Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:37 Not now I'm on now. All right. Good. Well, good morning village church east to see you online this morning, uh, for those of you that are in house, we have a skeleton crew, uh, just to make sure that we are able to keep streaming this morning. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, our church, thanks you from the bottom of their heart, because we have many people online that are watching this morning. And if you're joining us this morning online, uh, we wish we wish we could be together, but, uh, we're looking forward to that day when it finally arrives, when we're able to be together again, in fact, we wait patiently, but expectedly for that day. And that brings us, is that not a good transition or what to the topic for advent, number two for our second day of advent.
Speaker 0 00:30:39 And that is the topic of waiting. Do you have any idea? Yeah. How long you wait in line your entire life? So I thought about this by the way, my name is Craig gyrus. I'm the lead pastor here at village church east. And it's my privilege to welcome you if by the way you are visiting with us this morning and you're online, we're so happy that you're joining us. Uh, you click on the sidebar there. You can see that there's a couple of different, um, things that you can click on. One of those is our guest card. We'd love to know that you're with us today. And if you're with us online and you'd like to jump on VC, east.org or on YouTube or something like that, you wanted to jump over to VC Eastern online. You can actually text all the way through the conversation this morning, all the way through the service.
Speaker 0 00:31:24 You can see some of the people online there, they sign in with their names. So you can say, hello, you can talk while I'm speaking. If you get bored, whatever you'd like to do, but that's an opportunity for you. We love to see and see online, how many people are talking with each other and know that you're there this morning, back to waiting, like you're waiting for me to start this message this morning. How long do you think you wait in line for things in a lifetime? This occurred to me as I was sitting in line on the highway, dead stop. I thought to myself, how many, how many hours have I waited in line minus my entire life? Waiting can be exhausting. I don't know about you, but it's like, all you literally do is stand there. Sit there, sit there in your car, stand in line, whatever it is, but you do that enough.
Speaker 0 00:32:12 And you just feel, I don't know about you, but I feel exhausted. Weary, weary from waiting. So sorry, we just have studied this. And here's some things you need to know that will increase your ability to enjoy a little more. 38 38 hours a year are spent in your life in traffic, sitting on the highway. In average. Now, if you think that's bad, that's average. If you look up like big city, like Chicago, 50 hours, 50 hours sitting still in traffic in a year, you can count on standing in line six months in a lifetime. Wow, six months you will set stand in lines. Once you factor in lines at now, that's just normal line. So once you factor in lines at grocery stores, the DMV where you get to sit down and wait, red lights, traffic jams on the road. Once you add it all up, according to brain boost.com, once you add up all of these hours that you wait in line, you can count on spending 10 years of your lifetime waiting in lines.
Speaker 0 00:33:21 You can actually set aside 43 days to wait on, hold on the phone. 43 days of your lifetime. You will be on hold on the phone. This is why. By the way, I go to theme parks and I crashed so hard at the end of the day. And I think to myself, literally, all I did was stand in lines. You stand in line for, you know, two and a half hours for a 10 minute ride. It was a 10 minutes. It's like a minute and 30 seconds, right? And then it's over. And by the end of the day, I come home on a bigot. I'm so exhausted, exhausted from standing in line. You feel like the little spinny thing on your desktop. Don't ya? You know, a little spinny thing. You just sit there and you're waiting. You're just clicking. Cause you think to yourself, the more I click, the more this little beach ball was finally stopped, spinning being online. Sometimes I feel like that in my lifetime. Like I just feel like this beach ball that keeps on spinning and spinning
Speaker 1 00:34:17 And spinning
Speaker 0 00:34:18 My question to you this morning is this, have you ever got weary waiting on God? Have you ever prayed to God for something? And just got tired of waiting. You pray for God for answers. She pray for God to provide you. Pray for God, for healing like the Christmas elf, you feel like you're, he sits you on the shelf and you just wait there. I know friends who have prayed for health to improve. They've prayed for relationships to work out. They've repeatedly asked God for new jobs have gone through the stress of waiting and through the financial stress of, of being stressed out, waiting for new jobs or a job to work out for them, petitioning God for spouses, and then finally surrender and Jesus and, and, and sometimes you feel like there's no clear answer of, yes. There's no clear answer of no, there's just kind of this waiting period.
Speaker 0 00:35:06 Can you imagine what it must've been like for the people in Jesus' day to have waited for the Messiah for 400 years? This is what advent lays out for us. At the end of the old Testament, there's a slew of prophecies that the Messiah is about to come, hang on. It's going to happen. Just get ready. And then 400 years pass. There's no profits. There's no prophecies. There's no angelic visitors. There is nothing. There's no books of the Bible being read written written. There's nothing 400 years of silence. Let me give you some of these prophecies, just in case you're thinking to yourself. Well, Craig, maybe it wasn't clear for them that they were actually waiting for something. You probably know Isaiah 41 to two, it says comfort, comfort. My people says your God speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended.
Speaker 0 00:36:09 And her iniquity is pardoned. Now you may, you may remember this verse because it actually is the Handel's Messiah. If you know the Handel's Messiah, you know that all flesh will see it together. This is where that comes from. The warfare that Jerusalem has, has exhausted itself in over and over. And there's all kinds of wars during that 400 year period, Rome, Greece crashed Rome rose to power all during that 400 year period and Jerusalem. These people of God, these Israelites and abused through it all. And they wait, they append these words, comfort, comfort. My people prepare the way of the Lord. All flesh will see it together. He wrote that 700 years before the Messiah would show up. And then finally you get to the end of the new tests end of the old Testament. And the last book of the new of the old Testament was written by the great Italian prophet Malachi, or as we like to call him, Malakai Malakai writes in Malakai three and verse one, the short little book of the Bible.
