WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.360 So, I just want to take a few moments this morning to think about this song of Simeon 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:06.440 together. 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:11.640 These have been great songs and it's great that we've been able to spend some time today 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.480 singing and we'll finish the service with a song as well. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:20.400 And songs are very important, which we'll see also as we go through this. 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:25.879 But as I mentioned earlier, we've been looking at different songs of the Advent over this 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:26.879 last month. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:32.280 So, I just want to come to this last one, the song of Simeon or the prophecy of Simeon. 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:37.320 Really, it's verses 29 to 32 that you see is marked differently in your Bibles. 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:42.399 It's written as poetry and it is the prophecy that Simeon was given. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:50.000 Now, I just want to mention for a start, two things that are common to all the songs. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:53.599 And if you've been following or if you've been here over this last month, you'll be 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:59.120 aware of these things, maybe not consciously, but hopefully when I highlight them, you'll 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:00.640 be aware of them. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.000 There's two common, at least two common factors. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.640 The first is the Holy Spirit. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:14.359 The Holy Spirit is mentioned really strongly in each of the songs that we've looked at 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:16.120 over the last month. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:18.319 He's the divine mover. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:21.040 He's the orchestrator. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:28.840 He's the one who brings these songs together into the hearts and minds of the original 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:35.280 people who said them and that has been recorded for us in Scripture. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.640 We saw it with Elizabeth. 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:42.420 We saw it with Mary, who was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:49.719 We saw it with Zechariah when he spoke and prophesied about John the Baptist. 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:54.599 We saw in the prophecy of John himself that he would be someone who was filled with the 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:59.280 Holy Spirit and that he would be a spirit-filled man. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:04.200 And now we have Simeon, and we're told a couple of times in this passage that we read 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:10.879 that he was anointed by the Spirit, it was revealed by the Spirit, and he came in the 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:15.439 Spirit, even physically came to the temple in the power of the Spirit. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.240 So what we find in all of these different songs and different ad vents of the New Testament 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:28.840 story of the birth of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit is the main player in many ways. 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:30.800 He's the main person there. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:36.120 And what we're seeing in that is we're seeing the thread of God's plan, that God is integral 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:41.759 to each of these vents, to each of these people, to each of the messages that they bring, because 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:46.840 the Holy Spirit is the one who reveals to us God's will and makes known what God wants 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:48.919 for us. 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:57.519 And so we see that he is unveiling, unfolding what has already been planned from before the 00:02:57.519 --> 00:03:04.079 creation of the world, and this divine conversation between the Father and the Son and the Holy 00:03:04.079 --> 00:03:09.840 Spirit about our salvation, about redemption, about Him revealing His love, and the Holy 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:18.599 Spirit comes at the right time and the right way to begin to reveal exactly God's purpose 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:20.080 and God's plan. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.920 And so the great thing about that for us this morning is that if we are Christians, we are 00:03:24.920 --> 00:03:27.759 indwelt by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:34.759 We have the life of God in us through the Holy Spirit, which means that we also are integrally 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:42.280 involved in this story, that we become part of this story, that we as Christians and every 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:49.519 Christian throughout the world, wherever they are today, is at the heart of God's plan. 00:03:49.519 --> 00:03:55.879 Just as much as it was revealed in the very beginning, there's this kind of divine genetic 00:03:55.879 --> 00:04:03.199 link between us and between the story of the birth of Jesus and between this song of Zechariah. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:09.280 The Holy Spirit is integral in revealing God's word and continues to be integral in 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:15.199 revealing God to us as Christians, revealing the love of Christ and giving us new life 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:18.879 so that we are dead before we come to Christ spiritually. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:24.159 But He breathes life into us and gives us hope for eternal life, as we were saying with 00:04:24.159 --> 00:04:25.719 the children also. 00:04:25.719 --> 00:04:28.120 So that's the first common factor is the Holy Spirit. 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:34.959 The second common factor, I think, is the people, the kind of people that God chooses 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:39.480 to work through in these stories, the songs of Advent. 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.360 We've got an uneducated teenager girl. 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:47.720 We've got shepherds who were despised in society and were regarded as unworthy and 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.560 untrustworthy people. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:57.199 We have Zechariah, kind of, otherwise unknown priest who worked in Jerusalem. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:06.120 And now here we have an old man, Simeon, paving the way for the Messiah, and all of them paving 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:13.279 the way for the Messiah, touched by God, rubbing shoulders with dignitaries from the 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:14.839 east. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:21.800 And it is interesting that these characters who are otherwise unknown and unheralded in 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:27.480 the world in which we live are crucial to God's plan. 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:37.639 And the people that are incidental is Herod, Quirinius, Caesar Augustus, the big shots of 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:43.319 their day, the important people, the political leaders, the movers and shakers. 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.920 They just happen to be mentioned because they are there at the same time. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:54.960 And we have Herod's powerful effort, of course, to destroy the Savior and to remain in his 00:05:54.960 --> 00:05:57.920 place of raging authority. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:02.920 And you've got Caesar who simply couldn't care less about the world of Jesus and all 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:12.040 those who lived and came into that world as they vied for power and prestige. 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:20.480 And yet they are incidental to the Christmas story and to the great involvement of those 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.960 that God chose to use. 00:06:23.960 --> 00:06:30.280 So as we remember that today and the priorities that we have today, on Christmas Day, we remember 00:06:30.280 --> 00:06:37.000 Jesus and we remember the kind of choices He makes of people and those that are important 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.080 to Him. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:44.919 The world today is talking about Putin, talking about Biden, talking about Messi. 00:06:44.919 --> 00:06:49.399 They're always talking about Messi. 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:58.759 But as believers, we talk about Jesus and we recognize in our ordinariness that Jesus 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:06.879 has made us extremely significant, not because of anything in ourselves, but because He chooses 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:17.079 to work through and to love and embrace those who will humbly come to Him by faith. 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:24.759 Integral to His plan, integral to His purposes, integral to this great, wonderful sovereign 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:29.360 God who is preparing a future for His people. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.719 So we see these two common factors. 00:07:32.719 --> 00:07:34.600 And then briefly, we see another two things. 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.080 I'll not take long with this. 00:07:37.080 --> 00:07:46.400 We notice about the Holy Spirit who works through the song and the poem that Simeon 00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:52.320 expresses when he holds the baby Jesus in his arms. 00:07:52.320 --> 00:07:57.160 The first time he sees the Holy Spirit, I think, inspires Simeon, and that's a great 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:58.200 thing. 00:07:58.200 --> 00:08:03.640 When he sees the child Jesus, he's inspired to worship. 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:11.039 He praises God and he worships God and we're told that he took Him and blessed God and 00:08:11.039 --> 00:08:12.039 spoke. 00:08:12.039 --> 00:08:16.719 He was praising God because he recognized that this is the coming Messiah. 00:08:16.719 --> 00:08:18.759 He understood His Old Testament. 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:24.719 He had been promised in a word from God that he would see the Savior before he died. 00:08:24.719 --> 00:08:29.079 And this is Him praising God, now let your servant depart in peace according to your 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:34.000 word for my eyes have seen your salvation that you've prepared in the presence of all 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:35.000 peoples. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.159 And he's worshiping God because he sees that as he holds this child in his arms that this 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:40.159 is the Savior. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.279 I'm not sure he would have fully understood in any way what that meant and what it looked 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.799 like because many people had different ideas. 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:53.199 But nonetheless, he trusted that this child was sent from God and was to be the Savior 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:59.160 and that salvation was the very core of his praise as he offered his praise. 00:08:59.160 --> 00:09:05.120 And it must always remain the central focus of our worship and our praise is thanking 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:10.440 God for salvation, not just for the birth of Jesus, not just for the growth of Jesus 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:16.720 and for the life of Jesus, but for the cross of Jesus and for the resurrection of Jesus 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.600 and the ascension. 