This week is Christmas week. We often observe that the true reason for this season is often lost in the frenzy of shopping and spending. Many people will overspend and under-appreciate this season. We have to be careful to focus our celebration on the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ. The Message translation of our text says that the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. When our world was broken beyond repair, God moved into the neighborhood to save us. Brokeness is not the final stage for any of us, God came so that we can have life, and have it more abundantly. Because He came to our world, we are invited to partake in His world. The hope that we have this Christmas is because He brought light to replace darkness. Peace came to replace strife. Healing came to replace hurting. Oh, what a difference because Jesus moved into the neighborhood.

This week is Christmas week. We often observe that the true reason for this season is often lost in the frenzy of shopping and spending. Many people will overspend and under-appreciate this season. We have to be careful to focus our celebration on the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ. The Message translation of our text says that the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. When our world was broken beyond repair, God moved into the neighborhood to save us. Brokeness is not the final stage for any of us, God came so that we can have life, and have it more abundantly. Because He came to our world, we are invited to partake in His world. The hope that we have this Christmas is because He brought light to replace darkness. Peace came to replace strife. Healing came to replace hurting. Oh, what a difference because Jesus moved into the neighborhood.

This week is Christmas week. We often observe that the true reason for this season is often lost in the frenzy of shopping and spending. Many people will overspend and under-appreciate this season. We have to be careful to focus our celebration on the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ. The Message translation of our text says that the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. When our world was broken beyond repair, God moved into the neighborhood to save us. Brokeness is not the final stage for any of us, God came so that we can have life, and have it more abundantly. Because He came to our world, we are invited to partake in His world. The hope that we have this Christmas is because He brought light to replace darkness. Peace came to replace strife. Healing came to replace hurting. Oh, what a difference because Jesus moved into the neighborhood.

Our society is amid a tremendous spiritual decline. We have lost contact with the eternal, and most of the world lives in the immediate, material world. We need an awakening in our country. Our text describes a people who had lost contact with the eternal. The could see and hear in the natural world but could not see or hear what God was saying. More to the point, they could see and hear, but they chose to ignore what they saw and heard. Their hearts had become hardened to what God was saying. They had tuned God out. As a result, God was unable to help them. We have to make sure that the channels that God has given to communicate with us are never compromised.

Our society is amid a tremendous spiritual decline. We have lost contact with the eternal, and most of the world lives in the immediate, material world. We need an awakening in our country. Our text describes a people who had lost contact with the eternal. The could see and hear in the natural world but could not see or hear what God was saying. More to the point, they could see and hear, but they chose to ignore what they saw and heard. Their hearts had become hardened to what God was saying. They had tuned God out. As a result, God was unable to help them. We have to make sure that the channels that God has given to communicate with us are never compromised.

Our society is amid a tremendous spiritual decline. We have lost contact with the eternal, and most of the world lives in the immediate, material world. We need an awakening in our country. Our text describes a people who had lost contact with the eternal. The could see and hear in the natural world but could not see or hear what God was saying. More to the point, they could see and hear, but they chose to ignore what they saw and heard. Their hearts had become hardened to what God was saying. They had tuned God out. As a result, God was unable to help them. We have to make sure that the channels that God has given to communicate with us are never compromised.

We live in an impatient age. We do not like to wait. Waiting is the hardest and most challenging thing to do for most of us. Yet, we are called to do a lot of waiting in life. The bible is rife with instances of waiting. Adam and Eve were given a promise that their seed would bruise the head of the serpent, but Jesus was not born for several hundred years. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of nations, but it was decades before he would have a child. Joseph waited twenty years for his dream to be fulfilled. The word wait, or some form of it, is used in the bible over one hundred sixty times. Biblical waiting is not passive inactivity. It is not becoming complacent and just killing time. Instead, waiting is a confident trust that God will fulfill His promise. Biblical waiting involves an expectancy. It is a readiness and forward-thinking thought about something better than our current situation. Our text tonight from the Christmas story is about Simeon. We do not know much about him. We can deduce that he is an older man somewhere between 113-200 years old. Simeon was a priest and was the son of a priest. He had been told all his life that the Messiah was coming. Many had believed in the coming of the Messiah, but Simeon had the added promise that he would not die until he had seen it. Simeon may have lived for 100 years with that promise. For 100 years, Simeon went to church with the expectation that he would see the Messiah. What does it take to live through the wait? What do we do when God makes us wait on our answer? Simeon waited for at least 100 years, and he was spiritual in that wait. One day, all that waiting paid off.

How did Simeon keep his faith alive for over 100 years? He kept believing. He kept serving. He gave it his best every day. He lived with the mystery, but he enjoyed the majesty. Some people are angry because they have not seen the prophecy they received. Simeon teaches us how to wait on the Lord. When God’s timeline worked out, He did not miss it. On that day, Jesus came in the form of a baby, but Simeon recognized it for the blessing he was expecting. The rest of the world missed it because the Messiah did not come in the form they expected.

