SPEAKER_00: This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: For more information in our church, please visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Wade Collier.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here at Grand Parkway.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's my joy to be in front of you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this Sunday, uh the last Sunday of the month, a week removed from our last Sunday of Advent, um, a few days removed from the craziness of Christmas as as the world feeds it to us, but hopefully um you found some of the bliss of remembering and uh and being rewarded with the waiting of Christmas Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: And then on the forefront of many of our minds, uh the dawn of a new year coming.
SPEAKER_00: Um we we had four Christmases this year at our house.
SPEAKER_00: We were our own Blockbuster Hollywood movie.
SPEAKER_00: We had four Christmases spread out over a couple weeks.
SPEAKER_00: My daughter uh turned four the other day, so this is the first year that she really understands some things of Christmas.
SPEAKER_00: Mostly she understands gifts, but after four Christmases, you would understand gifts as well.
SPEAKER_00: Um But she um after a time, I have to continue to remember that she's four, but after a time of getting a bike and uncountable toys and all those things, she she kind of had the posture of what's next, you know?
SPEAKER_00: What else do I get?
SPEAKER_00: Um kind of asking the question that's on the front of your worship folder this morning, now what?
SPEAKER_00: Um however this morning finds you, um, at some point this week, um, maybe this morning, maybe right now, you're asking the question, now what?
SPEAKER_00: Um we've done a lot of waiting.
SPEAKER_00: We've been talking about waiting here in the season of Advent.
SPEAKER_00: Uh many of you, your life is built up three months before Christmas.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is your holiday.
SPEAKER_00: This is your thing.
SPEAKER_00: You do Christmas, um, and now it's over.
SPEAKER_00: So now what?
SPEAKER_00: It's 2013, and that snuck up on you.
SPEAKER_00: You were just in high school, and now it's 2013.
SPEAKER_00: And your back hurts, and it takes you an hour to get dressed.
SPEAKER_00: What next?
SPEAKER_00: Um we we have the opportunity this morning as we as we look at God's word to peer into the life of a man that uh a very short caption written about him, um, but was sure, and and and and and and I'm sure you'll you'll you'll draw this conclusion as well, and in the series of his life, ask the question, now what?
SPEAKER_00: Um so we're gonna be in Luke 2 this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 2, um, beginning in verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna read through verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I was at Starbucks yesterday trying to escape the madness our last Christmas ended yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so I kind of got out and had to recalibrate and kind of set the trajectory for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Was at Starbucks, got up, grabbed something, came back, and um, while I was up, another pastor had come and sat down.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know him, but it was clear that he was preparing a sermon and um he was kind of in his own world.
SPEAKER_00: And if you've heard me talk about before, I really like awkward.
SPEAKER_00: I think awkward is a gift of the spirit, and I embrace it.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so I could tell he didn't really want to talk, so I thought, well, that's my job to talk to him then.
SPEAKER_00: And so I said, Hey, I see you're preparing a sermon, and he kind of shrugged me off and I said, I'll tell you what, let's just switch it up.
SPEAKER_00: How about you write mine and I'll write yours, and then just don't look at it till Sunday morning, and it'll be great for our people.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't find that near as funny, neither do you, Colonel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but he said, uh he said, Well, what are you working on over there?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, I got Luke 2, and he said, You know Christmas is over.
SPEAKER_00: No, I didn't, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta start all over.
SPEAKER_00: What did Rick Warren peach on last week?
SPEAKER_00: I'll just download that and uh my people will never know.
SPEAKER_00: They never get on the internet.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so, but this morning, even though Christmas is over, um, but because Christmas is past, we're asking the question now what?
SPEAKER_00: And so let's look at a man in Luke 2, verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have your Bible, it'll be on the screen behind you.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to hold a Bible, if you're like there should be one on the pew next to you.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 2, beginning in verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: And when the time came for the 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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 had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And he came in the Spirit to the temple.
SPEAKER_00: And 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 he blessed God, and he said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: They've 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.
SPEAKER_00: And his father and mother marvelled at what was said about him, and Simeon blessed him, and he said to 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 own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: What's going on here is according to Levitical law, uh when when the when the child is about forty days old, um you you get into all the law, we won't get bogged down in the details here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Um but you you have the woman is unclean, not because of sin, just because of Levitical law, she has to wait a certain amount of days, that puts them at the 40th day.
