel was like took off, it was really easy for the gospel to spread because the roads were there, right? 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:43.680 So God was doing something. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:50.319 Even in the worst oppression that the Israel, the nation of Israel could could be in, God was still working. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:55.360 He was silent, but he was still working and he was setting up his plan. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:05.039 Just because God was silent, it wasn't as if you know God was giving the silent treatment and Israel was on the couch for the night. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.480 Like that doesn't like God is not a petty God. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:23.120 I heard I heard uh one commentator, he he thought, like, well, you know, Israel was kind of like you know, doing its classic Israel thing where they would, you know, they would drift off and they would start serving other gods, and you know, God was mad at them, so then he gave them the silent treatment. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:27.759 That's not what was happening because God's not petty, right? 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:31.920 Like, God's not just like, oh, you know, Israel, like, okay, whatever. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.640 I'm just gonna not talk to you for 400 years. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:36.400 Like, it's pretty intense. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:38.880 Like, like, but it that that doesn't make sense to me. 00:25:39.600 --> 00:25:48.000 And what does make sense to me is he was actually setting up what was going to happen and take place in the New Testament. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:51.360 Just because he is quiet does not mean he's not working. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:55.600 So we have a little bit of a background of what's happening. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:26:04.480 We have some context, which is what we need when we read a story like this in Luke, because we can easily just glance over it and be like, oh yeah, cool, John the Baptist was born, whatever. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:13.120 But I want to actually just go through this because there's there's some things that we can actually learn from Zachariah and Elizabeth on how they waited. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:15.279 On how they waited. 00:26:15.360 --> 00:26:16.880 We took a thousand-foot view. 00:26:17.120 --> 00:26:18.960 Now let's let's kind of dive into this. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.120 And so, point one is they waited faithfully. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.960 Again, these are very simple. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:26.960 They are waiting faithfully. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:36.319 Verse uh five of Luke chapter one, it says, in the days of Herod, king of the Jude, the king of Judea, there was a priest named Zachariah, right? 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:40.960 And it talks about who there's Zachariah, it kind of zooms in on these two people, Zachariah and Elizabeth. 00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:52.480 And it says in verse 6 that they were righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:59.360 And so there's a couple interesting things that I just want to like highlight really quickly, because I think about that word righteousness. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.519 And uh righteousness is described best in three words. 00:27:03.600 --> 00:27:04.720 And you can write this down. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:16.400 First, righteousness is described by the law, it's described by the law, we have grace, and we have obedience. 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:21.120 The three words that describe righteousness the best is law, grace, and obedience. 00:27:21.360 --> 00:27:24.640 Because again, righteousness is defined by the law. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:37.839 We go to the law of God and we begin to read the law, and we begin to realize the gap between us and God gets further and further and further as we look at our life because we're like, well, I can't do this. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:39.680 This is impossible. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:42.640 I can't, I can't follow this perfectly. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.079 How am I supposed to do this? 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:49.360 Like, this is the gap between us and God gets further and further and further. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:52.160 And then we realize that we need a savior, right? 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.759 We we read the law of God and we realize that, hey, I'm a sinner. 00:27:56.400 --> 00:28:01.279 I sinned, I'm not perfect, I'm flawed. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:04.000 But then grace comes into the picture. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:05.680 And what does grace do? 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:11.279 Righteousness becomes imputed and imparted to us by grace. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:17.839 So it's a gift that we didn't earn because again, we go to the law and we're like, I can't earn it. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:19.600 I cannot earn righteousness. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:24.720 And so grace comes in, grace is imputed and imparted to us to do what? 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:28.640 To then display righteousness by obedience. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:39.039 And so these two, these two people were walking with God, and we could say, just by the description, that they were spiritually good with God. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:40.160 Right? 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:50.160 We we see that they are spiritually good, like everything kind of on their, like their spiritual level is their right standing with God through God's eyes. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:29:10.160 But here's the problem: the circumstance that they were living would have been incredibly difficult because the next verse just straight up tells us they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years, and so they were probably maybe 60 years old, maybe 80 years old, right? 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:19.920 The idea of a child is like, no, like if you're 80 today, like and you think about having it, it's not gonna happen. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:20.559 Right? 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:31.039 The reality is only only God can make that happen, and you probably would be mad if that happened, if you were 80 and had a child, um, just being honest. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:36.559 Um, but like this would have been even more problematic for them socially, not just personally. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.519 Like, personally, it would have like haunted them. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:45.279 Personally, it would have been the most frustrating thing to deal with as a married couple. 00:29:45.600 --> 00:30:00.400 It would have been absolutely the it would just have been like really hard for them to walk through this personally, but but even worse, I would say socially, because in the Jewish culture, they actually believed if you were barren, you were cursed. 00:30:01.360 --> 00:30:04.000 And not just cursed by anybody, cursed by God. 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:06.240 They believe that you had a curse on you. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:17.519 And and so God views them as righteous, but everybody around them, all their all their community is looking at them kind of like with the side eye, like, they're righteous? 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:19.440 No, they can't be. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:21.279 They must be cursed. 00:30:21.600 --> 00:30:27.519 And and because of the curse, like the the reason for the curse is like either they're they're sinful, right? 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:33.920 Or they're living with the consequences of past sin, or they're living with the consequences of their parents' sin. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:41.279 And so the public views them as sinful, but God views them as righteous. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.799 And this is a reality for them. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:53.279 Again, going back to this, like think about that 400 years. 00:30:53.519 --> 00:31:02.079 The 400 years of silence, the 500 years of no one's seen an angel in 500 years, and we've we haven't seen a miracle in 800 years. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:09.120 And so for them, the reality of having a child at 70 or 80 years old was stark. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:16.640 Yet, somehow, they remained faithful to God. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:25.440 Somehow, through this track record, they remained faithful to God. 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:32.079 And it doesn't just, you know, say that, you know, you know, Zachariah and Elizabeth, they were faithful and it was all good, and yada, yada, yada. 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:33.360 It shows us, right? 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:36.000 It tells us, it's it you you actually get to see it. 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:54.079 It says in verse 8, now while he, Zechariah, was serving as a 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 to burn incense, and the whole multitude of people were outside praying during this hour. 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:56.880 And so what's happening here is really interesting. 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.319 I really just wanted to dive into this for a second, if that's okay. 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:08.720 But it's it's it's it's the equivalent of like winning the priest's lottery for this to happen to Zechariah. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:24.240 To be able to do this, it was it was almost like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a priest to be able to go into that inner room and to begin to do this honor and burn incense for the people. 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:28.400 So Zachariah, he's like one of 20,000 other priests. 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:42.319 And so you probably, you know, he was serving the Lord diligently just day after day, and he would have been really uh like they they would burn uh or sorry, they would they would sacrifice an animal in the morning and the evening, and they would burn incense in the morning and the evening. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.839 And so he was he was probably really familiar with this practice. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:33:04.880 He was really used to being on the outer court, he would, he would uh do the uh animal sacrifice for the people, and and then all of a sudden his name gets drawn, and it's this kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to then go into this inner court, which was separated by a curtain, and on the other side is the Holy of Holies. 00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:10.960 And the the Holy of Holies carried the Ark of the Covenant, which was a representation of the presence of God, right? 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:12.160 All through the Old Testament. 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:20.319 If you remember that when they marched around Jericho, they had the Ark, and they all through the desert, they had they had God's presence with them, and whenever they camped, they would build a temple. 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:26.960 And so Zechariah gets to go into this place, and it's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:33.440 And you could say this was the closest physically that he could have been to God in that time. 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:43.200 Because only once a year, the high priest, once a year, one person, a specific person, was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies. 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:44.880 Once per year. 00:33:45.120 --> 00:33:50.400 And so Zachariah, he gets this kind of like pinnacle moment of his career as a priest. 