Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
From Doubt to Faith a Christmas Journey
This episode focuses on the profound messages embedded within the Christmas story, exploring themes of faith, hope, and readiness to embrace the miraculous in our lives. Through reflections on the characters of the nativity, especially Zechariah, and the call for persistence in prayer, we are encouraged to look beyond the mundane and recognise the divine purpose in our everyday experiences.
• Emphasising the miracle of Jesus' birth and its significance
• Importance of sharing the good news during Christmas
• Lessons from Zechariah’s faithfulness and persistence • Recognising the supernatural in daily life
• Living with focus and purpose amid distractions
• Understanding God's promises and timing
• The character of God revealed through Jesus’ birth
• The call for believers to share God’s love this season
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Just a short reading. If those that have got their Bibles with them, would they like to turn to the book of Luke, chapter 2, and we're starting from verse 4. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn, a son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were, in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them Do not be afraid, for behold, now that is the basic covering of the birth of our child, our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. Who this is all about? And this is all what Christmas stems from. This is the time of the year when Jesus is still going to be able to get a little bit more attention than usual, even if some of that attention is seemingly negative and shallow. Instead of arguing or complaining over whether retail store employees should say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, let's seize this season as a positive opportunity to share the good news. These are tough times that we live in in many respects, but for the believer, they are also really good times in terms of some of the great opportunities God has brought our way.
Speaker 1:With us entering the holiday season approaching the celebration of the birth of Christ, I wanted to present the really good news of Christmas. In the midst of a world of Scrooges, while most people are saying bar humbug, christians ought to be saying thank you, god, for being so good. Now, I know that's a little, you know, drama-ish or melodramatic, whatever you like to call it, but in some cases it's actually true. Christmas is really a deeply theological story about the incarnation of Christ, god coming to earth. The Word becoming flesh, and surrounding the nativity story are multiple instances of God speaking to his people. Now, leading up to the 25th of December, maria and I often go and battle the crowds, as we do every year. When will we ever learn that everybody does the same thing Find it amazing about the days as we get closer and closer to this monumental day, the focus with which most of the women shop.
Speaker 1:Have you ever noticed that when it comes to Christmas shopping, men find a bench somewhere, but women often have this look of intensity? They are zeroing in with purpose, for which they realize that this is probably the last opportunity they'll get to shop leading up to Christmas? We often live life with a similar kind of focus. We pursue with intensity our daily grind, we get into the routine of living and we just live with full effort. Sometimes we get so focused on our daily life that we forget to keep our eyes peeled for the miraculous. We need to have our eyes open to the possibility that there is more to life than simply surviving. There is a miraculous level of living as well. Just as the children of Israel in the wilderness became hardened to the daily miracles of life, so do we.
Speaker 1:The angel gave six specific promises to Zechariah in this particular passage in Luke 1.5 through to 25. Now listen to this very, very clearly. Right, your prayers are going to be answered. God has been miraculous and gracious. The name John means grace of God. Gracious. The name John means grace of God, you and your people will know joy and goodness and gladness. Your child is going to be great. Israel will see a national revival. Your child is the forerunner to the soon coming Messiah.
Speaker 1:Now you notice how I got there and I all of a sudden changed the focus to Zachariah because, you know, sometimes people focus so much around the birth of Jesus they forget about the other things leading up to that, just like we forget about things leading up to the day of celebration and everybody's buying those last presents and they're getting their plans ready to do their big Christmas dinner. Just imagine what was really taking place with God as he was preparing the way for the coming Messiah. Now, just like everybody else and I'm just as bad as everybody else out there listening to this you've got to remember that sometimes things in the natural have an overlay of the supernatural and we only look at that one aspect of it. We look at things in the natural. We forget about what's really going on behind the scenes, and that's what God is doing, really going home behind the scenes, and that's what God is doing.
Speaker 1:Zechariah doubted and responded by essentially saying give me more evidence and then I'll believe you. This is much like the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea on dry land. Then, when Moses went to receive the ten commandments, they forgot god and shaped a golden calf. It's like the rich man who begged abraham to send lazarus back from the grave to witness to his brother. It's also like thomas, who demanded more than mere verbal affirmations but wanted visible evidence. You know, like to see that Jesus was who he was. He wanted to put his finger into the holes in his hand and into his side. All these cases are where people demanded more evidence than just the promise of God, for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5.7.
Speaker 1:So how do we prepare for the miraculous? Well, it starts like this Live life on call for God. Now we've got to be prepared for what he wants us to do. Here's the amazing thing about Zechariah and Elizabeth. See, at least we should disregard them completely. Even though they weren't seeing anything miraculous, they were still living faithfully, godly lives.
