Untitled Sermon (2)

BEHOLD THE LIGHT

Part 2 - John 1:6-9

[MESSAGE STATUS: third draft done]

Pre-Bumper Intro

Good morning everyone, my name is Erik Wade, and I am the Campus Pastor here at Sunrise Church in Banning.

Before we jump into today’s message I want to give you an update on our Here To Stay giving initiative For those of you who don’t know, Sunrise Church is expanding its outreach efforts both locally and globally

By building a new Peace Center hub in Rialto (IMAGE #1), we will be able to more effectively resource the campuses so they could serve their communities with food and other essential supplies We are also investing in a village in Kenya (IMAGE #2), helping local churches minister to their communities in Christ-centered sustainable ways So where we stand today has been encouraging

We continue to receive formal commitments Several have given us a minimum formal commitment amount but have stated they plan to do more than the minimum through the giving season. Some are making a final decision as they plan for taxes and as they learn about any bonuses in early 2024. We also continue to receive gifts from some who have not made a formal intention known. We expect this giving number to increase as well. Since making this public just a few weeks ago, so far we have collected $414,498.06! (IMAGE #3)

In terms of percentage of families expected to engage in giving, Sunrise has been off the chart, and for that, we say THANK YOU!!! This is by no means a conclusion, but an indication of the exciting days ahead Our Peace Centers continue to have massive impacts and aren’t slowing down any time soon

It is critical that we get behind this awesome project that is impacting thousands of lives! Grab a financial commitment card today or jump on Sunrisechurch.org to get started Don’t miss out on this adventure of faith! So I want to pray for this, then we will jump into Part 2 of our Christmas message series

Pray and roll bumper video

Intro

Today we continue in our Christmas message series by working our way through the powerful words about Jesus in John chapter 1

We’re going to talk about how the angel Gabriel Made an announcement of an unlikely pregnancy Of a special boy being born A child who would grow up to have a powerful ministry

One who raise disciples And preach the good news And how the birth of this extraordinary child would fulfill Old Testament prophecies made hundreds of years earlier But here’s the thing…I’m not talking about Jesus

Who are we talking about? For that, let’s once again read from John 1 as we set the stage for today’s message

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

This is what the message focused on last week

Here is our emphasis this week…

John 1:6-9

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

Here we see the mention of John the Baptist. This John is a different John from the author of the Gospel of John, who was one of Jesus’ disciples. So who is this John the Baptist and why is he so important that he would be included in a passage of Scripture that focuses so prominently on Jesus?

For that, we will jump from John 1 to Luke 1 If you have a Bible or a Bible device, make your way to the New Testament Gospel of Luke This morning, we are going to dig into one of the less well-known Christmas narratives

But it’s all tied together and has excellent application for our lives today Luke 1, starting in verse 5…

Luke 1:5

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

Before we go any further, just look at the amount of detail Luke provides us in one verse

You have a time signature Of an actual King In actual history We have a real person in Zechariah his family lineage of an actual people group A real person in his wife Elizabeth And her family lineage from an actual people group This is an example of how remarkable things the Bible is These were real people, from real places, preserved in real historical records

Vs. 6-7

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Now we get to know Zechariah and Elizabeth a little better

They are god-fearing, devout Jews Who have gotten up in the years And who carried a difficult stigma,

The inability to bear children

Vs.8-9

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

In order to perform priestly duties in the Jewish Temple, you had to come from a very specific family line The job of priests included sacrificing animals to atone for the sins of the people

sprinkling the sacrifice’s blood on the altar and lighting incense, which symbolized prayers rising to Heaven And other preparations All of the people who qualified to be priests would ascend to Jerusalem, gather outside the Temple and cast lots to determine which men would fulfill the proper roles of Hebrew worship Some scholars estimate that the number of priests qualified to serve in the Temple during that time was upwards of 20,000

With so many people, having literally, the rolling of the dice and the lot fall on you was a once in a lifetime opportunity On this day, the lot identified Zechariah as the priest to burn incense…what an honor!

V.10

And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Zechariah worshiped outside the Temple many times - he has some idea of what to expect But now, Zechariah was on the inside

He was all alone in the Holy Place He probably got on his knees and prayed that God would send his Messiah

The anointed one to save Israel from oppression He wouldn’t want to wait too long because everyone was out there So after he finished praying, he rose back to his feet, opened his eyes, and saw this

Vs.11-12

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.

V.13

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.

Now, it is extremely unlikely that Zechariah was praying to God for a child while performing his priestly duties that night Truth is, the prayer of having a child of his own, was probably one he and Elizabeth gave up on a long time ago

At this point they were old, having kids at that point was an abandoned dream.

That night in the Temple, Zechariah met an angel from Heaven who told him that his dream was coming true

A baby was coming to he and Elizabeth A baby boy to be named John

Vs.14-17

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 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. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 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.”

Now Zechariah learned that this son of his will be no ordinary child

He will be set apart from birth Filled with the Spirit, even from within the womb And he will go before the Messiah, to turn people’s hearts back to God There are many reasons why this interaction was so significant

Aside from learning that the Messiah was coming in Zechariah’s lifetime This angelic visit marked the end of what had been 400 years of silence

For four centuries there was no prophetic voice for God’s people It’s what’s known as the intertestamental period - or that really long span of time in between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament In fact, the final prophetic words the Jews had were these, literally the last verses in the last book of the Old Testament…

Malachi 4:5-6

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Well that sounds familiar doesn’t it

The angel informed Zechariah that his yet to be born son named John was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy Those final words the Israelites held on to for 400 years, was about to be fulfilled!

What an incredible day!

First Zechariah gets picked to pray in the Temple Then he learns he’s gonna be a dad Then he learns the Messiah is coming

and that his Son will prepare people for the Messiah! This was Christmas before there was Christmas But all of that excitement was dampened when Zechariah said this…

Luke 1:18

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 got one thing right and one thing wrong

What he got right was how he called himself “old” but he called his wife “well along in years” While Zechariah got that one right, what he got wrong was very wrong

He questioned whether the angel knew what he was talking about Essentially, he asked for a sign to authenticate this message

He was standing next to an angel…what kind of sign do you need??? This was a supernatural encounter

And all Zechariah could come up with was, “I need a 100% assurance before I leave here, because after all, me and the wife are way past the childbearing age!”

Vs.19-20

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. 20 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.”

Because of Zechariah’s attitude toward God, he was hit with a consequence

His was afflicted with the loss of his voice Ironically, the man who got to witness the end to 400 years of silence, was himself cursed with silence Maybe you are thinking, this punishment seems kind of harsh

All Zechariah did was doubt I doubt God sometimes too - am I going to get punished as well? As we read through this long and fascinating narrative, I want to pluck out lessons we can apply to our lives today

I see three different darknesses that occurred in these passages And how we can respond when we face similar darknesses Here is the first one…

1. the darkness of DISTRUST

There is a difference between doubt and distrust

Doubt is having questions but still moving forward in faith Distrust is having too many questions to move forward Let me give you an example of this

Not too long after the angel Gabriel visited Zechariah, he visited Mary The angel announced to Mary that she would become pregnant and give birth to the Messiah Like Zechariah, Mary questioned the angel too…

Luke 1:34

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Two very similar questions

Zechariah asked, “How can I be sure?” Mary asked, “How can this be?” So why is it that Zechariah was afflicted with muteness, but Mary skipped off into the countryside?

Here is why - although Mary had her doubts, listen to how she responded…

V.38

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Both Mary and Zechariah were given news that left them with a lot of questions

Mary trusted God with the little information she had Zechariah distrusted God by demanded more He wanted a 100% guarantee before moving forward When you look back on the hardest times in life, did you ever have 100% assurance that you were going to come out on top?

Of course you didn’t That’s not faith Faith is believing that God is good, and I’m going to trust him with no matter what comes next

Even in my doubts Which is precisely how Mary responded…

Vs.39-40

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.

Notice those words, “at that time” and “hurried”

Why was she so anxious to get to Elizabeth’s house? Because the angel told her Elizabeth was pregnant Despite doubts, Mary believed what the angel told her so she sprinted to go see her relative

The same Elizabeth that Zechariah didn’t believe would ever bear children Mary believed even though she didn’t have all the pieces and parts It’s okay to doubt God as long as you still obey him

How do I know this? just read the Psalms One third of the Psalms are prayers filled with doubts Here’s one example…

Psalm 13:1-4

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

Does that sound like a man who is in full agreement with the plans of God?

Does that sound like a man who fully understands what God is up to? Hardly! These are words of doubt, but they are not words of distrust Because look how David closes this prayer…

Vs.5-6

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

In other words, “I don’t fully get it God, but based on how you’ve acted in the past, I’m moving forward with you”

That’s faith And that leads us to how we should respond to…

1. the darkness of DISTRUST

give God your YES in the INCOMPLETENESS

You and I don’t have to have all the answers to move forward with God We can give God our Yes in the incompleteness That was the primary difference between Mary and Zechariah

She doubted but still gave God her Yes Zechariah doubted - but instead of moving forward he moved to distrust What Zechariah should have done after receiving the news that he and his wife would bear a child in their old age was to tell Gabriel, “I’m not sure how God is going to make this happen, but I’ll do my part”

But instead, he reduced a conversation with a supernatural being to a bargaining session That’s not trust that’s distrust

because he distrusted this word from God, it cost him his voice But, Eventually, he and his wife would come together, and the exact things promised by Gabriel started falling into place…

Luke 1:24

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

It’s tough to know why Elizabeth went into seclusion

Maybe she was doubtful herself Any woman who ever had a miscarriage understands the hesitancy that comes even after a positive pregnancy test Or it could be that she wanted to focus on the Lord and meditate on what her child would be

Whatever the case was, no one but her husband knew she was pregnant Until Mary showed up on her porch And look what happened when Mary drew near…

Vs.41-44

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Then Elizabeth said this…

V.45

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s faith was remarkable

Remember, in that culture adultery could potentially receive a death penalty Mary had to trust that God would preserve her through the accusations that she was unfaithful to Joseph Perhaps Mary’s visit was a faith boost to Elizabeth Also, Zechariah was there too, unable to speak

Mary’s visit may have been one of great encouragement to him also In the darkness of distrust, we must give God our yes in the incompleteness

Moving forward in faith is more important than having every detail So the first darkness is…

1. the darkness of DISTRUST

2. the darkness of DEFEAT

Zechariah messed up

His lack of trust in God cost him his voice Many of us can relate There are many of us in the room that messed up too

We didn’t obey God We did things we regret And now we feel the darkness of defeat

How should we respond then? Let’s go back to Luke 1 and see what we can learn…

Luke 1:57-61

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Elizabeth was adamant that the child be named John, even if it meant breaking cultural traditions

Why was she so certain, because of two key elements:

(1) she gave birth to a boy (2) lots of people rejoiced with her This is exactly what the angel Gabriel said would happen…

Re-read Luke 1:13b-14a

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you,

Everything that was said would happen, was now happening

The only thing required of the child’s parents was to name him John Back then, naming your child after a relative was one of the primary ways to honor your parents and grandparents

By selecting the name John, Elizabeth was breaking tradition and causing dishonor to her family The people couldn’t believe she would do such a thing so all eyes turned to her husband Zechariah for direction…

V.62

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.

V.63

He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”

By all indications, the people expected Zechariah to put his wife in her place for breaking tradition He shut down any confusion and obeyed what was told to him by the angel Gabriel

“His name is John”

V.64

Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

This time, Zechariah got it right, and his consequence was lifted

This leads us to the second lesson we can pull out of the story How should you respond to…

2. the darkness of DEFEAT

make good CHOICES with second CHANCES

The God of the Bible is a God of second chances The reality is that many of us are still facing the consequences of our bad choices

Many of us had the chance to get it right, to obey God, to experience his blessing And we missed it - and now we’re paying for it Yet God in his grace, doesn’t leave us in the doghouse forever If you stay committed to him, and don’t submit to the darkness of defeat, another shot will come And when it comes, make sure you make good choices with second chances

If you just climbed out of debt, don’t credit card swipe your way right back in If you are finally picking up the pieces of heartache from a bad relationship, don’t answer the phone when your ex-calls, promising that they’ve changed If your mouth got you in trouble, bite your tongue the next time If your silence got you in trouble, boldly stand up the next time If your pride caused conflict, humbly apologize and seek healing God is a God of second chances

Are you learning your lesson the first time? Zechariah did…

Re-read Luke 1:64

Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

Isn’t it cool that the first thing out of Zechariah’s mouth in 9 months was worship?

As soon as he got a chance to speak again he was praising God It makes me think of the Old Testament king David, who nearly crashed his whole life with a disastrously bad choice to commit adultery

In his humility, he cried out to God confessing his sin, and said these words…

Psalm 51:15

Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

If you have fallen, own it

Humble yourself before God And do what you can to make it right If you do these things, in time, your second chance will come

and when it does, open your lips and declare his praise Don’t repeat the same mistakes that led you into the darkness of defeat in the first place With Jesus there is mercy and grace

It’s not a free pass on every bad choice, but a chance to do the right thing So we have the…

1. the darkness of DISTRUST

2. the darkness of DEFEAT

3. the darkness of DISTANCE

Sometimes, we just feel so far away from God

But when you examine the God of the Bible, you will find a God who loves you so much, he will go through great lengths to close that gap An example of this is how he used John

So much of Luke 1 is about the eventual birth of John, what about after he was born? What kind of person was John? Shortly after Zechariah's speech was restored, he prophesied these words…

Luke 1:76-79 (ESV)

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

In case you wondered where Sunrise Church got its name, it came from this very passage

The sunrise is Jesus, and he was coming to bring light to the darkness John, the child of Zechariah and Elizabeth, was the one who would prepare the people for Jesus’ ministry

V.80

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

When he appeared publicly, people anxiously flocked out to the wilderness to see him

Remember, everyone knew his story His birth announcement was what broke 400 years of silence Everyone knew of Zechariah’s miracle They heard the prophecies, but John disappeared, then popped up out in the wilderness

So people began flocking to him

Matthew 3:4-6

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Shortly after this, John’s disciples started leaving John and following Jesus

People stopped flocking to John and started flocking to Jesus Jesus took the reins and brought it to a whole different stratosphere John did exactly what he was supposed to do

He was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light All of this was prophesied about, hundreds of years before it ever happened

Most notably by the prophet Isaiah who said…

Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The plan of God was to send someone to prepare the way for the Lord to come

Have you ever wondered why God did it this way? Why did he send a forerunner to prepare people for Jesus? Here’s why: because God loves people so much, he wanted to create the greatest likelihood for people to receive the Gospel

So he sent John to break up that hard soil So when Jesus went public, hearts were softened and ready That’s what Zechariah prophesied,

Jesus is described as the “sunrise” When the skies are darkened by night, the sun does not instantly appear and cause day If it did, we would all experience whiplash But instead, the darkness slowly rolls back, and the light of day slowly takes over If Jesus just burst onto the scene, it would have been such a shock to the people

So God prepared hearts first, by sending John to break that old ground This leads us to how we should respond to the darkness of distance

3. the darkness of DISTANCE

Invite God to BREAK OLD GROUND so he can BRING NEW GROWTH

I wonder how many of us, have felt distant from God You don’t have to be distant any longer

Gospel

For some today, the distance is because you have never given your life to Jesus

You keep giving your life to other things Money, entertainment, other relationships But you feel more distant than ever Maybe this service you have been sitting through has been one, long softening

Just like John the baptist prepared people’s hearts, your heart has been slowly getting prepared for this moment For the old ground to be broken, so new growth can begin Would you like to invite Jesus into your life?

What that means is that you admit to God you are a sinner That you believe in faith Jesus is the only one who could save you And you commit to following him In just a moment I want to lead you in a prayer you can repeat after me in the silence of your heart

If you pray this in genuine faith, God will hear you and will save you Now is the time, repeat after me as we pray

Jesus, today I put my trust in you // I have sinned against you // but I believe you can save me // I believe you died in my place // today I ask that you forgive me // that you become my personal Lord // and that you help me turn from my life of sin // and walk in new life with you // in Jesus’ name I ask // Amen.

Next Steps

I said yes on bulletin cards Text NEXT to 909.281.7797 Next Steps table

Conclusion

Next week we will continue to work our way through the next part of John 1

Who is a person you could invite to church? Maybe God wants to use you to help prepare someone for Jesus In the meantime, darkness is going to come

If its the darkness of distrust - don’t wait until every question gets answered Give God your Yes in the incompleteness If you are experiencing the darkness of defeat - don’t just throw in the towel

God is a God of second chances So make good choices with second chances And if you are experiencing the darkness of distance

Just know God may be trying to draw near, but your heart may be too hardened to receive his love Invite God to break old ground to bring new growth Jesus is the Messiah, the one we waited for, the one we need

But it was prophesied that a forerunner would come first If John the Baptist never came, we should still be searching for the Messiah The good news is this - Jesus is the Messiah

He came The true light came into the world And God used John, to prepare the way for him

o May every heart be prepared to receive the light of Christ today!