Speaker 0 00:37:23 He writes behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come into his temple. That was written by Malakai 400 years before Jesus arrived 400 years before John, the Baptist arrived. That's talking about John, the Baptist would come and he would say, here he comes, he's coming. He was, uh, he was like the prophet that would point to the Messiah. 400 years. Messiah would walk into the temple. Someone like someone like Alijah would show up, which we know now as John, the Baptist, somebody like Elijah would show up and he's coming. And you know what? They did a Passover. Every, every year they left, they left the chair open. Cause maybe, maybe this year, Elijah with somebody like Elijah would shoot maybe this year and maybe the Messiah would come in
Speaker 1 00:38:19 Year after year after year, the chair remained empty.
Speaker 0 00:38:26 No profits, no angels, no Messiah, no written documentation from God, a whole nation praying that Malakai would come true in their a whole nation. Praying that Isaiah's prophecy 700 years early about the comfort that the Messiah would bring would finally happen. All of this time passes
Speaker 1 00:38:46 Nothing but empty chairs.
Speaker 0 00:38:50 I want you to know that by the time Jesus finally arrived. And by the way, just to get, put this into perspective. How long has the United States been in exist? Not 400 years. Not many still actually believed this would happen by the time Jesus arrives on the scene. By the times the gospel starts after in the new Testament or old Testament closes by the time the gospel star, Matthew mark, Luke and John, by the time Jesus arrives, the gospels are written about the life, the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why they're called the gospels gospel means good news. That's why they're called that by the time any of that happens, 400 years passed and nobody actually believes it's going to happen anymore. Religion has become rote.
Speaker 0 00:39:37 Empty chairs at tables are never expected to be filled. Sure the Messiah's coming, but maybe it's more of a medal four, but some still held out hope. Some Jewish people weren't too tired to still hope. And to have them, we're going to talk about this morning. Their names are Simeon and Anna, both of these two people, this man, and this woman prayed to God that they would see the Messiah in their lifetime because they believed what the old Testament said. And they believed that a hundred years or 400 years to God. Dad is a drop in the bucket to us or 400
Speaker 1 00:40:18 Years to us as a drop in the bucket to God.
Speaker 0 00:40:21 I want you to take your Bibles. If you wouldn't turn to Luke chapter two in verse 22. Now I want to know, first of all, Jesus had been born at this time. Jesus has been born. Mary has had the birth occur. She takes Jesus up to the temple to get him circumcised as whatever Jewish person does because they want to identify with the Jewish people. Jesus is a Jew. Therefore Jesus gets this ritual of circumcision 21. He circumcised 22. We begin the process of Mary's purification. Now, if you're not used to hearing this, this might shock you a little bit, but Mary had to obey the law as well and go through a process of purification in her life. As the law dictates the period between Luke 2 22 21 and Luke 2 22 is 40 days. And here's where we pick up in verse
Speaker 1 00:41:14 22. And when
Speaker 0 00:41:16 The time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him that's Jesus, up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. This was a cleansing ceremony that moms went through 40 days after their children were born. They had to through this purification process, because way back in the <inaudible> chapter 12 versus two, diverse is six. You can look this up. If you'd like to, it tells how the woman goes through the process of childbirth and how after that process, she needs to go through a process of purification and forgiveness of sins and in doing so, she goes to the temple. Once she goes to the temple, she used to give a burnt offering sacrifice. Now burnt offering sacrifice can be a lamb. We all know that because Jesus is the lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world, right? That is a sin offering for the sins of the world.
Speaker 0 00:42:12 So you can give a lamb. Here's the deal. Lambs are expensive. So if you don't have that much money, God in his great wisdom has given another means. Whereby you can do a burnt sacrifice. You can buy two turtle doves. Now, if you've ever wondered whether you know the first day of Christmas, my true love you. If you ever wonder where the two turtle doves comes from, I don't know what you've heard in your lifetime, but the two turtle doves are a means whereby sin offering is made that God gives way back in the book of Leviticus. It's for poor people to sacrifice. If they can't afford a lamb, they bring the two turtle doves in one turtle, dove, forgive me for this. But the MEK is wrong. Torn off. And the blood is drained out. The blood is poured on the alter and at the base of the altar, the blood sin.
Speaker 0 00:43:04 Now the blood animals never cover sin, but it was a picture like we do with communion. Communion does not get you in with God. Doesn't make you. God love you more. Does it give you grace? None of that, no more than animals being sacrificed covered sins at all. They are a picture. And when this blood was poured at the base of the altar and on top of the altar, it's a picture that someday blood would be covered. The blood would report out to cover the sins of all mankind, all human. The other dove was burned to a crisp. There's a reason. The reason why these two doves were used, by the way, if you're wondering a lamb cost about $2, but turtle doves, two of them cost 16 cents. Mary sacrifice you can read in verse 24 was two turtle doves man area sacrificing a sin offering on behalf of her, her and her family, because she gave birth. It's her place to come forward. And so with this offering, she is asking God for goodness of sins. No, I don't know if you've ever been told that Mary has not sinned. If she has not sinned. My question to you at this point would be she offering sacrifice.
Speaker 1 00:44:24 She does.
