12/25/22 Pastor Cody Harlow

[Music] foreign [Music] everything else foreign [Music] test one oh that's hot Merry Christmas good seeing you Dale Nathan Merry Christmas to you guys hey don't forget that this is the last Sunday of the month and so we do have our communion cups at each one of the entrances we're gonna get started here in just a few minutes and so be sure to grab one of those we'll be participating in communion at the end of our service thank you Merry Christmas foreign good morning everybody and Merry Christmas happy birthday Jesus or the day we celebrate Jesus birthday so if you don't know who I am by now my name is Nicholas Denham I am the children in Ministry no the director of Children and Family Ministries here there we go thank you Austin yeah and if you haven't been here before I'd like to personally welcome you a little bit about our church is we love God love others love each other and love the community and that's a little bit about our mission statement just a reminder our offices will be closed the 26th and 27th so Monday and Tuesday and the next Monday so a week from next Monday the 2nd January 2nd and next Sunday all services will be normal so there'll be Community groups there'll be children's Sunday school there'll be kids quests in the normal service at 10 30. Speaking of kids quest Kids Quest is growing and we're getting a lot more families which is great and we need more Helping Hands and we have a lot more people volunteering but

We're getting more and more kids as more people volunteer so that's very exciting so be praying about that and how you can assist in that also we are having a family game night Austin and I and I think Cody are working on that January 27th it's a Friday so save that date more details will be coming and as I said Merry Christmas and so as we greet each other oh I forgot one thing we are having Elder nominees so in our bulletins we have these little nice pieces of paper it says if you have any questions for our for our Elder nominees you can write them here and then put them in the office or in the as they pass the offering place so let's go ahead and stand up and greet each other and say Merry Christmas to your neighbor I respect family that's fun [Music] thank you very much foreign [Music] well good morning church it's so good to be in the house of the Lord this morning Merry Christmas we'd like to take a moment as it's been our habit to prepare our hearts and Minds for worship this morning I'm sure being Christmas day there's a lot of stuff going on a lot of things to distract us and so we just like to take some time to kind of refocus on why we're here on what Christmas is all about which is the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ so I'd invite you now to bow with me as we pray Lord during this busy season we ask that you would remind us of what it's all about at every moment every step of the way Lord because we forget so quickly Lord help us to remember the Savior's birth help us to remember that child would live the perfect life that we couldn't live that he would die the

Death that we deserve that he would bear the punishment for our sins that three days later he would rise again Lord help us to remember that this season all points to the grace that is freely offered to us it will only believe and Lord as we're here gathered together help us to worship you help us to put aside all of those distractions those arguments all of the cool toys that we may have opened this morning help us to put those things aside so that we can focus completely on who you are and what you've done for us it's in Jesus name we pray amen well I'd invite you now to stand as you're able as we join together in singing Joy to the World the Lord is coming Joy to the World the Lord is [Music] [Applause] [Music] Joy to the Earth the Savior Reigns let men their songs [Music] the sounding Joy [Music] [Applause] he comes to make His blessings [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] of his righteousness and wonders of his love and wonders of his love and one wonders wonders of his love what great joy it is to praise the Lord together this morning I'd like now to invite our ushers ushers our offerings as they come forward I'll pray over our offering this morning dear Lord we thank you for the opportunity that you give us to give God not just of our money but of our time and our talents Lord we pray that you would show us

Ways in which we can give God help us to glorify you in our giving not that we would give begrudgingly but Lord that you would remind us of what Joy it is to give of ourselves just as you gave of yourself to save us it's in Jesus name amen [Music] dear desire of the nation to join everything [Music] born to reign in US [Music] praise [Applause] [Music] we're going to close the song service today with O Come All You unfaithful which can be a confusing song Sometimes you know those of us who are in Christ we are not called Unfaithful we are called just and righteous by the Merit of Christ amen that is a good thing and something that we ought to remember as we sing this song but despite that even those of us who are believers don't always feel like we are called faithful that we are called just we don't always feel like we are made whole in Christ sometimes we feel like our name is broken or our name is bitter and at this time especially at this time of year those feelings tend to come out pretty strong and so that's why we're singing this today to remind us that despite all of these things that we might think or feel about ourselves Christ is born Christ is born for you and for those of you who are not Believers in this room today or don't know that you're believers Christ is born for you even though your name is not yet whole your name is not yet righteous that can be the case because Christ came for you foreign [Music]

