Thank you, Lawrence.
Good morning, everyone.
Really nice to see you, be back from
my trip.
Thank you for your prayers for Stephen and
I when we were in India and Kenya.
They made a big difference.
I went, my health was pretty questionable when
I began that journey, and it made improvements
all through the trip.
And it was astonishing to come off a
trip as substantial as that and to be
healthier when I came back than when I
left.
So, thank you very much.
Wonderful things happened.
In India, there was a very strong move
of God's Spirit and literally hundreds of people
a day we saw experiencing the power of
God.
And so, just deeply fulfilling time there.
We went on from there to Kenya, first
of all to Nairobi.
There was a group of quite eminent young
national leaders who wanted to meet with us,
interested in via, and again, just something of
real favor was resting on that time.
Within 24 hours, those young leaders wanted to
move here for training, want to plant via
churches in in Kenya.
They were just so on board.
It was a really, really splendid time.
And again, so thank you that your prayers
for helping to make that possible.
When we are finished in Nairobi, we went
up to the desert region of northern Kenya.
A place called the Turkana Desert, which is
one of my favorite places in all the
world, where northern Kenya meets Sudan, Somalia, and
Ethiopia.
Working in a United Nations refugee camp that
has now swollen to upwards of 350,000
people in that camp.
This is probably about my 15th time there.
Each year, I try to take people from
Lethbridge, especially from our church, to go visit
that refugee camp.
Because most of the people that come as
refugees from East Africa come through that significant
camp at Kakama.
And so I want our people to realize
what it's like to live in a refugee
camp.
And to have a sense of not just
sympathy, but respect for people's journeys, both there
and when people move here as refugees, to
be able to meet people.
So all the time I meet people here,
and where do you come from?
I come from East Africa.
Did you come through Kakama?
The question is, how do you know Kakama?
Oh, I was just there last week.
What would you go to Kakama for?
We spent years trying to get out of
that place.
And I tell them, I went there so
I'd appreciate and respect your journey.
So that when you come to Canada, there's
people here that, in a sense, have made
the efforts to understand what you have been
through.
And so it was good to be there,
but I'm also very attuned when refugees come
here that this is God bringing the nations
to our doorstep.
So I have went, upon my return, my
coming home, I have met twice with one
of the senior figures in our local immigrant
services.
And I said, I understand, they know that
we've done a lot with Nepali-speaking immigrants.
And we actually have a kind of a
favor there because of that.
And so I've said, I understand we have
immigrants coming from new countries.
I just want to say, whatever we can
do, we want to be there.
And when I talked about our heart for
refugees, he was quite moved and asked me
if I would come and speak to the
staff.
Which would probably be the first time in
the history of immigrant services they asked a
pastor to come and speak to their staff.
So, it was really, I'm really looking forward
to that.
So if you ever get a chance to
study in the Old Testament how many times
God speaks to people about foreigners who come
in from other countries and how they should
be treated, go make that a study because
it'll affect your life forever.
It certainly has affected how I see things.
Secondly, a little bit of talk about Christmas
potluck.
You know, it's been our custom annually that
we have had a Christmas dinner together.
But like many things, sometimes we visited that
and said, is that still hitting the mark?
Because sometimes the people that we have most
targeted wanted to come haven't come.
We're also very well that we have a
very, very well connected core.
But if all of our events target the
exact same group of people, then, so part
of the question is, what do we have
to do that people who don't yet feel
connected could feel connected to our core and
feel like they're part of our core and
moving with us?
The other thing I have to be honest
is that when we run some of these
things the last couple years, even the people
who have come have just all of a
sudden left and left a tiny little handful
cleaning up.
And so this is meant to be a
community event.
And when we do those things, it doesn't
exactly say community all over it.
It says, here's a little tiny handful of
people you're serving us, and then we'll dine
and dash.
And so we need to do something to
kind of change that so that from beginning
to end, it is an expression of community.
So I actually would, since coming back from
my trip, would I'd like to run something.
So we're going to have something on Thursday
evening at 6pm on the 17th of December,
you'll hear more about this.
So it could be a little new because
I'm running it.
But if you belong to three categories, if
you're new here in the last year and
don't really feel connected, please come out to
that.
Number two, if you're old here and don't
really feel connected, because our church has underwent
a lot of transition in the last years,
and so if that's you, then please come
and be there.
Third category, if you're like me and want
to connect with people that don't feel connected,
you actually want to come and be on
deck and say, who don't I know here?
And how do I help people feel like
that they're coming to our church is important
to us?
And that we want to connect.
