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Summary
The sermon is about Simeon and Anna, two characters in the Bible who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. The sermon reflects on the theme of peace, which is the focus of the second Advent Sunday. It explores what peace means to each individual and how it is connected to the fulfillment of salvation. The sermon also touches on the importance of personal study of scripture, faithful waiting for the coming of the Lord, and being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Sermon transcription
Link to the service video.
I'll read from the passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 from verse 23 onwards. For I received from the Lord what I also passed onto you. The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed. He took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. We can now partake of the bread. In the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me we can now partake of the cup for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord our gra father we areful lord to again on the suffering and death of our lord Jesus Christ on the cross where he gave up his his life and shed his blood so that we may be forgiven of our sins and we may receive lord the salvation god and the new life that we are now living in.
We use this time Lord of reflection to recommit our lives to you that we may live our lives Lord and in this journey we may experience suffering but we know Lord that we are united with you in your death and in your suffering that one day we may also experience resurrection just like when you were reason from the dead.
Our Christmas celebration will be at 3 p.m. So we do not have a morning service on the 21st of December so that everyone from Utrecht and the rest of the others can join here with us.
Today we have a full schedule for today. We will have later on a baby shower and also there is I think I believe practice for in preparation for our Christmas celebration. Also, you may notice that later that our children and youth ministry are going to offer some cupcakes isn't it or desserts and cupcakes and that is for mission we are fundraising for the feeding in the Philippines.
So it will go on until our Christmas celebration on the 21st. So you may want to donate any amount that you would like when you go on that corner where they are offering this uh cupcakes and desserts.
We also would like to welcome Faith Precious Grace wonderful name where is she? Yes. Welcome. Faith faith na grace paeous pa. Wow. Welcome. And we we pray that you feel at home with us. Um treat us just like your member of your family. Yeah, welcome. Thank you.
Praise the Lord. So today we have a full uh activities so we will just go um let go of our usual testimony time. Preserve it for the next Sunday. Um and uh today we will just now call our children for to pray for them also our teacher teacher chem can you come in front so we can also include you in our prayers so youth and children please come in fr so we can bless you and uh give thanks to the Lord for each one of you.
Yes. Praise the Lord. Okay. Can we extend our hands and pray for our youth and our children? Hallelujah. Father God we are grateful Lord for our youth and our children. Thank you Lord God for each one of them in our individual prayers we always include them Lord because we know that as we express our blessings to them Lord that you will work in their lives that you will uh guide them oh Lord and be with them Lord in their journey.
We thank you Lord God for uh guiding them and bringing them at this point in their lives Lord where you are preparing them for the future. Thank you Lord God for making them a blessing not only to us as a church but to their friends as well and their uh schoolmates and everyone that you are bringing into their circle. Thank you Lord God for today that they are going to have fellowship with one another.
We pray for our teacher Chem. We pray Lord God for our uh um um those who will guide them Lord today and may they learn from your word God as they study your word and may they enjoy their time together and give you honor and and uh uh praise God in their lives and once again we bless you Lord for all of this we ask in Jesus mighty name we pray am the lord.
Okay. So after our service we we will have our food fellowship. At the same time we will uh have a baby shower and then we will just explain our baby shower later on and then there will also be practices for the in preparation for our Christmas service.
So let us right away go to our sermon for today. So this is the second uh Advent Sunday and the theme is peace and we will also talk about the the essence of peace uh in this time of uh advent celebration.
Um in this uh month of December the theme of the month is the stories of Advent. The stories of Advent. Very seldom do we have sermon concerning the characters in the Bible and this is one of those time that we will have uh uh the characters in the Bible to talk about. Uh today we will talk about Simon and Anna in Luke 2: 21 to 38.
And then next week the characters that we are going to talk about is Elizabeth and Mary. Mary the mother of Jesus and it is in Luke 1:35 to 39 to 45. So that probably is also uh including the theme of joy the joy of motherhood for both Elizabeth and Mary.
And then on the third week is of course our Christmas celebration the title is and the government shall be upon his shoulders. So we are going to reflect the kingdom of God when Jesus Christ returns and how the Lord um exact the government uh with with us his people uh governing with him.
