Hey, this is Stephen Fertig. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your

faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God as moving in your life. Enjoy the message.

And I want to share a brief Christmas message with you today. And don't get me wrong just

because I said brief. For me, brief means something different than it may mean at other

churches, but don't want to take too long. Understand the demands of this season. And so

let me just share with you from Luke chapter 1 verse 67 through 79. His father, Zechariah,

was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. Praise be to the Lord the God of Israel because

he has come to his people and redeemed them. 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 ancestors

and to 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, would be called a prophet

of the most high for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him to give

his 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. Somebody say,

here comes heaven. Tell your neighbor, watch out, here it comes. 40% of you participated

when I asked you to touch your neighbor. You don't like them. Look at him and say, here it comes.

The priest Zechariah is speaking of the prophet John the Baptist and he's now talking about

Jesus whom John the Baptist was pointing to. He said that he will shine on those living

in darkness and in the shadow of death, in the shadow of death, in that place of despair

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