That we've had this kind of slogan all
these years that we want to be a
community and not a crowd.
But if we're going to keep that up,
it requires a lot of intentionality on our
part.
And it's well worth it.
The reason so many of you feel deeply
connected as a core is because we started
with that many years ago, and we worked
hard toward that.
But we've also got to keep that up
with new people who are coming.
So we understand that we've transferred a lot
of responsibilities in the last couple years over
to our home groups who are doing a
wonderful, wonderful job.
So that's intentional.
So if you're doing something as your community
group, and you already have a get-together
and meal, then don't feel like you need
to replicate.
Because the bases for you are probably well
covered.
You don't have to do both.
But I'm especially targeting people that I don't
really know.
I look at some of you, worship with
you Sunday by Sunday, and our core I
know deeply.
I've walked with you for years.
But there's all kinds of people.
I look out to you, and I don't
really know you.
And I want to.
And so we're going to set up a
very simple evening.
Potluck, bring food.
So just in case you're thinking someone else
will bring food, I don't need to.
Just so you know, I am a man
running this, not a woman.
That's going to make this different.
Because a woman would have lots of contingencies.
She would know who's going to bring what,
and she's going to know where we're going
to lack, and she's going to know who's
going to come with nothing.
And so they would have all that figured
out.
I'm just opening the door, set out a
few tables, and I just want to hang
out.
And so anyways, if you don't bring food,
we're going to be in a whole lot
of trouble coming to a potluck.
So come, and come be prepared and looking
for some heart connection.
Meaning come and and and ready to engage,
you know, in meaningful conversation.
And if you're a real introvert, come and
be prepared to engage in really meaningful awkward
silences.
And we'll work with that.
But regardless of your temperament, come, and and
we will have a very simple evening, and
a lovely little potluck, and a chance to
get, and when you leave you'll think, I,
I I know a few people that I
didn't know before, and I gained some connections
that I didn't have.
And that will be, make it all worthwhile.
I'd like to turn my attention now to
the Holy Scripture.
Gospel according to Luke, chapter 2, and we're
going to take a reading from the 24th
verse, 25th verse.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called
Simeon.
He was righteous and devout.
And he was waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the
Holy Spirit that he would not die before
he has seen the Lord's Christ, the Messiah.
Moved by the Holy Spirit, he went into
the temple courts.
When the parents brought in the child Jesus
to do for him what the custom of
the law required, Simeon took him in his
arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as
you have promised, you now dismiss your servant
in peace, for my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you have repaired in the sight
of all people, a light for revelation to
the Gentiles and for glory to your people
Israel.
The child's father and mother marveled at what
was said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary
his mother, This child is destined to cause
the rising and the falling of many in
Israel, and to be a sign that will
be spoken against, so that the thoughts of
many hearts will be revealed, and a sword,
Mary, will pierce your own soul, too.
May God bless this public reading of his
holy word.
We are here today on the second Sunday
of Advent, and Advent, of course, has been
thought of as a time of preparation.
Because in some ways we identify in this
period with those who were prior to Christ,
who were waiting for the coming of the
Messiah.
And just like they lived, as it were,
between two times, between times of promise and
times of fulfillment.
So the whole of the Old Testament is
full of promises that one day a Messiah
would come, and these people waited daily for
the fulfillment of that promise.
But just like they waited between two times,
so also we in the New Covenant also
find ourselves living between two times, between the
first Advent and the second Advent, between the
first coming of our Lord and the second
coming of our Lord, between partial fulfillment and
complete fulfillment of all God's promises, between the
now and the not yet.
And as a result, we know two things,
both a deep thankfulness for what we have
received from Him, but at the same time
a deep longing for more of Him.
And so we will live in that tension
of fulfillment and thankfulness, but also longing.
And I want to turn to this man
in the New Testament.
He's at the kind of tail end of
the Old Testament.
He's someone whose entire life had been waiting
for the Messiah, and he did that so
well that he provides a very fine example
for us in our day.
The reading begins with these words.
Now, there was a man in Jerusalem called
Simeon.
He was righteous and devout.
Righteous.
Right with God.
He wasn't just playing at his faith.
Where it counts, he was right with God.
And he was devout.
He showed deep devotion.
He had it where it counts.
But interestingly, what his righteousness and devotion looked
like.
The next phrase is this, he was waiting.
He was righteous and devout.
He was waiting.
His righteousness showed up in this way.
It made him wait.
His devotion caused him to wait.
We don't have that kind of value on
waiting.
We wouldn't think that that's a sign of
righteousness.
