November 30, 2025 Service - "The Characters of Christmas" Week 1

``They are the kinds of people that we rarely write stories about, but I would submit that they are the kind of people that God loves writing stories with, because they declare and they tell of God's goodness and of his presence. They were a people who were often overlooked, but they were deeply seen by God. They carried years of faith, years of questions, and years of obedience, no spotlight, no platform, just quiet and faithful devotion to God. And God chose these two quiet saints, those whom many may oftentimes overlook.look, he chose to begin Advent, the Christmas story, with those two people. [00:38:29] (53 seconds)  #UnsungFaithHeroes

You see, Advent tells us that if you have ever felt ordinary, have you ever felt ordinary? Advent tells us that if you've ever felt unseen, have you ever felt unseen before? No. No? Okay. Have you ever felt passed over before? Yeah. You ever felt as though you're kind of on the periphery? No. You're on the side? You were exactly the kind of person that God loves to begin his story of redemption with. Advent, this good news of great joy for all people. It is good news because it means that God sees and he chooses people like you and me to tell his story. [00:39:23] (51 seconds)  #SeenAndChosen

God chose overlooked individuals, adults and kids and old people and the ordinary people to be on his team to declare his light, his grace, and his joy to the world. Which leads to the second idea, that not only does God see people that we oftentimes overlook, but we see this really important truth that faithful people of God still endure hard things. We see this story with Zachariah and Elizabeth and Luke tells us readers that they were righteous, they were faithful, they were devout, they worked in the temple, they were people of God, and yet we find they were living their life in this deep pit of despair. [00:40:15] (56 seconds)  #EverydayCalled

They were living in heartbreak as things weren't turning out completely as they wanted. Now, I almost took this out of our teaching today because I thought, I don't want to talk about this. But I think it's a really important observation and lesson is that being people who follow Jesus doesn't mean that we get everything we want and we wish. Following Jesus doesn't mean that everything works out perfectly, peacefully, just the way we want. I think we live in a time and a culture where we sometimes believe the myth that following Jesus means that my life's going to be comfortable. [00:41:11] (40 seconds)  #FaithNotEntitlement

We live in a time where it's easy to believe that if I follow Jesus, I'll be protected from all the bad things of the world, that we'll always have success, we'll always have money, we'll always have this picturesque life. And Luke, in the very beginning of his gospel, begins to give us this idea that although Zachariah and Elizabeth were faithful, they still endured a heartache. And the same is true for you and for me today. Just because we follow Jesus doesn't mean it's going to work out perfect. It doesn't mean everything's going to go down the way of life that we anticipate or that we would like to see happen. [00:41:51] (47 seconds)  #FaithBeyondProsperity

We'll endure heartache and difficult moments and difficult days. Now, it's fascinating because in this culture with Zachariah and Elizabeth, although they were righteous and they were faithful, we see that they were childless. Now, in this time, this is really a thing of deep sorrow. Not only from a parental desire to have children, an heir, someone maybe to carry on the family name, it created this deep social shame. It raised painful questions. People whispered. It was likely that Elizabeth and Zachariah felt unseen or overlooked by God. [00:42:39] (44 seconds)  #SeenInTheShame

In fact, there are many people who believe that this was a punishment from God. That Zachariah and Elizabeth had done something to receive the punishment of God to not have children. They did everything right, but they still lived with this painful ache in their souls. As we've already said, devotion does not equal entitlement. God doesn't owe us anything. Just because Zachariah and Elizabeth gave their lives to God and they followed him and they served him doesn't always mean that God was going to give them just everything that they wanted. [00:43:22] (40 seconds)  #GraceNotReward

This devotion doesn't guarantee that everything works out exactly as they'd hoped. They prayed for years. They hoped for years that God would answer their prayer. Their grief lasted decades. They were faithful, but they were hurting. We see in this Advent story that our devotion does not always mean that God is going to do exactly what we want. For years they prayed and they wished. But little did they know that decades later that God would use them as this domino in the history of the world that they would bear a son named John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus who would be the megaphone for the Messiah. [00:44:02] (54 seconds)  #FaithfulWaiting

