Steve: Hi, this is Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster.
Steve: You're about to hear the LifeSpring Advent Calendar, which was recorded in 2006.
Steve: It's a daily show which will run right up to Christmas Day,
Steve: so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Steve: Now, the story of Advent and Christmas is a timeless story, so it doesn't age.
Steve: However, the links and the phone numbers mentioned on the podcast have all changed but one.
Steve: WhyChristmas.com is still current and active,
Steve: and it's the best Christmas information website on the Internet.
Steve: LifeSpringPodcast.com now forwards you to LifeSpringMedia.com.
Steve: And the phone number you'll hear on the show is changed to plus 1-951-732-8511.
Steve: Hello and welcome to the Christmas Eve edition of the LifeSpring Advent Calendar and I'm Steve Webb, your host.
Steve: Well, we're really close to Christmas now and there are only two more doors to open.
Steve: Today's the last Sunday of Advent and I happen to know we have a special guest today.
Steve: The Reverend Rosie Greer, formerly of the Los Angeles Rams, a member of the Fearsome Foursome, one of professional football's most feared defensive lines.
Steve: So let's see what's behind the door with Rosie and James.
James: you're right Steve
James: it's the fourth or last Sunday in Advent
James: and it's also Christmas Eve
James: so happy Christmas Eve everybody
James: now Christmas Eve isn't always on the fourth Sunday of Advent
James: but it is this year
James: on our calendar today
James: we'll be finding out about the birth of a baby boy
James: no not that one
James: it's not Jesus
James: but his slightly older cousin John
James: who's also known as John the Baptist
James: so let's light four candles this week
James: and find out more about John
James: the story of John's birth comes from the book of Luke in chapter one and says this
Speaker 3: in the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the
Speaker 3: priestly division of Abijah his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron both of them were
Speaker 3: upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulation blamelessly.
Speaker 3: But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
Speaker 3: Once when Zechariah's division was on duty, and he was serving as a priest before God,
Speaker 3: he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the
Speaker 3: Lord and burn incense. And when the time for burning of incense came, all the assembled
Speaker 3: worshipers were praying outside. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right
Speaker 3: side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
Speaker 3: But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife
Speaker 3: Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to
Speaker 3: you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Speaker 3: He is never to take wine or other fermented drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from
Speaker 3: birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God, and he will go on
Speaker 3: before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the heart of the fathers to their children
Speaker 3: and the disobedient to the wisdom of righteousness, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Speaker 3: Zechariah asked the angel, how can I be sure of this? I'm an old man and my wife is well along in
Speaker 3: years. The angel answered, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to
Speaker 3: speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until
Speaker 3: the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper
Speaker 3: time. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in
Speaker 3: temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the
Speaker 3: temple, for he kept making signs to them, but remained unable to speak. When his time of service
Speaker 3: was completed, he returned home, and after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months
Speaker 3: remained in seclusion. The Lord has done this for me, she said, and these days he has shown his favor.
Speaker 3: and taken away my disgrace among the people.
Speaker 3: At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea.
Speaker 3: When she entered Zachariah's home and greeted Elizabeth,
Speaker 3: when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb
Speaker 3: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 3: In a loud voice she exclaimed,
Speaker 3: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.
Speaker 3: But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Speaker 3: As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
Speaker 3: the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Speaker 3: Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.
Speaker 3: And Mary said, My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
Speaker 3: For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
Speaker 3: From now on, all generations will call me blessed.
Speaker 3: For the Mighty One has done great things for me.
Speaker 3: Holy is His name.
Speaker 3: His mercy extends to those who fear Him from generation to generation.
Speaker 3: He has performed mighty deeds with His arm.
Speaker 3: He has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts.
Speaker 3: He has brought down rulers from their throne, but has lifted up the humble.
Speaker 3: He has filled the hunger with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
Speaker 3: He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,
Speaker 3: even as he said to our fathers.
Speaker 3: Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, then returned home.
Speaker 3: When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.
Speaker 3: Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
Speaker 3: On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.
Speaker 3: But his mother spoke up and said, No, he is to be called John.
Speaker 3: And they said to her, There is no one among your relatives who has that name.
Speaker 3: Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child.
Speaker 3: He asked for a writing tablet.
Speaker 3: To everyone's astonishment, he wrote, His name is John.
Speaker 3: Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak praise in God.
Speaker 3: The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea, people were talking about these things.
Speaker 3: Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking,
Speaker 3: What then is this child going to be? For the Lord's hand was with him.