SPEAKER_00: So we find Jesus here at about four weeks old.
SPEAKER_00: Well, longer than that.
SPEAKER_00: I can't do math.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: Um but about a month and a week old.
SPEAKER_00: Um and and they come, and it's interesting, they're they're actually going um the wording here, and this is just the nerd and me, and I won't go too they're actually going downward in trajectory, but it says they're going to the up to the temple.
SPEAKER_00: So it's an interesting.
SPEAKER_00: So they're they go down to the temple because it says in the law that at this fortieth day they bring the baby to the temple, and then uh they will they will commit him to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Uh in inside the temple there was uh uh an area for the females, and it had these things that are that are called the horns.
SPEAKER_00: And so what the women would do is that when they bring their son, um and they would make an offering.
SPEAKER_00: And the the author Luke gives us this great insight, and it's just kind of confirmation of what Lance said a couple weeks ago of their financial standing, that they were in poverty, because the optimal sacrifice would be a lamb, um a sheep that they would sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: But um for those who did not have the money or the ability to do that, they would bring two pigeons, two turtled doves, and it says that they do just that.
SPEAKER_00: And they would make that sacrifice, and then they would offer their son to the Lord, and then they would quote unquote buy him back.
SPEAKER_00: They would, they would, it was kind of like a loan agreement, right?
SPEAKER_00: They would buy him back for five shekels.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what's happening here.
SPEAKER_00: And Simeon happens to be there when this takes place.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is what we're coming on.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna learn a lot of things about Simeon that um I think find us at at a at a at a timely at a timely day of asking now what.
SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe you were um, as we saw in the video and we prayed about earlier, your house looks like a demo site right now, and so you're trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
SPEAKER_00: Um but maybe um your now what looks a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your now what is I look back on my life, um I'm coming on a, I think, I think the coming of a new year causes us to do a lot of looking back in retrospect.
SPEAKER_00: Um you may look back and you say, you know what, I've I've I've lived uh a life that demonstrates a lot of moral fortitude.
SPEAKER_00: Um but I find myself lately of that just not being enough.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not really a driving force for me anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And so when I think about faith, I think about the Lord, I think about moving forward, um, I'm asking now what?
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm running on fumes at this point.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe this new year brings about a transition in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Um maybe uh you're asking the question of now what for this new season of life.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's it is that that Christmas season, there is a lot of buildup, um, there is a lot of energy and emotion, some good, some fabricated by um culture that tells us we have to feel a certain way and do a certain thing.
SPEAKER_00: And then when it's over, you go into the grocery store and now they're selling Valentine's stuff and you felt cheated.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, wait a minute, what just happened?
SPEAKER_00: Where's my tinsel?
SPEAKER_00: Now it's hearts and another Hallmark holiday, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so now you're asking, what's what's what's the next step?
SPEAKER_00: What's the next thing that's gonna make me feel fulfilled, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so you have this this man Simeon who's been waiting his whole life.
SPEAKER_00: His commitment of his life is to see the consolation of Israel, which means he is waiting for God to send his son.
SPEAKER_00: And it says that God told him that he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah, until he saw the Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But to bring this into focus here before we look at these answers of now what, is we we've talked about this.
SPEAKER_00: This Simeon is living in a generation that has waited century upon century upon century upon century from a word from God.
SPEAKER_00: Silence.
SPEAKER_00: And man, if you want to talk about a culture that could be, you could easily um make make God subject to your feelings and your emotions, imagine the silence of God, that holy silence of God.
SPEAKER_00: And Simeon has to, at some point, being human, being mortal, being sinful, ask the questions of now what?
SPEAKER_00: God, you you've made this promise, but now what?
SPEAKER_00: And then he gets the answer to now what.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you find yourself asking the question of now what this morning, um let's let's look at Simeon's life and see some pointers.
SPEAKER_00: The first one would be to be righteous.
SPEAKER_00: To be righteous.
SPEAKER_00: What do I mean?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: That word righteous in the Greek, there's this great, um, just kind of non-technical definition that we're going to reference several times this morning that just struck me.
SPEAKER_00: I completely, um, the poor uh the poor folks that work back there in the thankless job of the media booth back there that get emails from us at six in the morning, wanting to change things.
SPEAKER_00: This was one of those for me of where I completely was struck by this last night of just rereading.
