Time for Grace-December 16, 2023

Time for Grace-December 16, 2023

Luke 1:67-80

His father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited us and prepared redemption for his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, just as he said long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets. He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies, so that we are able to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, because you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of God’s tender mercies, by which the Rising Sun from on high will visit us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. The child continued to grow and became strong in spirit. He lived in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You promised to send a Savior to your people for thousands of years. The promise was this call out of darkness and an overcoming of our enemies, especially that of the Devil whose desire it was to destroy Your creation and us along with it.

Zachariah sings Your praise for giving him a son who would be the one preparing the way for Your Son, Jesus, because, through Jesus, salvation would come to us. So, we wait again, but this time for Jesus’ second coming; with great anticipation, we all wait for judgment day and being in heaven for the rest of eternity.

While we wait, we celebrate Christmas, remembering how you sent your Son, who was promised in the Old Testament, to come to this earth and save us to redeem us from all our sins; Jesus was the one who paid our ransom price. He willingly gave himself up to be hung on the tree to atone for all our sins.

It was John’s work to prepare Your people by telling them to repent of their sins and baptizing them with a baptism of forgiveness; likewise, we pray that You would also prepare us in the expectation of celebrating that day when You sent Your Son.

In our preparation for this Christmas tide, we bring all our sins before You and ask for forgiveness for Jesus’ sake so that we may also be ready. Lift us from the darkness of our sins, and let us walk in the peace of Your salvation. Thank You for sending John, but more importantly, for sending us our Savior, Your Son. Amen.

Pastor Roger Emmons

Salvation comes to us only one way: through Jesus’ forgiveness, through his death on the cross. Jesus is our Savior.