Christmas is About God Doing the Impossible

nine months now. And um uh we're going to transition over to Luke chapter 1 because how do you sing joy to the world immediately following the prayer request that just got lifted up this morning? Very serious. And we can do that because of Christmas. Because Christmas is something more than just the feel-good feelings of the Hallmark channel. Christmas is about God doing the impossible in the middle of normal people's lives. Not not spiritual superheroes, not people that have um polished saints or had their prayer lives together and family dramas resolved, but people who are overwhelmed, confused, waiting, disappointed, tired. In other words, Christmas came 2,000 years ago to people who look just like us. So, let's go to Luke chapter 1. I'd like to look at the first 30 verses or so because what Luke does, Dr. Lou gives us a opening act of the greatest story ever told. It's it's Luke the physician turning historian crafting the meticulous preference to the arrival of God to humanity to his children. Luke tells us about an aging priest, a a barren woman, a terrified virgin girl, an angel who interrupts centuries of silence, and a God who is quietly preparing the world for Jesus. And what we learn is that God moves with purpose and intentiality. He He steps into our weakness. He interrupts our hopelessness. He brings salvation by himself because Christmas is not about a God who says try harder. It's about a God who says watch what I can do. So let's go on because Luke begins his words and they're almost academic in their start. Let's go with the first four verses. Just some key phrases here. He starts, for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most assuredly believed among us. Verse three, it seemed good to me to write unto thee that here we go. Thou mayest know, underline these words, the certainty of those things. So by his own words, Luke is not giving us a myth, legend, not giving us holiday sentiment. He's actually given us certainty of what God has done. So I want you to think for just a moment about Luke former. He's a physician turned historian like I said, but right now he's a CSI investigator of the New Testament. He's literally interviewing the eyewitnesses of everything he's about to do. He he tracks down the sources. He reviews the evidence. And you could imagine if you will, he's walking around with a parchment and quill and uh and he's writing to this guy by the name of Theophilos, which literally means lover of God. And by extension to each of us that love God, to each of us who read these words, to anyone to anyone who needs assurance that this story is not wishful thinking. It's truth because Christmas is rooted in history. It's rooted in real dates, real people, real places, real geography. And the miracle, the miracle is that Christmas and Jesus coming to this world is not deluded by the evidence. It's actually strengthened by it. Because sometimes we can think of Christmas as this like feel-good season. But Luke insists that it's something much stronger than your feelings. It's about certainty. Not a feeling, not a tradition, not nostalgia, but the truth. Your hope is not anchored in cinnamon. It's anchored in the unshakable word of God. And so, let's see how God meets us in our search for certainty. Because some people will approach faith like a hallmark movie. Warm, predictable, comforting, but not entirely realistic. And here's what Luke is saying. saying, "Hey, let me show you the receipts." Because if you're wor if if you're wrestling with doubt, you're in good company because Luke wrote this gospel to doubters, to thinkers, to believers, to district attorneys, to accountants, to scientists, to exhausted parents, to the heartbroken. He wrote it to them so they could stand on something stronger than their emotions and feelings. And Luke wants you to lean the entire weight of your existence on Jesus Christ. Let's go to verses 5-7. And there were in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest named Zachcharias and of course Abi and his wife was one of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and all the ordinance of the Lord, blameless. I I want to pause right here because they're doing everything right. You you get the account right and just in case the kids missed it. This is Zacharias. He's a priest. He had to be descended from the line of Aaron. But not only was he a priest, his wife Elizabeth, we are told, is a descendant of the line of Aaron. We got two good people. And the Bible says that they're doing everything right. They're going to, you know, going to church all the time. Uh, and their per and their reputation is spotless and blameless. I wish I could claim that, but I smell like sheep and other things that have nothing to do with sheep. Anyway, I confessions later in the day, but I want you to notice something because we are about to hit a note of discord because everything is perfect with them. They are very godly people. They are think of a couple here in the Camp Creek Church or maybe the go holiest people you know. Think of them. And that's kind of what Zacharias and Elizabeth are. But we're about to hit a no because everything doesn't go right just because you do good. And I want to emphasize that because so many of us have this quid proquo view of God that if we do good, he blesses us. If we do bad, he curses us. That's not God. Now, scripture teaches us we we reap what we sow here on earth. But God's done so something so miraculous for us that he's taking care of heaven for us by the action of Jesus Christ. We don't have a quid proquo relationship on the most important thing. But so many of us think that we're only accepted if we do good. And you're already accepted in the beloved. That that's scripture. And it was by a plan of God that he had before the foundation of the world. We know Ephesians 1 and 33 according to he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated us into the adoption of Jesus Christ by the good pleasure of his will and nothing else. We see Acts 2:32 saying that Christ was delivered by the determinant counsel and fornowledge of God for you. It was a plan God had all along because he loved you. And so here Zachcharias is and Elizabeth is and God loved them before they were even born. They're doing everything right, but we're about to hit a note of discord. And they were barren. You know, you can do everything right and life still doesn't work out sometimes quite right. And right, Luke writes it with surgical precision. Here it is. Verse seven. and they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken in years. We might read this too casually for them. This wasn't a footnote. It was a lifelong ache. Every month came and every month ended with disappointment. Every time the village had baby showers, Elizabeth had tightened her stomach and smiled through the tears. Every prayer about this felt like it fell on the same silence. They had prayed for a child. They had hoped. They had waited. But time moved on. Age set in. And biology shifted from possible to impossible. Sometimes the most faithful people carry some of the deepest wounds. But this is one of the great gifts of scripture because God does his great works in places that we think we're too late, we're too broken, we're too empty. That's why I love the Christmas season because Christmas shows us that God is specializing in entering into barrenness, both literal and figurative, and bringing life from places that have never produced anything before. But I got to ask a question, you know, because scripture is just, man, blazingly plain. Why show us their pain? And I think it's because God works always God's works always take place in in real stories, not not ideal ones. Some of us are are living right now with unfulfilled prayers, prayers that we stop praying, unanswered questions, private heartaches that we don't talk about. So Zachcharias and Elizabeth remind us that God doesn't forget his people. You don't age out of God's plans. Your stories don't expire. Your prayers don't have a shelf life. So now let's watch our God. Our God who interrupts our daily lives. It starts in verse eight. Something remarkable happens. It says, "And it came to pass." And if you're new to the Bible, that phrase, "And it came to pass," means, "Watch out. God's about to do something wonderful." Get ready. He's about to do something nobody saw coming. And so Zachariah enters the temple to burn some incest. something that the priest did dozens of times a month, hundreds of times a year. It's routine for Zachcharias to go into the to the temple to offer up prayers and sacrifices to burn incense. It's a routine. It's predictable. It's familiar. But on this day, the angel Gabriel appeared. But it came to pass that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense. And we went into the temple of the Lord. So Zachcharias is performing his priestly duty. He's doing something he's done countless times before. It's routine. It's predictable. It's familiar. John, why do you keep saying that? Let's say it again. Routine. predictable and familiar. But often God interrupts our routine days and our routine experiences with something that's just absolutely wonderful. And it says, "And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord." So Zachcharias wasn't fasting. Dig it. He wasn't fasting. He wasn't crying out. He wasn't praying. He wasn't doing something super spiritual. He was just doing his job and showing up at work. Have you ever noticed how often God seems to meet people who simply just remain faithful in their in the ordinary? God God doesn't just meet people in on the mountaintops. He meets them in the fields, in the workshops, around the kitchen table. He seems especially fond of showing up where the faithfulness just kind of refuses to quit. I mean, just think about it. Ruth Ruth wasn't trying to change history. She was just gleaning from the fields, picking up a full handfuls of purpose, which means just picking up some grain. She was barely getting by. And that's where God met her, and he wo her story into the lineage of Jesus Christ. Think about Hannah. We studied her about six months ago. She was barren. She was praying. She was just faithful going to temple every day. That's all that was really said about her and her prayers and her heartaches. And God delivered one of the greatest prophets of all time when he met Hannah in that moment. Think about the widow of of of of Zarapath. She was just going to make one last meal to feed her and her child. And yet she obeyed God with what little she had, just a simple meal. when God met her there. Think about David, who we've been studying for the past few weeks. He was he was just tending the sheep when God met him through the prophet Samuel. He wasn't doing anything special. Think about every one of the disciples when God met them before they ever preached to thousands. They were fishermen, tax collectors, tradesmen, and God met them while they were casting their nets, collecting their coins, and walking dusty roads. God meets us in our ordinary day. Well, here Zachariah says, "And he's meeting an angel." And it says, "And when Zachariah saw him, the angel, he was troubled." And that's because angels aren't like what you put on your Christmas tree, those chubby little fat babies with his super small wings that are not aerodynamic. Angels were terrifying beings because they were radiant. They really showed forth. And and when Zachariah saw him, he was he was troubled and fear fell upon him. You know, sometimes it seems like God will shake us a little bit before he shapes us. Get that? He shakes us before he shapes us. So, here Zachchariah says he's overwhelmed. And you might be, too. Maybe you're going through a shaking right now. But the angel, the angel's unfazed. But the angel said unto him, "Fear not, Zachcharias. Thy prayer is heard."

