Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people.

I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and whether you're listening to this on your favorite podcast platform

or you're watching on our YouTube channel. I'm really thankful that you

join me for this episode. And today, we continue the Christmas series with an episode that's

going to focus on lesser known characters in the Christmas story. I'm not talking about Mary.

I'm not talking about Joseph. Not talking about the shepherds. Not talking about the wise men.

I've preached on all those, taught you about many of those.

There's episodes and videos and sermons you can go look back in the archives for.

But today I want to look at the overlooked characters of Christmas, the people whose stories

unfold quietly in the shadows of the nativity scene, if you will, and yet whose lives

reveal something profound about the

character of God. There are going to be four characters here. Anna, maybe you've never heard of her.

Anna, it's a life of faithfulness and it meets fulfillment. Zechariah, a life of doubt,

turned into praise. Talk about him. And then Elizabeth, who actually is John the

Baptist's mother. She's a life of sorrow turned into great joy. And then Herod, the one sinister

character that I have to bring into the picture here. It's a life of rebellion exposed by the true

king, which Herod was not.

And in each one of these Christmas characters, God is revealing something about his own character.

His patience, his faithfulness, his compassion, his authority, all of it is put on display.

And when we put their stories together, they really show us a God who sees

the overlooked, who restores the doubting, who comforts the herding, and then who confronts the

rebellious, and calls every heart to respond to the arrival of his son. Okay, so first up here,

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