Come [Music] see what your God has done Christ is born [Music] Oh Come bitter and broken Taste of his perfect life Oh Come guilty and hiding ones there is no need to run see what your God Christ is born Christ is born Christ is peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] for those who believe so come though you have nothing come he is the offering come see what your God has done Christ is born [Music] Christ is born Christ is born [Music] thank you [Music] you may be seated dear Lord we thank you for the birth of Christ God help us to not stop being Amazed by The Wonder of the birth of Christ of the Incarnation Lauren help us respond as the wise men did help us respond in worship because Lord it is an amazing thing and it you are worthy of worship Lord we pray that you would help us to continue worshiping this morning and even as we go from here it's in Jesus name we pray amen if there are any children's many students children's ministry students that want to come up for the illustration I invite them to do so now or I'll have you come up here anyway and then we can just sit here in front

Of the or Neil or whatever or you can face you can face me here let's sit on the bottom row facing me on the floor guys all right Wyatt do you want to hold baby Jesus all right there we go so I have a question for all the students here do you know what A promise is yes Sophia what do you think is keeping your word doing what you say you're going to do Lily did you have something to add is there an example of a promise that you can think of yes Chloe and not doing it so promising to do your chores and then actually doing it but not doing it wouldn't be fulfilling the promise so what do you think the greatest promise yes Malachi Jesus coming in the form of human well yeah of a human but he came as a baby so why hold up baby Jesus like you would in actual Bailey there you go so this is going to represent baby Jesus so baby Jesus came through Mary and they he was promised that he would come and then they laid him in a Manger the king of Heaven came down in heaven very humbly so our King came humbly into the world and he kept his that is God's greatest promise that he would send Jesus our Savior because when Jesus grew up do you know what he did for us he did die on the cross and that's another thing our King he died humbly on the cross for our sins and remember a sin is Disobedience against God it is something that breaks his heart and so I have something for you guys to remember our promise because remember God always keeps his promise He sent Jesus our son or not our son his son to

Die on the cross for us to be our Savior and so I have these little pennies here that say if I can get it out it says this gift from God to you to remind you of the one cent because it's a penny to die on the cross for our sins so that we can have eternal life John 3 16. So I'm going to pass these out to everybody so that you can have a visual reminder you get to keep it that's what you do with it no you can hold on to it's yours so I'm gonna pass these out and as you get them and then we're gonna pray so yeah so maybe you guys can pass them back to the people behind you thank you and then we will pray thank you do you still need one yes does everybody have one all right one more all right and then we do have extra so if there's any parents that want one they'll be with baby Jesus all right let's pray as Pastor Cody we prepare for his servants so let's bow our heads and pray dear Lord thank you for this day and I'll let you do thank you for sending your son Jesus to become our Savior humbly I ask that you be with Pastor Cody as he prepares to speak from your word just use him in a mighty way Jesus name amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Luke chapter 2. Luke Chapter 2 verses 22-35 that's where we're going to be Nicholas thank you so much for doing that for us it's always a treat to get to have our kids with us in service it doesn't get to happen every Sunday but when it does it really is

Great we are going to be talking about a man named Simeon this morning and we've been in this series for the last several weeks of looking for the Savior and we've we've seen all sorts of different people from different different age ranges and genders and all these different things like we've looked at Zechariah and Elizabeth they were a senior senior adult couple right and they were childless they were Barren they but they were looking forward to the birth of the Messiah we saw Mary and Joseph once again you know just a very different demographic she was probably 14 or so when she received that word from the Lord and we saw how she was looking forward to the Savior we spent a little bit of time in the I guess the last couple of weeks as well looking at the Shepherds and last night the wise men as they were looking forward to the birth of a Savior and today we are going to be talking about City Simeon and we're going to be looking at six purposes for Christ's Advent six reasons why Christ came we call them purposes and there's far more than six right we could we can make a whole mess of a hundred and 150 of them I think John Piper he wrote a book like 99 reasons why Christ came to die just for his crucifixion and so but from this passage I've identified six I hope that's a blessing to you we know that we see that the birth of Christ is a beautifully orchestrated event that God had predetermined before the foundation of the world and so I hope that today that you will be encouraged as we read Luke Chapter 2 verses 22 through 35 if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read that Passage last night my Bible the cover finally