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:24.960 And that is where we come today and worship because we find our identity as believers 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:30.200 in this risen ascended Savior and the salvation that has been planned from before the creation 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:31.200 of the world. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.639 That's where we find our identity. 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:40.639 That's where we root our identity this morning as Christians, constantly. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:47.639 And we let go of the questions of being good enough, being popular enough, being influential 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:52.519 enough, being successful enough, being like Quirinius enough or Herod enough or Messy 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:53.519 enough. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:10:01.919 When we deal with the problem of getting old, of our dreams being emptied, in the battles 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:08.600 of life we can overcome and be victorious because we worship the God who has saved us 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:12.919 and has given us identity and hope and a future. 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:17.200 Whatever circumstances and we don't belittle the circumstances around us which we'll mention 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:18.720 at the end. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.480 So He worships because of the salvation that has come. 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:26.440 My eyes have seen Your salvation, but also because His understanding just of the sovereignty 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:27.440 of this God. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:31.560 He says, you know, it's according to Your Word, it's already purposed and planned. 00:10:31.560 --> 00:10:35.480 It's something You've already prepared in the presence of Your people. 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:40.759 Simeon saying, I know my times are in Your hand and I know I'll stay alive until, because 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:42.480 You've promised that until I see the Savior. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:43.960 Now take me home. 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:45.240 Take me home. 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:50.879 My time is in Your hand, this great sovereignty of God that He recognizes and causes Him to 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:55.159 worship in this amazing moment. 00:10:55.159 --> 00:11:00.200 And again as we come and worship today, we remember the importance of the sovereignty 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:07.000 of God as we do so, that we will all stand before Him on that last day, not just today 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:11.840 as we live, not just as we look back to Jesus and think of His great plan, but we remember 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:20.360 that whatever matter that we regard as utterly significant, that we prioritize all our burdens 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:26.200 and everything else that we face will seem like a grain of sand in that moment when our 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:31.240 eternal future is publicly declared before the universe. 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:36.639 And the importance of remembering His sovereignty over our lives and trusting and worshiping 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:41.519 Him before the living God. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:43.039 And so we worship. 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:44.519 So we worship today. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:48.919 We worship because of God's sovereignty and because of His great purpose and His great 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:51.960 plan and His great salvation. 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:56.519 We praise, just like Simeon did, and we're ordained to praise. 00:11:56.519 --> 00:11:58.159 That's one of the great things. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:01.039 There may be people from different nationalities, there are people, there's lots of people from 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.000 different nationalities here today. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:07.439 And I think other nationalities sometimes are much better than Scottish people at praising, 00:12:07.439 --> 00:12:09.399 at least singing praise anyway. 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:15.840 We sometimes rear a bit doer and presbyterian, and we sometimes don't sing with passion and 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:23.000 with delight, but we have this great free gift that have been given to us as believers. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:27.600 We know God's salvation and we know His great sovereignty in our lives. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.399 And singing is a part of that. 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:34.799 You just watch, speaking of messy, you just watch the Argentinian nation singing. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:40.159 The millions of people that came onto the street to sing the Argentinian national anthem, 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:46.839 to sing songs of praise over what had happened, because it's something natural to us in celebration 00:12:46.839 --> 00:12:47.839 and thanksgiving. 00:12:47.839 --> 00:12:53.120 We sing even in the midst of terrible circumstances. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:56.439 And we sing with awe when we think of what God has done. 00:12:56.439 --> 00:13:03.599 I think it's the most amazing, the most amazing verse in this whole section for me is the 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:10.680 verse that says, the verse that explains that Simeon's an old man and he took, he took 00:13:10.680 --> 00:13:14.040 him in his arms and blessed him. 00:13:14.040 --> 00:13:18.560 The Son of God, the eternal King of Kings. 