Speaker 0 00:44:26 She, it comes before the Lord. She dedicates to the Lord, the burnt offering verse 25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout waiting for the constellation of Israel. And the holy spirit was upon him. The same word is used for Joseph that we talked about last week, the chaos, this righteous, this word, righteous is used for Simeon as well. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. You might ask yourself, well, what, what, uh, what does constellation mean? Constellation is simply a word in the Greek that goes like this. It's called paraklete. Now, if you're a theologian of any kind, you're probably familiar with that word. Paraklete the holy spirit is called our paraklete our comforter. The word paraklete means encourager comforter or one who exhorts. And in Isaiah 40 verse one, Isaiah writes and Simian seems to be thinking about this very verse, Isaiah 40 verse one says comfort, comfort.
Speaker 0 00:45:33 My people says your God speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her. That her warfare is ended. And her iniquity is pardoned. Again. Handel's Messiah. All flesh will see it together. Comes from this passage of scripture. Isaiah 40 was written 700 years before Jesus birth. This was written on the occasion of Jerusalem coming out of captivity in Babylon. And when they came out of captivity in Babylon, they have been through enough. They have been oppressed. They have been beaten down. They had nothing. Everything was stolen from them. They had been slaves in Babylon. Now they come home to Jerusalem and Isaiah writes down. There only wish was for comfort comfort from
Speaker 1 00:46:16 God.
Speaker 0 00:46:18 In fact, Isaiah says, listen, we're asking for comfort, but it's going to be rough. We're going to get to Jerusalem. Everything's burned. Everything's left in rubble. When we were taken into captivity, we don't have a lot to look forward to and it's going to be tough, but God will bring us comfort. It's right around the corner. And this one passage was written 700 years before the comfort
Speaker 1 00:46:43 Sure would arrive.
Speaker 0 00:46:47 Simeon knew that. And Simeon had been waiting for the constellation or this fruit from God, for his people. I'm assuming was quite the Isaiah scholar,
Speaker 1 00:46:59 To be honest,
Speaker 0 00:47:01 Because from all of the stuff that I read about semi he is, he is, his life is impacted by this book. He keeps quoting from it. Verse 26, God has been gracious to Simeon. It had been revealed to Simeon by the holy spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ and that great. Somehow God affirmed to Simeon. You will not die before. You know who the Messiah is. In fact will see him. All Israel will see him and it will be in your lifetime. Simeon and Simeon has to hang on to that promise like grim death. Don't you think this is going to happen in my lifetime? Maybe today's like he wakes up every morning thinking to himself. Maybe I'll see him today. Maybe I'll see him today. And the thing about it is God gives him this out of the book of Isaiah. There's no angelic visit. There's a profit that comes to Simeon. Simeon is reading the book and God speaks to him through the holy spirit and confirms to him that someday he will see this comforter
Speaker 1 00:48:01 Face-to-face and
Speaker 0 00:48:03 He believes it to the point where he wakes up every day, thinking it's going to be today. Now, I also want you to realize everybody's getting in evangelic. Everyone's getting angelic visits. Elisabeth's getting angelic visits. Mary is getting angelic visits. Joseph is getting multiple angelic visits. Zachariah's getting into, everybody's getting an angel, but not Simeon. All Simeon has is God's promises in his word and he believes it like it's going to happen today. You know why that encourages me? Some of us think we believe so much more. If we just had an angel from God, speak to us, I think it's more important that we be like Simeon. We S we, we, we plunge ourselves into the truth of God's word, believing that every word of it could true
Speaker 1 00:49:02 In our lifetime
Speaker 0 00:49:04 Because quite frankly, God's promises do come true every day of our lives. We're just so busy. We miss them. Simeon believed that this would happen in his lifetime. The holy spirit confirmed it. And so we have verse 27, you sitting down cause it's about to get really, really cool. And he came in the spirit to the temple to get that. It's like he wakes up in the morning and God says to him, you need to go to the temple today. There's no angelic visit. There's nothing. It's just a prompting. It's a move of his gut. And he thinks to himself, yep. I'll go to the temple. It's the holy spirit, moving him. He came in the spirit to the temple. And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus to do for him, according to the custom of the law, he took them up in his arms, arms and blessed God, listen, Simeon just happened to be in the temple the same day, Mary and Joseph arrived to do sacrifice
Speaker 1 00:50:04 For their family,
Speaker 0 00:50:06 Right? The stars all align, right? It just happened to work out. No, this was according to God's plan. Simeon was at the right place at the right time. Why? Because he believed God would do it in his lifetime. He was in touch with God. He was listening for God's movement. And when it happened, he was in the right time at the right place.
Speaker 0 00:50:31 And by the way, you should know, Simeon does not have to be in the same court where Mary is in this day, the court is sectioned off. There are different court yards in the temple on the outer court is where the Gentiles could go, but they couldn't go any further, further than that is where the women Jews could go. But they couldn't go any further than that in there, beyond that is where the men usually gathered. They leave the women outside. They get a little closer and beyond. That is where the priests are. And finally, beyond that is the temple. And finally beyond that is the holy of Holies where only the high priest could go. You see, it was sectioned off like this. So when Simeon shows up, he shouldn't have been in this courtyard. He's in the right courtyard. He's in the right courtyard. He sees Mary. He's not in the men's, he's in the courtyard where she's at. And he sees Jesus and he sees Mary. And it's like, God says to him, Simeon that's him. Can you imagine how Simian must've felt living in his whole life? Believing it could be today. And it finally is
Speaker 1 00:51:46 Today.