So we will uh look forward to our Christmas celebration and then uh in the fourth Sunday is a coping of the entire um advent. We started last Sunday with the hope of the day break talking about the hope of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then the last Sunday of December we will also talk about the hope at his coming uh based on 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Um last Sunday it's based on Romans chapter 13 but this time will be uh in the fourth Sunday will be Corinthians 15.
Um the the first half of Advent is more focus on the the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and then the second half will be focus more on the the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ but uh in the transition we are moving towards uh the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So today's message will be a mix of looking forward to the second coming at the same time reflecting on the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in the life of Simeon and Anna.
Okay. So let us read together the passage Luke 2: 25 to 38. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was on him it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah.
Moved by the spirit he went into the temple courts when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required. Simon took him in his arms and praised God saying, "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelations to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel." The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him when Simon blessed them and said to Mary his mother this child is to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too.
There was also a prophet Anna the daughter of Penuel of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. She lived with her husband 7 years after her marriage and then was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple but worship night and day fasting and praying coming up to them that time at that very moment she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Praise God for the reading of his word. Father God, we thank you Lord for this time that we can uh uh think about the life of Simon and the prophetess Anna and how their lives Lord God give us the reflection for this time of uh the advent season the time of uh celebrating peace and preparing us Lord for the future of what ahad for all of us.
While also anticipating the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we commit Lord this time of learning and may we receive Lord your message that you prepared for each one of us. For all of this we ask and pray in Jesus most precious name. Amen.
Amen. Praise the Lord. So going back to the passage uh of course there are two characters but interesting uh rendition of of um the apostle or not the apostle uh Luke Dr. Luke who was the author of this uh book uh the gospel of Luke that Simon at the beginning uh of this uh introduction of his who he is that he was praying for a long time uh for the as it is said in verse 25 he was waiting for the consolation of Israel he was waiting for the restoration God was me for the na of is said the holy was upon him in 26 it said that it had been revealed to him by the holy spirit that he would not die before he had seen the lord'sahory.
Right after he prophesied after the temple time that he was there that he died and it was already shown to him by the holy spirit that it will happen but before that that he will have the privilege of seeing by himself that the Messiah that God has sent to the world has been born and was am the like a movie the sequence of the sins that we can see here because it says in ver 27 he was moved by the spirit to enter into the temple court so it was the holy spirit who uh prompted him to enter into the court and see for himself Jesus who was with J and Mary and and in ver 28 Simon took him in his arms.
So So just imagine when uh Simon saw the baby, he knew right there exactly who this baby was. This was the uh very long awaited coming of the Messiah and he courageously took this uh precious child into his arms and then while he was holding the baby Jesus he was praising the Lord and that was the rendition of this song uh it has been used in uh in uh liturgy since the very ancient time of the church and it was called that is Latin for um the first few words in verse 29 so they title it nung dimitis um in Latin it says nung dimitis servum tuom in patche it means that you may now dismiss your servant in peace and and this title is used because it has been a song or a that has been used by uh the Christian church you know from one generation to the next generation in our time I remember the I see the lord you know the byon canol I see the lord there is it's mainly from the throne of God's presence in Isaiah.
Uh but there is a passage there that see that says for my eyes has seen the king the lamb upon the throne who reigns forevermore for my eyes has seen uh the king and and verse 30 uh is uh it echoes this passage where Simeon says for my eyes has seen your salvation what a uh an image Simon was carrying the baby Jesus and looking up to heaven. Lord thank you that you have given me the privil I have seen the wonderful baby uh who is going to be the savior of mankind.
Well, let's talk about this peace in verse 29. Simeon's peace. What does it mean for for Simon? What do you think does it mean for Simeon to say um you may now dismiss your servant in peace? Of course the previous verse says that the Holy Spirit show to him that he will not die until he will see uh the Messiah right and and then because of that message by the Holy Spirit say I now to die because now I have seen you know what I have been waiting for for a long time but I think not so much as toing to havingulfment right I me he said that it is as is secondary to to theity what he was trying to say here that I am now fulfilled you know I I have received the greatest uh gift that I can I can ever have in my life and that is to see with my own eyes the Messiah that at I have been waiting for my whole life.
