Hello. I am posting the Sermon today because with tomorrow being New Year's Day, the library where I do the blog posts is closed. I forgot about this last week. Thankfully, next week we will be on a regular schedule.
I had a nice Christmas holiday. I went out for dinner with my brother and his family. We had a nice time. I also got to spend some time with a friend of mine on Christmas Day. I hope that all of you had a happy Christmas.
New Year's Day is not one of my favorite holidays. I have the day off work which is nice. I may go to the movies just to have something to do. I do want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year.
This last year on the blog has been very exciting for me. I thank the Lord that He gave me the opportunity to spread His message another year on the blog. We went through some interesting series together, and I look forward to sharing more messages with you in 2016.
I thank you all for your prayers on my behalf this last year. Starting the new job and making it through 2015 was easier knowing you were praying for me.
During 2015, we prayed for many needs around the world. One of the things we prayed for was an end to the Ebola outbreak. Yesterday, I heard on NPR that there are now no cases of Ebola being reported. Thank God for this answer to prayer.
This week, please continue to pray for peace in this troubled world. Pray for peace in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Burundi and South Sudan. Pray of the refugees seeking safety.
Let us also pray that the message of Jesus will reach around the world. Let us pray for the nations of Mongolia, China, Taiwan and Algeria.
In keeping with the holiday season and starting a brand new year, I wanted to bring a message today about two characters in the life of Jesus that often go unnoticed. These two people are Simeon and Anna.
When it was time for the baby Jesus to be circumcised, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. As a firstborn son, Jesus was consecrated to the Lord. Mary and Joseph also made a sacrifice of two pigeons. This shows that Jesus was not born to a rich family. This was the offering to be given by those who could not afford to offer a sheep.
While in the Temple, Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus encountered a man named Simeon. Simeon was a righteous man. It had been revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. When Simeon saw Jesus, he knew that the Messiah was in his presence. Simeon's faithfulness had been rewarded. Simeon took Jesus in his arms and gave praise to the Lord.
Before the Holy Family left the Temple, they encountered a prophetess named Anna. She was eighty-four years old. She had been married for seven years when she was a young woman. After her husband died, she devoted herself to fasting and prayer in the Temple. When she saw Jesus, she gave thanks to God and told everyone that Jesus was the one who would bring redemption to Israel.
What strikes me about Simeon and Anna was that their lives were marked by faithfulness to the Lord. They had both lived many years, and throughout all those years, they believed in the promises of God, and they did not stray from their faith in the Lord.
Simeon and Anna are examples to us to always remain faithful to the Lord Jesus. I know that I often find it hard to keep going in the face of hardship. Sometimes it is difficult to keep doing the things that I believe God has called me to do.
The New Year is a time when each of us can renew our commitment to serve the Lord with all that we have. It is a time to stop and look back at the previous year. We can see what we have done right and where we need improvement. We can seek to lay aside the sin and cultivate that which is good.
The New Year is a time to commit ourselves to loving Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. It is time to commit to obeying all that Jesus has commanded us to do.
With the examples of Simeon and Anna in our hearts, let us strive to be faithful to the Lord throughout all of our days. We know that Jesus will be with us and guide us in all that we do in 2016.
I just wanted to spend a few moments discussing some of what I have planned for the Weekend Sermon in 2016. If the Lord is willing, and I am still going, I have several different sermon series worked out for the upcoming year. There are four series that I definitely want to do. I want to do a series on the Apostle's Creed, the Ten Commandments, a verse by verse study of II Peter and series on the hard to understand teachings of Jesus. I have other sermons worked up, but I am not sure when I want to do those.
The first series that I want to do for 2016 is a series on the Apostle's Creed. However, before I do that, I want to bring a message next week about what I am calling the first creed of the church. I believe that the Apostle's Creed series will be very beneficial as it will help us to delve into some important doctrinal truths regarding the Holy Trinity.
Thank you all once again for reading the blog in 2015. May God bless each and every one of you. Remember, on Monday, we will begin our Bible memorization for the verses for the week. May you experience the love of Jesus in your heart this week. Amen.
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