1. Crossway Christian Church’s sermon podcast episode “Rediscovering Silence” centers on Luke 1 and the story of Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Gabriel.
2. Dave Ripper is the lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in southern New Hampshire, and Anson Thiebaud is the pastor of young adults and discipleship who preached this message.
3. The episode asks whether silence can be an invitation to meet God, rather than a punishment for doubt or a sign of absence.
4. Zechariah is described as a priest in the temple burning incense, and Luke says he was chosen for a rare honor by the other priests.
5. Elizabeth and Zechariah are said to have prayed for children for a long time, and the sermon emphasizes that they were “very old” and “well along in years.”
6. Gabriel tells Zechariah, “Your prayer has been heard,” and says Elizabeth will bear a son named John.
7. The sermon reads John’s future work from Luke 1:16-17, including turning “the hearts of the parents to their children” and making ready “a people prepared for the Lord.”
8. Zechariah responds, “How can I be sure of this? I’m an old man, and my wife is well along in years,” and the speaker treats that as doubt shaped by years of unanswered prayer.
9. The message connects that doubt to the experience of praying for a long time, doing the right things, and still not seeing the outcome a person hoped for.
10. Matthew 18:3 becomes a key text, where Jesus says people must change and become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
11. The sermon defines childlikeness as being open, present, aware, and curious, and it uses the image of an almost five-month-old son at a live nativity scene.
12. The baby is described as watching the lights, animals, and actors without distraction, which becomes a picture of attention before God.
13. Zechariah’s silence is reframed as a possible mercy, because it can quiet the soul, mind, and heart long enough to listen.
14. The speaker says A.J. Sherrill’s line from Rediscovering Christmas, “God is seldom discovered. Rediscovered in the noise,” captures the point of the sermon.
15. Carl Jung’s quote, “hurry is not of the devil. It is the devil,” is used to argue that distraction can keep people from prayer, Scripture, church, and community.
16. The message closes with practical examples such as turning off a phone at 5 p.m., sitting in silence on the drive to work, or waking up a few minutes earlier.
17. The tone is pastoral and reflective, with repeated pauses for self-examination and direct questions about personal openness to God.
18. The format moves from personal anecdote to Scripture reading, then to application and a brief prayer over the congregation.
19. People wanting a sermon on Luke 1, Advent, and silence would likely appreciate this episode.
20. Listeners wanting a fast Bible lecture or no devotional application may skip it.