Came off and so it makes it a little more difficult to navigate God's word so need some duct tape so y'all pray that it got some in my stocking God's word says this in Luke Chapter 2 verses 22-35. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord every male who first opens the womb Shall be Called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ and he came in the spirit into the temple when the parents brought in the Child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said Lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word for my 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 to your People Israel and his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your soul also so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed let's pray so Lord we do thank you for this Happy Christmas morning filled with warm hearts and your love and we just ask Lord that today as we talk about your purposes that you would just

Continue to work continue working our hearts in our lives in our minds God I pray that you would Pierce our hearts convict our hearts Lord let your word fall on hearts that are open and receptive to what you have to say today and Lord may we see fully the reason why you came as that beautiful innocent little baby the only one of us who is truly innocent God he was without sin and yet he became sin for us and so I pray that you would help us help us Lord to genuinely treasure that gift of your son in Jesus name amen now our passage it begins with Joseph leading Mary and Jesus let me see if this is there we go there we go awesome there we go got it working all right so we have Joseph leading Mary and Jesus to Jerusalem this is where Christ was to be presented at the temple and Joseph he does this because he loves the Lord his God he loves the Lord's law and he wants to obey God now the law it commanded it seems weird to maybe have the birth of a child and then this is taking place 40 days later for them to still be in Bethlehem right well let's look at what Leviticus chapter 12 says starting in verse two it says this is takes place after the circumcision which would take place on the eighth day of his life he was to be presented at the temple along with his mother or to make sacrifices to the Lord so This Is 40 days after if a woman conceives and bears a male child then she shall be unclean seven days she shall continue for 33 days in the blood of her purifying she shall not touch anything holy nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her

Purifying are completed whether for a son oh did you move that whether for a son or for a daughter she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering in a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood this is the law for her who Bears a child either male or female and if she cannot afford a lamb then she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons one for a burnt offering and the other first sent offering and the priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean and so this is what's happening and I think that it's really interesting for us to know and to realize that Christ the King of the universe was born not into a wealthy family that could purchase a lamb he came to identify with the poor with the mink with the humble and so they had to go the affordable route by offering some turtle dove and a pigeon now Jesus he went to Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry right at the outset that's one thing said he did and when he did that he opened up from the prophet Isaiah chapter 61 and he said this the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim Liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at Liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and I want you to notice here that Mary and Joseph they are not spiritual Renegades okay they're not just seeking to start a whole new movement okay they are faithful men and women Joseph is godly man he loves the Lord he wants to serve the Lord Mary she's a Godly woman she wants to do right before God and so they offer this simple

Offering that is pleasing to God and they give Jesus over to these priests to dedicate him to the Lord as the law had prescribed I want you to know this Jesus was not raised in a particularly like super spiritual household his father was a carpenter his mother was a stay-at-home mom they made ends meet Jesus was raised in a in a prophet's house he wasn't raised in a priest's and I think that should really encourage just regular believers that just want to serve the Lord and love the Lord and honor the Lord you see it is through just loving the Lord your God being regular faithful Believers that we see God's promises fulfilled so let that encourage you this morning that as a as a mom as a dad as a as a grandparent as an aunt or an uncle to just simply be faithful regular ordinary faithfulness has a tremendous impact in the kingdom of God and Simeon we meet him at this point as they as Joseph and Mary as they enter into the temple with baby Jesus they're walking in and we meet this man Simeon Simeon he's described as a righteous man as a devout man we know that he's a very old man at this point and these aren't very common descriptions in the books that Luke wrote but we have seen one already describing Zachariah and Elizabeth and we also know that Luke he uses the same description of Joseph of Arimathea who was a disciple of Christ we also know that uses those same words of Cornelius in the book of Acts and so what is the common link between all of these people that he uses these terms righteous and devout they all love the Lord they all just sought to obey the Lord it's as simple as that

