This morning, we’re looking at 2 figures from scripture that are somewhat obscure in the Christmas story, but were 2 characters that waited upon the lord. Inviting you to stand with me as we read these verses together, Luke chapter 2. We’re looking at Simeon and Anna.

Beginning in verse 22 of Luke chapter 2, this is what we read. When the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him, being Jesus, to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or 2 young pigeons. Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel. Jisus to do after him after the custom of the law, blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.

Let me just pause here. And this very moment, Simien’s life is so fulfilled I’ve mother, and Joseph and his, marveled at these things which were spoken of him. Ra, sword and that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was 1 Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Finneal, of the tribe of and she was a widow of about 4 score and 4 years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers. And she coming in, in that instance, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

You may be seated. In Jerusalem. You may be seated. When I was in college, I believe it was at the end of my 1st semester, the job that I’d had my 1st semester was transitioning out. I needed to find other work.

And so I was doing some job hunting the beginning of my 2nd semester. And there was a fellow that lived there in Hobe Sound and try to put up hurricane shutters on this condo. It’s a great job. You can make really good money doing it. I said, I’m interested.

Keep me posted. And I waited. And I waited. Because that job never materialized to anything. What I thought was going to be a great deal turned out to be You’ve waited for something that’s been promised and you wait and you wait and you wait until you finally say, you know what?

This is pointless. I’m wasting my time. It’s disappointing when there is a promise that is given only to discover that there is no fulfillment of that promise. May I ask you this morning, have you received a promise in your life? Are there things in your life, your way to be fulfilled, something that you’re longing for to come to pass?

That period between a promise given and the promise received, that waiting period, it can be a really challenging period. It can be a really challenging period. It can be a really challenging period. It’s a very challenging period. It’s a very challenging period.

It’s a very challenging period. It’s a very challenging period. It’s a very challenging period. Can be a really challenging period of time. We looked at a little bit of that last week.

We talked about what do we do talked about the importance of obedience and the importance of worshiping the Lord. And we’re looking at the characters of Simeon and Anna, 2, elderly people of Israel that are waiting for a promise that the Lord has given In our text this morning that we’ve read together, Luke records for us, Mary and Joseph coming to Jerusalem to take part in what was a Jewish tradition, something that had been passed down from generation to generation, a law that had been given, was to happen when a baby was born, particularly, a baby boy, and especially when it’s a baby boy that is the first to be born. The Jews in the 1st century, when a baby boy was born, the first to open the womb of his mother, would be brought into the temple. And as a part of this whole process, there was really 3 things that were happening in this process. 1st, there was the purification process.

Mary had passed her period of purification. She now comes to present her child to the Lord. As a part of that presenting this child to the Lord is the second element. A baby boy that opened the womb was holy to the Lord. If you go back into the old testament according to Leviticus chapter 12, this male child was to be given to the Lord.

And the only way that they could be received back to the family was through a sacrifice that would be given or was to be given, ordinarily, this was to be a lamb that would be offered and a pigeon dove that would be offered to the Lord. Luke records to us that Mary and Joseph come not with a Lam. What do they draw? What do they draw? A pair of pigeons, right?

You know, that’s a reminder to us this morning that Jesus was not born into some form of privileged life. He was born into a family that was just a common working class family. Born into a family that was more than likely on the lower echelons of the social life. Mary and Joseph knew what it was like to sit down with a budget, count their pennies. Jesus wasn’t born into an elite status family.

A family where there was great wealth. So Mary and Joseph have come into the temple to offer to the Lord these 2 pigeons. They’ve come for the purification process. They’ve come to pay the tribute necessary to purchase their son back, if you will. Waiting for the promise.

Of divorce. When I think about Simeon and Anna, I’m reminded of the words of the Old Testament prophet. When Habakkuk says, how long, oh, Lord? How long? For Simeon and Anna, they are they’re advanced in years, and yet both of them have been waiting for years for the promise of the Lord.

Both of them have spent their lives waiting on the coming of a promise of the Lord. Leading religious leaders of Israel were deeply interested in the Messiah, I asked myself, why did the Lord reveal to simian and Anna, the Christ child, the Christ child. Why didn’t he go to the religious elite of the day? They’re ones who have shown themselves to be righteous in Israel. Why does the Lord reveal himself to them?

Of all of the Jews that he might have chosen to recognize the child, the Messiah, why does he choose to reveal himself to them? I would suggest to us this morning, it’s because they represented as it were the very best of the old covenant who are waiting for the new covenant. They’re the ones who had been looking for the promise of the coming messiah. They’re the ones who are looking for the promise of Israel, the redemption of Israel. Simeon is waiting for the consolation of Israel.

Anna is waiting for the redemption of Israel. Promise that the Lord had given to his people. They’re waiting for something that’s tangible, something that’s more than just words of promise. You see, a promise many times is a word that is spoken or something that is indicated that is to come, right? You?

Somebody has given something to you, signed by their hand, something that indicates that you will receive something. Now, you’ve not received it in its full, right? Something. Now, you’ve not received it in its full. And you can go to the store and say, here, I want to buy something.

And they’re going to look at you and say, sorry, but if you go to the and you’re Well, you should. Now, maybe you’re like, I Now maybe you’re like, I’ve been at times, I’ve gone to the bank, and there’s one time in particular that I think I cashed a check or something, and I pulled out, and I drove away. And as I’m driving down the road, you know, you always check to make sure. And I counted it out and that was $20 short. So I went back to the bank, only to discover after I told them their mistake that I realized it was my mistake.