If I've lost your attention, give it back to me. This might be some of the most important words I say today. But the angel said unto him, "Fear not, Zacharias, because thy prayer is heard." What prayer?

The one he stopped praying.

the one they were praying when he and his wife were over here in the possible. But God doesn't forget those prayers. God doesn't forget anything about you. It was a prayer that Zacharias had given up on long time ago. the one that he had prayed. But as he prayed it in the years advance, it deflated every year until all hope was just gone. That's the prayer that the angel is talking about. He maybe he prayed it even mechanically for a few years after that, but there came a point when just not possible. It's the prayer that right now feels too late, too painful to bring up again. But God does not forget what we stop hoping for. God does not forget what his children cry out. And even when they stop crying out. So the angel says to Elizabeth, "You're going to bear a son." And not just any son. She's going to bear a forerunner, John the Baptist, the one who will make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And I want you to listen to that promise. And thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John, and they shall have joy and gladness. Of course, she's going to have a boy named John. That's always, you know, I mean, can it get any better?

Okay, when God when God steps in, let me tell you something. Joy comes. There will be future struggles, of course, but the empty crib now contains God's purpose. And this silent home will become a voice crying in the wilderness. The the disappointment of decades is going to be replaced with rejoicing. And and and it says, "And and and many shall rejoice at his birth, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb." God is moving with purpose in an impossible situation. And many of the children of Israel shall be turned to the Lord their God. And he shall go before them in the spirit and the power of Elias that turn the hearts of the father to the children that be disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. I want you to notice that before Jesus comes, God sends a messenger to point to him because God is orchestrating these steps. God himself is doing the heavy lifting. And I want you to notice how Zacharias, a priest, a righteous man, struggles to believe. It says, "And Zachcharias said unto the angel, "Whereby shall I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." That's King James to me. And she's not a spring chicken anymore. Menopause. Yeah. Years ago ain't happening. Zachcharias responds, "How am I going to know this? have you counted my birthday candles? And he's staring at what's biologically impossible. And he's been living in this disappointment for years. And he's exhausted from believing too long with too little visible results. And sometimes sometimes our faith doesn't collapse because we doubt God. Sometimes our faith struggles because we're just worn out, worn down. But Gabriel, he knows something because God is not limited by our limitations. Gabriel says, "Look, I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of God." Oh my, he has seen some things. Translation: Hey, Zachcharias, you're looking at your limitations, but I'm constantly looking at a God on the throne who's sovereign over all things. Oh, by the way, he does his will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of earth. None can stay his hand or reply, what doest thou? That's the God that we serve. And he's still on his throne. And so it says, "And the angel answered him, saying, I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of God, and I am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee glad tidings." It's good news that God is on the throne, isn't it? And behold, thou shalt be dumb. That means not able to speak, kids. And not be able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season. Then we have a little postcript because he's struck down. Zacharias struck so he can't speak anymore. We'll get back to that in just a second. But when he goes outside the temple, verse 21 says, "And the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he terried so long in the temple." And when he came out, he could not speak unto them, for they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He beckoned unto them and remained speechless. I want y'all to know something. Gabriel's speech isn't so much about punishment literally as it is about preparation. Because sometimes, you know, temporary mooteness here is not necessarily judgment. It's actually kind of alignment. And I kind of think Zacharias is a lot like me that that God might have taken his voice away from him, not necessarily to punish him, but just to make them be quiet, to make room for awe. Y'all know there's people that just cannot shut up. Well, here's Zachcharias's. You know, the angel's like, "This is going to happen." Now, I'd like to think I would like walk away and say, "Yay and amen." All right, everybody. I'm going to have a baby. But that's not me. Not necessarily. Some of y'all was like me. Some of y'all will be like, "Yeah, the angel said this, but you know what? I had some mushrooms on my salad, and I'm not quite sure if I had, you know, I mean, look at me. Have you seen my wife? Look at her. Come on. It's not possible. Maybe." And I'm thinking that maybe the Lord took his mouth away to ensure that the miracle would not be contaminated with commentary.