SPEAKER_00: Righteous, in the broad sense, the state of him who is such as he ought to be.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read that again because that's good, and I want you to think it's as good as I do, because we can't move forward until you agree with me, so because I have the microphone and I'm in charge.
SPEAKER_00: In the broad sense, the state of him who is such as he ought to be.
SPEAKER_00: Micah 6.8 gives uh uh uh just a little bit more traction to this.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to turn there.
SPEAKER_00: It'll be on the screen behind me.
SPEAKER_00: Micah 6.8.
SPEAKER_00: He has told you, O man, what is good.
SPEAKER_00: Here's righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
SPEAKER_00: Um we don't use the message here a whole lot, but the message, um, if you've never looked at the message translation, um, it just there's there's certain captures of the Bible where Eugene Peterson has done uh this just this great biblical translation.
SPEAKER_00: I think Micah 6.8 is a good picture of that.
SPEAKER_00: He says this, it's gonna be on the screen as well.
SPEAKER_00: But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do.
SPEAKER_00: What God is looking for in men and women, it's quite simple.
SPEAKER_00: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: Be compassionate and loyal in your love.
SPEAKER_00: And don't take seriously, don't take yourself too seriously, take God seriously.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have this definition of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: We have this man described as righteous who asked the question, now what?
SPEAKER_00: We're asking the question now what?
SPEAKER_00: And the first answer is to be righteous.
SPEAKER_00: We have this great big titan of the faith, Simeon, to be righteous.
SPEAKER_00: So if if we're thinking and we're tracking, then we're asking, what does that look like for me to be righteous?
SPEAKER_00: Um it's funny how God works things out.
SPEAKER_00: Um we've had a lot of lot of circumstances at our house.
SPEAKER_00: So it was great.
SPEAKER_00: We had our last Christmas was this past Friday.
SPEAKER_00: Um it was my family.
SPEAKER_00: Uh my family's pretty laid back, and so we just kind of my I think I've shared with y'all before my wife's family um celebrate every holiday, groundhog day.
SPEAKER_00: They have a barbecue, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they just like to be around each other.
SPEAKER_00: Uh my family's pretty laid back, so we just uh we we made ours last and um had some stuff go wrong with my wife's car, and um finances just fell into place, and my dad, who is just man, just a man of very few words, just grabs me by the elbow and says, You don't think that happened by accident, do you?
SPEAKER_00: Um and it's just interesting how the the Lord works out these circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: So on Friday, um I was leaving work, and Sally said, Hey, can you pick up a few things at the store?
SPEAKER_00: I need, I totally forgot something.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Sure.
SPEAKER_00: And if you were out and about on Friday, that's when the next front came in and the hundred thousand mile-an-hour winds were blowing through the pasture land of uh of Sugarland.
SPEAKER_00: And I went into the Kroger and I ran back out and wasn't thinking, was loading things in the car, and uh the wind caught my door and crash into the door next to me.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't really in retrospect, I know what happened, obviously, but I didn't I wasn't really sure what happened.
SPEAKER_00: I heard a thump.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of cars.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't really so I just finished loading the groceries.
SPEAKER_00: Um I closed the door, and there is this paper, still had the paper tags on it, uh, brand new Nissan Maxima um sitting next to me.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and I I I didn't actually hit the car, I hit the the chrome handle for the door, for the passenger side uh door.
SPEAKER_00: And uh it I know you guys have never done this, actually ding someone's door before, and then uh and then you do the lick the thumb and see if the paint comes off.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I know you've never done that, but I've that's what you can do if you want.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so I I did that.
SPEAKER_00: And uh it was funny this whole time.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't notice him until the the the situation carried on a little bit, but there was this older gentleman who was uh creeping around just watching me.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he had his Magnum PI persona on, he was ready to go, and uh he was checking out to see what I was gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: And so um I got a scrap, I look around, there's nobody.
SPEAKER_00: I kind of stand there for a minute, I got frozen stuff, and uh um you guys ever had Sister Schubert's roles, by the way?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, the Lord is good.
SPEAKER_00: Or my mom calls them Sister Sledge for you 70s fans.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh so I had those, so I was like, well, I'm just gonna leave a note.
SPEAKER_00: And so I reach in my truck and I find uh I find a piece of paper, and uh I know many of you experienced I have 15 pins in there, none of them work.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think there's something, there's some kind of scientific thing that happens when you put your pins in your glove compartment, they stop working.