That it's a sign of deep devotion that
someone would wait.
Because we might wait if we have to.
We would never think of it as a
good thing.
We might find it annoying.
Undesirable.
Frustrating.
Even angering.
Having to wait.
But we certainly wouldn't think of it as
a sign of deep devotion.
And yet, I think it's right.
It really is that.
Because sometimes what we most love in life
is seen in this.
By what we're willing to wait for.
So what you most love in life isn't
seen by what you can have most quickly
at your fingertips.
What you most love in life is not
measured by that which is most quickly accessible.
Sometimes what you most love in life is
seen in this.
By what you're willing to wait for.
More than once, I've had a family come
to me in the church and maybe their
daughter was just getting to dating age and
sometimes there's a interesting interested suitor.
And sometimes this suitor has been a few
years older.
And so anyways, I get asked questions.
My advice to the young woman has been
the same.
If this really is God's choice for you,
and if this young man really loves you,
then this is what his heart will say
to you.
You are worth waiting for.
So maybe you're a little on the young
side for a relationship of that type.
Of that kind of commitment.
But you'll know you're on to something special
when someone says, I love you enough to
wait for you.
I think sometimes Jesus is waiting for us
to hear those words.
To hear those words from us.
We love you enough that waiting can be
pleasurable.
Waiting can be an exercise of devotion.
It can be a sign of our righteousness
by what we're willing to wait for.
I understand that sometimes waiting produces longing.
That waiting isn't easy.
But the same truth prevails.
What we most long for in life shows
what we most love.
And so here's Simeon, a righteous man, a
devout man, and it says he was waiting.
How do you wait?
You wait like Simeon?
Because his waiting was not a sign of
passive resignation.
His waiting was a sign of eager expectation.
God had made him promises.
And every single day of his life, this
man woke up and those promises were as
real and fresh to him as if God
had made them to him that morning.
Eager expectation.
He was an older man who had been
waiting for the fulfillment of promises for many
years, and yet he still has eager expectation.
Sometimes we go, well, I guess I'll wait
because I have no choice to.
But really it's resignation.
I'll resign to have to wait.
There's no sense of eagerness and anticipation in
it.
But this man was different.
In particular, it says he was waiting for
the consolation of Israel.
He wasn't even waiting for something for himself.
He could tell that his nation was grieving.
His nation needed consoling.
That they had been waiting for 400 years,
the 400 silent years, and that that waiting
had taken a toll on their hearts.
And so here's a man who is full
of the Holy Spirit.
Here is an old prayerful man, and when
he is in prayer, he can pick up
the heartbeat of his nation.
And so he's saying, Lord, I am waiting
for the consolation of my nation.
You're gonna come and you're gonna console through
the provision of the Messiah.
He's waiting for the consolation of Israel.
The scripture goes on to say that he
had every reason to wait.
This wasn't just wishful thinking.
He was waiting because the Holy Spirit had
spoke to him and revealed things to him.
And especially this, that he would not die
until with his own eyes he had seen
the Messiah.
And so he's an elderly man, been waiting
for probably the majority of his life, and
he has been clinging to this promise that
he would not die before he saw the
Lord's Christ.
And every single day he rolls out of
bed, and he asks the Lord a question.
Lord, is today the day?
Not today, Simeon.
Okay.
And this faithful old man rolls out of
bed the next day with the exact same
question, and the same anticipation, not disappointment, is
today the day?
It's not today, Simeon, but thanks for asking.
Okay.
Day in, day out, month in, month out,
year in, year out, with this man decade
in and decade out.
Every single day he rolls out of bed
onto his knees and says, Father, is today
the day?
He's an old man, but he's got the
faith of a child.
Is today the day?
Simeon, no, but thank you for believing.
Thank you for waiting.
Thank you for hoping.
Remember, he's praying for the consolation of Israel.
Very few people in the whole nation were
waiting with that kind of hope, but Simeon
was.
Until one day he wakes up, and he
rolls out of bed, and he asks that
same old question.
Father, is today the day?
And it's the first day he hears an
answer that is different from what he has
always heard.
Is today the day, Lord?
You told me I wouldn't die before I
saw the Lord's Christ.
I believe it with all my heart.
I've been waiting for decades.
Is today the day?
And on this day, heaven says, Simeon, yes,
today is the day.
Now, do you realize if he hadn't been
asking day by day, he would have totally
missed that day.
If his heart had grown dull, if his
expectation had waned, then when it really counts,
he would no longer even be asking the
question.
But because this man was waiting in hope,
he was full of expectation.
When he asked, Lord, is today the day?