Love the Lord's God with all your heart soul mind and strength love your neighborhood yourself whole law is fulfilled in those two commands and Simeon he is waiting for the consolation of Israel and this is actually the first purpose if you're taking notes write this down the first reason or first purpose why Christ came was to bring Comfort to bring comfort when my children get injured and I don't mean that they experience pain because you know there's a big difference between pain and injury amen if you got kids that wine you know what I mean not mine though foreign but if they get injured it's incumbent upon me as a parent to comfort to put a Band-Aid on there to dab their head with a cool cloth to give them medicine to bring down that high fever to be a consolation and to bring comfort Christ he was born to comfort those who needed comforting the comfort that Christ gives to us is described elsewhere in the Scriptures as Eternal Comfort we learn that God is the God of all Comforts and we see Comfort is tied with the fear of the Lord in Acts chapter 9 verse 31 and this comfort that Christ brought through his first Advent is the hope of God's rescue for his people remember that in the garden man's relationship with the Lord was severed was broken sin now stood in the way between intimacy and closeness with God you see Christ didn't come just to bring eternal life he came also that we might have intimacy and closeness with God and so when God sends his son here as a fulfillment of the old Covenant promises that he made to Adam that he made to

Abraham they made two Noah that he made to David he is the Fulfillment of those Old Testament promises and he also came to ratify a New Covenant by his blood that he purchased on the cross for you and for me and what's interesting is that Simeon he has a close relationship with God at this point right we know that he is referred to as righteous he's referred to as devout he has a relationship with the Lord the Holy Spirit is on this man and that's very interesting because we don't see that language very often in before the Holy Spirit Falls at Pentecost we don't know much about Simeon either except for what's shared here we just know that he was close with the Lord but the Lord During the inter-testamental period they call that the period of Silence listen yes that's true there were no written prophets for 400 years between Malachi and really The Book of Mark that's the first Gospel that was written now during that time God was still at work there were still prophets because just after this you can read about a lady named Anna who was a prophetess and so God he still had those things that he was doing to communicate his plan to his people and he was still working through his Holy Spirit to cause people to look forward to the coming of the Savior to remind people that his promises will be fulfilled in his time but God by special Revelation had told Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah or as it says here the Lord's Christ well Simeon he has led into the temple complex and this is rate let's see here oh this right here is the Court of women it's right here now oftentimes they might be in the

Balconies up here they could not go into this area this was reserved for men only and of course you get closer and closer it gets more and more exclusive until you get inside to the most holy place now this area right here is where Jesus was carried in and where Simeon had his Encounter With Jesus Christ out here is the court of Gentiles so anyone can come into here and be able to Worship the Lord from if you were a gentile from let's say you know you were great born right but you had faith in the Lord that's where you could worship and when Christ came he broke down all those barriers that's why that temple veil was torn from top to bottom because God came down to have a relationship with anyone that would trust in him now Simeon goes into this area right here this area could fit roughly about 6 000 people okay absolutely huge complex and he sees Joseph he sees Mary carrying in Jesus into the courtyard to present him to the priest and to make their offerings and to dedicate Jesus to the Lord and when Simeon sees this family he asks them can I hold this baby we know this because the Greek it's in here it means it when it says took he took the child it means that he gladly received him that Mary gave him over he didn't just grab the baby he takes the infant child and He blesses the Lord now this is a piece of artwork oh click too fast this is a piece of artwork by a guy named Ron de chani and I first saw this at one of my associate pastors houses in Virginia and this is called simeon's moment and this is where this is just a total representation of the saint Simeon just blessing the Lord and

Singing to God with joy I don't know if you can really see it but up there you can tell that he's crying tears of joy you notice the symbology of the light coming from the child as the light to the world and you might notice the globe in the background there as a kind of a watermark in the back and what I love about this is just how emotional it is for this man who is looking forward to the Christ being born finally receiving him finally having that seeing the joy of God's salvation to his people the Fulfillment of God's promises and so Simeon responds with a hymn here it's actually in the Greek called the nunc demitis or as you might say now let your servant depart it's a Latin phrase when people would say Menace it was dimitis it was a phrase that slaves would would say to their owners when their owners had set them free remember in the Roman World slavery was big and oftentimes Masters it would let their slaves go after they had served really well and this they would sing their nunk dimitis and so that's what Simeon does now you're letting your servant depart because Simeon is seeing Christ and therefore God is going to be taking simeon's life very soon in Simeon considers it peace as Christians we don't we don't fear death We Don't Fear the grave because Christ conquered both of them to bring hope to us and all these things happened according to God's word according to God's plan and Simeon he is at home and he finds joy in God's purpose and plan even though his time is up and why is that because Simeon has seen the Lord's salvation the second purpose that I want you to write down of Christ's Advent is to bring Salvation to bring Salvation because to see Jesus is to see salvation I don't mean just looking Upon Jesus I mean to understand