SPEAKER_00: So um I took the note and I put it underneath the windshield, and I didn't want to- So I went, I ran inside to go get a pen.
SPEAKER_00: And I I look back and I see the guy.
SPEAKER_00: He's creeping over there.
SPEAKER_00: See what I did on the on the on the note.
SPEAKER_00: Because some people, I'm not gonna mention any names in this church, in this room right now, uh, would maybe take that piece of paper and write, I am not I hit your car, but I'm not gonna write any personal information on there.
SPEAKER_00: People are watching, so I look like a good citizen, and just put that under the windshield.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't gonna do that.
SPEAKER_00: I thought about it, but I wasn't gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so I uh I ran in, got a pen, wrote a note, left it, and it was interesting because I was coming back out with the pen that worked, um, and just you ever find yourself at those crossroads, and this seems like a small thing.
SPEAKER_00: This seems like a small thing.
SPEAKER_00: If you're thinking this is we talked about Simeon, we talked about waiting on God, and I used to always find it funny growing up in church where every illustration my pastor ever used was about like being in traffic and being frustrated at the line at the grocery store.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, we don't have anything bigger than that, you aren't living more life than that, and here I am telling you about dinging a car.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, and so I found myself at this crossroads of righteousness and integrity and character.
SPEAKER_00: And just in neon, honky tonk, bright, obnoxious lights, I saw Philippians 4 just blinking in my head.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to share this with you, and this is this is what the Lord used to ground me and remind me of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Philippians 4, 8 through 9, it'll be on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: It says this Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
SPEAKER_00: What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking down the scratch on the door, and I got the pen that works, and I'm looking at my note, and I started to run down this list that'll be on the screen behind me.
SPEAKER_00: And I started thinking about this decision, and maybe it's small, and I don't I don't know who all was watching, and it's not my responsibility to measure that, but maybe somebody was watching, and but in reality, my responsibility isn't to them, it's to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And it's to answer the call of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And so this list kind of ran through my head with this decision.
SPEAKER_00: Is it true?
SPEAKER_00: Is it honorable?
SPEAKER_00: Is it just?
SPEAKER_00: Is it pure or holy?
SPEAKER_00: Is it lovely?
SPEAKER_00: When's the last time you said something was lovely?
SPEAKER_00: It was a lovely decision.
SPEAKER_00: I should be drinking tea.
SPEAKER_00: Um commendable, worthy of praise.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I did youth ministry and um up until this summer and in a lot of different formats for about 15, 17 years of the channel track.
SPEAKER_00: Um the Lord lay it on my heart early to impart on every student I came in contact with was every thing you do is an act of worship.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you do can be an act of worship.
SPEAKER_00: I ding the door.
SPEAKER_00: What do I do with that?
SPEAKER_00: It's an act of worship.
SPEAKER_00: The way that I relate to people around me is an act of worship.
SPEAKER_00: Basically, it goes back to what I told you we were gonna be referencing throughout the sermon a definition of righteousness before.
SPEAKER_00: Is this as it ought to be?
SPEAKER_00: What do I do in this situation?
SPEAKER_00: Is this as it ought to be?
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question for us as we think about righteousness in our life.
SPEAKER_00: Is your life as it ought to be?
SPEAKER_00: Is it true?
SPEAKER_00: Is it honorable?
SPEAKER_00: Is it just?
SPEAKER_00: Is it pure?
SPEAKER_00: Is it lovely?
SPEAKER_00: Is it commendable?
SPEAKER_00: Worthy of praise.
SPEAKER_00: As we continue to look at Simeon, um, the second answer, and we're asking, what now?
SPEAKER_00: What do I do now?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we be righteous, we're righteous, but we also finish well.
SPEAKER_00: We also finish well.
SPEAKER_00: Where do we where does that come from?
SPEAKER_00: Look back at verse 25 and 26 again.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: We read this passage and kind of lead you to some conclusions, at least for me, and maybe maybe uh growing up in Sunday school and seeing the pictures of Simeon, when you hear the story of Simon, he was always an old man.
SPEAKER_00: Um he had a beard, he could like tuck into his belt loop.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going for that as well.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for me as I walk that road.
SPEAKER_00: Um but he was always we don't know that.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he could have been a young man.
