{"id":6269,"date":"2020-12-13T16:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T20:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=6269"},"modified":"2020-12-13T17:08:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T21:08:11","slug":"the-miracle-before-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=6269","title":{"rendered":"THE MIRACLE BEFORE CHRISTMAS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones<\/strong><\/h3>\n

rec 12-13-20<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Miracle Before Christmas<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Luke 1: 1-27; 39-45; 57-66<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

A FAITHFUL COUPLE\u00a0 \u00a0 Luke 1:1-5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that\u00a0have been accomplished among us,\u00a0<\/strong>2\u00a0<\/strong>just as those who\u00a0from the beginning were\u00a0eyewitnesses and\u00a0ministers of\u00a0the word\u00a0have delivered them to us,\u00a0<\/strong>3\u00a0<\/strong>it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write\u00a0an orderly account for you,\u00a0most excellent\u00a0Theophilus,\u00a0<\/strong>4\u00a0<\/strong>that you may have\u00a0certainty concerning the things\u00a0you have been taught. 5\u00a0<\/strong>In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of\u00a0the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.<\/span><\/h3>\n

A FRIGHTENING VISION\u00a0 \u00a0Luke 1: 8-12<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Now\u00a0while he was serving as priest before God when\u00a0his division was on duty,\u00a09\u00a0<\/strong>according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot\u00a0to enter\u00a0the temple of the Lord and burn incense.\u00a010\u00a0<\/strong>And the whole multitude of the people\u00a0were praying\u00a0outside at the hour of incense.\u00a011\u00a0<\/strong>And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of\u00a0the altar of incense.\u00a012\u00a0<\/strong>And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and\u00a0fear fell upon him.<\/span><\/h3>\n

A FABULOUS ANNOUNCEMENT\u00a0 \u00a0Luke 1: 13-17<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

But the angel said to him, \u201cDo not be afraid, Zechariah, for\u00a0your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and\u00a0you shall call his name John.\u00a014\u00a0<\/strong>And you will have joy and gladness, and many will\u00a0rejoice at his birth,\u00a015\u00a0<\/strong>for he will be\u00a0great before the Lord. And\u00a0he must not drink wine or strong\u00a0drink, and\u00a0he will be\u00a0filled with the Holy Spirit,\u00a0even from his mother’s womb.\u00a016\u00a0<\/strong>And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,\u00a017\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0he will go before him\u00a0in the spirit and power of Elijah,\u00a0to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and\u00a0the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,\u00a0to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

Malachi 4: 5-6<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cBehold, I will send you\u00a0Elijah the prophet\u00a0before the great and awesome day of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0comes.\u00a06\u00a0<\/strong>And he will\u00a0turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and\u00a0strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

A FORCEFUL REBUKE\u00a0 \u00a0Luke 1: 18-20<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

And Zechariah said to the angel,\u00a0\u201cHow shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.\u201d\u00a019\u00a0<\/strong>And the angel answered him, \u201cI am\u00a0Gabriel.\u00a0I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.\u00a020\u00a0<\/strong>And behold,\u00a0you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

A FANTASTIC BLESSING\u00a0 \u00a0Luke 1: 21-27<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in\u00a0the temple.\u00a022\u00a0<\/strong>And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in\u00a0the temple. And\u00a0he kept making signs to them and remained mute.\u00a023\u00a0<\/strong>And\u00a0when his time of\u00a0service was ended, he went to his home.24\u00a0<\/strong>After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,\u00a025\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me,\u00a0to take away my reproach among people.\u201d In the sixth month the angel\u00a0Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named\u00a0Nazareth,\u00a027\u00a0<\/strong>to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,\u00a0of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Numbers 6: 24-26<\/span><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and\u00a0keep you; 25\u00a0<\/strong>the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0<\/strong>the\u00a0Lord\u00a0lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Luke 1: 36-37<\/span><\/h3>\n

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her\u00a0who was called barren.\u00a037\u00a0<\/strong>For\u00a0nothing will be impossible with God.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

A FAMILY VISIT\u00a0 \u00a0Luke 1: 39-45<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into\u00a0the hill country, to a town in Judah,\u00a040\u00a0<\/strong>and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.\u00a041\u00a0<\/strong>And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth\u00a0was filled with the Holy Spirit,\u00a042\u00a0<\/strong>and she exclaimed with a loud cry,\u00a0\u201cBlessed are you among women, and\u00a0blessed is\u00a0the fruit of your womb!\u00a043\u00a0<\/strong>And why is this granted to me that the mother of\u00a0my Lord should come to me?\u00a044\u00a0<\/strong>For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.\u00a045\u00a0<\/strong>And\u00a0blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

A FAMOUS NAME\u00a0 \u00a0Luke 1: 57-66<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.\u00a058\u00a0<\/strong>And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord\u00a0had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.\u00a059\u00a0<\/strong>And\u00a0on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,\u00a060\u00a0<\/strong>but his mother answered, \u201cNo;\u00a0he shall be called John.\u201d\u00a061\u00a0<\/strong>And they said to her, \u201cNone of your relatives is called by this name.\u201d\u00a062\u00a0<\/strong>And\u00a0they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.\u00a063\u00a0<\/strong>And he asked for\u00a0a writing tablet and wrote,\u00a0\u201cHis name is John.\u201d And they all wondered.\u00a064\u00a0<\/strong>And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue\u00a0loosed, and he spoke,\u00a0blessing God.\u00a065\u00a0<\/strong>And\u00a0fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all\u00a0the hill country of Judea,\u00a066\u00a0<\/strong>and all who heard them\u00a0laid them up in their hearts, saying, \u201cWhat then will this child be?\u201d For\u00a0the hand of the Lord was with him.<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones rec 12-13-20   The Miracle Before Christmas Luke 1: 1-27; 39-45; 57-66   A FAITHFUL COUPLE\u00a0 \u00a0 Luke 1:1-5 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that\u00a0have been accomplished among … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6269"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6275,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions\/6275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}