00:13:18.560 --> 00:13:23.720 Simeon, an old man, unnoticed in the whole history of the universe, takes the Son of 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:25.840 God in his arms. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.200 There's amazing mystery there. 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:41.879 There's amazing wonder and awe, and he worshiped and he sung as he had this great mystery of 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:45.040 the incarnate God in his arms. 00:13:45.040 --> 00:13:47.600 And that remains a great mystery for us. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:52.960 It's revealed and true, but a great mystery nonetheless for one that we're greatly thankful 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:53.960 for. 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:58.160 Simeon, the Holy Spirit, inspires Simeon to worship. 00:13:58.160 --> 00:14:05.440 And then also, lastly, the Holy Spirit also teaches through Simeon for us. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:11.080 He reminds us that Jesus, this baby that is going to become the Savior, or is the Savior 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:16.360 of the world, is for all the people's salvation, is for all the people's. 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:17.960 It's not just for Jewish people. 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:18.960 It's not just for Simeon. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:20.960 It's not just for that time of year. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:23.400 It's not just for Scottish people. 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:26.720 It's for every nation, for every tongue, for every people. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:28.399 There's no other message. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:34.600 It is never irrelevant, no matter how many Christmases go by, no matter what age or stage 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:41.000 you are at human history, no matter how secular or irreligious or sophisticated or scientific 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:42.439 we become. 00:14:42.439 --> 00:14:45.399 This message is for all people of all time. 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:49.480 There is no other child God Jesus. 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:55.360 There is no other circumstances that can bring us salvation. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:01.920 It's the revelation through the Holy Spirit of God's plan for all time, for all people 00:15:01.920 --> 00:15:04.080 who will put their trust in Him. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.080 God is the Creator of us all. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:09.560 So there's never a time when we... 00:15:09.560 --> 00:15:16.200 It is irrelevant for us to deal with our Creator and to deal with the separation that sin has 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:20.400 caused between us and our Creator because we will meet Him one day. 00:15:20.400 --> 00:15:25.600 Everyone will meet Him and we will meet Him either in Christ or separated from Him out 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.520 of Christ with all the horror of that. 00:15:28.520 --> 00:15:34.360 And we plead as we go into 2023 as a congregation, a church family, we pray for all the people 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:39.280 that we know and love who don't know Jesus, many of them who came our carol service, who 00:15:39.280 --> 00:15:40.600 we love, who we pray for. 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:44.840 We pray that the Holy Spirit will move and bring them to Himself this year. 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:50.160 The church numbers will be doubled and trebled by God and by His grace. 00:15:50.160 --> 00:15:52.360 Jesus is for everyone we're taught here. 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:59.600 But also we're taught that Jesus Himself brings light and glory and grief. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:00.600 He brings light. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.840 We're told that He is a light for revelation to the Gentiles. 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:09.200 And so Jesus is the light that reveals God, isn't He? 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.280 When we know Jesus, we know God. 00:16:11.280 --> 00:16:13.720 He has seen me, has seen the Father. 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:20.200 And so He reveals not only, God but He reveals to us the great love of God, the great grace 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:22.560 and compassion of God. 00:16:22.560 --> 00:16:25.960 And you've got that just for a minute if you think back to the reading in Isaiah, that 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:31.639 amazing picture of the Messiah who doesn't come shouting and screaming on the rooftops, 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:37.320 who's powerful but gentle, that great picture of a bruised reed that He will not break, 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:41.000 a smoldering candle He will not snuff out. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:47.360 With unflinching justice, who will never stumble until all is fulfilled, who will open eyes, 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:52.519 free captives from darkened prisons, who will bring new things to bear in our lives. 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:56.840 The source of all light is Jesus who comes. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:58.919 So Jesus brings light. 00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:02.980 Jesus we're told brings glory for glory for my people Israel. 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:06.759 So there is a day that will come that hasn't come yet because we know that for the most 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:12.680 part Israel has rejected Jesus, they crucified Him, they rejected, the people of Israel rejected 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:15.079 Him and still do for the most part. 