A naked driver, a swan buckled into the passenger seat and a trunk full of hens, the story sounds like an internet sensation, except it was invented from start to finish in a fake news generator. In an age when we no longer know whom to trust, this sermon takes us to Luke, a physician who, before writing his account of Jesus, carefully investigated everything with the eyewitnesses (Luke 1). The story of Zechariah also shows that God’s good news can seem too good to believe. Listen and find out why the gospel is news you can truly build your life on.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- At the start of his Gospel (Luke 1:1-4), Luke says he carefully investigated everything, relying on eyewitness accounts. Why did that matter to Theophilus, and why does it matter to us?
- Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and blameless, yet they had no child, which in their culture was seen as a lack of God's blessing. What does their story say about the link between godliness and hardship?
- The sermon contrasts fake news with the Gospel as reliable, God inspired good news. What helps you trust that what you read in the Bible really happened?
- Zechariah heard the promise he had waited years for, and still he doubted. Why does good news from God sometimes sound too good to be true, and where do you see that in your own life?
- The speaker describes people who struggle to accept that salvation is a gift of grace and keep trying to add something to it. What makes it so hard to simply receive that gift by faith?
- In what situation this week do you need to trust that God stays faithful to His promises, even when He works in ways you don't understand?