Speaker 0 00:51:48 And the holy spirit says, that's him. Send me him, look over there. That's him. See that woman carrying the baby. That baby is who you've been waiting for. It's we're not told how Simeone got the kid. We're not, we're not told how Simeon got the baby. We're just told that Simeon somehow rushes over to Mary snap. Maybe. I don't know. Does he ask for the baby? Does he snatch the baby up? Is he so excited? He shoves Mary out of the way and pulls the baby away. Did they think that he was a robber or a thief of some guy we're not told any of that? All we're told is in his excitement, he sees the baby, he runs over, he grabs the baby and he holds the one he's been waiting for in his arms. Yes. In fact, he's so pleased with this sweeping this little. Now Jesus would have been about four years old at this age. Verse 29 Simeon said, Lord, now you're letting your servant depart in peace. According to your word, Simeon had peace from accepting God's plan. He waited and he never doubted. Simeon has never keep in mind, seen one miracle from Jesus. Simeon has never heard Jesus teach. Simeon has never seen Jesus walk on the water or feed 5,000 with bread. Samian has never heard
Speaker 1 00:53:12 A vocal, anything
Speaker 0 00:53:15 From Jesus. And yet he knows when he holds this baby, he's holding
Speaker 1 00:53:20 The son of God. Listen to what he says in verse 34,
Speaker 0 00:53:25 Mine eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory
Speaker 1 00:53:33 To your people. Israel,
Speaker 0 00:53:36 The word seen here is Geraldo. It means literally to look on and believe it's the same word used when John looked into the empty tomb and he saw that Jesus wasn't there and
Speaker 1 00:53:48 He believed it's Geraldo,
Speaker 0 00:53:50 Simeon grabs the baby and hurrah sees and believes. Now that's a pretty cool story, but that's one story. That's one incident. Here's another part of that same day that we sometimes skip over. There is a woman. Remember they're in the courtyard where the women are allowed to gather with the men. And there is a woman standing there listening. She's listening to all that's happening. And her name is Anna and Anna or in the Hebrew. Hannah was an amazing follower of God as well. Who was also waiting for the Messiah. Look in verse 36, there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of a Newell of the tribe of Asher during her life. She has spent time studying the scripture again, listen, no angelic visits, no prophecies. She's not prophetic in any way. She's just a faithful follower of God. Just like Simeon. This is all we know about these people. They just happen to be today necessary for this amazing series of events to pour out, look at what it says about Hannah. She was advanced in years. Having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a Virgin. And then as a widow until she was how old was he? Church 84.
Speaker 1 00:55:22 Now you
Speaker 0 00:55:22 Need to know this. We don't know anything about Hannah except how old she is. We know we know her, her father. We know, we know the tribe that she came from, but apparently scripture needs to tell us one thing you need to know. This is an old lady. Why? Why is it so important for us to know how old she was? Because of this? She was married probably in her teens. She's been married for seven years. Most likely her husband died of something in her twenties. She has lived 60 plus years on her own. Now I know a lot of people that would feel like they got the shaft from God. If they got married to a guy in their early, early teens, late teens, nowadays, maybe early twenties, but 60 some years without a man. You'd think this woman would wake up every day and go, God, you have been pretty unfair
Speaker 1 00:56:23 Me, but Anna did not.
Speaker 0 00:56:27 I love that. Her name is Hannah. I have a hand of my own. We called her Hannah because of the old Testament woman. Her name was Hannah mother Samuel. And she went into the temple and prayed to God that he would give her a child. She was faithful in praying,
Speaker 1 00:56:45 And God gave her a son. This
Speaker 0 00:56:49 Name, Hannah means the world to me because of that. And also because of this story, because these women are faithful beyond understanding 60 plus years, waiting
Speaker 1 00:57:03 For God to do something.
Speaker 0 00:57:05 But I want you to keep in mind. She's not just waiting in line. He's not just sitting on the highway, thinking how unfair everybody is. It's buttoned in, in front of her. She's not thinking how she got the shaft and everybody else has it so much better than her. She's thinking to herself. Maybe I'll see the Messiah today. She's singing herself. I'm going to keep praying for Jerusalem today. She's thinking herself, I'm going to keep praying to God would redeem his people today. All she does for 60 plus years is pray to God and never blames him once and every day expect she'll see and experience something great. He's been devoted to telling others about Jesus. You're going to find that out in a few seconds here. She remained faithful. Listen to this. She did not depart from the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. This woman was an amazing faithful woman. I hear people say, God loves me so much. He doesn't mind when I yell at him. Once in a while, I got to tell you, I don't read a lot of that in scripture. What I read is silent, surrender and faithfulness.
Speaker 1 00:58:17 And this woman stands the top of the line.
Speaker 0 00:58:21 She's not being down by life. She has an abandoned God. She sees, she recognizes the promises of God. And even though she hasn't heard anything for 400 years, her lifetime included, she doesn't blame God. It only strengthens her faith. She only prays more. She only serves more. She only preaches more. Her food. Lucas has kept her from missing God's promise and listen, because she's faithful. She's in the right place
Speaker 1 00:58:50 At the right time.
Speaker 0 00:58:54 She's okay with a little beach ball spinning and spinning and spinning. Cause she's waiting for something great and it's worth
Speaker 1 00:59:01 Waiting for. And when
Speaker 0 00:59:04 The Messiah showed up because of her faithfulness, because she was faithful, she was in the place she needed to be to see him when he was there. Listen to this. This is, if you don't read it carefully, you'll you'll, you'll miss it. Verse 38. And coming up at that very hour, she began giving thanks to God and to speak him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel. Coming up at that very hour. You get this. I don't read anywhere here that she actually holds Jesus in her arms to you. I don't read anywhere here that she actually talks to Mary or Joseph. I don't read any of that here. Simeon's getting all the glory. Simeon's holding the baby. Simeon's given prophecy to, to Mary about how Jesus would grow up in his life. But Anna doesn't get any of that. Anna just, it's almost like she's listening in on what's happening with semi. And she's saying, yeah,
Speaker 1 00:59:52 That's him. And she's okay with that. She was waiting, but she wasn't wasting time. And immediately Lee, she
Speaker 0 01:00:02 Starts talking to all of those who are waiting for the redemption of Israel, waiting for the redemption
Speaker 1 01:00:08 Of Jerusalem. She begins to preach to them. Redeem is an interesting word.