Speaker 1:Israel was in the midst of a 400 year silence, with no prophecy and no recorded angelic announcements and no significant miracles to speak of. Yet here were two servants. They were living faithfully when there is no fanfare, when nobody is watching, when there is little to look forward to tomorrow. Do we continue living faithfully for God, ready to respond at any moment? Now I'm saying this same question to myself because sometimes, just like our Christmas shopping, we are so focused on what is actually taking place in the natural we forget about the plan and the purpose behind why we are here. Jeremiah 29, 11 says I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and have you in good health. Now we know that God has got a plan for us, but we don't know what it is. So do we just go about our normal life doing things? We've got to refuse to let ministry become mundane. There were approximately 20,000 priests divided into 24 countries of ministry, which was serving two eight-day periods of a time of the year. Each course consisted of about 830 men.
Speaker 1:To get to burn incense was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Zachariah. It was a special occasion, but it was nothing compared to what God wanted to do in the once-in-a-lifetime moment. But Zachariah seemed so into the momentous ability and the opportunity of doing his duty that he failed to realise the significance of that particular experience. The Okay, let me put it this way the miraculous may become commonplace Now. I've said this a couple of times I've quoted a statement by Charles Mingus which says this making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that is creativity. That our God is a great creator and has a great ability to be creative at any time. We get to the point where we just go through the motions of life and we forget how significant it is to put flowers on the table, to visit the hospital or to sing in the choir.
Speaker 1:We need to keep praying with persistence. Here again is another great thing to notice about Zachariah. He kept praying in spite of a lack of an answer, even though he and his wife were beyond childbearing years, sound familiar with someone else. The thing is, they kept praying for a child. He may have doubted the answer, but he had been on his knees, praying with persistence. A lesson in persistence praying is in Luke 11.10. It's written into a continuous sense. In other words, it literally reads whoever keeps on asking, keeps on seeking, keeps on knocking, will be answered.
Speaker 1:We need to believe that God's word is enough. Jesus condemned the religious leaders of his day because they demanded a sign. The problem is not that they were seeking to know God's will more assuredly, but rather than that they were demanded more evidence that God's very own word was written before them. This is really the crime of Zechariah. He hears the message of God through Gabriel and demands more. So after we hear things, we don't understand what God is saying about something. Yet we won't believe it until we hear more information. We demand greater evidence that what God is willing to give. We must learn to simply trust in the truth that God's word is enough. He says what he says and when he says it is the final saying. You know. Another example of this is kids. They often bargain with us. When you say no to something, they begin to reason with us or try to lay claim to some territory. We do the same with God. He says yes or no to something, and we keep bargaining. We try to reinterpret his words or re-examine them for a new generation. In doing so, we often call into question the sufficiency of the scriptures. But God's word is enough.
Speaker 1:Zachariah was unwilling to believe in the clearly revealed words of God concerning his future. What have you believed God about? What's God's promise to you for your eternal life? What are you waiting on? If you read further in the book of Luke, you go to Luke 1, 57 through to 80, you will fully understand where I'm coming from. God sent Zechariah and Elizabeth an angelic message with the great news that they were going to have a boy named John, who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Instead of responding with absolute faith in this miraculous power of God, zechariah responded with doubt and demand More, more evidence. We can't write him off as unsupernatural or unspiritual, for he was living a godly life and praying persistently. In spite of a lack of the answer from God.
Speaker 1:It is often in the times of silence that our faith grows the most. We are forced to say nothing, to attempt to explain nothing, rather simply to watch God at work. To watch God at work Now, if we go back to Habakkuk 2.29, it puts it this way but the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before him. Wow, it says it all. Then See, the thing is that we look at the word of God and we try and change it or modify it, or, you know, look at it from a different perspective and you think, I think I know what this is saying. Well, I think it's plain and simple. What the word says is what the word says.
Speaker 1:When Zachariah experienced the miracle. He confirmed it by naming his baby John. The people marveled and Zachariah got his voice back. He immediately employed it to give praise to God and to share with us some rather important spiritual truths. He sang what has since become known as the Benedictus. If you don't fully understand the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth, you need to read through it, because it's all about John the Baptist, and he was the one that made a way for Jesus.
Speaker 1:Verse 68 and 69 says I believe in God's redemption and salvation. What do you believe about your eternity? Zachariah used two very important words in his song. One of the words was redemption. That word refers to the way in which God has actually purchased us back from the grip of sin, death and eternal damnation. He has redeemed. He also used the word salvation, which has to do with the being delivered from some sure and terrible end. Zachariah was affirming God's ability to save and that God was now demonstrating his saving power to the Jewish people. What do you believe about the saving power of God? What do you believe about the saving power of God?