What a wonderful um statement there no peace is fulfillment in life when a lifelong desire or aspiration in your life is granted. And and that uh the team of peace in this second advent uh is something that we can reflect on. What does peace mean to you? What does peace mean to each one of us?
Um it can be death and it can be salvation and it it really is connected with one another. When we say you die, then you have received the ultimate peace because you will be enjoined with the Lord for the rest of your existence or for eternity, right? Or it is the fulfillment of salvation. So it really is connected together and uh suffering that uh lose its sting anymore. Uh death and suffering uh lose its st um during that time among the Jews not all the Jews believe in resurrection or life after death.
So there was always an argument or debate among the sades and the phisees. The sades being they don't believe in resurrection while the phisees they believe in resurrection. And so the idea of dying and there is no more life beyond death is has a a kind of power that people seems to afraid of dying. So just like in our present time right when you do not have hope for your future or you do not look forward to uh receiving something after you die then that uh is a symbol of uh the end of everything and that is scary to people.
Helessness and the sting of death is ever present even in our time. But for us believers, it reminds us brothers and sisters that uh we carry this hope and this hope is to be there present at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it doesn't matter whether the second coming happens before we die or after we die, right? Because we will be in the presence of the Lord. That's the most important thing.
Last Sunday we talk about the hope and today we talk about peace which is the the in our experience as receiving the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ we already have peace amen and that peace will be completed when Jesus Christ returns. So right at this time while we are looking forward to the completion of our hope we already have peace. So that is important for all of us.
But also talking about peace, I would like to uh talk about the persecuted church and I hope that you don't feel that I'm I'm judging you or judging anyone uh because I include myself in a position where in the world today people are facing the danger of death everyday.
In the news it is said I don't know if true that 70% of Christian death in this time is in Nigeria in just one country 70% of death of Christians are happening because of persecution and you can hear stories of entire villages being buried uh because they are there are mass killing of Christians.
But it's not only in Nigeria of course there is a lot of persecution. Now in China we hear the news of increasing persecution of the underground Christians and pastors in North Korea. It's been since many decades now that persecution is happening in in many countries in Afghanistan. And so what we are saying here brothers and sisters that there are uh many places in the world where Christians face death every day and it is a kind of rebuk to us who are here in the west.
So I don't exclude myself because I am also beneficiary of this affluence that we are experiencing. We it's a rebuk to us that we do not have that that that kind of strive that kind of uh drive you know to to really pursue the Lord to really pursue our Christian life seriously.
That you know sometimes attending church is just an option to some of us. Sometimes you know there are things more important than than our uh celebration of of the Lord's presence in our mids. So it is a rebuk to us who are fighting against the the comfor and the prosperity.
We do not go hungry. We do not go looking for food in in the in the trash can or something like that. We always have food in our tables. It is something that we should be thanking the Lord every day. But it is something to remind us that somewhere uh sometime that there are people who are fighting for their survival because simply because they are believers.
Amen. And that is what peace means. Means in the face of death you are rejoicing because uh the time of uh of the fulfillment of being in the Lord is is closer than before but also it means salvation that we are closer to our salvation than uh we first believe that's what our uh passage last week is saying. Amen.
So reflecting about peace it is uh having peace in the face of death. Peace in the face of receiving the promise of salvation that all of us are looking forward to. And that is exactly what Simeon here is facing. And then as he say singing this um prophecy or song or him that he prophesied uh these words you know uh in verse uh 34 he blessed them and said to Mary this child is to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel meaning to those who do not It will be their downfall.
It will be their stumbling uh block but for those who believe it will be rising up um and that and to be a sign that will be spoken against. And then in ver 35 interestingly uh the prophecy is so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will peace your own soul to he was speaking to Mary in saying to Mary that you will bear the pain of seeing the world is rejecting your son who is the savior of the world.
No death is one thing but when you see people are cursing and and hating for a reason that you don't even understand right when we see theov the passion of the Christ and Mary was agonizing in front of Jesus carrying the cross walking in the Golgota in the road to to uh to Golgotha and he saw Jesus and his heart was crushed because of the weight of rejection of the people around them.
