This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Avalon Park, Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar driving directions and more audio recordings. Well, good morning. Merry Christmas. I'm going to right now invite you to take another moment in prayer, but silent prayer. I'm going to ask one of our elders Don Zurbian to come in light. They haven't read this morning. It's for celebrating the 3rd Sunday of Advent. We're going to invite you now. We've sung a lot. We've prayed a lot in our songs. We've heard the scriptures read many of them. And we have even more to hear in just a moment. But let me just ask you now. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes and just reflect. Just meditate on some of the things you've sung. Some of the things you've heard. Listen to the Holy Spirit now. Quiet your hearts as we come to Him in just a moment to His Word. Father God, I know we haven't sung silent night yet, but I just pray that you would give us a silent morning. Right now. God, would you let our hearts and all the busyness and the craziness that's accompanied not just by this season when it's even more so, but it's just a normal life. God, the day and age that we live in, the country we live in, the culture we're in. It's rare that we have a moment to be silent, to pause, to reflect, to be still, to listen, and to know that you're God. So, Father, you quiet our souls during this time. You speak through the ministry of your Word, God, and by your Spirit. God, would you give us ears to hear and eyes to see. And Father, would you do all this for your glory and do all this for your honor? We pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, we're going to be looking at a text in Luke chapter 1, and if you have a Bible, we encourage you to turn there. It's a long story. I'm going to be paraphrasing it and reading different sections of it at different times. But just to catch you up to speed, one of your guests here this morning, I just want to say welcome to Christ's Kingdom Church. It's our pleasure to have you here. And it is a special Sunday, what we do every year called a Taste of Christmas, where we hope that we encourage folks in our church to invite friends and neighbors and relatives or family to come and be with us here this morning and have a special time to fellowship afterwards. But we indeed want it to be a taste. Maybe for those of you that don't have a church home, for those of you who are still exploring or on a journey and you're understanding of who Jesus is, just glad that you're here this morning and glad that you're taking that journey and allowed it to cross pass with us here this time this morning. We're in the middle of a sermon series called The Songs of Christmas. And the reason why I thought about that, because I was thinking about the series back in July, when most of us are not thinking about Christmas time, I certainly wasn't. But I thought, what is it that I so savor about Christmas time? And I had a long list, but one of the things that was in that list, it is very important, it was just thinking, gosh, it's one of the times that you're seeing some of the funnest songs, some of the songs that have the most memories associated with them, songs that have wonderful truths behind them to bring up wonderful memories, songs that talk about wonderful hope and the things that we'll have in that talk about Jesus Christ coming here to Earth. And as I thought more about that, I realized that there were several places in Scripture, like we're going to look at here this morning, where right associated with the birth of Christ, there are songs being sung spontaneously by people who are associated around the coming of Christ. We looked at over the last couple weeks, several of those, we looked at Simeon and his response here. Here's an old guy hanging out in the temple, and he's been promised by God that he would see them aside before he died, and he sees them, and what does it do? He responds in song. And this morning we're going to look at Zechariah and his life and his story, a priest and his encounter with that as well. We talked about the first couple weeks ago about this, that we talked about how songs are stories, and that's what makes them so appealing in so many ways, and makes them so interesting in other ways. And how songs are stories, and stories are songs, how those go together, and so it's very appropriate as we did a season here, which maybe you've attended before, a lessons and carols, that we continue in that theme here of looking at what is the story going behind these different songs that are sung. Well, as we look at that here, and the story here in Luke 1, what I want you to look at here first, is number 1, the prayer of this guy named Zechariah, who is a priest. And before we unpack it more, let me just read from the text in chapter 1 verses 8 through 13, just this first section to start with. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty, and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by Lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you as son, and you are to give him the name John. That's God's holy and inspired word. We'll read more of that as we go on here this morning. But look at this guy named Zechariah. I want to unpack it to him a little bit. First off, if you don't look between the lines here and think about what else going on here, you're going to miss part of the story. Because remember God is the master storyteller, and the Bible is a story. And by the way, human existence and creation is a story. And your life is a story, not just your personal story, but it's connected with all of humanity and with God. And Zechariah is no different here. First off, we're told that he's old because we're told in this whole chapter that he and his wife Elizabeth are beyond years, beyond the childbearing years. So we're not sure exactly how old, but he's up there in that. He's told that he does have no children. Now you might think about that and go, okay, well that happens. No, you've got to understand that even more so in this culture and time, children were associated, and not only describe as a blessing from God, but that if you were blessed, you would have children. And the more children you have, the more blessed you were. So flip that around and think about it. So what if you couldn't have children? What would you have been feeling, especially if you were a priest? What's wrong with me? How can all the other priests and their wives have children? I'm missing out here. Is there something I've done? Is something my wife has done? Is there something back in my heritage? Why is God choosing to withhold his blessing from me? Remember, he's an old priest. He said, year after year, to ask that question, to ponder that in his heart. You in a better picture of who Zechariah is as a priest coming here to the temple of this time? We're also told that he was part of a priestly division. There were 24 different priestly divisions. Remember the tribe of Levi? Was this tribe that was to be ministering before the Lord? Was this tribe a priest that God was going to have? Well, he's part of this huge tribe of that. He's part of this huge people. And he's one of 24, not just him personally, but his whole group of people. So, they are only given, each division is only given two times a year to go and to be ministering in the temple. So, this whole group of 24, he's one of 24. His whole group only gets two times a year to go in to do that. And we're also told that he goes in to burn incense there in the temple and what would be called the holy place. Not the holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was, were only one in one time a year, but he was in the holy place. A place still that was reserved for the priest only to come into. And a priest would only be given an opportunity once in his lifetime to come and to burn incense, which was done in the morning and was done in the evening, so that it was constantly burning, representing the presence of God, representing the prayers of God's people. Once in a lifetime opportunity, in some priests never even got the chance. There a lot didn't come up, but their opportunity didn't come, or they passed away before it did come up. Are you getting better picture of who Zechariah is? A guy with a lot of questions? A guy with maybe struggling about life and how life has taken the turn that it's taken for him. A guy who might be feeling like he's not, doesn't measure up in God's eyes. But this Zechariah's day, his lot came up, his opportunity that every priest would have dreamed about, would have been longing for, came to come into the holy place, to come and light the incense. You're getting a picture of this incredible story that God's beginning to unpack, it's unravel right before us. So what does Zechariah do? He comes in the midst of that, and what would have been done typically by the priest at that point was to offer prayer at that time. You know, as your one shot to do this, as you come in and do that, to make it count, to squeeze or fall, it's worth. And what would probably most scholars agree would have been, what would have been happening here, is that he probably would have been praying for the redemption of Israel. He would have been praying for the coming of a Messiah. It would have been a very typical thing to do, especially if you think about the context of what's going on in Israel this time. They're under occupation and oppression by the Roman Empire. So if you think, if you're the priest, if you're the people that who are going to be interceding for the people between them and God, and this is your opportunity to come, the closest you're going to get to come to the presence of God, the Holy of Holies, right beyond a curtain, the footstool of God, where His holiness and His presence reside, and your feet away from it, lighting the incense. It's a real important time to pray. It's a real important time to lay out your heart before God, and it would have been His duty to call out and pray for that. Of course, it's been hundreds of years since even a last prophet even emerged who had anything to say. It's been hundreds of years since there had been anything glorious to celebrate in a life of Israel. But it would have been His duty to do that. But you've got to think as we read between the lines here of what happened. You've got to think the Zechariah was going, you know, I know what I'm supposed to pray for here. But you know what, how can I miss the opportunity when I'm this close to the presence of God to say, God, how about a child? How about a son? Something that would have been, would have meant the carrying on of His name, His family name, or something that would have given Him hope in His wife, hope, and great joy. Something that would have given Him proof that the blessing of God wasn't against Him, but was on Him. God, how about a son? That doesn't tell us the point blank that he praised that. But we are told, the angel comes, Gabriel comes, he comes and answered to a prayer and then talks about giving him a son. So it's a good idea. It's probably a really good chance that that came out that Zechariah took a little personal time from the business at