From Pastor Andrew’s Desk
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Greetings FCCBers,
I hope that you are having a great Advent season and that you had an amazing Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time and were so grateful to have my parents and grandfather with us. He really enjoyed meeting all of you at the Thanksgiving service. A big thank you to all of you who so warmly greeted and encouraged him. It meant so much to him and to us!
We all have much to be thankful for including baby Haddad! Teddy finally made his appearance in this world and I know all of us can’t wait to meet the little guy! Plan to be with us December 11 as we say goodbye to this precious family.
This past Sunday we concluded 11 weeks of preaching on and looking at the theme of ‘identity.’ Our theme text has been 2 Corinthians. I’ve been truly blessed by God’s Word and the deep impact this book of scripture has made on my life. I thought I would give a brief recap of what we have gone over in 2 Corinthians before moving on to December. Some of the big themes from 2 Corinthians were
forgiveness,
reconciliation,
generosity,
suffering and
knowing Christ fully as our hope and joy.
The identities the world underlines as primary fall so desperately short of what it means to really know and walk with the Lord! May He continue to give us wisdom to know whose we are in Him and to carry out the call He has planned for each of us!
As for December, the Lord has led me to preach on the Book of Luke. We’ll start with Luke 1:5-22 and the story of Zechariah in the temple. Many great historical moments have had a “tipping point” (a term coined by Malcolm Gladwell). The story of Zechariah could be described as the tipping point in this story of the birth of Christ in terms of getting things in motion towards God’s amazing redemptive plan.
Verse 5 starts with setting this moment in history in a very dark era (the time of Herod). Herod was a wicked king who longed to be a Messiah himself. It was in this time that the True Messiah would be born in the shadow of tremendous earthly, corrupt power. Zechariah, an obscure priest and his wife, Elizabeth, were living faithfully before God (v. 6). Yet, they could not bear a child (v. 7), obviously affecting them deeply. It was in this obscure space and time that the word “once” appears. It’s the first word in v. 8 and is the linchpin word in this whole account, pointing to events about to unfold and drastically change the course of human history. This word once refers to the time when Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple (v. 8-10). There were roughly 18,000 priests at that time in Jerusalem, so this truly would have been a unique opportunity and honor to go into the temple’s holy place. It’s a reminder to us to just keep showing up and living out the call of Christ in our lives in good times and in difficult times. When we do, we experience God’s leading and God’s grace. Maybe we’ll see amazing things in the Lord, maybe not. But by continuing to just show up and be faithful like Zechariah, our opportunities to experience the Lord’s blessing and joy in unique ways is enhanced. We put ourselves in a place where we can see God on the move as Zechariah did. In verse 11, he encounters the angel Gabriel. Gabriel startles Zechariah completely, but then reassures him “do not be afraid.” v. 13 for the Lord was going to give him a son named John. Verses 14-18 summarize what John will do to prepare the way for the Lord!
As you prepare for Sunday, reflect on
the righteous life of Zechariah and Elizabeth
the posture they had to wait on the Lord and
the need to seek Him in all things.
Then reflect on the word….once. What does it mean for your life and mine as we seek to serve the Lord. May we be truly surprised by His grace and as we keep showing up to see the goodness and power of God in all things!
See you Sunday!
Blessings,
Pastor Andrew
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