<aside> đź’ˇ Without letting anybody know what is going to happen or why it is going to happen, start with a period of SILENCE (1-3 minutes long).

What did you do in the silence?

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The Old Testament ends with God’s people returning to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon and they rebuilt the city, the temple and the city walls.

But then came 400 years of silence.

If you picked up a Bible, the page between the Old Testament and New Testament stands for 400 years of silence.

400 years during which God did not say anything new to His people.

God’s people during this time lived and died without hearing anything new from God.

In these 400 years lots of things happened.

The Greek Empire defeated the Persian Empire.

Then the Roman Empire defeated the Greek Empire.

But what did God’s people do in the silence?

They did two things:

The first thing they did was to think about God’s promises.

Promises about a Saviour who would bring blessing to the whole world:

<aside> 📖 “and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 22:19)

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Promises about a King who would reign forever:

<aside> 📖 “I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.” (2 Samuel 7:13)

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Promises about a baby born in an amazing way who will be Immanuel – God with us:

<aside> 📖 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:12)

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Promises about a ruler from Bethlehem whose origins are from old: **

<aside> 📖 “But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

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