Advent: Join the Triumph預覽

The Scripture:

"In Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was a good and godly man. He was waiting for God’s promise to Israel to come true. The Holy Spirit was with him" (Luke 2:25, NIRV ).

The Story:

What was the longest you have ever waited for something? Maybe you feel like the answer to that question is this Christmas. Or maybe you waited for your baby brother or sister to be born. Maybe you waited for a movie to come out. Maybe it’s something more serious, like waiting to hear if you are going to move or not, or waiting for a prayer to be answered. A lot of our life is waiting for things. That is why the story of Simeon is so important to learn about Hope.

On Sundays, we take a break from looking at the victories of the Bible to look at a few different parts of the Christmas Story. This story happens after Jesus is born, and He is brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph. There was a tradition in that culture to bring your child to the temple. There is a man named Simeon in the temple. No, not Simon like Simon Says, but Simeon like… Simeon Says? Simeon waited in the temple, hoping He would see the Savior before he died. We don’t know how long Simeon had been waiting, but it could have been years.

I don’t know about you, but I have a bad habit of not waiting for things. If I’m at a restaurant and they say, “The wait will be 30-45 minutes, is that okay?”I don’t even answer them – I just walk out. Yet Simeon knows waiting is worth it, and he is hoping and believing that he will see the Savior.

The rest of this chapter tells us that Simeon does get to see Jesus, and the first thing he does is sing praises to God, praises that God answered his prayers, and that when he hoped and trusted in God – that God came through. We can have hope in God just like Simeon. It doesn’t mean God will answer every one of our prayers the way we want Him to, but we can hope and believe that God is Good and He has Good Plans for us. God promises to never leave us or forsake us, and that nothing in Heaven or on Earth can separate us from His Love. That is something we can hope in.

The Triumph:

Before Jesus was born on Earth, in between the Old and The New Testament there was silence. Four hundred years of silence. God did not speak, and we have nothing in our Bibles from those 400 years. In those times I am sure it was easy to give up hope. But then Jesus was born and proved that God keeps His Promises. Christmas is the Good News that God keeps His Promises and we can hope in God because He loves us and keeps His Word.