This sermon is the first in our Advent worship series -- "My Heart Shall Sing" -- inspired by Mary's Magnificat -- as we experience Advent's songs of hope, peace, joy, and love. This week's sermon considers the Song of Zechariah -- but first we think some about what Zechariah might have experienced in "The Silence Before the Song" -- as he sat in silence for nine months waiting with his wife Elizabeth for the birth of their son, John (the Baptist). As we listen with Zechariah, we hear this good news: In the coming of Christ, God saves us by God's tender mercy.