SPEAKER_00: God, God, God uses youth.
SPEAKER_00: We see that all throughout the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: But all we do know is that he was he was a priest, and God had told him, You're not gonna die until you see my consolation for my people, until I send my son.
SPEAKER_00: And it says that he was righteous, so we just listed out what righteous look like.
SPEAKER_00: It also said he was devout.
SPEAKER_00: He was committed to this every day.
SPEAKER_00: Every day.
SPEAKER_00: Is this gonna be the day that I see Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Is this gonna be the day that I see the Messiah?
SPEAKER_00: Is this gonna be the day that I get to see the consolation of God's people?
SPEAKER_00: I was um part part of the Christmas tradition for me the last few years is um been getting together with my high school friends.
SPEAKER_00: This is a labor of love for me.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if you've if you heard me teach before, uh uh I think I've I think I mentioned this the last time I was up.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't I grew up in church, but I didn't become a believer um until the summer before I graduated high school.
SPEAKER_00: And so I grew up with these guys and we played sports second grade on.
SPEAKER_00: We all lived in the same neighborhood.
SPEAKER_00: It was one of those kind of things we grew up, all in the same neighborhood, all played sports together, all carpooled together, did everything together, um, all the things you do before you know Jesus together.
SPEAKER_00: Are we all on the same page?
SPEAKER_00: Um and so um they they started to get together and started inviting me to go, and we we started to split ways that that summer before, um the summer before my senior year.
SPEAKER_00: And only the last few years has has that kind of come full circle.
SPEAKER_00: And it was it's just been a long few weeks for us.
SPEAKER_00: I was sharing with somebody at the door.
SPEAKER_00: We try to guard the holiday Christmas um and and New Year's and that time, and we just did I didn't do a good job of that as a dad, as a husband this year, as a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't do a good job of guarding the holidays.
SPEAKER_00: So it's just been busy, it's been crazy.
SPEAKER_00: Did anybody else relate to that this year?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure what happened.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of snuck in the back door on us, and so um driving to the heights was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I said it's a labor of love.
SPEAKER_00: It's just it's one of those things, some of you might be able to relate to this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm a novelty to those guys.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's funny to them for a lot of them.
SPEAKER_00: Um because it's it's always, hey, you remember that time you you took the Ronald McDonald out of the Ronald McDonald, the life size one, and we welded it to the top of the school?
SPEAKER_00: And now you're a pastor, you know?
SPEAKER_00: It's just okay, great.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: And so I just had that, I had that feeling in the back of that never happened.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it did.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so uh I I had that feeling just in the back of my mind, and and my wife just said, Wait, they are literally because she's she's nosy and she reads my emails.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they pray for her.
SPEAKER_00: They are um they're literally inviting the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Because I mean it was they were persistent in wanting me to come.
SPEAKER_00: And like, wait, they're inviting the gospel into their lives.
SPEAKER_00: And so after I got done being mad at her for being right, I went.
SPEAKER_00: Um and I was talking to one of my oldest friends um sitting across the table, and I was just his parents were kind of like my second parents growing up.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you have experience with that.
SPEAKER_00: I knew that that was different, I knew that relationship was different because my parents had given them permission to spank me.
SPEAKER_00: Um and they did.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so I I love his folks and hadn't seen him in a couple years, and I just said, Hey man, how are your how are your parents doing?
SPEAKER_00: Just a lot of sadness in them.
SPEAKER_00: He said, You know, my dad has um gotten to the point of where his posture of life is that he might not see tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: And not in a good way.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's basically just a conscious, blatant acknowledgement of I've made a lot of bad choices and I'm continue to make them.
SPEAKER_00: And so this might be my last day.
SPEAKER_00: And so his whole life is oriented around finishing this beach house and now he wants that to be his legacy for his kids and his son who's not a believer is going, what in the world are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: You got grandkids and I just thought, man, what a what a what a like I was saying like God orchestrates things.
SPEAKER_00: What a what a I hated to hear it, but what a beautiful picture of not finishing well.
SPEAKER_00: And so is human nature.
SPEAKER_00: I started thinking about Simeon and seeing a man who finished well and started thinking about finishing well and I thought I thought about a guy named John Blaze.
SPEAKER_00: John Blaze, how many of you are familiar with Iron Man, the triathlon happens uh in Kona, they'll show it on NBC.