Waiting is not easy. God had been silent for over four hundred years before Simeon received his word, and then it was another hundred years before he saw that promise in the flesh. God’s time is not our time. He works in ways that we are not expecting, but if we wait, He will work. Through the bible, we see people that God made to wait, and in that waiting, He was preparing them to receive His blessing. If we are waiting on something, maybe it is that God is preparing us to receive it. Waiting is one of the most challenging things to do in life, but the way we wait is as important as the promise.

We live in an impatient age. We do not like to wait. Waiting is the hardest and most challenging thing to do for most of us. Yet, we are called to do a lot of waiting in life. The bible is rife with instances of waiting. Adam and Eve were given a promise that their seed would bruise the head of the serpent, but Jesus was not born for several hundred years. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of nations, but it was decades before he would have a child. Joseph waited twenty years for his dream to be fulfilled. The word wait, or some form of it, is used in the bible over one hundred sixty times. Biblical waiting is not passive inactivity. It is not becoming complacent and just killing time. Instead, waiting is a confident trust that God will fulfill His promise. Biblical waiting involves an expectancy. It is a readiness and forward-thinking thought about something better than our current situation. Our text tonight from the Christmas story is about Simeon. We do not know much about him. We can deduce that he is an older man somewhere between 113-200 years old. Simeon was a priest and was the son of a priest. He had been told all his life that the Messiah was coming. Many had believed in the coming of the Messiah, but Simeon had the added promise that he would not die until he had seen it. Simeon may have lived for 100 years with that promise. For 100 years, Simeon went to church with the expectation that he would see the Messiah. What does it take to live through the wait? What do we do when God makes us wait on our answer? Simeon waited for at least 100 years, and he was spiritual in that wait. One day, all that waiting paid off.

How did Simeon keep his faith alive for over 100 years? He kept believing. He kept serving. He gave it his best every day. He lived with the mystery, but he enjoyed the majesty. Some people are angry because they have not seen the prophecy they received. Simeon teaches us how to wait on the Lord. When God’s timeline worked out, He did not miss it. On that day, Jesus came in the form of a baby, but Simeon recognized it for the blessing he was expecting. The rest of the world missed it because the Messiah did not come in the form they expected.

Waiting is not easy. God had been silent for over four hundred years before Simeon received his word, and then it was another hundred years before he saw that promise in the flesh. God’s time is not our time. He works in ways that we are not expecting, but if we wait, He will work. Through the bible, we see people that God made to wait, and in that waiting, He was preparing them to receive His blessing. If we are waiting on something, maybe it is that God is preparing us to receive it. Waiting is one of the most challenging things to do in life, but the way we wait is as important as the promise.

We live in an impatient age. We do not like to wait. Waiting is the hardest and most challenging thing to do for most of us. Yet, we are called to do a lot of waiting in life. The bible is rife with instances of waiting. Adam and Eve were given a promise that their seed would bruise the head of the serpent, but Jesus was not born for several hundred years. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of nations, but it was decades before he would have a child. Joseph waited twenty years for his dream to be fulfilled. The word wait, or some form of it, is used in the bible over one hundred sixty times. Biblical waiting is not passive inactivity. It is not becoming complacent and just killing time. Instead, waiting is a confident trust that God will fulfill His promise. Biblical waiting involves an expectancy. It is a readiness and forward-thinking thought about something better than our current situation. Our text tonight from the Christmas story is about Simeon. We do not know much about him. We can deduce that he is an older man somewhere between 113-200 years old. Simeon was a priest and was the son of a priest. He had been told all his life that the Messiah was coming. Many had believed in the coming of the Messiah, but Simeon had the added promise that he would not die until he had seen it. Simeon may have lived for 100 years with that promise. For 100 years, Simeon went to church with the expectation that he would see the Messiah. What does it take to live through the wait? What do we do when God makes us wait on our answer? Simeon waited for at least 100 years, and he was spiritual in that wait. One day, all that waiting paid off.

How did Simeon keep his faith alive for over 100 years? He kept believing. He kept serving. He gave it his best every day. He lived with the mystery, but he enjoyed the majesty. Some people are angry because they have not seen the prophecy they received. Simeon teaches us how to wait on the Lord. When God’s timeline worked out, He did not miss it. On that day, Jesus came in the form of a baby, but Simeon recognized it for the blessing he was expecting. The rest of the world missed it because the Messiah did not come in the form they expected.

Waiting is not easy. God had been silent for over four hundred years before Simeon received his word, and then it was another hundred years before he saw that promise in the flesh. God’s time is not our time. He works in ways that we are not expecting, but if we wait, He will work. Through the bible, we see people that God made to wait, and in that waiting, He was preparing them to receive His blessing. If we are waiting on something, maybe it is that God is preparing us to receive it. Waiting is one of the most challenging things to do in life, but the way we wait is as important as the promise.

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