Speaker 1:In a world of over 7 billion people, it's easy to feel small, to feel as if our day-to-day lives aren't worth much, especially when we're drowning in a sea of mundane rituals and daily blog as we just go along aimlessly living our life. Yet God has a purpose and a plan for each of us. This is what I was talking about if you read Jeremiah 29.11. We all have unique gifts and talents. We all have unique perspectives, certain friends, groups of people that we associate with and various members in our workplace. God uses this rich diversity to carry out his will, and his plans are always bigger, bolder and better Everything we could ever imagine. When you start to feel small, I hope that these words encourage you. From the Bible, we are reminded of God's plan for your life. Although you may feel that your life is ordinary, in the hands of our maker, the extraordinary is always possible. I go back to Jeremiah 29, 11 and I'll say it again, for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord Plans to prosper you and to not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. We all want a future and we all want the opportunity to be more acquainted with the Lord.
Speaker 1:Jesus had to be born because God wanted to reveal his own character to humanity. Embodied in God is the character love, and God demonstrates his character to man by giving his only begotten son. Christians and non-Christians alike know the scripture John 3.16. God so loved the world that he gave. He gave his only begotten son so that whoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ had to be born to remove the sin of humans through a perfect sacrifice. It's important we understand that God didn't permit animals as a means of atonement of man's sin, but to enable us to appreciate the fact that for us to be saved from our sin, there is a need for a sacrifice.
Speaker 1:Exodus 25, 8 and 9, exodus 40, 34 to 35, and then in the New Testament, hebrews 10, 4. And in the New Testament, hebrews 10.4. You see, jesus had to be born for mankind to have a mediator. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant. The ministry of Jesus Christ is better than the Levitical priesthood. Hebrews 8,. Jesus had to be born to provide the promised seed of Abraham. Galatians 3, 14 and 16 and Galatians 3, 28. Also, romans 8,14 and 17. Jesus had to be born for God to make his spirit available to all mankind.
Speaker 1:As at that moment, adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, he also severed that intimate relationship that existed between God and man. Now you notice I mean, everybody's got to pick up on this. I said when Adam sinned okay, because Adam was the first man and Eve was the first woman. Yes, we know that Eve picked the fruit, but when she gave it to Adam, he had the opportunity right then to nip it in the bud and say sorry, we're not supposed to do this, put it back or don't touch it. But Adam disobeyed and took an aid of it. So the birth of Jesus proves the point to restore the broken relationship.
Speaker 1:Now we go through the book of Acts 2.32-33 and Acts 2.38, and also 2 Corinthians 6.16. Jesus had to be born for God to redeem mankind. Sin requires a redeemer, because the wages of sin are death Romans 6.23 and Genesis 3.15, revelation 12.1-4 and Hebrews 9.9 through to 12. So you can see very clearly that sin is a journey heading towards death and Jesus is the Redeemer.
Speaker 1:Now, in conclusion, it's important to understand that the sole reason for celebrating this day is specifically to celebrate the reason surrounding the birth of jesus christ and per this reason advanced above, you're the sole reason for Christ being born. So, wherever you are, you are, I want you to join us in this prayer If you strongly want to give your life to Christ. I think it's important that those that are listening, or if you know someone that needs to listen to this it is important to understand the sole purpose behind the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And finally, if and when during this celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, you have the opportunity to speak to someone about Jesus, so to ask Jesus into their heart and life, you just need this very simple prayer for that person to be prayed, and I think it's important. Even if you don't get the opportunity to lead someone to the Lord and their salvation. I think it's very important that you remember how to do this and always remember why we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Forget about the day, forget about all the festivities around it. I've explained to you before so many things that are currently in this so-called pagan celebration all point to Jesus. Right, it's as simple as that. If you don't have the opportunity to speak to someone about your Lord and Savior, at least remind them and yourself of the importance of this day. We receive gifts because on that day in Bethlehem, in that manger, the greatest gift to all mankind was supplied to us in the birth of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:So, if you get the opportunity I'm not putting any pressure on anybody Just be led by the Holy Spirit. Know that. You know that. You know this is what you should pray. Dear Lord, we understand that we're born sinners and that we've sinned by disobeying your commandments. I ask that you forgive me my sins. Change my heart to be like yours. Your commandments, I ask that you forgive me my sins. Change my heart to be like yours, loving and full of forgiveness. Help me to obey your teachings as recorded in the Bible, and help me live upright. Thank you, lord Jesus, for saving me from death and giving me a new life, amen. So in saying all of that, myself and my family wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe New Year. So this will be the last sermon for the year and I will see you back here again on Grapevine Ministries in 2025. God bless you all and you have a very Merry Christmas, amen.
