Elizabeth's Faith

Luke tells us that the angel Gabriel came to the temple one day to meet Zechariah while he was there serving the Lord. The angel tells Gabriel of the coming wonderful news! His wife Elizabeth would bear a son, to be called John, and he would be great before the Lord to prepare the people. Zechariah doubted and responded to Gabriel in doubt. “How can this be?” he asks, knowing his wife is well beyond child-bearing days. Gabriel responds with the promise from God that these things will be so. Because of Zechariah’s doubt, he was unable to speak. After Zechariah’s service in the temple was done, he returned home. Not long after, Elizabeth found herself to be with child. Her response to this gift was much different than Zechariah’s – she gave praise to God for what He had done! It is unclear whether Elizabeth would have had knowledge of Zechariah’s visit from the angel. Whether she knew or not, her faith was evident in that she trusted and praised the Lord for the gift of the baby within her. How has God used the things in your life that seemed like a disadvantage or hardship in some positive way? How are you doing at praising and thanking the Lord for all He brings your way? Do you doubt? Or do you have faith?

Sharathon 2011 Pictures

Sarah, Rebecca, Lydia and Meredith ready to take phone calls at WCTS Radio.

Meredith and Lydia!

Natilee (on the phone) edits the recordings to prepare them to air. Lots of work and we appreciate her!

Lydia is a new team member and is being interviewed here by her husband, Matthew.

Meredith

Jackie - so thankful that she is now part of our team too!

Elizabeth

In Luke 1:5-25, Luke records for us the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s miraculous birth of John the Baptist. Zechariah and Elizabeth have already lived full lives and we meet them for the first time “advanced” in years (vs. 7). Zechariah was a priest in the days of Herod; Elizabeth was a daughter of a priest. This couple spent their life obedient and blameless in the eyes of the Lord (vs. 6). But, Elizabeth was barren. God had not given them the blessing of their own children. Verse 13 gives indication that Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for children, but we know they were content to live the life that God gave them. As we encounter Elizabeth for the first time, we are struck with the faithful obedience to God. She was righteous and blameless before God and kept all the commandments and statues of the Lord. What an amazing testimony! We pray that as you study Elizabeth’s life that you will be challenged to be more faithful, more trusting and more content to live the live that our sovereign Lord has given you to live.

Our New Study....

We will begin studying in the book of Luke today, but more specifically we will study the women in Luke. Before we can dive into the various women that are mentioned in this book, we must take some time to lay out the background of the author and importance of this book. Luke, as we probably all know, was a doctor. As a Gentile he would have been objective in his research of the details he writes about and as a doctor he would have been meticulous to be sure that everything was written down as it occurred. Luke was a faithful believer and loyal friend to Paul. He wrote this book to a man named Theophilus. While we do not know exactly who this man was, we do know that Luke address the book of Acts to the same man. Theophilus could have been a new believer who needed to be grounded in the truth, or he could have been an unbeliever who needed to hear the truth of Christ. We are looking forward to studying not only the facts of the book of Luke, but to study the women of Luke. What was their faith like. How did they respond to Christ? What can we learn from them? Study notes are provided on the right side of the blog. I hope you'll print them off and study along with us. As always, we would love to hear from you, so feel free to leave a note here or on our Facebook page. Thanks for listening!

A New Team Member

We are pleased to introduce the newest member of our Women in the Word team. Her name is Jackie Hale. Jackie will share her testimony with us today and we will spend a couple of sessions interviewing her to help you get to know her better and then she will join us on the program during various studies. We hope that you will be encouraged by listening to her as she shares how God has worked in her life. Her story is simply a testimony of God's grace and power and we are so thankful for her giving God the glory!

Looking Ahead....

This week we will finish re-broadcasting our series of study in Titus 2. We hope that this time of studying these verses has been a blessing and challenge to you in your walk of faith. As we move on in our study we will introduce to you a new member of our Women in the Word team. We are thankful for other women that God has brought our way to help us in this ministry. Following this introduction, we will then dive into the book of Luke to study the women that Luke mentions in his gospel. It is an exciting study and we are all anxious to share what God has taught us in this study. Thanks for listening!