Little did they know that in their heartache and in their disappointment and in their despair that God was actually using that and that God would use these faithful elderly saints to proclaim that the Messiah Jesus, the Redeemer of the world, would actually show up. These faithful people of God, they still endured hard things like Elizabeth and Zachariah, but God stepped into this long sorrow with an unexpected grace. And I wonder in our lives today, what difficult thing, what challenging circumstance, what deep pain do you sense, do you feel, do you walk through, do you live through that you are begging God to do something with? [00:44:56] (58 seconds)  #PainBecomesPurpose

Show up, Lord. Change this, Lord. Make the outcome different, Lord. Don't you see my serving you, Lord? Don't you see my giving, Lord? Don't you see me in church on Sunday, Lord? I would submit to you that God is still working. We may not see it. We may not see it for a long time. But God is working out His goodness and His glory and His joy in our lives. Leads to a third idea this morning in this Advent story of Elizabeth and what's his name, guys? Thank you. I want to keep saying Zacchaeus, and it's not right. We see that God uses people of every age and every stage. [00:45:54] (57 seconds)  #GodIsAtWork

We see this story that God uses people of every age and every stage. I would submit to you what we find in Luke's gospel is this theme of God's multi-generational work. God doesn't just call the impressive. He doesn't just look for the most capable. He doesn't look for the most popular. God is looking for the unimpressive. God is looking for the weak. God is looking for the small. You see, God is taking this world, and He is beginning to turn it upside down with His kingdom. And God uses, and He calls people of every age and of every stage. [00:46:51] (50 seconds)  #GodUsesTheUnlikely

We'll even consider in the next couple of weeks a teenage girl, Mary, who was looking so forward to being married to this man named Joseph. And she finds out she's pregnant before they're married and knows there's going to be a lot of conversation about this. We see that God uses someone of such young age to bring about the Messiah. We see a group of poor social outcasts. We see the shepherds literally on the outskirts of town away from everyone. Yet God envelops them into the story of redemption. We see the magi, likely older, wise, educated travelers who have seen a star, and God envelops them into the story of redemption. [00:47:41] (51 seconds)  #NoAgeLimitForGod

We see the angelic host of heaven singing that the Messiah has come to these shepherds. And we see Zechariah and Elizabeth, these elder saints still serving, still faithful, a priest in the temple and his wife. We could say that God is saying that no one is too young, no one is too old, no one is too ordinary, no one is too late for God to use you. No one is too late for God to call you. And I would even submit this morning that in the whole narrative of the scriptures, we see some of the most elderly do some of the greatest things for the Lord. [00:48:32] (48 seconds)  #NoOneTooOrdinary

You look at Moses. You look at Abraham. You look at Zechariah. You see that God has chosen to use those in retirement sometimes to push the gospel message forward, sometimes the most. you have something to offer. Now maybe you don't have the energy of the children's, okay? Maybe you require a nap or two. I want to nap myself. But God uses every age and he uses every stage of life for his glory if you will allow. You see, Advent, good news of great joy, there is no age requirement. It is for all generations at all the same time. [00:49:20] (50 seconds)  #NeverTooOldToServe

Now to close our time together this morning, just one more idea, lesson from Zechariah and Elizabeth. We see that Advent brings good news of great joy into painful places. Advent joy, Advent brings good news of great joy into our painful places. Advent doesn't just begin with the overlooked. It doesn't just include ordinary people or people of every age. But Advent begins in the midst of hurt and waiting. You see, in this time, the nation of Israel has been waiting for the Messiah some 400 or so years. As we began our service this morning, reading from Isaiah chapter 9, a people walk in great darkness. [00:50:11] (55 seconds)  #AdventJoyInDarkness