Advent — Peace · Luke 1:76–79
The second half of Zechariah's song, and the scene right before it. A neighborhood argues about a baby's name, and a silent man writes one word.
Zechariah turns from God's promise to his own son's job. What is that job, and who does it prepare people for?
Those living in darkness and the shadow of death. Zechariah is quoting this, nearly word for word, in verse 79.
Mark the words Isaiah and Zechariah share. What does borrowing them say about how Zechariah understood his son?
Look, I am sending my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. The last book of the Old Testament ends waiting for the man in Monday's reading.
Four hundred years pass between Malachi and Luke 1. What does that gap do to the word “prepare”?
Out of Bethlehem, small among the clans of Judah. Micah says he himself will be their peace, not merely bring it.
Note the difference between bringing peace and being it. Which does Micah promise?
The song ends with feet guided into the way of peace. Paul says he is our peace, and tore down a wall to prove it.
Where are you maintaining a wall that Christ has already torn down? Name it, then pray about the first sentence to say.
What are the Marks and the 3 Circles?
The Marks of a Disciple
Each week names one of these — the practices we are cultivating in each other.
- Daily Devotion
- Time with God every day, in the Bible and in prayer.
- Prayer
- Not only a set appointment, but a life of prayer at any hour, for anything.
- Generosity
- Giving your effort and your resources to this church and to God’s kingdom.
- Service
- Giving your time and talent to the church and its mission in the community.
- Witness
- Seeking people far from God and telling them about Jesus and about your own finding of him.
- Worship
- Weekly praise together, and a life presented daily to God’s service.
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Fasting, solitude, study, sabbath — the old practices of the faith.
The 3 Circles
How we tell someone about Jesus — simple enough to draw on a napkin. Each week names the part of it that week’s reading sits in.
- God’s Design
- The world and your life as God made them to be.
- Sin
- The arrow out. We each go our own way instead.
- Brokenness
- Where that leaves us. Ecclesiastes spends most of twelve chapters here.
- Repent & Believe
- Turning from our own way and trusting what Jesus did.
- Gospel
- Jesus lived the life we could not and died the death we deserved.
- Recover & Pursue
- The way back toward the life God designed.