Speaker 0 01:00:16 I have a little a card that says I belong to a club at BW three that's Buffalo, wild wings for all of you novices out there in my little card that I have online. I am allowed to gain points, which I try and gain on a regular basis. And if I gain enough points, I can redeem those points for free stuff. I get free wings. I get free fries. I get free butts. If I get enough points, I get a whole slew of stuff for free. Now keep in mind. It's not for free. I'm actually gaining points by spending money so that I can redeem those points. At some point in my life, this woman was important to the gospel message because she is waiting to redeem the points for something great. She has read about the old Testament prophecies. She believes in the Messiah to come. She knows that he is going to come and he is going to redeem
Speaker 1 01:01:13 His people. He's going to cash it in and they will win big time.
Speaker 0 01:01:19 She's waiting for it, waiting for the one who would come in and redeem his people, give them everything that they have been praying. And this one and was important to the gospel message because this was the group of people
Speaker 1 01:01:39 She was preaching to as a group she was hanging with. Do you ever wonder what's riding on your faithfulness?
Speaker 0 01:01:49 I do. Like if I'm not faithful today, what difference is that going to make?
Speaker 1 01:01:55 If
Speaker 0 01:01:55 I, if I don't follow through, who's going to really be hurt. What if Anna had said after 40 years of waiting, I'm going to go do something else I've prayed for 60 years. I'm pretty tired if he hasn't shown up for 400 years, why in my right mind would I think that he would show up in lifetime if his promises were made 700 years ago in Isaiah, why? In my right mind, what? I think that it would actually happen in my 80 years of existence, by the way, I'm 85. Somebody else younger can start picking up the ball. At this
Speaker 1 01:02:35 Point, I need a vacation, but she still got up. She still went to the temple and she still hung with those who were waiting for redemption. She
Speaker 0 01:02:47 Was in the right place at the right time. And because she was faithful and she listened over the shoulder of what's happening with Simeon because of that, she was able to turn to a group of people and say, listen, the Messiah, we've all been waiting for. He's over there.
Speaker 1 01:03:06 He's he's literally a Stone's throw. You want to see him? He's he's right there.
Speaker 2 01:03:13 <inaudible> do you
Speaker 0 01:03:20 Believe that God shows up just at the right time? Sometimes I doubt that full confession. Sometimes I think the wait is just too long and sometimes I think his timetable is a little bit off. He needs to work a little faster, a little quicker, a little more like I would work. But then I think to myself, you know, Craig, your timetable is usually wrong. Anyway, his timetable is always right. Do you ever think that God
Speaker 1 01:03:53 May be makes you wait a little too long?
Speaker 0 01:03:57 And then I'm reminded of Romans five, six. It says just at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly
Speaker 1 01:04:03 To love that. Just, just at the right time,
Speaker 0 01:04:08 Just at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. God tells us his timing is exact. God tells us his plan is perfect. And so my big, so what for you this morning is simply this, our faith is strengthened. When we accept his plan, our faith is deepened and strengthened. When we let his timetable
Speaker 1 01:04:35 Workout, Simeon and Anna could
Speaker 0 01:04:40 Have complained that their lives were wasted, waiting and waiting
Speaker 1 01:04:44 And waiting. They had to accept
Speaker 0 01:04:46 That God works on his own table. They have at the timetable and they had to be okay with that. They had to remain faithful as their outward demonstrations would, would show they had to remain faithful, believing that God we're working it out according
Speaker 1 01:05:00 To his time.
Speaker 0 01:05:02 Listen, it's one thing for us to say, I'm okay with God's timetable, but it's another thing to remain faithful and demonstrate. I'm okay with God's timetable.
Speaker 1 01:05:14 You see the difference
Speaker 0 01:05:17 Simeon and Anna could have said, oh yeah, we're waiting for God. Just like the rest of Israel. But you know, it's, it's really just re religion of wrote at this point 400 years is a long time. 700 years is a long time. We've been waiting for a long time. So really religion is not really something that impacts anyone's life. Other than it's a cultural thing. Nope. Their religion was as real as their life was real. And I know it because they lived a certain way. What they believed was demonstrated in what they did. They would have never been at the temple
Speaker 1 01:05:55 If they just believed by word, but they believed in word and action.
Speaker 0 01:06:03 It's one thing to say my action. It's one thing to say, I'm okay with God's stable time. It's another thing to say. My actions will demonstrate.
Speaker 1 01:06:11 I'm okay with God's timing.
Speaker 0 01:06:14 Listen, we say that God works together. All things for good, right? Romans eight 20, God works all things together for good to those who love him are called according to his purpose. But if that's okay with us, we're going to remain faithful while we wait. And if not, you and I probably can think of several people who have abandoned God
Speaker 1 01:06:37 In the wait. It's too long.
Speaker 0 01:06:40 Maybe God's forgotten about me. Maybe his promises. Aren't true. I'll keep going to church, but I'm not going to really live it
Speaker 1 01:06:49 Accepting God's plan. And his timing will bring peace to our lives. If
Speaker 0 01:06:54 You want peace in your life, it's more than just saying, God is right.
Speaker 1 01:07:00 You've got to live like you believe God is right.
