Pastor How to Read LukeSample

Please read the Gospel of Luke 2:36-38,

Verse 37 (NKJV) - served God with fastings and prayers

Anna SERVED GOD with fastings and prayers. We can serve God with our prayers. So let’s expand our prayers beyond our own needs and desires to prayers for Others, Church, Community and Country. When there are no church events, we can still serve God with prayers. (Right now, will you start praying for something that does not include yourself?)

Anna is old and very spiritual.

Verse 37 (NLT) - She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.

Both Simeon and Anna gave me a picture of aging well. Pastor Lia always says, “It’s not how you start but how you finish.” Some Christians start their Christian race with a bang but finish with a whimper. I not only want to give God the best years of my life but also the rest of my life. Like Anna, the older I get, the more I want to be in the Temple (Church)... praying and worshiping more, serving and giving more. There is no retirement in building God’s house.

Question: Are you reading the Bible more, praying more, serving, giving more than 5 years ago? The answer will draw for you the trajectory you are on.

Especially in a youth church like HOGC with many first-generation Christians, it is even more important to be role models of aging gracefully and spiritually. As GenerationS of young people look to us as role models for marriage, ministry and business, in time, they will also look at us for aging well. I challenge all the older people in our church to be like Anna and Simeon.

For the younger ones, start having a mental image of yourself as you grow up and grow old. That image should not just be of yourself being more successful but also more spiritual.

Let’s be able to declare like Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)