hand to not just intercede for the nation of Israel, but to intercede for Zechariah to lay a desire before the Lord here. Because this was his shot if he was going to be able to get close to God and give that request. Here it was. Let me ask you this morning. You know, Christmas is a high point for most of us in the course of the year. Yeah, I know we have the craziness and the business, but most part all of us look to look forward to this time of year. Okay. Zechariah was looking forward to this day and he came in the asked, well I want to ask you, is this morning, what would you ask God this Christmas? This high point and celebration for you and your family, this remembering I'm a sigh of coming to earth, if you had a shot that Zechariah had, what would your prayer be? What would you ask of him this morning? That's not a rhetorical question. I want you to really ask yourself that in the quiet place of your heart and something will come to mind. Some things might come to mind because God is still in the business and inviting people to bring their heart, spring their request, bring their burdens to him. Was Zechariah considered himself no doubt fortunate to offer a prayer at the very altar of the Lord, lighting the incense candle, but something surprised him on that day that he wasn't expecting. I was at number two, was the answer that came. Look at verses 13 through 17. Well back up to 12. When Zechariah saw him, well let's start with 11 actually, go 11 through 17. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled, it was gripped with fear, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you as son and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth. For he will be great in the sight of God. He is never to take wine or other for men to drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people Israel will bring back to the Lord their God and he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Is it funny sometimes that we can pray and ask something from God and then behold what happens? He answers. You can kind of be like, whoa you know praying, I know I asked and you know I know this was important to me, I know I was hoping for an answer but I wasn't expecting an answer. Zechariah certainly wasn't. He's like I had heard the stories from other priests, friends of his who no doubt had already been in this position and nobody had come back and said hey you know when Gabriel came up to me we had a little talk here. There had been nothing like that. Nobody was met with an angel. Nobody was given a message from God through an angel. And Gabriel, oh he was known about when's the last time he showed up hundreds of years earlier to God by the name of Daniel and lo and behold Gabriel last seen with Daniel shows up with an answer from God. So don't think more struggling than the angel himself was that there was an answer that the angel was bringing right at that time. Notice that Gabriel here as he comes and he he was reminded of the fact he looked down at verse 19 Gabriel tells a little bit about who he is. The angel said I'm Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and I have sent to speak to you and tell you this good news. Who is Gabriel? Gabriel tells me know what you think you're a priest. I am by far more of a priest. I stand in the presence of God. Of course Zechariah is like well I'm the closest thing here on earth right now I want to stand in the presence of God. Priest were the ones that were to be ministering and interceding between the people in God and offering sacrifices for the forgiveness and sins and here is Gabriel saying look I'm really a God that stands in the presence of God. And a greater way that you can even imagine right now and I've got a message from God for you Zechariah. Well he was not only surprised by the fact that he was the messenger Gabriel came but he was surprised by the answer. When we were out speculated he was praying for at least two things praying for his duty to pray for the redemption of Israel to pray to cry out on behalf of the people for God to move and for God to sin as Messiah. The more likely he was praying for that son too that he longed for here but what he was surprised that God gives him not two answers to his one to his two request but he gives them one answer to his two request. If you catch that God doesn't come in and say hey all right you offered a couple of prayers probably offered more but he offered probably at least a couple of prayers and say look let's go over we've got number one here let's deal with that one redemption of Israel good news it's coming to happen and the son no no no no there's one answer to at least the two prayers that he had that is extremely profound if you think about this because what does this mean? It means he promises and he answers prayer but always with two answers when you come before the Lord and you offer a prayer and you ask God for something that you need you ask God to do something for you you ask God to come and move on your behalf God always gives two answers he always addresses the need the real need that you have and like Zechariah learns he always does it through the promise of his son the two are inseparable that's extremely important for you to realize because there's not a single person who's celebrating Christmas this year around the globe that doesn't have some desire and some request and some hope that whatever deity or God that they pray to will do something on their behalf but here's the catch. God's answers for your heart's desires are always not supplemental with his son but absolutely foundationally built on his son