We Bless
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Personal introduction
Dismiss children
Grateful for those of you that serve in and through the ministries of LBC. Without committed followers of Jesus serving in so many different capacities, this place would not be able to reach people with the gospel or multiply followers of Jesus
OUTLINE: Evidence of believing the Spirit, is seeking the Spirit
Our belief in the Spirit will determine our behavior in life
When we believe and obey, we find blessing
Message: We are blessed to be a blessing
In the waiting series, the Israelites were waiting for Jesus, 44 yearrs between Malachi and Matthew.
Last week we looked at Psalm 13 and learned that we can praise God during the waiting.
This week I want us to see how we can bless during the waiting.
Turn over to Luke 2:24
Often times when we are in the waiting for a situation to come to an end or resolve itself, we can find ourselves with many negative thoughts. We can get discocuraged and doubt while losing hope.
Doing so distracts us from the one we need to look to when we wait. Jesus.
As followers of Jesus we can know that He is with us. God said He would never leave us nor forsake us. The Bible reveals to us that we have the Holy Spirit of God that indwells us for a few different reasons and one of them is for comfort.
While the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the third person of the trinity, He is actually the second person of the Godhead we read about in the BIble.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:1-1:2
The Holy Spirit has been at work in different ways from the beginning. In the Old Testament and prior to Pentacost He was with certain people for certain tasks. Kings, Prophets, Priests, and so on.
Here in Luke 2 we are going to read about a man that was engaged in His relationship with God and had the Holy Spirit of God on Him.
Our relationship to God is important and it is the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us by that still small voice. I’d like for you to consider today, as a follower of Jesus, to you listen for the Holy Spirit? Do you obey the Holy Spirit when He prompts?
Follow along with me and meet a guy who did both of these…and see the result.
25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Luke 2:25-26
Exegete:
Alright, tradition teaches that Simeon is an older man who was a devout foolower of God and belived in the coming Messiah. His relationship to the Holy Spirit is important to Him and something that He allowed to impact Him.
It was the Holy Spirit of God that revealed to Him, through what means we don’t know, that he would see the messiah.
That’s what the Lord’s Christ means. Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name, it’s His title. Jesus the Christ. The meaning of Christ is messiah.
Simeon was told one day He would see the Messiah.
He was given a promise from God.
Illustrate:
Have you ever been given a promise from God? If you are a follower of Jesus you have been given many.
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Is 41:10
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
JOhn 16:33
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29
And last but not least
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:13
Romans 10:9
We saw last week how His promises are bigger than our problems. And you should have asked yourselves, “Am I living in light of this promise?”
You see Simeon was given a promise of God and lived based on it.
Ever had someone make a promise to you and they break it? Ever broken a promise?
Do you know who never breaks a promise? God.
As followers of Jesus that is instrumental to our faith. As people who believe God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, we trust in God’s promises.
Apply:
Simeon trusted in God’s promise. He lived a devout life and was righteous. He was committed in heart and act God. He did the right things for the right reasons. He gave sacrifices, He fasted, He prayed, He gave financially. Not so He could gain praise for it. Becuase He loved God and beleived in Him and His Spirit.
I. Evidence of your faith in the Spirit, is seen by how you life your life
I. Evidence of your faith in the Spirit, is seen by how you life your life
You can tell me you beleive in God, follow Jesus, and trust the Holy Spirit, but those things are proven not by your words…..but by your actions.
In the waiting between the right now and not yet of any situation, how we conduct ourselves in our lives shows what we believe. If you beleive God is with you, do you spend time with Him? If you believe that all thinks work for good, are you looking for the good?
Simeon believed, and Simeon behaved according to His belief.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Luke 2:27
Exegete:
This is a very simple verse. Simeon was lead by who to the Temple? The Spirit.
He lived based on His belief in the Holy Spirit. Here is just another evidence of that. He obeyed the Spirit. The Spirit lead Him to the temple on this day, at this time, and as a result He saw Jesus.
Illustrate:
When I was in High school I was in the NJROTC. The Senior Enlisted person one year was a SgtMjr. That’s the highest enlisted rank you can achieve in the Marine Corps.
He knew my aspirations for joining the Marine Corps and one day had to have a conversation with me. You see, ROTC was my first class in the monring. For any of you that know me or have heard me talk about my morning routine, you know, I don’t wake up well. That has been a trend my entire life.
He comes to me one day and says “Dustin, do you want to be a Marine?” “I said “yes sgtmjr.” “He said, Dustin, you’ve had so many absenses during this period that if you have one more, I have no other option than to fail you based upon school and district policy.”
I had no options at that point. I had to get there and get there on time every day. IF I wanted to be a Marine. If I believed that’s what I was supposed to do.