Him that he is the Lord that he is God incarnate that he is the Savior and that everyone who looks upon him and turns to him by faith can be saved if you would just come to the Lord abandon all your other hopes all your other things that you want to cling to and come to Christ because he is worth it's salvation and it's good and just as Christ was publicly lifted up for all the world to see on that cross he was buried in that tomb and you can still go visit that tomb even today Christ's death burial and Resurrection were all to bring hope and Life to dead sinners that's the Christmas gift Christ he offered himself up on a cross as a sacrifice to God Simeon says that Christ's sacrifice has been prepared in the presence of all peoples and that's the second time that Luke has used that phrase all peoples in his letter it's the Greek word Leon which means anyone anyone can be saved you can be saved just like anyone else by coming to God through Jesus Christ does Simeon a Jewish man really mean anyone yeah look at the next stanza as him that he sings what does it say a light for salvation to the Gentiles that's Christ's third purpose is to bring light to the world the reason Christ came was to fulfill the law and its demands and to establish a New Covenant by his own blood this was a way to be saved that was completely unheard of in the world around them in Christ he was coming to bring Gentiles unclean people like you and I into a saving relationship with the Creator God Christ who's the light of the world at Mary she's saying in what's called The Magnificat in Luke chapter 1 verses 78 and 79 because of the tender mercy of our God whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on a high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of

Death to guide our feet into the way of peace Christ also came to bring glory to God's people Christ he is the Fulfillment of the Old Testament promises to Israel the nation of Israel they didn't need a new revelation you know what they needed they needed to see God fulfill his promises the things that he said that he would do that's what they needed that's why Christ came at the time that he did so these members of the old Covenant of the law they are invited to be participants in the New Covenant of Grace that's not earned by works it's not earned by our obedience but by grace through faith in Christ's obedience to the cross and now we can be saved we can be reconciled so Mary and Joseph they hear this song that Simeon is singing and they're still just stunned think about all that's happened in their life in the last year being visited by angels and Shepherds and you know Mary's Aunt have being conceiving and bearing a son named John and all these different things that are happening it's just a shocking and overwhelming time for that family Simeon must have looked at him he must have prayed over them and he prophesied to Mary listen to this prophecy behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many of in Israel and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul also so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed Simeon he tells Mary with all his years of loving and following the Lord that this child is appointed that word appointed literally means exists he is here for this purpose this baby his whole purpose is for the fall and rising of many and that's pretty interesting when we think of Christ's birth we don't think about that very often now I want us to take a look at

This for the fall for the fall of many this same word fall is used to describe the man whose house was not built on a firm foundation in Matthew chapter 7 verses 26-27 it says and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it that falling isn't humbling that falling is destruction those who are who are proud those who are self-righteous those who think that they can ignore God's word and his laws will suffer the full wrath and Christ he is the appointed judge over them for rejecting his gift of eternal life but this baby also exists for the rising of many that word Rising is anastasis which means a resurrection or a change at Lazarus at Lazarus's Resurrection we read in John chapter 11 verses 24-25 Martha said to him I know that he will rise again in the anastasis the Resurrection on the last day Jesus said to her I am the resurrection I am the anastasis and the life whoever believes in me though he die yet shall he live and everyone who lives and Believes In Me shall never die do you believe this isn't this what Christ does and Promises this baby came for the purpose of also dividing it's not really Christmassy but it's in the passage and it's true Christ came to call his people into a right relationship with God and as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he came as he said in Matthew chapter 10 for I have come to set man against his father a daughter against her mother and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law Christ also came to unite