Speaker 0 01:07:04 Both Anna and Simeon had to let go of their preconceptions. Listen. They were both waiting. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel and then was waiting for the redemption of Israel. But neither one are waiting for a baby. You know that right? Nobody in their right mind is waiting for a baby. They're waiting for a warrior for a, for a king there. They're waiting for somebody outstanding to take on Rome owns the world. If Jerusalem is going to get comfort, if it's going to be redeemed the land given back to them, if they're going to be freed from Rome, they got to have like a full grown strong Samsung or Thor or the rock. They got to have somebody that looks pretty intimidating. But when they see Jesus in the form of this little baby, neither of them go, mm yeah, Nope. Not what I was waiting for. Both of them say, yup. If that's what God wants to do, if that's how God wants to work, it I'm more than okay with it. I'm elated. And Simeon grabs the baby and holds him up and blesses God, because the comfort of Israel has arrived. Never heard him give a sermon. Never heard him do a miracle. Never saw him. Casto demons never saw the amazing things that Jesus would do, but believed in his heart. This
Speaker 1 01:08:31 Is God's promise. And at the same thing,
Speaker 0 01:08:36 We're never even told if Anna talked
Speaker 1 01:08:38 To Joseph and Mary, but Anna
Speaker 0 01:08:41 Was moved because the holy spirit told
Speaker 1 01:08:43 Her. Yup. That's him.
Speaker 0 01:08:46 And when she saw the baby, she knew redemption had arrived. Surely neither of them would have imagined this yet. When they saw this little baby, neither of them indicated disbelief. They were okay with God's plan and church.
Speaker 1 01:09:03 When we are faithful, when we are daily, faithful,
Speaker 0 01:09:09 Leaving God, living it out, like we believe it. Our faith will grow. You begin to see God do things in amazing ways that you missed
Speaker 1 01:09:21 Your whole life.
Speaker 0 01:09:23 You walked by his blessings numerous times. But when you finally say, you know what? God works in mysterious ways. He's working in mysterious ways today. He's doing some amazing things today. And I'm okay with that. You'll begin to see his blessings. Like you've never seen them before, because they've always been there. You've just been blind to it. Last thing, church, when God is quiet, he is not inactive.
Speaker 1 01:09:48 When
Speaker 0 01:09:49 God is quiet, he is not inactive. These folks inspire me. They should be weary from waiting, but they are not. They believe God is still working because God's silence is not the absence of his presence. When God is quiet, he's still working on a grander scale. I love Psalm 1 21 verse. One from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not what church slumber. You know, that means snooze fade like you do. When you're hearing a message, you kind of
Speaker 1 01:10:23 Slumber away. Behold. He who keeps
Speaker 0 01:10:26 Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. God has not spoken for 400
Speaker 1 01:10:31 Years.
Speaker 0 01:10:33 Sometimes he works in slow. So what we think are slow. Listen between verse 21 and 22 are 40 days. Sometimes we read through the Bible, only think, okay, this thing happened next. And this thing happened next. That's not how God works. Sometimes church, we live between the verses and we think to ourselves, okay, the next thing is about to happen. But in God's timetable, there's a period of waiting.
Speaker 1 01:10:56 Sometimes that's hard. Sometimes you have to live between the verses. Sometimes you just have to simply wait, but whatever God is doing, he's building up to something great.
Speaker 0 01:11:10 Building up to his return, which is the greatest thing of all. Listen, we are called believers because we believe God is working on a grander scale. We are called believers because we believe he's coming back someday. And not only that, we don't just believe he's coming back someday. We eagerly wait for it. Have you ever eagerly waited for anything like on Christmas morning? Have you ever, maybe it needed to be like when you were a kid or something. I don't know, but maybe, maybe nowadays, but have you ever asked for something that was under the tree and you eagerly wait for it, like, like a Christmas story. And I think of a Ralphie when, when he, when he orders the decoder ring and every day he comes home and he checks the mailbox, no Dakota rang, texted mailbox, no decoder ring, no texts, a mailbox.
Speaker 0 01:11:57 And then finally, and it spells out some commercial like drinker Ovaltine yeah. So disappointed by the whole thing. But I think about that eagerly waiting, listen, church or wait for Christ is demonstrated as we eagerly, wait for his appearing. That means we, we think it's going to happen today. We think it's going to happen. Like, like by this time this message is over. We, we can't wait for it every day we check the mailbox, thinking it could be today. We eagerly wait for it. And if you don't believe that typing eagerly in your service, spots on your Bible and you'll see it over and over and over again, here's one Galatians five verse five. It says this for through the spirit, by faith. We ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. And in Simeon, we're eagerly
Speaker 1 01:12:48 Waiting church
Speaker 0 01:12:49 After 65 years. And it was eagerly waiting there. Faith in Jesus, they had faith that brought them peace. God was working out a greater plan. They waited with eager hearts. And this is why I love advent because the world beats our soul down church events of this world will beat that eagerly waiting right out of here. This is, I think what Satan loves to do. He loves to get you so distracted on stuff that doesn't matter that you forget. You're eagerly waiting to see Jesus. So you eagerly wait for other temporal things. The souls that are beaten down by time,
Speaker 1 01:13:38 They wait and they weighed
Speaker 0 01:13:39 In. Sometimes listen. Sometimes our souls forget that they're so valuable to God, God, hasn't forgotten
Speaker 1 01:13:46 About you. God, hasn't forgotten about his promise, whatever you're waiting on God for he, he knows her in line. He sees you he's with you, but his timing is better than yours,
Speaker 0 01:14:03 Which brings me to the, this whole series that we're doing in advent,
Speaker 1 01:14:09 A weary world. Rejoices.
Speaker 0 01:14:13 Listen to the words of this song.
