Let Every Heart Prepare
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2023 • Joshua Ryan Butler • Luke 2:1–20
Luke 2:1-20 | Josh Butler | As God the Son, having taken on human flesh, is born in a manger another glorious scene takes place and another pair of Advent witnesses is introduced. Lowly shepherds are met by heavenly angels who point the way to the birthplace of the long-awaited Savior. Luke continues to highlight the wonderful and mysterious happenings that show just how remarkable the coming of Christ is.
The Benedictus
December 17, 2023 • Andrew Murch • Luke 1:57–80
Luke 1:57-80 | Andrew Murch | Continuing through Luke's account of the birth of Jesus, we come first to the birth of John—or, as we'll know him, John the Baptist. Elizabeth's pregnancy and John's birth are the glorious fulfillment of God's promises. John will precede the Messiah and call God's people to repentance and renewed faithfulness. Here, Zechariah's tongue is loosed as he praises God for the birth of the final old covenant prophets.
The Magnificat
December 10, 2023 • Andrew Murch
Luke 1:39-56 | Andrew Murch | Now aware that she is pregnant with the long-awaited Messiah and that her relative, Elizabeth, is also pregnant, Mary rushes to Elizabeth. Filled with the Holy Spirit, should-be-barren Elizabeth and not-yet-born John recognize and glorify their Lord, still in the womb of Mary. Here, we see the mercy of God on display as these two women, pregnant with babies of promise, bless the Lord.
The Annunciation
December 3, 2023 • Andrew Murch • Luke 1:5–38
Luke 1:5-38 | Andrew Murch | In Luke's Gospel account, the story of the birth of the one, promised Messiah actually begins with the birth of two babies: Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. Both born to women who in ordinary circumstances could not be pregnant, the coming of these extraordinary men is announced in an equally extraordinary way.