Speaker 3: His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
Speaker 3: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
Speaker 3: He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
Speaker 3: as he has said through his holy prophets of long ago.
Speaker 3: Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
Speaker 3: to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.
Speaker 3: The oath he swore to our father Abraham to rescue us from the hand of our enemies
Speaker 3: and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Speaker 3: And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
Speaker 3: for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
Speaker 3: to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
Speaker 3: because of the tender mercy of God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
Speaker 3: to shine on those living in darkness and in the shelter of death,
Speaker 3: to guide our feet into the path of peace.
Speaker 3: And the child grew and became strong in spirit,
Speaker 3: and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
James: Wow, another amazing story that's part of Christmas.
James: Angels, babies, and people being struck dumb.
James: Elizabeth was Mary's cousin,
James: and a descendant of the priest families of Israel,
James: and her father was also a temporal priest.
James: Zachariah was also a temporal priest,
James: and he was both a very highly and kind man,
James: but he and Elizabeth came from a small village,
James: so he was thought of as a bit of a village hick by some of the other priests.
James: Both Zachariah and Elizabeth would have been over 60 when this story took place,
James: and they didn't yet have any children.
James: Not having children was a big problem for a priest,
James: because you needed to produce the next generation of priests.
James: Zachariah was a normal priest,
James: and this was the first time that he'd been randomly chosen for the important job
James: of sprinkling incense on the altar.
James: Only he, as the incense priest, would have been in that part of the temple.
James: His role was to pour incense onto the golden altar and then bow in worship to God.
James: He would then leave that part of the temple and say the final prayer of the service.
James: Zechariah poured the incense on the altar, but before he could bow and leave, an angel appeared by the altar.
James: And in all the history of the Jewish religion, this was the first time that an angel had appeared to someone in that holy part of the temple.
James: So this was something very special indeed.
James: that angel was Gabriel the same one that had told Mary that she would give birth to Jesus
James: the name John means the Lord is gracious and he was to be called this because God had been very
James: kind to Elizabeth and Zechariah in giving them a child Gabriel told Zechariah that John would be a
James: very special man who would tell people about Jesus Zechariah didn't really believe the angel and
James: asked him to prove it so Gabriel made him dumb until he believed what the angel had said
James: Elizabeth did indeed become pregnant
James: and she stayed in hiding for the first five months
James: because people probably wouldn't have believed that she could become pregnant
James: so she waited in hiding until it was absolutely undeniable
James: The words that Elizabeth spoke to Mary when they met
James: showed that Elizabeth knew that Mary had a very important baby in her
James: and that her baby would also have something to do with Mary's baby
James: The words that Mary said in reply are known as the Magnificat
James: and are a special thank you prayer to God
James: When Mary went home back to Nazareth, leaving Elizabeth and Zachariah,
James: Elizabeth would have been about nine months pregnant,
James: so Mary would have been about three months pregnant.
James: Mary may have gone because she didn't want to get involved in the publicity of John's birth.
James: So not long after she left, Elizabeth gave birth to John.
James: Most people would have assumed that the new boy would be called Zachariah after his father,
James: as that was the tradition.
James: But Elizabeth knew that he was to be called John.
James: The family doubted this, so they asked the still dumb Zachariah what he should be called.
James: as soon as he wrote down the word John
James: as the angel has said he could speak again
James: the prayer that Zachariah then said
James: was the same one that he should have completed the temple service with
James: but now Zachariah saw what the words really meant
James: and Christians believe that these words are about the coming of Jesus into the world
James: and that's what Christmas tomorrow is all about
James: ¶¶
Steve: So that's the story of One Special Baby.
Steve: Do you think maybe you can figure out what we'll be talking about tomorrow
Steve: on the LifeSpring Advent Calendar?
Steve: Make sure you listen to find out.
Steve: Today's theme music was Brian Duncan and the Neo Soul Band with This Christmas,
Steve: and the background music was Michael Silvestri.
Steve: And special thanks go out to Rosie Greer.
Steve: You can find out more about Rosie at rosiegreer.com,
Steve: and of course there'll be links to the music
Steve: and Rosie's website at lifespringpodcast.com.
Steve: Don't forget to listen tomorrow for the very special Christmas edition
Steve: of the LifeSpring Advent Calendar.
Steve: For James Cooper, I'm Steve Webb.
Music: This Christmas
Music: Of a newborn love
Music: This Christmas
Music: It's the best of all I know
Music: This Christmas brings