Sermon Tone Analysis
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Welcome
Good Morning!
I’m Pastor Wayne and I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church.
It’s nice to see so your smiling faces.
But, I’d especially like to welcome those of you who are here for the first or second time.
Know that you are surrounded by some pretty amazing people.
This is an active community on a mission with Jesus.
We don’t all share the same story; in fact, we come from many different paths.
But here, we are one people giving our all to love god, love others, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.
I invite you to sign in and let us know you were here.
We have a connect card in the pew in front of you.
Please be sure to include your name, email, and address.
You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.
We have a great prayer team who stand ready to lift you up in prayer.
If you have prayer request, you can leave those on the connect card as well.
We simply want to provide you with the information you need.
We want to help you decide if this is a place you’d like to become a part of.
So, for those of you new to Ephesus Baptist Church… welcome!
I hope you will find the people sitting next to you are real, and really great.
Thank you for visiting with us today!
Scripture Memory
Opening Scripture
Introduction
Christmas is over, or is it?
All the presents have been presented and received.
The meals have been eaten and the festivities have, for the most part, come to an end for another year.
The fruitcake and deserts are all but gone.
That pair of socks Grandma Hazel gave you that you will never wear will quickly find their way to the Enjoy Store, and will be just as quickly be forgotten.
The tree, along with the decorations and the lights will soon be packaged up and stored away and Christmas will be over for another year, or will it?
The truth is, Christmas really has nothing to do with the things I have just mentioned.
Christmas can be a 24 hour a day, 365 day per year event.
Christmas can continue if we allow Jesus to be the central figure of our lives.
Today, I want to discuss with you the topic of How to Capture the Wonder of Christmas Everyday!
We are going to look at four ways to honor Christ’s birth everyday from Luke 2:21-40.
In this passage, the Lord Jesus has been born.
God has stepped out of eternity and entered human history.
God has become a man!
The Scripture takes us back to Jerusalem for an event that occurred 40 days after the very first Christmas.
Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Wonderful Word!
Prayer
The focus of today’s sermon is not to dig deeply into every verse of our passage, but rather to extract some core essentials of a life that will honor Christ’s coming everyday.
So let’s begin today with a quick summary of what is happening in our passage and then we will wrap up by looking at four core essentials found in our passage.
Luke begins in verse 21 by recounting the events that happened after the shepherds returned to their fields.
Jesus was treated the same way any of His people would have been.
He was born under the same law as they were, and so He was circumcised on the eight day of His incarnation in the same way any other Jewish boy would have been.
He was then given the name Gabriel had given to His parents.
It is the name Jesus, which means Yahweh saves!
Later in the Book of Acts Luke refers to this name of salvation by saying,
In verses 22-24, Luke tells us about the faithfulness and commitment of the Holy Family.
They were very careful to keep the Law in its full measure.
Six times in our passage, Luke refers to the Law of the Lord, or to the Word of God.
Three of those references occur in verses 22-24.
Luke clearly believed that the OT is still in operation as an effective and sufficient guide for Christian behavior.
According to the Law of the Lord, the mother must go through a period of cleansing and purification.
Now we don’t practice this today, but this is what the Law required of those born under the Law.
After 40 days are completed, we are allowed to go to the Lord’s house with the Holy family as they take Jesus to be presented and consecrated to the Lord, also according to the Law.
Also notice that the Holy Family is in this together.
You will see that this time of purification was for the whole family.
The pronoun “their” gives a sense of family togetherness in which Mary’s need of purification is seen as a need for this “one flesh” unit (Gen 2:24).
Jesus was to be presented and consecrated to the Lord God.
Now this wasn’t a sacrifice, it was a dedication to service.
Jesus was to be presented, consecrated, and set apart for service in God’s Kingdom.
Also, notice the humble estate of the Holy Family.
The Law required an offering at the presentation of Jesus, but the family was poor.
So while a Lamb was the main offering required, in God’s mercy, another option was provided for those of humble means.
Isn’t that just like our God, to show mercy to the weak!
The real irony is that the sacrifice Mary and Joseph were making was to consecrate the one who would one day provide the sacrifice that would atone for their sins and provide them with the salvation they desperately needed.
Next, the Holy Family meets a man named Simeon.
Who is this Simeon?
Luke clues us in on who Simeon is.
One thing Luke wants us to understand is that he is not a priest, he is just an average man who was righteous and holy, and indwelt by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Another thing about Simeon, was this revelation that he would not see death before he met the messiah!
Next we read of Simeon’s reaction when he saw Jesus.
The consolation of Israel for which he looked is another name for the coming of the Messiah.
Simeon saw the Savior who would bring about Israel’s salvation.
And Mary and Joseph marveled at these things!
There is matter for wonder that Simeon knew all these things‚ for what he says goes far beyond anything the shepherds said.
It lines up perfectly with the message Gabriel provided, and the fact that the miracle that God was revealing the person and nature of their son to other Israelites was no small feat.
Simeon next reveals that this whole story is not all sweet and nice.
Salvation would be purchased at a hefty price.
Jesus is going to be a stumbling block to many and they will trip over Him and fall into the judgment of God.
But many will receive Him as their messianic sanctuary and will be saved from the wrath of God.
And poor, poor Mary.
Your soul will be pierced through by a sword.
This is a prediction of her pain at the crucifixion of her son.
Two Greek words are used to describe two different types of swords in Luke.
One describes a short sword, used for personal defense.
The other speaks of a large sword used in combat.
That is the sword Simeon speaks of here.
Jesus’ suffering will not leave Mary unscathed.
Anna
Next, we meet Anna.
Not much is really known of Anna.
The tribe of Asher is one of the lost ten tribes of Isreal.
Asher was the son of Jacob born by Zilpah.
Remember church, there had been no prophet in Israel for hundreds of years, so it is interesting that God raised up this prophetess at such a time as this.
In the years before, the Talmud had only recognized seven prophetesses (Leon Morris), so this was no ordinary distinction.
Anna was apparently 84 years old.
She was a long time widow who visited the temple courts regularly to worship and fast and pray.
While Mary and Joseph were soaking in what Simeon was telling them, Anna appeared giving thanks and began to speak of Jesus to all who would listen.
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