It was a a prophecy that Mary would have uh remembered when that time exactly happened. And then there was Anna. Of course Anna was the daughter of Penuel. She was very old he said uh she was uh widow and she was 84 years old. But one thing about Anna is that she never left the temple. She stayed in a temple worshipping God day and night praying fasting.
I don't think she is fasting continuously otherwise she would have died no uh fasting day daily but I think it's it's not the how do you call that? Uh complete fasting. Maybe partly she's fasting but she's doing it uh regularly and she never left the temple. And at that time she spoke to the people who were also waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
Right? So let us look at who uh Simon and Anna was. Simon here uh in verse 25 he was righteous devout the Holy Spirit was upon him and then he was waiting for the consolation or the restoration of Israel. and Anna uh daughter of Penuel tribe of Ash uh interestingly Asher is a tribe that belongs to the northern kingdom you know when when it was divided uh the northern kingdom was exiled into Assyria.
Few marriages otherbes otherultes and they becamear so anna was a samaritan he was not part of jud who she was in the temple right some people would say that the the 10 tribes of Israel was lost. But Annawa is the evidence that not everyone from the northern kingdom was lost. She uh is definitely alive and she lived the rest of her life after being widowed and uh been there waiting for the Messiah to come.
And then just like Simon, she saw for herself and identified this baby child ah this precious baby that this is the Messiah. And then she has that insight of who this baby was that she was able to teach the others who were waiting there that this is the Messiah. No, that's in verse 38.
So the it's it's a while Simon was waiting for the restoration of Israel and Anna was teaching people uh who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem there are two of the same uh meaning two sides of the same meaning.
So we look at uh the their character the common character of people anticipating uh the coming of the Messiah. Um one thing uh brothers and sisters that Luke has a kind of theology that is interesting. There is that Johan theology in in the gopel of John or or Matean theology or the theology of Peter through Mark.
But when I was studing in the seminary, I I really appreciate the presentation of Luke because it shows how learned he is. He is a a doctor and his uh they said his Greek uh is a little bit of uh high or high standard kind of Greek that he is using not the uh ordinary or normal Greek that they are using in writing.
But not only that, you can see the message here the way it is presented you know that this is the character of Simon and the character of Anna are are examples of the people who were waiting for the Messiah to come. Both were filled with the Holy Spirit both were able to recognize the identity of uh Jesus Christ especially in the midst of many people there.
And they was while the other did not have that kind of insight or vision theyesent the the people who also have the similar experience and in this case Zeariah has the same uh experience of uh identifying the coming of the Messiah no through his son uh John the Baptist in chapter 1: 67 to 79 and then also Elizabeth in chapter 1: 41 to 45 which pastor Rard will uh include in his preaching next Sunday.
So let us look at the life lessons of of Simon and Anna. Definitely both of them have understood the prophees and why because they studied it they cann they could not have underst if they not studied theesigiously theyed theyind of passages the test of the coming of theess because they studied Amen.
And then they understood these prophecies and they understood the promises that was given there and and uh the Holy Spirit definitely move uh in their lives but the Holy Spirit can only you know use the scriptures that they have already studied.
So what does that tell us brothers and sisters that personal study of the scripture is very important. Our bible studies gathering is very important when we study the Bible together. You know preaching is not enough. One sermon a week is is not enough for us.
We have to study uh the scriptures on our own. Study your Bible. Learn from it have the interest and the hunger to learn from the word of God amen and then have the the desire to study it together and share what you have learned from the scriptures. That is what Simeon and and Anna did.
They have been uh studying the scripture and that comes easy when the Holy Spirit use it at this very uh important highlight of their lives. Second is they were faithfully waiting for the coming Messiah. Look at Simeon. He was sensitive to to the holy spirit because he had been waiting fafully for the coming of the an account is the same he even stayed in the temple while waiting for the messah and uh dedicated the rest of her life to waiting for the reality of the prophecy.
They were in other words brothers and sisters they were sincere and they were serious in the relationship with God so it reminds us again you know let us fight the tendency to be slack or to be look warm in our Christian and is our exle of how we to the rest of our lives it doesn't mean we have to stay here in this place but whever we are we can worship the lord just like anna we can pray just like anna we can be as dev son living our lives for the glory of God.