Speaker 1 01:14:16 Long, lay the world in sin and error pining to get that long. Lay the world in sin and error, pining till he appeared. And the soul felt its worth a thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn fall on your knees. Oh, here are the angel voices or night divine O night when Christ was born for us, it's past tense for these folks. It was present tense,
Speaker 0 01:15:02 But it only illustrates to me that we're all
Speaker 1 01:15:04 Waiting for the future tense.
Speaker 0 01:15:07 God will redeem this broken world once and for all. And don't be mistaken. God is redeeming
Speaker 1 01:15:12 It. Even now you live
Speaker 0 01:15:15 With people who think their souls aren't worth a dime
Speaker 1 01:15:21 And God thinks their soul is worth everything. In fact, he gave his own life to redeem it. Jesus arrived right at the right time. He gave compassion. He gave comfort and he gives redemption to those who are weary and broken from time. This is why a weary world can rejoice. And this is why church. We preach every Sunday. We sing and worship every Sunday because while a world beats us down, God
Speaker 0 01:15:59 Reminds us. There's a better timetable.
Speaker 1 01:16:03 Don't get weary. Don't get weary in well-doing for in the end, you will reap a harvest. If you do not faint, God's got this. Don't be discouraged. Be faithful. Let it be more than words. Let it be the actions of your life that demonstrate you're waiting for something greater. God. I'm grateful that you have given us these two wonderful folks from scripture, Simeon and Anna who wait and wait and wait.
Speaker 0 01:16:45 Both of them had to admit that your timing was better and all of us today need to read these illustrative lives and remind ourselves through the inspiration of scripture. You put these in here for
Speaker 1 01:16:56 A reason, you put these people into our lives for a reason. And maybe
Speaker 0 01:17:02 That reason for some of us is to today is to remind us
Speaker 1 01:17:06 There's peace. When we faithfully wait on God. So give our souls peace, help us father. To remember
Speaker 0 01:17:17 That you are still redeeming. You're still building. You are still preparing a place for many who have yet to come. And Lord, may you may we take advantage of the weight, faithful in our prayer, faithful in our witness, knowing that you are planting something incredible in the future. When you will redeem all of humankind, father let us like Anna preach to those who are waiting for that final redemption. And we tell those who need comfort. That comfort is available and may you continue to change lives so that they follow you in this way, father, I pray that we would continue to grow your kingdom. Thank you again for this passage that we got to look at today. May you bless us now as we go into communion in Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 0 01:18:10 I read these stories that God gives us in communion as we come to communion. And I am reminded that we wait with great expectation to see Jesus someday. I don't know about you, but sometimes I think to myself, you know, it's been a quite a while. It's been 2000 years since Jesus promised that he would return and he hasn't returned yet. So maybe, maybe it's a metaphor. Maybe it's not actually going to happen. And I get convicted when I read passages like this, because these folks were faithful with their lives. Believing that God's promise would come to fruition, come to pass in their lifetimes. And sometimes I don't feel like that when Jesus died on the cross, he gives us this promise. He says, I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go to this John 14, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will what I will, what I will come again and receive you unto myself.
Speaker 0 01:19:06 That where I am there, you may be also John 14, verse one, you can read about it right there. Thomas says, how do we know the way, what he says, I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father, except through me. The cross is our demonstration that we have to come through Jesus in order to have eternity in heaven. In order to S some are going to be excited about his return. Some are going to be fearful for me. I'm excited. I eagerly wait for it. The juice, when we drink it, as a reminder to me that it's the blood of Jesus that is necessary to cover my sins. Not the heads ripped off. Turtledoves not a lamb. That is slain, that is born on this planet. But the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, I need that blood to cover my sin.
Speaker 0 01:19:53 So when we drink this cup, nothing changes. It's not like blood that we're drinking, but it's a reminder to us. This is what was necessary for us to have a relationship with God and hope of eternity in heaven. When we eat the cracker, this awful tasting thing that we eat. Now, this, this piece of plastic, whatever it is that I'm sure has given us all cancer. When we eat that, it's a reminder to us styrofoam. It's not giving us it styrofoam, but it tastes terrible. But all it is is it reminds us. That is the body of Jesus Christ that had to be pierced
Speaker 1 01:20:27 So that that blood could flow.
Speaker 0 01:20:31 Nothing changes. It's still just styrofoam in it. But to us, it's much more than that. And it's a reminder to me
Speaker 1 01:20:40 That we eagerly wait for his coming. I had a
Speaker 0 01:20:45 Friend in college, his name is Chris Danigan.
Speaker 1 01:20:49 Who's an Indian friend of mine. He was
Speaker 0 01:20:53 An RA on my floor. And we would do Bible studies every once in a while. And he said, Craig, have you ever thought it might be today? And I said, what might be today? What's what are you talking about? What might be today? So, no. Have you ever thought, like it might be today. And he went over to his window and he cranked his little steel lever on his window and the flaps came open and the sun was shining and the clouds were up there and he looked through and he said, sometimes Greg, sometimes I just opened my window and I look out and I think to myself,
Speaker 1 01:21:22 Maybe it's today. I'll always remember that conversation
Speaker 0 01:21:28 Because I didn't have that kind of anticipation. I didn't have that kind of eager
Speaker 1 01:21:34 Waiting in my soul.
Speaker 0 01:21:38 And I learned something from Chris that day. I learned that. Yeah. If Jesus promised
Speaker 1 01:21:43 It might be today, so why wouldn't I eagerly wait for it? Hebrews 9 28.