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:24.039 But we know that there is a day coming when He will reveal Himself to His people and they 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:30.400 will see Him for who He is and will glory in Him and will bring Him in. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:37.200 And Corinthians 1 reminds us that for many people, sorry, Romans 11, 25 to 26 reminds 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:46.320 us that there will be a day when those who are of God's people, chosen people, naturally 00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:50.320 the Israelites will come and follow Him. 00:17:50.320 --> 00:17:53.680 So He brings light, He brings glory. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:57.960 And maybe I shouldn't finish with this, but it's just the way it lands here, but He also 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:04.480 brings grief and there's that tremendously sad prophecy of Simeon's just at the end, 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:10.759 to marry the mother of Jesus and a sword will pierce your own soul. 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:17.279 So she grows up knowing that her son is rejected by so many people around him. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.880 And of course, more than that, she has the horror as a mother and all mothers here will 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:28.640 know what or can't imagine what it would be like seeing your son beaten and bruised and 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:32.000 rejected and then nailed to a cross. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:38.080 How terrible that must have been, hearing her own people saying, crucify Him, crucify 00:18:38.080 --> 00:18:39.680 Him. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:47.680 And yet that rejection, that darkness, that grief is what God used to bring salvation 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:48.680 to the world. 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:57.480 What was Satan's darkest moment became the moment that God shone a light of salvation 00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:59.400 into the world. 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:05.120 And we know and recognize that that's still the same. 00:19:05.120 --> 00:19:13.360 There are realities of grief when we follow Jesus because many people oppose Him and because 00:19:13.360 --> 00:19:18.240 we walk a different way to many people in the world. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.839 We have our own hearts that we battle against. 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:29.440 So we find that we have two roads that we struggle with and we seek to follow Jesus Christ. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:34.839 And every day we have a choice to make, whether follow God in faith and belief and truth or 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:39.920 where we give in to unbelief and to temptation. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:44.720 And we know there's that choice, both in our lives as Christians, but there's also that 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:49.000 choice if you're not a Christian today that you either have faith or you have unbelief. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:53.160 In the words of Bob Dylan, there ain't no neutral ground. 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:55.759 You have either got faith or you've got unbelief. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:01.000 There's two roads in terms of rejecting or accepting Jesus Christ. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.519 And we know the Bible speaks of that so powerfully and strongly. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:07.440 It's not like it's a surprise. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.000 And that is what we are to do. 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:14.799 What will it be, the greatest gift of all that has been offered to the world in Jesus 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:20.079 Christ and that we think of today when we think of Jesus' birth and His life and death 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:21.079 and resurrection. 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:26.519 Who is it that you're going to follow and who will be your Savior, your Lord and who will 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:30.920 bring light into your life in 2023? 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:31.920 Let's pray. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:35.640 Father God, we ask that you'd help us to understand you better. 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.319 We thank you for a Simeon song. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.200 We thank you for his prophecy. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:49.960 We thank you that you worked in him and in Zechariah and in Mary and in Joseph and through 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:55.519 the angels as they revealed to the shepherds, your great salvation. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:02.720 We rejoice that that is fixed in history, that it's not myth and it's not make-believe, 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:11.200 but we know that the universe revolves around the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and His 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.880 return. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:20.360 So Lord, help us to live in that perspective and live accepting your greatest gift of salvation 00:21:20.360 --> 00:21:25.680 and of the Holy Spirit to help us live our Christian lives so that we recognize it's 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:30.839 not about our earning, but it's about your wonderful mercy and grace. 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:34.639 So continue with us and bless us as we sing our parting song together. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:22:01.480 In Jesus' name, amen.