Apply:
If you are a follower of Jesus that means you believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
If you are a follower of Jesus you believe that Jesus said that if we abide in Him, He abides in us.
If you are a follower of Jesus you believe,
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15:14
Why though? Why is it important for us to abide in Jesus and obey?
To be saved? yes or no? NO
To be righteous? No
To be holier than thou? No
We abide in jesus to know Jesus more. We obey because we love HIm and do you know what happens when you obey Jesus?
Blessings. I don’t mean health, wealth, and prosperity, You may find some of those however that is not a gaurentee of scripture.
I believe the blessings of God look more like
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:22-23
And they don’t come from disobeying the LOrd.
II. When we believe and obey, we find blessing
II. When we believe and obey, we find blessing
Simeon is evidence of this. We are not told he gained a greater crop that year or more animals to sale. We aren’t told his life was extended or he got healed of all meddical problems. He received the blessing God intended for Him, nothing more and nothing lese.
The quetion we have to wrestle with in those moments is not “Will I be blessed” The question we have to ask ourselves is “Will I be ccontent with this blessing”
If the answer is no…that’s not God’s problem…that’s ours.
In the waiting for a blessing we often get consumed with the blessing we desire and not the blessing He desires us to have.
After recieving this blessing…Simeon praises God in prayer
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart In peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Luke 2:28-32
Exegete:
Simeon grabs baby Jesus and acknnowledged the blessing He has received, then…then he praises God for what the blessing means to him…and for others.
There are two truths here I want you to catch.
Illustrate:
Have you ever given someone something and them not say thank you?
I’ve told the story of my worst Christmas gift and the cord. I think she said thank you for that by the way…it took a minute to get there but none the less.
I know a guy named Kevin who had gratitude engrained into his head so much his wife has said they she sometimes questions the validity of it.
He shared a story with me about when he was a kid one time and his granny, yes thats what he calls her, had gotten him a toy he didn’t want. It wasn’t the right color or something.
And even at this age, 5-8, somewhere in there, his parents had done much in the way of teaching them to say thank you and be grateful for what they had and were given.
He gets the gift, doesn’t smile, doesn’t say thank you, and actually makes a negative comment to where granny is asking about getting him something else.
As she asks that question dad walks in the room and realize what is happening...
They had, what we call in the south, a come to Jesus meeting and that became his favorite toy. She couldn’t have done any better in choosing a gift for him that year.
Why do we do this? Becuase we know that when someone gives us something, whether we deserve it or not, it comes from their heart and is something to appreciate.
When God gives us anything it is out of His abundant grace and mercy. Gratitude should not just be our response when we receive a special blessing, it should be a mindset we live by daily.
Then…what do you do with the blessings you are given.
Kevin recieved a toy that he learned to love.
Maybe you’ve received something you didn’t have to feign appreciation for. Maybe someone got you EXACCTLY what you wanted.
When you reccieve the blessing…what do you do with it?
We have a rule in our house. The first day a child recieves a gift, they do not have to allow anyone else to play with it. They can enjoy it all to themselves as much as they want.
However, on day two, they have to share. They don’t have to give their blessing to anyone forever, but they do have to use the blessing they have received to bless others.
Apply:
When Simeon recieved His blessing, seeing Jesus, He praised God for what it did in His life. Then He praised God for what He was going to do through the blessing he had recieved.
Simeon is the first person to declare teh gospel is for the gentiles…non-jews. That was a big deal in that day due to the racism that wouldn exist betwes Jews an other cultures.
Racism was as ignorant then as it is today and any person that feels a hint of racism in their hearts is not following Jesus.
Simeon praised God for His blessing and how it would be a blessing to others. Why?
III. We are blessed to be a blessing
III. We are blessed to be a blessing
We make our lives about ourselves when we make our lives about ourselves.
When earn money, when we get a gift, when we have a talent, when we have a blessing, and we keep it for ourselves instead of using it to be a blessing to others, we are depriving the rest of the world from seeing God through us.
Simeon goes on to bless Mary and Joseph by parying over them and sharing His praise to God.
In the waiting for whatever it is you are in the right nonw looking forward to the not yet…there are blessings around you.
Obeying the HOly Spirit can help you see them and lead to them.
What you with them says alot about how you view yourselves and others.
God didn’t give you anything for you to keep to yourselves. He gave you everything so that you may use it for His glory to be seen in the World.
Time of Response
Time of Response
Following the service today I have a short announcement where I need 10-15 minutes of your time. We will dismiss as we normally do to give anyone that would like to leave a chance. THis is not a members only type of meeting. This is for anyone that considers LBC “their church” meaning, you come here for worship regularly. I understand you may have some plans so I want to give you the opportunity to leave and I don’t want to guilt you into staying. I’ll speak for no more than 15 minutees and then stay back for quetions