Speaker 0 01:21:53 So Christ haven't been offered once to bear sins of many will appear a second time, time
Speaker 1 01:22:00 Not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him
Speaker 0 01:22:08 And church. When we take communion today, my hope is that you would take this communion and remember that we eagerly wait
Speaker 1 01:22:15 For the return of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 0 01:22:17 It's not a pie in the sky. Hope
Speaker 1 01:22:20 It's not a wish. It's a truth. And we eagerly wait for it because church, it could be today. I'm going to give you a moment. And
Speaker 0 01:22:34 If you're at home, we encourage you to get something from the kitchen, maybe trackers or something out there that you could use last week, everybody texted what they were having for community. And that brought a smile to my face. If you want to do that again, you can run on that text on VC east and tell us what you're using for communion. It's always fun to hear what different people are using. But because again, it's not the thing. It's not the thing that it's what it stands
Speaker 1 01:22:58 For. And so
Speaker 0 01:23:00 We're going to take communion today. And when we take communion, remember the bread represents the body of Jesus. The juice represents the blood that Jesus shed and all of it is necessary for the forgiveness of sins. I'm going to give you a few minutes. If you're running to get your stuff, do that at home. We'd like to do this together because it's an opportunity for us to actually do something. Even though we're in different places, do something at the same time. And so I wanna encourage you to participate with community in communion,
Speaker 1 01:23:28 With the rest of us and we'll eat and drink with you together as well.
Speaker 0 01:23:34 Let's take a minute and, uh, give this time to the Lord. Uh, we always spend a moment. If you want to pray and have a quiet conversation in your mind between the Lord and you, he hears every word. He hears every thought he knows them. And if you need to just spend some time with the Lord, maybe he's laid something on your heart. Maybe you need to just confess something. Maybe you need to thank him for something, but he's laid something on your heart. Listen to the holy spirit, have a conversation with him. Then I'll come up and we'll participate by eating and drinking together.
Speaker 1 01:24:06 Spend a moment in prayer. Would you <inaudible> Father God it's, it might be today.
Speaker 0 01:24:36 And if it were today, it would be such a wonderful blessing to see you face to face before the sun were to set. We know someday, that will be true someday. You will come again and receive us unto yourself,
Speaker 1 01:24:50 Father. I
Speaker 0 01:24:50 Thank you for that promise. And, and, and if we, if we die before that promise comes true, we have the promise that to be absent from the body is to be present with you. And the minute we close our eyes here in life, we open our eyes to real life, face to face with our savior, our loved ones who have gone on before these things we talk about because they are not just pie in the sky
Speaker 1 01:25:16 Hope, but these are promises
Speaker 0 01:25:19 That you've made to us and we believe they are absolutely
Speaker 1 01:25:21 True. So father,
Speaker 0 01:25:24 Thank you for giving your life so that these promises are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. Everything that you've promised you will accomplish. You have so far and you will forever. Anyone is listening father this morning that doesn't have a relationship with you and they've been waiting and waiting for something to happen. May you reveal to them the truth of your word this
Speaker 1 01:25:47 Morning changed their lives,
Speaker 0 01:25:50 Convince them that there is a greater life to be had with you a life abundant full of glory and promise of eternal life to come. And life is so much more peaceful and joyful, hopeful, loving all of these things because you still are in the process of redeeming this world. And so father, I pray that that message has been loud and clear this morning. And as we celebrate through the eating and drinking, as we celebrate this truth, remind us again of how much we have to be thankful
Speaker 1 01:26:20 For because of your son, Jesus Christ. It's in his name that I pray. Amen.
Speaker 2 01:26:44 Uh,
Speaker 0 01:30:35 Read to you from first Corinthians chapter 11, starting in verse 23 is what Paul writes to the church at Corinth to remind them of why we do communion each Sunday. He writes at the church at Corinth and then to us, for I receive from the Lord, what also I delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he said, take eat. This is my body, which is for you do this in remembrance of me. And the same way also, he took the cup after supper saying this cup has a new Testament, new covenant in my blood, do this. As often as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And so church, I would ask that you
Speaker 1 01:31:25 With me would eat and
Speaker 0 01:31:27 Drink. And in doing so proclaim the death of Jesus Christ until
Speaker 1 01:31:33 His promise to come
Speaker 0 01:31:49 It's been my privilege to be able to share this message with you this morning. Advent is one of my favorite times of the year. It's a reminder us that we slowly walk up to the manger of Jesus Christ to once again, consider
Speaker 1 01:32:05 The gift of God never gets old. It's always a powerful thing next
Speaker 0 01:32:12 Week. We'll continue our study and want to encourage you to, to be a part of that as well. And maybe tell somebody about the online service that we have at 10 30 and ask them to join us Christmas Eve, don't forget we're going to be having a service online. I hope that everybody can join us online or calling it home for Christmas. We'll have three homes where you can come and be a part of other people's Christmas Eve, if you'd like to at four o'clock. But if you don't want to, if you don't feel comfortable with that, we'll be online. That's why we're doing it online so that everybody can be a part we'll deliver some candles to your home. And we'll finish that time together by singing silent night. You'll see everybody on the screen with their candles lit and we'll sing silent night. That's how we finish every Christmas Eve service together. We're going to try everything that we can to make this seem just as normal, a Christmas Eve service like we're together as we would normally do. My prayer is that this advent season for you would be another, not a wasted moment,
Speaker 1 01:33:07 But a captured one
Speaker 0 01:33:09 Reminding us that what we have waited for us fulfilled in our savior Jesus Christ. Well, God bless you church. Thank you for joining us online. May God give you a wonderful and blessed holiday season, a Merry Christmas and a chance to share with somebody else like Simeon and Anna, the joy and the truth. And the promise is found in Jesus Christ. God bless your church.