And can I just throw this out because some of us don't need more words. We need to God to silence the voices that drown out his promises. We need these voices silenced. your fear, your logic, your timeliness, your selfanalysis. Sometimes heaven says, "Let me uh just hit the moot button long enough so that you can marvel." And it came to pass that as soon as the days of the ministration were accomplished that he departed to his own house. And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself for five months. So Elizabeth hides the has the baby and she retreats into seclusion for five months. Now I want you to notice something about this. Some miracles begin in the hidden seasons. Not everything that God does starts with a trumpet or on the mountaintop for everybody to see. And Elizabeth's not rushing to social media. She she's not doing a video announcement or a selfie. She simply goes along and worships. It says, "And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself for five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men." Because only God can take away your reproach. You don't get to do it. not through your faith, not through your good works, not through anything. It's a choice and an action of a sovereign God. And so Christmas really kind of reminds us that God moves quietly before he moves publicly. Before Bethlehem, there was a Nazareth. Before the angels in the sky, there was an angel in a lone room in a quiet temple. Before the shepherds, there's this stunned priest. God is comfortable doing worldchanging things when nobody's watching. Let's pick on up with verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent forth from God. So, we're shifting our focus from Elizabeth to Mary. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent forth from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth. a tiny tiny town by the way to a virgin espouseed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary and the angel came unto her and said hell thou art highly favored and the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be and the angel said unto her fear not Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. So you get it, right? The narrative is shifting. The contrast is intentional. God is moving in unexpected places. First, we dealt with a barren old woman. Now we're shifting over to a teenage virgin. God is moving in unexpected places. And the places that he moved because Nazareth, Nazareth was the hood. It had a reputation. It's like the town that you drive through on your way to somewhere important. And the disciples later, 20, 30 years later, would actually ask, "What can anything good come out of Nazareth?" But God loves choosing people that are overlooked in places that we can't think of anything good about. And so here Mary is, and we know that likely she's kind of poor, likely she's young, unknown, she has no platform, she has no pedigree, she has no influence. But God does not choose based on human metrics. He always chooses according to his plan. A plan that he had before the foundation of the world. Remember, according he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having past tense, predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will and nothing else. Not your faith, not your works, not your good deeds. Our God, it's one way action. And so it says, "Hell, thou art highly favored." Mary's kind of startled because she's humbled. And God often begins by disrupting us in our sense of unworthiness. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. And he shall be great and shall be called son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give him unto the throne of his father David. And he shall rule over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. That is Luke. Matthew adds something else that the angel said. Going to call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. Not might, not maybe, not offer them an opportunity. He's going to save it because he's God. And it says, "And God proclaims, "Thou shalt bring forth a son and call his name Jesus." And this is the culmination, y'all, of every prophecy ever prophesied in the Old Testament. His name Jesus is his mission. Jesus means Yahweh saves. It doesn't mean Yahweh tries hard. It doesn't mean Yahweh assists you in helping yourself. It doesn't mean Yahweh gives you a spiritual head start. It means God saves and he's going to be great. He's going to be called the son of the most highest. He's going to reign forever. He's going to sit on the throne of David. His kingdom is without end. Christmas is not a baby learning to become God. Christmas is God becoming a man. And this is crucial because the angel does not tell Mary what she must do to become worthy. He tells her what God will do through her. Christmas is about God's initiative, not ours. And Mary asked a very practical question. She says, "Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be?" Seeing I've not known a man. I want you to notice that Mary's not doubting. She's actually asking for understanding. And the angel gives one of the most profound explanations in scripture. And the angel answered and said unto her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called Baron." But then Gabriel, okay, here we go about to close out because Gabriel says something that kind of anchors the whole chapter. And quite honestly, Gabriel says something that anchors the entire Bible. Verse 37, for with God nothing would be impossible. Oh my, that's good news for me today. and every one of y'all, even if you don't know it. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Mary doesn't conceive Jesus by effort or exertion. God placed something inside of her. That power comes from above, not within. Kind of like when he eternally saved you. You know, in John chapter 3, Nicodemus sneaks over to him. Hey, you know, I want to go to heaven. And Jesus is like, "Hey man, want to be born again? You got, you know, marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again." Nicodemus is like, "What?" The Lord said, "It's of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's like the wind. You can't control it. You can only see the effects of it. Whether it cometh, whether it goeth, no man can control it. It's of God. So when he placed his spirit in you according to his direction, it's because something he wanted to do just like he wanted to do it with Mary. And what happens is is the Christmas miracle is entirely God's work. Mary didn't do it by effort or exertion. God put something in her. And the impossible is God's specialty because a buried woman carries a prophet, a a virgin carries a Messiah, a man and woman trapped in sin receive a savior. A Christmas is the ultimate reminder that we cannot climb our way up to God. He He had to come down to us. So what's the application for us today? I tell you one just in these few verses that we read is Christmas tells us that God works in the most unlikely places in a Nazareth in a barren womb and a tired old priest and a teenage girl. These really according to human metrics are not the top candidates for human intervention. And your life right now may feel ordinary, might feel too too ordinary. It might feel too broken. It might feel too busy or too chaotic, but those are the exact conditions that God does some of his greatest work. Christmas tells us that that God remembers what we forget and what we've stopped praying for. Zachcharias prayed decades ago and perhaps he believing, but God did not stop hearing. Let me tell you something. No prayer that you've prayed has ever just evaporated. Heaven has stored everyone. Christmas tells us that the salvation is all God's work, not ours. Because come to pray. He came