SPEAKER_00: John Blaze was not an Iron Man.
SPEAKER_00: He was not he was uh not a professional athlete he was he was an elementary school teacher.
SPEAKER_00: It was always his dream to compete in the Iron Man.
SPEAKER_00: But in 2003 he was diagnosed with ALS Lugaric syndrome.
SPEAKER_00: And so he was aware what effect that would have on his body and so he decided that he was going to commit himself to run the Iron Man.
SPEAKER_00: And so he did.
SPEAKER_00: And he trained and he qualified for the 2005 Kona Iron Man.
SPEAKER_00: As far as anybody knows he's the only ALS positive patient ever to do an Iron Man.
SPEAKER_00: And so he started feeling some symptoms in his body if you've ever been around anybody with ALS it can be pretty gradual or it can also be a thousand miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00: And he was having some of those symptoms come on and the reporters were saying John what are you going to do?
SPEAKER_00: How are you going to finish this thing?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, even if I have to roll across the finish line I'm going to finish this thing.
SPEAKER_00: And so you have 17 hours to finish the Iron Man to be in the record books.
SPEAKER_00: I mean you can take I mean some people take you know 26 hours whatever but to be in the record books to be an official Iron Man you've got to finish it under 17 hours.
SPEAKER_00: So at 16 hours and 28 minutes he comes up to the finish line and he stops at the finish line he lays down he rolls across the finish line John died in 2007 from complications from ALS but I was sharing this with the first service do yourself a favor when you're laying around the house today and go to teamblazeman.com B-L-A-Z-E-M-A-N.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how you spell his name he was B-L-A-I-S-E, but uh Blazeman, just like it sounds.
SPEAKER_00: And now you can race for Team Blazeman, raise money for ALS.
SPEAKER_00: I have uh one of my closest friends is a pastor out here in Katy.
SPEAKER_00: His dad uh passed away from ALS a year and a half ago and he races for Team Blazeman.
SPEAKER_00: And so whenever he finishes he says his dad's name and he log rolls across the finish line.
SPEAKER_00: And I just thought man what what a beautiful picture of finishing well.
SPEAKER_00: And you have these guys and ladies who race all over the world this is worldwide as representatives Team Blazem.
SPEAKER_00: But to bring us back what what about Team Simeon?
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: What about Team Simeon?
SPEAKER_00: Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and devout.
SPEAKER_00: This man was righteous and he was finishing well waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
SPEAKER_00: So we're left with this we're found rather in a posture of what now?
SPEAKER_00: We have the answer of being righteous we have the answer of finishing well but also in verse 26 and 27 the third answer would be being spirit led.
SPEAKER_00: Being spirit led this is supposed to be a four-point sermon but I'll I'll just let you in on a secret it's really only it's like a three point sermon and then some action at the end so we're nearing the end.
SPEAKER_00: Are you still with me?
SPEAKER_00: Neil texted me yesterday and said don't drown them.
SPEAKER_00: It's the end of the it's into the crit it's into Christmas they're sleepy so I'll give you a three point and a little action at the end.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 26 and 27.
SPEAKER_00: And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And he came in the spirit to the temple.
SPEAKER_00: He came in the spirit to the temple the the same phrasing that it's used there coming in the spirit to the temple is the same phrasing it talks about John the Revelator in Revelation.
SPEAKER_00: When he has the visions that we've all read about and tried to understand right in Revelation as he was in the Spirit it's the same wording here that it's talked about John the Revelator in the spirit he was led uh he was led to the temple.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't here the first Sunday of Advent um but I know that Neil talked about Anna and Anna had found herself as a widow basically living living at the temple praying for the Messiah praying for for for Israel devoted to that Simeon we're not led to believe that he did that there's nothing that says that he did that and so his life was of a priest and he probably lived righteously and finished well in different places but it says on this day he was led by the Spirit think about just take a minute and think about the implications of that he was led by the Spirit this this is the man who we've just read his entire life was committed to seeing the Lord's Christ to seeing the Messiah to seeing Jesus and on this day on this 40th day for Mary and Joseph when they brought Jesus to offer him to the Lord on that day the Spirit led him right there if he had not been spirit led if he did not trust the moving of the Spirit he would have missed Christ he would have missed taking Jesus in his arms literally and holding him says in verse 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation because he was spirit led.