At last the answer come.
Today is the day, Simeon.
The Messiah is here.
He's down in the temple courts.
And the story doesn't tell us what follows
exactly between the time he is told that
and the time he gets to the temple
courts.
But I imagine this old man was just
the face of a young boy, and he'd
gather up his garments.
And probably as fast as his old frame
would take him, that man ran through the
streets of Jerusalem.
Muttering, he's here.
He's here.
He's down here.
He's here.
And everybody wondering, where's Simeon going?
A couple questions.
Number one, what did he expect to see
when he got there?
Number two, was he disappointed?
Because if you take a look at the
Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah, it's
reasonable that Simeon would have expected some very
much larger-than-life figure to be waiting
for him there.
Someone who's going to vanquish the Romans, someone
who is going to make everything right and
usher in a wonderful new golden age.
Over Christmas or over Advent, when you get
a chance, you look back at the Old
Testament messianic prophecies.
What would you have expected if you were
Simeon?
It would have been reasonable for him to
expect someone gigantic.
And so when he arrives at the temple
gates, and he looks around and doesn't see
anybody gigantic, Lord, where?
Because it seems like temple life is continuing
like it always did.
It doesn't seem any different today than it
did yesterday.
So when he says, where?
You know what the Holy Spirit points him
to?
That baby.
The baby, Lord.
That baby you mean that looks like every
other baby.
Great.
I've been waiting all my life, and I
have a 20-inch Messiah.
I would have been disappointed.
I was like, really?
That's what I've waited for?
Really?
That kid is going to change this whole
thing.
Because I'm not righteous like him.
I don't wait like him.
I don't roll out of bed every single
day like I ought and say, it's the
day of the day, Lord.
And so I, I learn from this old
righteous devout man who went over under the
Holy Spirit's leading, and he took that small
infant in his hands, and he blessed that
infant.
So here, here's a an icon of of
a depiction of Simeon as an old man
holding that baby in his hands.
And this is what he cries out.
He said, Lord, Sovereign Lord, it's just like
you promised.
What would we have said?
Lord, this is a little disappointing.
Simeon didn't say that.
It's just like you promised.
You were faithful to all your promises.
Now I can depart in peace.
You can take me to heaven because everything
you promised me in this life, you have
done.
I'm ready now to go to heaven.
And he blesses that child because he understood
things that we don't understand.
Is that when God has promised grand things,
they are still going to start in small
ways.
Then when God wants to change the world,
he still starts things and gives them a
humble beginning.
And if you overlook those small things, they
will never grow up to be large things.
And he took that small infant in his
hands and thought everything God has ever promised
for the salvation of the world is in
this small bundle.
And he actually had the eyes to see
it.
And he blessed that small bundle knowing that
if I bless it, one day he will
grow enough to be a fully grown, blown,
world-saving, life-changing, universe-ruling Messiah.
And he could see it in this infant.
Beautiful.
Oh, I want to be righteous like that
man.
Three lessons to draw from Simeon.
Number one, What?
Do we know how to wait like he
did?
To show eager expectation, not resignation.
That's not biblical waiting.
Oh, we'll just have to see how it
pans out.
That's not biblical waiting.
That's just resignation, not anticipation.
And so for Simeon, we don't know how
old he is.
We just know he's a very old man
who's waited for very long.
But by the way he acts, you'd think
God made him the promise yesterday.
And I want to be like that too.
Number two, he was a man who transitioned
well.
He'd waited for something for all these years,
but he knew when the Holy Spirit was
signaling that change was in the air and
he was able to go with it.
My imagination allows me to see, if nothing
else, that the day that Simeon ran down
there, there was probably very likely some other
people that saw this little crying infant and
said this, would you shut that baby up?
We're trying to pray here for the coming
of the Messiah.
How come it's only Simeon saw it that
day?
How many people were in the temple courts
praying for the fulfillment of God's promises and
missed them right under their nose?
People who got tired of waiting.
Impatient.
Book of Hebrews says faith and patience inherits
the promises.
I used to think it was just faith
that inherits promises.
Faith and patience inherits the promises.
And we have to understand we live in
a hugely impatient society and it costs us
much more dearly than we can imagine.
He transitioned well.
The wind of change came into his prayer
room and said you've been here believing for
this, but now you need to move here
and expect the fulfillment of that.
And that when you do get there, don't
be disappointed, Simeon.
Third lesson, he knew how to see the
great and the small.
Can we do that?
I've had things that have even happened in
the last month.
I know they are signs.
Are they big signs?
They are to me.
