“All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.” -Luke 1:66
At the brightest time of year the promised forerunner is born: John, who will go before the Lord to prepare his way and testify to Jesus Christ, the one true light. Standing as a link between the Old and New Testaments, John connects God’s promises of old with the incarnate Savior. Yet even from before his birth, John exists not for his own sake, but for the sake of the Lord who is to come after him.
Sunday’s Worship Music
Our Hymn of the Day at the Traditional services is Baptized and Set Free. Today’s feast celebrating John the Baptist draws our attention to Baptism and all that is accomplished in this sacrament. We sing that we are created, chosen, and washed by God until sin has no more power and we are brought to wholeness.
The worship song at New Day Praise service is Everlasting God. With the refrain, “Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,” we recall John the Baptist’s mission to prepare the way, and call upon people to wait for the Lord’s arrival.
Preaching Theme:
Sounds of Silence
For Further Reflection:
Upon hearing the news that Zechariah (an aged man) and Elizabeth (his barren wife) would have a son, Zechariah was struck mute for 9 months.
Thinking upon your life, what were the occasions that you have been left speechless? When you found your words again, were they words of awe, anger, hope, or praise?
John the Baptist is a model of servanthood. He is a servant to God, and in doing so makes life ‘not about himself,’ but about the Lord.
When you look at your life, in what ways are you a servant?