SPEAKER_00: You start talking about the Holy Spirit you talk about being spirit led leads us down several roads of doctrine and theology and many sermons but for the sake of what we're talking about for the sake of this character Simeon for the sake of what God did through him and what he desires to do through us and answering his promises I want to see I want us to see what I think Simeon holds on to and what God is holding us to hold on to and we find that in John 16.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to turn there it'll be on the screen behind you.
SPEAKER_00: Because Simeon was holding on to promises of old through centuries of silence he's holding on to God says I will send my Savior I will send my son I will send the Messiah and so he holds on to that and he listens to the Spirit He stands on truth listens to the Spirit John 16 verse 13 through 15 When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
SPEAKER_00: He will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you all that the Father has is mine.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore I said he will take what is mine and declare it to you now here's a great bromer because I think that just like righteousness, I think that's a word we talked about that here we talked about these things before we need to reclaim words righteous is one of those words that can become nebulous and subject to our feelings and all those things.
SPEAKER_00: Righteous we have a clear definition of that being led by the spirit can be one of those things that kind of floats off in the atmosphere and it's used for good but also for excuses if we're going to be honest, right?
SPEAKER_00: I feel like I'm supposed to do this but maybe we're not standing on truth.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a good barometer to know if you're being led by the Spirit when you find yourself in situations when you find yourself in the midst of circumstances and are are you ruled by the circumstance or do you stand on truth?
SPEAKER_00: When you and your your spouse aren't seeing eye to eye do you just return to them what they've given to you if in harsh words or do you stand on the truth and act as the Lord has has called you to when you find yourself in situations you're you're standing on something is it is it opinion is it preference maybe maybe you've you've this past year you've committed in your heart to say you know what I I hear the guy that pre I hear I hear the guy that preaches Neil I hear him say a lot about sharing the gospel in everyday circumstances and in line at Starbucks at the grocery store with his neighbors I'm not going to just listen to those stories anymore.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to begin to do that.
SPEAKER_00: When you do that are you doing it based on your opinion and the circumstances and the situation or are you doing it based on holy timing of the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit it's a great barometer as we are just seeking that out and trying to figure out what does it look like to be spirit led, to stand on the truth.
SPEAKER_00: When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all the truth all of it.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to move to this last action point without um acknowledging Simeon's song here.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon's song we talked about Mary's song when um when when Lance was uh preaching about Mary during Advent um but we also have Simeon's song the spirit led righteous finishing well man grabs hold of Jesus in his arms and uh and he speaks this song the song is called the Nunc Demidas that's Latin?
SPEAKER_00: Four years of high school Latin I got that and I can tell you the dog is in the garden drinking wine.
SPEAKER_00: That's all after four years of Latin that was a great where's the guidance counselor on that one yeah take Latin it'll be good and get to college and fail Spanish one three times.
SPEAKER_00: But I can pronounce nucdemidis come on verse 29 and 30 Lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace that nucdemidis it means Lord you're now releasing.
SPEAKER_00: Lord you're now allowing me to depart it's it's the first four words of this is what I've been waiting for.
SPEAKER_00: You told me that I'd see the Messiah and that'd be the fulfillment of my life and and now take me you you've given me what you promised you mean what you say and take me for my eyes have seen your salvation that you've prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel a man who's a whole lot smarter than me named William Hendrickson translated those first that first line is this Now sovereign master thou art releasing my servant Simeon had to believe in God's sovereignty in the midst of silence to have such righteousness exemplified in his life to be such a man of finishing well he had to understand the sovereignty of God Michael Milton says this and this is this isn't too long but I didn't want to try to act like this was my idea.
SPEAKER_00: The passage is speaking about preparation for death Simeon's hope is in the coming of Christ and his appearance.
SPEAKER_00: Only then could Simeon die.
SPEAKER_00: You are not ready to die until you've embraced Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_00: You may be ready to graduate you may be ready to buy your first home you may be ready to retire.
SPEAKER_00: You may be ready to do many things but friend without Jesus you are not ready to die.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came to pay the penalty of Simeon's sins and yours.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to him to him in confession of your sins and repentance and from them in surrender to Jesus Christ as the resurrected and living Lord of life.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said Whoever believes in me will not perish but have eternal life I mean talk about talk about righteousness talk about finishing strong being led by the Spirit if you've been around here any any amount of time um you've heard the phrase be the sermon we use that a lot when we talk about worship abroad projects those of you don't know worship abroad projects are when you the congregation come to us as a staff or leadership of the church and tell us about a need in the community and then we go and do that.