When you've been waiting for 12 years or
when you're waiting for 30 years for something,
I've been watching for little signs.
And when I see them instead of going,
oh, that's kind of disappointing.
That's all it is.
You will never see your promises fulfilled if
you do that.
But if you can say that's a small
beginning, that's God acting in our midst, and
we can see it and be thankful for
it and bless it, then those small blessings
will grow up until they're bigger than we
could ever imagine.
So how do you wait?
I don't wait as well as I'd like.
Number two, how do you transition?
Number three, can you see the big and
the small right under your nose?
How many people miss the Messiah right under
their nose?
2,000 years this child has prophesied, and
there he is right under their nose, and
there's one man that sees it.
So similarly, things are happening in our midst.
I've noticed shifts and changes even actually since
our name changed.
If I had more time, I would chronicle
them for you.
But Todd, those are just small.
I know.
But I have put myself at the feet
of Simeon for the last 25 years.
And I learned something from that old man.
How to appreciate the small signs of God's
moving.
How to bless them when I see them.
How to have eyes to see them when
they go indetectable to others.
I wish I had the time to unpack
the rest of the passage.
The rising and this child will cause the
rising and the falling of men.
Wow, he was going to upset kingdoms.
There would be people in leadership who didn't
used to be.
And people that used to have places of
influence that would lose it.
The hearts, there'd be a sign that would
be spoken against.
So here he's prophesied this is a gift
from heaven and people are going to speak
against him.
But it will reveal what is in those
hearts.
There's so much in that passage.
So I always watch what people speak against.
Because they think that they are revealing something
and they don't realize they are being revealed.
And so beloved, we are too in a
time of transition.
Let us keep our eyes open.
For some very, very blessed signs.
We're going to go to the Lord's table.
This is the very nature of the Lord's
table.
Every time we celebrate the Lord's table, it
is a partial fulfillment.
Meaning, every time we celebrate it, it is
a looking forward to the great wedding feast
of the Lamb.
It is a looking backwards to the last
supper.
And at the exact same time, it is
a partial fulfillment and a looking forward to
the great feast of the Lamb.
When we will gather around that table.
And what we now know in part, we
shall then know in full.
And so we will gather around his table
today.
And we will enjoy as much of his
presence as he's willing to give.
And we will look forward to that day
when we will know it in unlimited ways.
Let us go.
Would you bow your heads in a word
of prayer with me?
All who truly turn to Christ and away
from your sins.
All who seek to be reconciled with your
neighbors and intend to lead the new life
following the commandments of God and walking in
his holy ways.
Draw near now with faith and take this
holy sacrament to strengthen, to console and to
nourish you.
Let us make our humble confession to our
heavenly father.
So first a moment of private confession we
bring before him our impatience, our
despair.
Lord, where have we given up on promises?
Where is there some part of our heart
that is that has just given up?
Father, restore
to us the heart of Simeon.
Let us live daily in eager anticipation, holding
on to the promises like they were just
given to us an hour ago.
Father, forgive me for my impatience.
Forgive me for where I get too easily
discouraged when you don't seem to act quickly.
Help me to show my love for you
in my waiting and in my longing.
Help me transition well, not to feel stuck
and backward looking.
And please give me eyes to see the
promises being fulfilled
right under my nose in small ways.
The heart to bless them so that small
breakthroughs might mature into big ones.
Lord, this is your table.
You are our great high priest.
So lead us in this meal.
Feed us on your very own presence.
You are the bread of life.
Feed us with hope and promise and life
and joy.
Preside over your table.
I ask that all of heaven would come
to earth around this meal Scripture
says, who shall ascend the hill of the
Lord?
But he who has clean hands and a
pure heart.
So let us make our confession to him.
Together, merciful Father, we confess that we have
sinned against you in thought, word, and deed
by what we have left undone.
Forgive us where the cares of this world
have become our cares, where we have succumbed
to the love of things, where we have
used our minds and bodies and words in
impure ways.
Forgive us where we have given way to
discouragement and despair, self-pity, false comforts, harmful
addictions, and selfishness.
Forgive us where we have neglected your two
great commands, where we have not loved you
with our whole heart and have not loved
our neighbors as ourselves.
Lord, we're truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,
Lord, have mercy on us and forgive us
so that we might delight in your will
and walk in your ways by the power
of your Spirit and to the glory of
your name.
And so receive the forgiveness of your sin.
Hallelujah.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of his
great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to
all those who with heartfelt repentance and true
faith turn to him, have mercy upon you.
Pardon and deliver you from all your sins
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
And all God's people said, Amen.