LISTEN NOW 

always winter. never christmas.

those sad words were spoken in narnia, when the white witch ruled and turned souls into ice. it had lasted what seemed like forever. no one could remember when it hadn’t been this way. which meant that it was hard to believe the prophecy, that it would ever be spring there again. and yet there were rumors…

in the first chapter of luke’s gospel, there were also rumors. rumors that God was about to bring his messiah. first God spoke to the old, old priest zechariah, and told him that he and his wife elizabeth would have a son. but zechariah struggled to believe. after all, it was spiritual winter in israel, and had been for 400 years. was God really about to do something? it was hard to imagine…

but God kept his promise to zechariah and elizabeth, and they had a son, and named him john, just as the angel had instructed them. (read it)

at the naming of his son, zechariah’s voice was returned to him, and he sang. he sang a magnificent song about the faithfulness of God. the song had four themes…  (read it)

1. a song of fulfilled prophecy

2. a song of kept promises

3. a song of God’s power

4. a song of God’s mercy

you and i live through spiritual winters as well. these seasons may occur for material or relational reasons, but they lead to spiritual frozenness, which is the worst kind of bitter cold. zechariah’s song – and the messiah he introduces – reminds us of four things when we are freezing inside…

1. we are not forgotten

2. we are not alone

3. we are not condemned

4. it won’t last forever