to assist your performance. He comes to accomplish the rescue

need to maintain spiritual momentum. You would lose it. Some of you would lose it in the parking lot leaving church today. Good news. Christmas is about his work, not yours. For with God, nothing is impossible. So the Christmas call, Christmas call. Let's enjoy. Let's not achieve because every world religion says do something. Christmas says something's already been done. Every self-help system says unlock your potential. Christmas says you didn't have any.

You know what this is? It's a three-dimensional loser any way you look at you. I'm you know I'm sorry but that's us. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. That's what the Bible says. The most righteous person ever to walk on earth his righteousness is as filthy rags. That's the best that we have to do on our best day. There's none righteous. No, not one. That's why we needed God. Christmas is not about spiritual performance. It's about heaven's intervention. The miracle is not Mary's effort. It's God's action. And if you lose everything else from Luke chapter 1, don't lose this. That God stepped into our existence and our impossibilities and accomplished what no one of us could ever done. He remembers forgotten prayers. He lifts up the humble. He fulfills the ancient promises. He enters into our barrenness and he silences our doubt. He breaks into the world's darkness. He sent his son. He saved his people. Christmas is not the story of what we bring to God. Story of what God brings to us.

Love the Christmas message, especially now. 2025 has been a rough year.

And now, as we're about to leave 2025, y'all heard the prayer request.

And I know every parent here can identify with what I'm about to say.

If I could take Julia's condition on myself, I would do it in a heartbeat faster. If I could, I would do it a hundred times.

I do it because I love her.

And if I would do that for my daughter,

because let me tell you something, that's not just some uh light thing. There were moments walking through the cancer journey this year that I woke up in the middle of the night in abject terror. Um, I remember one particular night I was in foresight, Georgia and all of a sudden I woke up and it was like somebody had poured ice water over me and I had this thing, you know, very well could die alone right now. And uh, I'm not scared of dying. I kind of look forward to it. See dad again, see my grandpa, aunt, my grandma, sweetest woman that ever walked the face of the earth. I kind of look forward to it. At that moment, I didn't want to because, you know, I had to get my will fixed. I had to file some things. I had to take care of some things. Some of those nights were scary. And there was some pain that, you know, I know I joke and I say inappropriate things. Not that inappropriate, you know, radio audience, but I do. I know that. But there are some things I haven't said to y'all that are just like it was not an easy journey for me. But I would take that on a hundred times for a hundred years. I would my daughter. I do it because I love her. Y'all, that's what Jesus did for us. He saw the condition that we are in because I can't, but he can. And he did. And he walked the journey that you can't walk. And he fulfilled every righteous demand that God had for you. That's the miracle of Christmas that Christ would. And here's the thing, the difference between me and Julia, she's lovable. I'm not. No, y'all. Yeah, I am not lovable. By the way, y'all aren't either. You know, scripture says, "In due time, Christ died for the ungodly." And yet, he decided to walk the walk for us. That's Christmas. That's the Christmas miracle. Heaven came to earth. God came to sinners. Salvation came to the undeserving. Hope came to the hopeless. And the angel's words echo across every generation. For with God, nothing is impossible. That's the gift of Christmas. That's the anchor of your soul. That's good news for us all. If you'd like to walk with Christ as we do here at Camp Creek Church, we give you that chance as we stand and sing hymn number

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