What difference did Christmas really make for you? It didn’t seem to have changed very much for Mary and Joseph. Yes, Jesus had been born a week earlier than the events of today’s passage. Yes, a week earlier the shepherds had burst in upon them with their tale of an…

All our carols and Christmas cards to the contrary, their encounter with the angels was absolutely terrifying for the shepherds. After all, when a great hero of the faith like Daniel had encountered angels, he had passed out, completely overwhelmed by the experience (see Daniel 8:17). So, why wouldn’t a…

Is this Christmas hard for you? Joseph would understand. After all, he had to pack up and travel some ninety miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem just to satisfy the whims of the Roman oppressors that were occupying the land of Israel. Worse yet, he couldn’t protect his fiancée Mary, who…

In one way, Joseph’s faith in God had to be a lot greater than Mary’s. After all, she knew without a doubt that she hadn’t been with a man and yet was pregnant. But Joseph had to believe all that without any proof – something that was quite frankly impossible…

What are you celebrating this Christmas season? Deliverance from sickness? A new baby in the family? A better job? In today’s passage, Zechariah gives us lots of reasons to celebrate. In the first place, he celebrates God’s faithfulness. Throughout this passage, he points to the promises that God had made…

The conclusion of the story of the birth of John the Baptist reminds us of some truths we have already learned: with God nothing is impossible, but sometimes we have to wait for God’s will to be done. Elizabeth and Zacharias had waited a long time to have a child,…

Is it hard for you to rejoice this Christmas? Are you feeling confused, or overwhelmed, or scared? Mary would understand. After all, there was no way that having a baby by the power of the Holy Spirit could have made sense to her. And for all she knew, having such…

So, how do we know that Elizabeth really was filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, it’s not because she engaged in ecstatic speech, or experienced involuntary muscle movements, or passed out. No, today’s passage points in a different direction, toward the heart of what it really means to draw close…

It was a lot for a teenage girl to take in. That she would be the one God chose to be the mother of the Messiah would be a bit like winning the lottery. That she would be able to have a child without having relations with a man was…

Have you ever wondered about God’s timing? Maybe you’ve been praying for years for release from an addiction or from a chronic health condition. Maybe you’ve been longing for a loved one to come to know Christ as Savior and Lord. Yes, we know God has promised never to leave…