To unite people as we are raised with him we are united to him as Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1-6 says to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace there is one body and one Spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord One Faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all and how will this take place for a sign that is opposed that word opposed is anti-logim logominon probably butchered that but it means to speak or to testify against it's a legal term and we know that the Cross of Christ functioned in John chapter 3 as a sign of Moses just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so the son of man must be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life in Christ he was lifted up on that cross so that we learn that salvation was not purchased for us on a silent night with Glory but was purchased by his blood on the cross at a heavy cost and as a result of that sign a sword will pierce Mary's soul now Mary he she saw her firstborn son crucified on the cross and as a result of that a sword pierced her soul sword and soul and I think that's interesting because when we think of a sword oftentimes we think of maybe like the Roman Gladius oh don't have pictures of those sorry guys we think of a Roman Gladius sword it's roughly about 18 to 24 inches long those that's called a makira now makira you know as I said it's it's almost a short Broad Sword it's what

Christ commanded for his disciples to take with them as they went it's also what Peter used to try to cut off malcus's ear in Gethsemane but this is not the same kind of sword that Simeon talks about right here it's it's a different kind of Sword it's a romfea which is a very large sword the blade is about the length of a man's like fingertip to fingertip it's absolutely massive it almost looks like a sickle it's got a huge curved blade it was used actually to try to get through the Roman shields in order to try to penetrate it into get and kill and Slaughter and that's the kind of sword that's the kind of piercing that Mary was told would Pierce her soul as a result of Christ's crucifixion and he did that by hanging on the cross to redeem mankind so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed how you respond to the Cross of Christ not to the not to the manger there's lots of people that love the little baby in the manger who doesn't love a little baby in a Manger but how you how you respond to the Cross of Christ determines where your heart is Jesus he is God's litmus test for where a person is with him my response to Jesus your response to Jesus is the answer to the test and it comes from the heart before you think well you know God knows my heart and it's good I want to encourage you to stop deceiving yourselves because you and I know the dark thoughts and motives of my heart the Bible says the heart is deceptive and desperately wicked who can know it one day we will stand before God and he will show us those hidden motives but you know what God he invites you to not have to deal with that sin yourself he invites You by faith in what Christ

Did on that cross to be free and to be reconciled and to be saved because of what he did from creation all the way to the cross and Beyond he is looking to reconcile and he desires to reconcile you today this is the gift that he offers you that you might know his salvation head hand heart head I want you to know that closeness with God brings peace and understanding to his plans simeon's role was up but he delighted in it and he looked forward to being with the Lord can I want you to do this I want you to share the Gospel with a friend or a family member this week guys go home you're going to see family members talk about it talk about not just the baby in the manger but the Lord on the cross and not just the Lord on the cross but the empty grave as well and he accomplished exactly what the father had told him to do in heart I want you to believe that Christ is for all people he came for Sinners Like Me like you he identified with the poor and lowly wasn't white American he's a Jewish rabbi under occupation by Rome he preached love he preached peace he preached Unity he preached Mercy he preached Justice he preached wrath he preached obedience he is God and he came for you at this time we are going to move into our time of communion the way that we handle Communion is that you don't have to be a member of our church but you do have to know that you're saved you do have to know that if you were to die that you would spend an eternity with God if you haven't received a communion cup now would be a good time for you to make your way to each one of the entrances to receive the elements that you might be

Able to partake in the Lord's supper with us [Music] in the meantime while friends and neighbors are going to go receive those elements just take a moment bow your head and close your eyes and think about the wonderful gift that Jesus provided for you [Music] foreign Lord we are so thankful for the birth of your son Lord he was brought forth [Music] unlike all of us Lord we were born by Earthly main sword but Christ was born of a virgin so he was not a son of Adam he was your son we thank you for that we thank you for his sinless life how he was obedient we thank you for his blood in his body we thank you that was bruised that was crushed that was beaten that he was pierced and he was mocked that he was scorned God not because it was a good thing but because it's a really bad thing and we totally deserve that we are guilty God accept by faith in your son or thank you that you have reconciled us that we have this reminder that you've established that through the eating of bread the drinking of wine that we can remember the Lord's death in Jesus name the Scripture says this for I received from the Lord what I also deliver 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 said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me take the bread and eat in the same way also the Lord took the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me take the cup and drink for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes God we thank you for communion we call it the Lord's Supper because that's what you call them for the symbols of bread and of wine we thank you for what they mean to us not that there's particularly anything special about the elements except they represent you thank you for calling us for drawing us we pray that today our hearts will be filled because of what you've done here today we love you we give you all the praise and all the glory Jesus name amen that'll conclude our service today I love you Church thankful for you go and have a Merry Merry Christmas