"Christmas Candlelight Service" at New Canaan Baptist Church: 2 Observations

This past Lord's Day evening, my immediate family was blessed to worship with New Canaan Baptist Church at their Christmas Candlelight Service. During the course of the service, consisting of
Christmas hymns and short devotionals from Scriptures dealing with the Incarnation, there were a couple of times in which the pastor (Chris Farmer) brought out features of the texts that I hadn't really considered before.

1. Under the theme "A Celebration of Hope," Farmer pointed out that the messianic prophecies in the Old Testament often come in the context of prophecies involving severe judgment against sin.

2. Under the theme "A Time of Preparation," Farmer emphasized the similarity and difference in the responses from Zechariah and Mary regarding the angelic announcements of Elizabeth (Zechariah's wife) bearing John the Baptist and Mary bearing Jesus (see Luke 1). Zechariah exclaimed, "How shall I know this?" and Mary exclaimed, "How will this be?" These responses might seem quite similar. Yet Zechariah's response apparently came from a heart of doubt, and God struck him mute for a time. On the other hand, Mary's response came from an astounded heart of faith, and a short while later she burst forth in Spirit-inspired praise (see Luke 1:46-55).

As I mentioned above, Farmer was proclaiming certain truths from the texts in ways that I haven't heard before. Having studied these Bible texts for so many years, I rejoice in having the opportunity to still learn more. The Word of God contains limitless riches!