Jesus Christ the two are inseparable that would have been a shock to Zechariah maybe like it as a shock to you right now to even think about that God cannot answer your prayer apart from the reality of his son Jesus Christ it's not possible because all the answers that we ultimately have are given through his son Jesus Christ and Zechariah would have been shocked to realize that connection here this morning. Well understand God does have two answers to whatever question whatever prayer you thought about just a few moments ago understand that but as you look further on that too as well too let's look at Zechariah's response thirdly we look at verses 18 through 20 so we see how Zechariah responds. Zechariah asked the angel how can I be sure of this I'm an old man and my wife is well along in years angel answered I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and you have and I've been sent to speak to you and tell you this good news and now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words which will come true at their proper time. What's Zechariah's response well one it's honest he is very consistent with who he is as an old man now a priest who's now an old man. It's very much tainted by the fact that God it's been you know it's been decades you haven't given me a son you have an outwardly bestowed and give me a visible sign if you're blessing on my life. My fellow priest and Israelites they whispered behind me back about what is it about Zechariah that God's with hold is blessing from. What secret sin maybe is present all that comes to place all that cynicism of years a feeling like God wasn't there and God wasn't really answering or the prayers didn't go past the roof of his house or the roof of the temple. It seeps out honestly transparently in this encounter with the angel and what is Zechariah what he thinks he is right can I have a little proof. How can I know I've heard of the hope in Yahweh I've heard of the promises I've communicated to the people my entire life it's not just my profession it's part of my genetic heredity as I'm of the tribe of Levi. I'm a priestly distinct this is what we do he wanted there to be proof and here was his chance to ask Gabriel the closest thing he had seen the presence of God I need a little bit more to sing my teeth on because I've had the promises and the hope of Yahweh for years. I need more that was Zechariah's response in one way shape or form in the midst of this it was here's the ironic thing you think about a little bit more here is the priest again at the high point of his career here's the one who has his one shot in the presence of God in this close environment here's the one that's visited by angel by the angel Gabriel last seen with Daniel here's the one that was quite aware of the story of Abraham and Sarah. And that God can give you children late in life here's one that wants some proof and he asked how can I be sure well I want you to contrast that we don't have time to go into the other part of this chapter one story but no doubt the author Luke as he's writing here this gospel account is setting it up for a much bigger story because there's somebody else who's visited by Gabriel chapter one isn't it there's somebody else who has a song like Zechariah and Luke chapter one it's a little teenage girl named Mary Gabriel comes to her as well and when he comes with even a greater answer and revelation of what God is going to do not just that you're going to have a baby in your old age because that's happened before Abraham and Sarah maybe with others. Gabriel comes and says you're going to have a baby as a virgin and what is this little teenage girl and you got to set this up here the author here Lucas talking to a community that understood and would have seen that the women are much lower place than men at this day in culture. You have the male priest you have a teenage girl two spectrums as far as cultural standing of prevalence and of notoriety and the teenage girl visited by the same angel with even a more miraculous unexplainable story doesn't ask for proof what does she say. We're told that Mary's answer is instead how can how is that going to happen because I'm a virgin is Mary's response not I need proof Mary's like cool can you kind of explain that for me here since I'm a virgin it's totally different and Zechariah and Lucas setting that up here for you to see the difference between the two. The faith of a teenage girl and the faith of the great priest on his day of opportunity the contrast is being set up here in very striking ways with that as well. Well because of the doubt here that's that Zechariah is given we're told in this that Gabriel comes and pronounces a judgment on him or at least a short term temporary judgment and he's stricken with muteness he can't talk he will be unable to speak until the promise is fulfilled. Not only that scholars believe because you look in verse 62 later on in this text it says that they made signs to his father to find out what he would name like to name the child some scholars speculate that he was maybe even struck with deafness because they were having to sign them he couldn't maybe hear them so he was clearly mute we know that very clearly but he could very well have been deaf to for this period of time.
Well if you think about that too let me ask you just personally here this morning what is your response what is your response to bringing your heart's desire your prayer before God himself the Lord this morning if you're honest is it kind of like God I'd be fine meeting Gabriel can you just send Gabriel down with a message and tell me that my hope my heart's desire my greatest fears my greatest needs are going to be met because I'd be okay with that to which God might respond and say look they didn't have my complete holy scriptures back then they they didn't have a fuller picture of the entire story back two thousand years ago they didn't even have a better understanding who this Messiah was now you's going to come they didn't understand that every Christmas season will be a yearly time to remember and reflect on this gift that I'm coming and I'm bringing now I'm fulfilling through his eventual death and resurrection they didn't have the outpouring of my Holy Spirit like you have now what would God say I think saying it really would you really have a messenger that came from the presence of God I would you rather have my presence through my word through my Holy Spirit living inside of you regenerating your heart coming and revealing my promises to you tell you what Zechariah for sure would not have traded the two is glorious as that day was for him you would not have traded for the day that we have living in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit living with the fulfilled promises the post resurrection the hope of his second coming the reality is here though we are given the same opportunity to respond to God's answer of our greatest needs through Christ and it might be the answer of doubt or it might be instead like the teenage girl Mary want a faith well let's look lastly at the song before we read his song that he sings put your feet in his shoes it's been nine months that he can't speak it's been nine months he may very well been deaf and couldn't hear anything to be exact it's been nine months and eight days because we're told it's on the eighth day when he's coming to be circumcised during the temple that's a long time imagine him can you imagine the first few days of not being able to talk possibly not even able to hear what that would have been like what kinds of thoughts would have run through your mind just the first few days not talking about nine months and eight days can you imagine what watching your elderly wife become pregnant and growing her pregnancy and not being able to say anything can you imagine what have been like walking past and through the temple courts remembering that particular day and what happened right in that room maybe what could have happened things have been done differently can you imagine wishing that you had that moment to do over how many times he must have played it through you know what he did what the angel did and what the angel said and what he said and gosh if I could take those words back and where can you imagine over nine months of doing that can you imagine contemplating exactly who your son's going to be because angel says he's going to be some special can you imagine even thinking about who he was going to go before because it says the Lord this Messiah what was that going to be like can you imagine he was wondering is is that Messiah even here now is even born yet he imagined him trying to figure out thinking through his relative Mary who had come and who had this miraculous birth conception herself and who'd also no doubt probably shared with him about meeting Gabriel and wondering how those two stories were lining up how this boy she's carrying and the boy that his wife's carrying nine months and eight days is a long time to think to ponder to wonder the angel I told him that when this promises fulfilled you'll be released so he knew the day was coming can you imagine how much he was thinking what's the first thing he's going to say first thing he's going to do nine months is a long time to ponder and to wait let me jump down to verses 62 through 67 to come to see what did it happen we're told that as they came to the temple that Elizabeth had already made the instructions that his name was going to be John but we pick up in verse 62 then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child and he asked for writing tablet and to everyone's astonishment he wrote his name is John immediately his mouth was open and his tongue was loose in the name of the Bible his tongue was loose and began to speak praising God the neighbors were all filled with all and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things everyone who heard this wondered about it asking what then is his child going to be for surely the Lord's hand was with him the moment he acts an obedience and in faith this time they given the name John that Gabriel told me was to name them he's released his muteness is gone if he had been deaf his deafness was gone and then he gives this song verse 67 his father Sakurai was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied praise be to the Lord the God of Israel because he is come and has redeemed his people he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he said through his holy prophets of long ago salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show mercy to our fathers and remember his holy covenant the oath he swore to our father Abraham to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days and you my child will be called a prophet of the most high where you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him to give us people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living and darkness in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace songs we've talked about in the past weeks spontaneous the song was breathed at the Holy Spirit the text tells us the Holy Spirit came upon him and the song sings of the hope of the salvation and you know what it unites his two requests with God's one answer yes God answered his prayer to give him a son but not just that it had to come through the connection with God's own son and how his son was there to serve and to prepare the way for the Messiah God is constantly answering our prayers with always a second answer related to his son in the midst of that let me just ask you here this point is you think about that if you compare and contrast yourself with remorse is that Cariah like or you more Mary like you know it's interesting Mary's song comes before the fulfillment of the promise of God why because that's how Mary's wired not not wired in that she's differently creative and Zechariah but her place at that time was hopeful was believing was not old and cynical where Zechariah had await until after the fulfillment of his promise to sing his song he got a similar choice this morning to sing a song in faith sing a song maybe later you know the scriptures do tell us that on that day the final day that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess but the important thing is for our tongues to confess now not when it's too late not when nobody can do anything other than confess him as Lord but to do that now acknowledge that he has come that he came to earth that he is the Messiah and God invites you to do that here now so my hope and my challenge for those that are here some of you who are on a journey been seeking is to realize that God deeply cares about your heart and your needs and he's not turned his back on you in fact he is given his son and he's offered him as a gift for you to receive this morning but if you think the answer to your greatest needs going to come apart from a relationship with his son Jesus Christ then you're missing it how could he give you a smaller thing that you're desiring and hold back the bigger thing that you need desperately he can't because he's a loving father because he cares and I can't tell you how many times Davis my now six year old has asked me to not wear his walking cast boot anymore because he broke his foot about six weeks ago it feels kind of better he's tired of wearing it and it's a pain and it slows him down and his desire is to get that thing off but my desire is for his foot to heal I could answer his request and take that boot off right now and he would be happy right now but he wouldn't be so happy a few months from now or a few years from now could you expect a heavenly loving God to offer your simple request without giving you the much bigger request that you desperately need even if you can't understand it at the time even it feels difficult and painful even if it doesn't make sense their Christmas is a wonderful time but Christmas you can miss the Christ that it's all about and you can miss the hope that he offers and you can miss unwrapping his gift somebody doesn't invite you to close your eyes and to pray with me and if you are here this morning and you know that you have not been walking believing in God's Son Jesus Christ I just want to give you the opportunity right now to submit your life to him to come and to make him your Lord and Savior to come and to receive the gift that God offers through his Son forgiveness of sins all the sins even the ones in the dark heart quiet places of our hearts that we don't let anybody see he promised to forgive fully completely and he promises not just that but to grant us the righteousness of Christ to stand before God's presence you know we're told that when Jesus died on the cross of the temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom we're told that basically what was so cool to Zechariah to get so close to the presence of God became irrelevant when Jesus died on the cross because now access into the presence of God would come through faith in him and the Holy of Holies was not any more a place to go to the Holy of Holies was a place to come to our hearts so if you're here and you're hungry this morning you're looking for more than sugary answers but you're looking for the very milk and meat of God's word to satisfy your hearts longings let me invite you to prayer prayer like this perhaps quietly in your heart if that's the case Lord Jesus I admit that I need you I acknowledge that I've been trying to do it my own way thank you for dying on the cross to forgive my sins thank you for rising from the dead to give me hope of new life God I now submit my life to you and I invite you to come and be the king of my life to make me the kind of person you want me to be and God I now commit to follow you as my Savior and Lord let me pray for you if you prayed that prayer right now God just pray for those for anyone I might have prayed that prayer here now that you would filled them with the hope and the assurance that you indeed have forgiven that you have come and made your home in them that your spirit now is filling them and living inside them that's something that has been dead and old is now alive and new that they are children of the most high God and God for those that are here this morning maybe that our followers of you but that walk has grown faint that walk has grown stale God that you would refresh them with a reminder of your presence the reminder God their sins are forgiven and God the reminder that your presence lives within them and God would let them embrace that and feel that and experience that in a new fresh way here this morning so follow our hope and prayers that you would fill us God but that song like you did Zechariah that we would sing with a joy in our hope being found in Christ in Him alone and we pray this in Jesus name Amen