00:33:50.559 --> 00:34:04.960 Like he would have just kind of like grinded daily, like just showed up daily serving faithfully, like praying, and then all of a sudden he gets to have this moment that eventually would shift his entire life. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:20.399 And my point is this, I just wanted to bring that up, but my point is this despite the reality of the disappointment that they were living in, they chose to be faithful. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.519 They chose to remain faithful. 00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:30.319 They chose to remain, uh, he chose to remain a priest and carried out his responsibilities daily. 00:34:30.959 --> 00:34:33.599 He chose to show up day in and day out. 00:34:33.759 --> 00:34:40.559 It is, it doesn't say like, hey, you know, they did have they had a conversation with God and we're like, we'll only serve if you do this for us. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:35:03.759 No, they were in the middle of years of infertility in their life, year after year, until one day an angel shows up, and it's crazy because I'm gonna get into this in a little bit, but it's just like this this moment is actually insane for us to think about because it breaks this 400 year silence. 00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:15.599 It all it breaks the 400 year silence, it breaks the the appearance, uh the 500 years of no appearance of angels, and it breaks the 800 years of a miracle taking place. 00:35:15.919 --> 00:35:17.039 It's in it's insane. 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:21.919 So, my second point uh today, my first was they waited faithfully. 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:25.439 Despite what they were walking through, they were faithful. 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:28.559 My second point is they waited prayerfully. 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:40.000 Verse 11 it says, 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. 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:47.919 Fear fell upon him, and the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard. 00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:51.039 Your prayer has been heard. 00:35:51.279 --> 00:35:54.399 It's really funny the way that Luke writes this. 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:55.919 It's so matter-of-fact. 00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:00.319 Like again, looking at the context of like they've been waiting for something to happen. 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:07.119 And he just kind of writes casually an angel appeared on the right side and said to him, You're gonna have a child, your prayer, your prayer's been heard. 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:08.559 Like, it's just so like matter of fact. 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:10.799 It's just an it's just a crazy moment. 00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:13.439 Like, think about this for the nation of Israel. 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:14.639 This is insane. 00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:25.839 800 years since the last miracle, and all of a sudden, an angel shows up and just begins talking to somebody. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:28.319 And it's just an amazing, amazing moment. 00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:31.359 And the angel, of course, he gets gets straight to the point. 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:34.719 He says, Don't be afraid, classic angel thing to say. 00:36:34.879 --> 00:36:39.679 But then he says, your prayer, and this is the important part, your prayer has been heard. 00:36:39.839 --> 00:36:46.799 The prayer that they had been praying for, I would say, 30 plus years, maybe even 40 plus years. 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:57.919 This prayer that they they would probably pray more than twice a day, and and especially probably during the morning when the incense would get burned up, that was to represent the prayers of the people. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:03.839 They were probably praying in that moment, and then they would probably pray during the day, and then they would probably pray at night. 00:37:03.919 --> 00:37:09.679 And this was throughout their whole life that they would pray that God, would you give us a child? 00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:29.919 That prayer that was 30 plus years, despite, despite the growing impossibility, like day, like you would have to have so much resilience because day after day, year after year, that gap of impossibility of having a child would just continue to grow. 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:30.719 Right? 00:37:30.959 --> 00:37:35.199 And you would probably get weary at some point, you would probably have doubts at this point. 00:37:35.359 --> 00:37:41.039 You would probably just be like throwing up a Hail Mary, like, I don't even know if God exists anymore. 00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:51.279 But they continued to be faithful and they continued, despite everything, despite the reality, despite the history, to pray. 00:37:53.439 --> 00:37:56.079 In parallel, we see Israel, right? 00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:58.319 And morning and night they prayed. 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:07.759 Morning and night they sacrificed offerings to God, waiting for their Messiah through 400 years, generation after generation. 00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:13.359 And though there was silence, right, God was setting up something so much greater. 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:17.199 And my third point is this, and I'm gonna invite the worship team to come back up. 00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:19.839 They waited expectantly. 00:38:20.319 --> 00:38:27.119 They waited faithfully, they waited prayerfully, and they waited expectantly. 00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:32.399 The angel says to him, Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard. 00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:36.719 And your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall call him John. 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:50.239 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, but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even in his mother's room womb. 00:38:50.879 --> 00:39:09.439