Amen. Can you say amen to that? The impact that it has in their daily living. You know, when they when they express their sincerity in their uh spiritual lives, it has an impact to their daily living. Whatever they do is shaped and formed because of their faith in uh anticipating the coming of the Messiah.
Third one is the Holy Spirit's revelation. Of course this is very important that we are guided by the Holy Spirit and sometimes we are assuming the Holy Spirit. We cannot you know what are the indications that we are assuming when we are telling the lord what to do lord can you do this for me when we start to have that inclination it's already a sign or it already signifies that we really are not waiting because um to be sensitive to the to The work of the Holy Spirit calls for um setting aside anything uh ideas, thoughts, plans and and wait for the move of the Holy Spirit.
You can see that in Simeon. The Holy Spirit instructed him. See that? The Holy Spirit moved him. So it was not his assumption to go inside the temple. It was the Holy Spirit who gave him instruction to go into the temple and show him the way. He was filled in by the Holy Spirit because uh he paid attention, right? He paid attention to what the Holy Spirit might say.
He did not pay attention to what his ideas or uh presumption might tell him. We can see a lot of examples in the book of Acts. People were inspired by the Holy Spirit to do things for God. When Philip was instructed by the Holy Spirit to go and meet this unok and he was able to minister to the UNO because he did not have any idea what needs to be done but it was the instruction of the Holy Spirit in him.
Can it be possible with us? I believe so. I believe so. It is possible with us when we are sincere to be moved by the Holy Spirit we would desire to empty ourselves any pre assumptions and preconditions and say Lord tell me what to do Lord show me the way Lord let me see the vision and I will follow you amen the Holy Spirit's revelation and then The fourth one is they believed in God's promises.
They put their faith in what the Lord will do. They fully trust the Lord that he will be true to what he promised and their actions reveal that faith when they fully relied on what the Lord can do. And that has an impact to to their lives and the lives of people around them.
So these are the four lessons brothers and sisters that we can learn from this passage let us continue to desire to study god's word. Let us continue to fathfully our lives awaiting theation of our hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is doing and uh follow or obey what the Holy Spirit instruct us. And finally let us believe in the prom of God andely on it and let it beown in the way we our lives. Our actions will if we are if we truly believe in God's promes that he willulf it or not. Amen.
Let's pray. Father God we thank you Lord God for your word. Thank you Lord God for the life of Simon and Anna. Thank you Lord for uh through them that we can learn and appreciate God uh what peace means to us. Oh Lord, we ask for your forgiveness God when when we are not uh intense in our relationship with you.
Sometimes Lord we just treat you as an option and that is really uh hurtful Lord espcially because we believe that you we belong to you that we are your children and we repent from it oh Lord we want Lord God to seriously live our lives as your people we want Lord God to study your word we want Lord God to to uh remember your promises and rely on it God as if um our life depends Lord God on what you have promised us we pray Lord that we will pay attention to the work of your holy spirit in each of us oh god we pray oh Lord that that we may um be faithful to you Lord God as we live our lives oh Lord in the midst of uh the temptations in the midst of uh the hindrances in the midst of challenges Lord let us be faithful to you just as you have been faithful to us and finally Lord God we pray God that as we remember other believers who were faithful to you till the end there are many uh places Lord in the world today where Christians strive they don't mind the challenge as long as they will they can tove you lord they be exle to us here in the place of comfor here in the place lord where we don't experience the threat to our lives so that we may be serious with our relationship with you lord so that we may express to you lord how much we love you God uh no matter what happens whether we are threatened by uh killing or whether we are persecuted oh Lord we don't mind because we love you and we want to to uh honor you Lord God with our lives.
We want to give our lives to serve you oh God in every way and no matter what happens. Thank you Lord God for these blessings and may your peace Lord that passes all understanding be upon each one of us in Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen.
And Father God, thank you Lord for your word and we uh uh respond to it Lord God through our ties and offerings. We pray God that this portion of the blessings you are giving us will be used wisely for the purpose of building your kingdom here on earth. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen.