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Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this?" (Luke 1: 18) Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and realized the other person wasn't so much listening to you as waiting for their turn to speak? When I first read through this passage, I felt bad for Zechariah. He had just received some incredible news from an angel, and then seconds later he is stru...
Keep ReadingZechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." 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. 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 co...
Keep ReadingWhat Will God Do Next? Elizabeth Lynberg And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, "What then will this child turn out to be?" For the hand of the Lor...
Keep ReadingThey had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; they were both well along in years The angel said, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son" (Luke 1:7, 13). In 1951, Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes wrote the poem "A Dream Deferred." Specifically referencing the long-delayed dream of racial equality, Hug...
Keep ReadingThe angel said to Zechariah, "Do not be afraid; your prayer has been heard " (Luke 1:13). [Editor's note: we welcome Elizabeth Lynberg to our CD writers' team! Look for her initial contribution later this week.] Things quiet down a bit, in this week between Christmas and New Years' as 2022 winds down to its last few days. This is the last of our Unspeakable Joy series, a...
Keep ReadingThough you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now,you believe in him and are filled with an unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:8). As we approach Christmas and the culmination of our Unspeakable Joy series, let's notice the noise of the story, as we're given it in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The first Christmas, the real one, had its unique...
Keep Reading"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the peoplea Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2: 10-11)" Sometimes I like to think "what if?" when reading passages from the Bible. Imagine this: The heavenly host has given great tidings of joy to the shepherds outside Bethlehem. Amazed by the news, the shepherds dec...
Keep ReadingBut the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joywhich will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for youa Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10). Have you ever imagined what it would be like to encounter an angel? I believe I did once during my first year of college. On my way to an earl...
Keep Reading"A savior has been born to you! The shepherds said to one another,'Let's gothey hurried offthey spread the word'."Luke 2:11, 15-17 What do you do first when you get good news? Savor it alone? Ponder how on earth you were so fortunate? Share it with someone? Myriad someones? I'm guessing the latter because good news needs to be, begs to be shared. And often, we just can't...
Keep ReadingIn those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken (Luke 2:1). Was the first Christmas impossible to miss? I'd venture that around 99.99% of people alive at the time missed it. I doubt Caesar Augustus, the most powerful man of the time, ever heard of Jesus of Nazareth. After all, Rome's first and arguably greatest Emperor died when Jesus was onl...
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