Acknowledge Dependence

Welcome

Take this time to welcome everyone, introduce new students, learn names, and thank everyone for coming. Your friendliness here can create a comfort level that encourages student participation later.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

What is a dream vacation you hope to take one day?

Those are great travel ideas! Hope fills us with the desire for these adventures to happen someday. We can hope for many things in our life. But what happens when hope starts to die because the things we wish for seem impossible?

We can start to lose hope in times when life gets hard, too. We love Jesus, but sometimes it can be challenging to believe that He will come through and help us. We can get frustrated, impatient, and even start to think about taking the situation into our own hands.

Hope seems to be the last thing on our mind. Let’s see how being in this position can bring more awareness of how near God is to us. We might even say that, in these moments, we can encounter in special ways the One who gives us hope.

Message

Ensure each student has access to a Bible whether it be on their phone or sitting next to someone who has it open

Today, our Bible story is from the Book of Luke.

Luke is one of the four Gospels in the Bible. The Gospels share the account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

We’ll get to know a priest named Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, who were unable to have a baby.

In Bible times, having children was an expectation for women. So, to be childless would have been very emotionally hard for Elizabeth.

This family’s story will show how those who love and follow God can still face hopeless situations. Let’s see what we can learn from them.

Zechariah and Elizabeth Served God Faithfully

Read Luke 1:6–10.

Luke 1:6–10 NIV

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Zechariah and Elizabeth had already been serving the Lord for many years.

The Bible says that they were advanced in years, so imagine your grandparents in this story.

Sometimes, we may think that if God answers other people’s prayers before ours are answered, they must be closer to God than we are.

Just one look at their social media account might show us a life that seems amazing and free of problems.

In reality, everyone can face hardships. Unanswered prayers can happen to anyone.

We all lose hope at times and can feel like God is not nearby.

We can learn a lot from how Zechariah and Elizabeth handled their likely disappointment.

Rather than give up on God, they kept serving Him.

Zechariah Encountered an Angel

Read Luke 1:11–18.

Luke 1:11–18 NIV

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

Zechariah had been chosen to go and burn incense in the temple. This was his job, as well as his ministry to God.

Other people who were also devoted to God were outside praying while he was in the temple.

Imagine trying to pray for others, as Zechariah was doing, even though you may have doubts because God isn’t answering your own prayers.

Zechariah’s encounter with an angel that day was completely unexpected—so much so that Zechariah was scared.

The angel told him not to be afraid. The angel then told Zechariah that God had heard his prayer.

Perhaps you’ve been asking God for something and have not yet received an answer from Him. Let’s read on to see what we can learn from this example.

Zechariah and Elizabeth Experienced Hope

Read Luke 1:19–25.

Luke 1:19–25 NIV

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Zechariah was probably in shock. He was having a conversation with an angel sent from God and the angel had just told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would have a baby!

It’s not completely clear, but it appears as though Zechariah questioned whether or not he could trust what Gabriel had said.

In the back of his mind, maybe he wondered, Why now, God? after he’d prayed for so long.

It’s obvious from his response that he had given up on ever having a baby.

There are times in our life when we experience delayed answers to our prayers.

There are things we have asked God for, and we haven’t seen Him answer—at least not like we want Him to.

We may feel as if God has forgotten us.

The reality is that God had not forgotten about Zechariah and Elizabeth, and He has not forgotten about us either.

God was with them, and He is near us each day as well.

Hope Was Contagious

Read Luke 1:57–66.

Luke 1:57–66 NIV

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

We don’t know exactly how long it took from when the angel delivered the message until Elizabeth became pregnant. As a result, Zechariah may have been unable to speak for quite a while.

Imagine God answering your prayer and then still having to wait even longer to see the answer come about.

Zechariah saw and heard from an angel, and then his wife really did become pregnant. He experienced all this without being able to talk to anyone.

He must have had a million thoughts running through his mind about the promises of God, why God had waited so long to answer, and other thoughts about the goodness of God.

Their neighbors and relatives rejoiced at the birth of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son. For at least nine months, Zechariah and Elizabeth had thought about how special their baby would be and how God’s hand was on him. Even when we know God’s answer, we may still have to wait for it to happen.

What’s important for us to understand is that God wants to do so much more than simply answer our prayers.

For example, our prayers can change not only us, but those around us. Delayed answers to our prayers can help others turn to God in ways that simply having our prayers answered right away cannot.

Depend on God even in the face of hopelessness and delay.

Conclusion

It’s easy to feel that God is far away from us when everything around us is not going right. We can feel so alone when life is hard.

The reality is that God is always present and active in those who follow Him. Zechariah and Elizabeth showed us how you can stay faithful even when you don’t see God answer your prayers at the time you want.

At exactly the right time, this couple gave birth to John, who was later called John the Baptist.

He was a special servant of God who prepared the way for Jesus. God had a bigger plan that included Zechariah and Elizabeth.

God was up to much more than just the two of them simply having a baby.

They would be parents to a prophet who would introduce Jesus to the people. And all that happened at exactly the right time.

Sometimes what we consider a delay, or God not listening, is really God doing a miracle in His timing.

Salvation Opportunity

We all have needs and things we desire. One of the greatest needs that we have is a longing to be loved. God desires to be in a relationship with you—to always love you, talk with you, and be there for you. He sent His Son Jesus so that it would be possible for everyone. No matter how much you may or may not know about God or what you have done, Jesus died so that you can know God and have a relationship with Him. There is no delay for those who ask Jesus to forgive their sins and invite Him into their life. God will answer right away.

Is anyone here that we can pray for who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus or wants to renew their relationship with Him?