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This is the audio from the December 17, 2023 sermon, “Good News of Christmas: SONG”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Luke 1:46-80

Today I continued a series from the gospel of Luke as we gaze deeply into God’s Word to find the good news of Jesus shared with us by Luke the physician.  Throughout the month of December we will continue our Good News series with a look at The Good News of Christmas as found in the first two chapters of Luke.  The Christmas story contains several instances of people, and some angels, breaking out in song as they express praise to God.  As we look specifically at the songs of Mary and of Zechariah found in Luke 1, we see God using these songs not only to give praise to Him but to benefit those who would hear — including us!  As we experience the work of God in our lives, we too should respond with a good news . . .

• Story: — 

  • The songs of Mary and of Zechariah each told a story of how God had worked in their life to accomplish more than what was thought possible.  But it was not just their story — their praise of God told the story of His working among His people throughout history to bring about the personal events that would take place in their own lives.  We too can sing a good news song when we discover we have a good news story to tell with our words, our life, and our music.

• Object: —

  • The songs of Mary and of Zechariah each focused on the object of God’s love and the work that would be accomplished through the coming of Jesus to earth.  The stories were not just stories, they were object lessons designed to teach us how to respond to the coming King.  While wonderful things were happening through them, both Mary and Zechariah made sure that God was the object of their song of praise.  We too can sing a good news song when we keep Jesus as the main object of our words, our life, and our music.

• Notice: —

  • The songs of Mary and of Zechariah each focused on giving notice to all who would listen — notice of the work of God being accomplished within their lifetime.  The stories, and the object of their stories, were not a recognition of a theoretical god out there somewhere, but rather the songs gave notice that this God of Israel was alive and well as He worked in the present time to accomplish the fulfillment of His promises.  We too can sing a good news song when we choose to give notice with our words, our life, and our music that now is the day of salvation.

• Goal: —

  • The songs of Mary and of Zechariah each focused on sharing the goal of people knowing a God who loves them enough to be involved in their lives.  While the primary goals of each of these songs seems to be expressing praise to God, they are given in the context of making known to the world a God who loves all people.  We too can sing a good news song when we choose to live with the goal of making Christ known through our words, our life, and our music.

Today, what will by your good news SONG?