SPEAKER_00: Usually it's it's a hands-on project whether that's home repair a few weeks ago um redoing the the landscaping outside of Oyster Creek Elementary.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever that is the the the folks that are going to do that anywhere from you know five to thirty five people come worship with us we commission them they send out and they they're they're released to go and be the hands and feet of the sermon the hands and feet of Christ talk about that with mission experiences that is not that is not regulated to a project that's our lives is to be the sermon.
SPEAKER_00: And so why do I talk about that?
SPEAKER_00: Because the last answer is to be a blessing is to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: It says in verse 34 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 own soul also so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon speaks these words of life to Mary and Joseph who come in here with their just over a month old baby and say this is good.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Son of God and through his life and through his ministry God is going to reveal himself to the people of Israel and the people of the world and he's going to do amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: But he's also going to be punished and for parents in here to think about the foreknowledge of the suffering of your kid.
SPEAKER_00: I've been a parent for about five minutes and that makes me nauseous but Simeon says this is going to be good and God has a plan in this and he and he speaks this as a blessing to them to hey you know what God means what he says he just showed me he just brought you to me I'm holding salvation in my arms and and and God's will is good and God's purpose is good and he means what he says and so he speaks life into a couple with a pretty pretty pretty hefty responsibility on their shoulders right but as you sit in this room there's people with a lot of life on them right now.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I mean by a lot of life a lot of things going on under the surface a lot of things that we got a lot of thoughts and feelings but maybe not words for yet my wife and I she uh my wife likes to talk and I do not this is about as many words this is about I'm gonna use up all my words today I won't talk again until Wednesday um uh but the Lord is really beginning to work in me and I've learned that that I need I need to process more an external I'm not I'm not an external processor by nature I process things inwardly but I need I need to learn how to process things externally and there's people in this room who have things that are dying to come out and and and God might give you a word for them to speak words of life to them or your neighbor or your kids or somebody at work but I want to give you practical application here.
SPEAKER_00: Because you look around this room there's complete strangers you can look around it's okay make eye contact with each other make it awkward come on there's complete strangers and then there's what I what I call church strangers it's the folks that you know their face you smile at them you don't even know their name hey brother how are you I'm good but God's better but you have no idea what's going on in their life I grew up in the kind of Baptist church where um there wasn't a signed seating but there was a signed seating let's be honest right my parents uh go to a the a church very similar to that and my parents retired um out to East Texas and my if someone is sitting in the third row from the back on the left side in my mom's seat she is fit to be tied right but mom sits in that same seat and everybody else sits in the same seat and so I'll go to church with them occasionally if I have a Sunday off and I say mom who who is that and she's been going to church for 17 years.
SPEAKER_00: Those people have been going to church since Jesus was in Sunday school and she has no idea who it is right she knows her name but nothing maybe and that's not just my mom that's that's that's us.
SPEAKER_00: That's me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here and I don't know some of your names can I say that out loud I didn't mean that um I did so here here's what we're gonna do in just a minute is um I'm gonna give you an opportunity to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: You can't leave.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna pray in a minute we're gonna close our eyes and they're gonna bar the doors all right here's what we're gonna do right now Clyde's gonna come up if you if you haven't been to Grand Park way in a while you've never been here before um we believe uh the best way to have an invitation is to give you space and time and an environment to do business with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so um Clyde's gonna play and maybe sing a little bit and we just want to give you some space we're finishing early on purpose but we want to give you just a little bit of time to say God what what's what's got my name on it this morning God there's a lot of words today and a lot of implications so Father we ask your Holy Spirit to come and sort and apply God we want to respond we want to be people of the response being people of response looks righteous and it looks like finishing well it looks like trusting you it looks like being a blessing speaking words of life unspoken blessings just an act where no one knows and no credits given maybe in reality the first three add up to the fourth because our chief end is to love you to serve you to worship you make us people of the chief end we love you we pray in your name amen to ask you to stand and I'm gonna say a blessing over you put your hands out like this you are sons and daughters of God the God who means what he says who has imparted upon you righteousness his Holy Spirit the ability to finish well and the charge to be a blessing let's live like it in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen