The Spirit of Preparation
The Spirit of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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December 7th, 2025
Series:The Spirit of Christmas
Sermon Title:The Spirit of Preparation
Topic:The work that God does in us to prepare us for His blessings.
Key Passages:Luke 1:5-25
Topic: Christmas, Jesus, Waiting
Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will see how God uses seasons of preparation and waiting to make us ready for His blessings.
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SERMON:
Well, everybody, welcome to the first week of our Christmas Series!
Aren’t you excited!?!?
As Pastor Bob always says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
And, the title of our Christmas series this year is “The Spirit of Christmas”!
Now, don’t you love Christmas?
I know I do!
The songs..
The lights…
The decorations…
The smells…
The food and cookies…
The gifts and generosity…
It’s all SO GOOD!
However, that’s not what we’re talking about in our series this year…
In this series, we are not talking about the “trappings of Christmas.”
We will be focusing our time on God’s activity in the Christmas Story.
What we will call “The Spirit of Christmas.”
Our focus will be on how God wants to move in similar ways in our hearts and lives here today.
If you have your Bibles with you, and I ALWAYS hope you do…
Please open them to
Luke 1
New Person Bible Connection:
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After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!
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PAUSE
Now, if you’re taking notes, the title of the sermon today is the “Spirit of Preparation.”
And what we will see in our time together today is how God took time to prepare everything to be just right for the coming of Jesus!
And how He wants to prepare us for His blessings in our lives, as well!
PAUSE
Now, how many of you observe Advent? (show of hands)
And, how many of you have no idea what Advent is???
ADD A STORY LIKE THIS….
Well, in my family and in my church when I was younger, I don’t remember much of a focus on Advent… maybe there was, but I just don’t remember…
Regardless, with our kids, my wife has been intentional about incorporating Advent themes into our Christmas rhythm as a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus!
We do the Advent calendar, we read Advent kids' books, we watch “The Star”, we watch “Journey to Bethlehem”…
We also watch “ELF”, which has nothing to do with Advent.
PAUSE
Let me clearly explain what Advent is all about.
Advent means “coming” and it refers to the period of PREPARATION before the celebration of Jesus’ birth…
Advent is a time of reflection, hope, and anticipation… but it is also a time of WAITING.
And what you will see today is a time when lots of people were in a season of waiting…
PAUSE
Have you ever been in a season where you had to wait on something?
Wait on a child.
Wait for a spouse.
Wait to grow taller.
Wait for a degree.
Wait on a proposal…
There are good things that God does in us when we have to wait for something in our lives.
Can I get an Amen?
PAUSE
Sometimes we are in seasons of waiting because we are NOT ready for what we want….
You might want to be the team captain, but you're not actually ready to be…
You might want to be the boss, but you're not actually ready to be…
You might want to get a promotion, but you're not actually ready to be…
You might want to get married, but you're not actually ready to be…
And so let me ask you a question…
If you are NOT ready for something…
What do you need to do?
You need to… what?
PREPARE….or Train…
Numerous people visited Jesus before His birth to PREPARE his parents for what was coming.
Before Jesus went into ministry, there was another guy named John who PREPARED the way for Jesus.
PAUSE
Now, to help make it stick, let’s write that down…. It’s the first point in your notes today…
1. God uses times of waiting to prepare us.
(repeat)
God wants to PREPARE you the great things you will do in life.
God wants to prepare you for the great blessings He has instore for you!
PAUSE
But, will you be patient?
Will you wait?
Will you yield to His timing in your life?
PAUSE
Share a quick story from your life about having to wait for something from God…
My story about being single until age 32 and all that God did IN ME while I was waiting…. How I thought for a season I was a gay male model…but it didn’t feel right when I gave in…
PAUSE
Being in seasons of preparation is not easy…
Waiting on God’s timing…is not easy…
We live in a “microwave” world.
We want everything fast…
Fast food…
Instant answers…
Success overnight.
Fast preachers…Can I get an Amen, you want to be the Baptists to lunch????
PAUSE
However, some of the best things in life take time.
Think back to food…
A microwave meal might be quick and easy, but it’s not as good as Grandma’s cooking is it?
Think of a slow-smoked brisket….
Homemade bread…
Mmmmmm-mmmmm!
How just wants me to close out now…so you can get to lunch?
You can’t rush a great meal… and you can’t rush God’s timing either!
Waiting on God might feel slow, but what He’s preparing IN you and FOR you is WORTH THE WAITING!
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy…
PAUSE
In today’s Bible passage we are going to read about a couple who had to wait for something…
In fact, they had to wait a REALLY LONG TIME.
But, as we will see, there was a work of preparation that God needed to do in them…
Just like He needs to do in many of us today.
Let’s join in their story…
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.
6 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.”
Let’s pause there for a second and make sure we all see what is going on here…
We have a couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Zechariah was priest.
Elizabeth’s parents and grandparents were priests.
So, they were a “ministry power couple.”
The Bible also tells us that, unlike many of the other priests and religious people of the day, these two were actually righteous in God’s sight.
That means that (spiritually) they were the REAL DEAL!
They weren’t fake.
They weren’t hypocrites.
They loved the Lord and sought to honor Him with their lives!
But even though they are great people who are seeking God…It does NOT mean life is perfect or easy.
They were BARREN!
They were unable to have children!
And based on their ages, the hope of ever having children was LONG GONE!
I mean, that ship had sailed!
And Family Church, in these days, if you were a BARREN woman, the stigma would be that God was punishing you.
There was some flaw,
some defect,
some sin in your life that was bringing about God’s judgment.
That’s the way that she, and her culture, would have felt.
Imagine living under the weight of THAT burden!
PAUSE
Imagine how hard that would have been for Zechariah, as well.
The judgmental looks being cast at your wife for her barrenness.
The talk going around the community about which you was the cause!
The burden and disappointment of having no son to pass along the family name.
The pain of prayers and dreams NOT COMING TO PASS for years or in their case….. decades.
PAUSE
Maybe you can relate…
Maybe there’s a prayer of yours that’s gone unanswered for years or decades…
Maybe you’ve prayed and prayed, and tried and tried but you have no children…
Maybe you have dreamed of getting married…but is NOT happening…
Maybe you dream of not being so broke you cannot do anything but having margin in life…
What do you do when there is no change in your life…
Do you ever wonder….
“Where is God?
Can God see my pain?
Does God care?”
You might just be in a season of PREPARATION.
God was preparing Zechariah and Elizabeth for an incredible blessing…
Watch and see what happens next…
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was one 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.
10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 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.
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 name him John.
14 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.
Stop reading there…
Now, imagine being Zechariah…
You’re old…
You’ve given up all hope that you will have a child.
But you keep on serving God.
Did you hear that, Family Church?
Even though God hadn’t answered his prayers.
Even though God didn’t meet his desires…
He still kept on serving God!
That’s a righteous man!
And one day he’s at work, and suddenly an angel of the Lord appears to him!
Imagine if you were in his shoes…
You would be SHOCKED!!!
Now, Biblically speaking, angels are not naked, chubby babies with wings!
Sorry, cupid lovers….
Angels are extraordinary, glorious creaturesthat instill fear and shock in humans!
So much so, the first thing the angel has to say to Zechariah is, “Do not be afraid!”
PAUSE
But look back at verse 13, the angel told Zechariah, “your prayer has been heard… your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to name him John.”
Now, maybe you’re thinking, “What prayer is the angel talking about?”
Well, no doubt the angel is talking about their prayers for a son!
The many prayers prayed, over YEARS of time…
Prayers that they had likely given up on.
Prayers connected to a dream that they had died to long ago.
PAUSE
But listen…
God heard those prayers, and He was about to answer them!
And that brings us to our next point in the sermon this morning…
Write this down…
2. Don’t lose hope during seasons of preparation… God hears your prayers and knows your heart's desires.
(Repeat)
Let me ask you a question…
You will see this in your notes….
Do you have some prayers you have given up on?
- Maybe prayers for a spouse…
- Maybe prayers for the salvation of a loved one…
- Maybe prayers for healing…
- Maybe prayers for a breakthrough…
- Prayers for reconciliation of a relationship…
Listen, God has heard those prayers!
And, like we have talked about before…
A NO does NOT mean No forever…..
It might just mean not yet…
God might have a better plan ahead for you…
God might have you in a season of PREPARATION.
God’s timing is different than ours because He sees the WHOLE PICTURE!
PAUSE
Let’s keep reading….verse 18…
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.”
Now, on the one hand, we can understand how Zechariah could struggle when hearing this news, right?
He is an OLD man!
The Bible says his wife is REALLY OLD!!!!
Meaning she is WELL BEYOND the body’s ability to get pregnant and have children!
But on the other hand, AN ANGEL sent by God just appeared to him and brought this miraculous good news!
PAUSE
Verse 19…
19, “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.”
Gabriel hits the “MUTE BUTTON” on the remote control!
Zechariah would be SILENT until the day John was born.
Why?
Because he doubted….
PAUSE
And this highlights an important truth for all of us…
See, like Zechariah, we can be righteous, Godly people…
We can walk with the Lord for decades…
We can go to church every week,
We can sing all the worship songs,
We can give, volunteer, lead small groups, teach classes…
And yet (like Zechariah) we can still doubt God when He speaks to us!
We can still balk when God calls us to the next thing!
Even though Zechariah was a priest and a Godly man… he was on spiritual “cruise control”.
He wasn’t ready for the next thing God was bringing his way!
He missed the moment!
But what about Elizabeth? Verse 23…
23, When his time of service was completed, he returned home.
24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.
25 “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.”
Now this response was different, right Family Church?
Where Zechariah (the Priest) doubted God and was disciplined…
Elizabeth believed God and was blessed!
Zechariah was forced into silence and Elizabeth erupted in praise!
PAUSE
Now, think of it… what an incredible turn of events for this woman of God!
- Her whole life she was judged.
- Her whole life she felt shame.
- Her whole life she was disgraced.
But now, she experiences the FAVOR of the Lord!
Now she knows that her shame and disgrace would be taken away!
And all she can say is, “The Lord has done this for me!”
How beautiful is that?
PAUSE
So, as we wrap up our time together this morning, we will focus on a time of reflection and action… a time we call our “Life Application.”
This is a time when we encourage all of us to think about what the Holy Spirit has been saying to each one of us personally, and then we commit to stepping out in simple obedience.
So, write down what you sense God is calling you to do this week in obedience to His Word and then talk about that over lunch with your friends or family members… and watch and see how God will work in your lives!
Life Application: What can you do to turn off “spiritual cruise control” in your life? As a result of today’s message, I will… ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prayer:
Make sure to do a salvation call!
Offering:
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