There were 2 twenties stuck together. A little embarrassing. Tangible reception of that trauma. It records for us that it had been revealed to Simien by the holy spirit that he would see the Messiah, the Christ, the child Christ. The equivalent to that in our day would be that the Holy Spirit the rapture.

That’s the equivalent that Simeon has been I imagine that Simeon would go to the temple day after day thinking maybe today, maybe today. Day after day, thinking maybe today, maybe today, day after day after day, day after day after day, and the promise of this messiah, Simeon would hold in his hands on this particular day that Luke records for us, Simeon holds that fulfillment of the promise that God had given centuries before to his children, is in this baby is the consolation for just a moment. Take us back into the old consolation of Israel takes us back to the time of Abraham when the Lord had said to Abraham, I will make of you a great nation. And through you, all of the nations of the world will be blessed. Promise and then to Jacob or to Isaac and then to Jacob.

But that promise continues to roll down through history. God told Moses that one day a great prophet would come who would be unlike any other prophet before him. He promised to David that he would give to him a son who would sit on his throne and reign forever. God promised through Isaiah that there would be a son who would be born to a virgin, and that his name would be called Emmanuel, God with us. And in the final moments, as the old testament is closing, God gives to Micah a promise and a prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

For generations, this promise has been repeated from father to son, from mother to daughter. It’s repeated from generation to generation, from family to family, the older, instructing the younger, passed down from history or from generation to generation. This promise, history that through Israel, the world would be blessed. A messiah would appear. By the time you get to the first century, you have centuries of expectation building up.

Keep in mind, it’s been silent for 400. Now there’s silence. But Siemens received a promise. Siemens received a promise that he would see the Christ child. By the time that you get to this point, there’s all sorts of and his great work, the life and times of Jesus, the Messiah, Alfred Eder Jesus was born there was great excitement in the nation of Israel.

Edersheim says that by the time Christ was born, one question above all others was on the lips of every expectant demise. The promise has been given. Why the delay? Why the delay? Why the delay?

And yet, Simeon waits. Simeon waits. A promise has been given specifically to Simeon that you will see the Messiah. And I wonder if there are days that after week after week and month after month and year after year of simians going to the temple. Do you think there are days that Simeon begins to question, Lord, how long?

How long? Don’t we ask that question sometimes in our lives? Lord, how long? How long? I struggle with this situation?

How long will it be that this goes on in my life? How long, oh Lord, until you do something about this? Lord, how long until you fulfill your promise. I can’t read this passage without observing some important truths for us that apply to us today as it pertains to waiting on the Lord’s promises. Here is Simeon, a man who’s waited for years.

Here is Anna, who has prayed for years and served the Lord for years, And now, after all of these years of waiting, centuries of waiting, and now here stands Simeon in the temple. Could you somehow grasp what it must have felt like for Simeon? Did you imagine what it must have been like when the spirit of the Lord spoke to Simeon that morning and said go to the what kind of anticipation Simeon must have had that morning as he walks into the temple and he looks around and the spirit of the Lord reveals to him this child. Now keep in mind, Simeon has no doubt been in the temple for years. And he’s watched as mother and father would come in and present their little.

He’s watched as all of this has taken place, and yet time after time after time, it’s not the consolation of his. But there’s something. Hands. Messiah. And in a moment, seen the Messiah.

I’ve beheld the promise that’s been given. And for Anna who had been serving the Lord for years in the temple, being a widow for years, sees the Messiah and knows this is the redemption of Israel. Let me give you 4 lessons that I just I think are takeaways for us as we look at this story. Four lessons that we can learn from these two figures. The first is this, God’s promises are precious, and they’re worth waiting for.

Day as Simeon had gone into the temple wondering if this would be the day, and yet day after day going home, no messiah. Do you think that there I could almost guarantee that there were days that he thought that. You say, how do you devout man. Because I happen to know that even good godly sure, Are the promises of God precious? Will they are they worth waiting for?

And Simeon reveals to us, yes, the promises of God are precious and they’re worth waiting for. I’m sure that there were days that Simeon questioned, will I ever see the Messiah? Yeah. I had a promise that the Holy Spirit gave to me, but will it come to pass? And I want to just remind us this morning of the words that Peter records in a second, his second epistle.

He says, great, his second epistle. He says, grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. His divine power has been given to us all, has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. By which have been given to us, listen to this, exceedingly great and precious promises that through these, you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. You know what the great and divine precious promises are for us today?

You and I can have our sins pardoned. He came to pay the ransom so that you and I can become the children of God adopted into the family of God. You know what the divine precious promises are for us today. Simeon was waiting for. The consolation of Israel.

That’s and it was waiting for the redemption of Israel. That’s and it was waiting redemption of Israel. God’s promises are and yes, their worth, They always come to pass. They always come to pass. Now I confess, I’ve made a lot of promises over the course of my lifetime.

And I’ve broken a lot of promises in the course of my lifetime. Of course, my life Now, there have been times that I’ve made promises with good intentions. I mean, if you’ve made promises with good intentions forget. And I remind us this morning that when God makes promises, they always come to pass. God never makes a promise but what he doesn’t intend to keep it.

Paul said it this way in his second letter to the Corinthians. He says, for Jesus Christ, the son of God, does not waver between yes and no. He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preach to you as God’s ultimate yes. He is always He always does what he says. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes.

And through Christ our amen, which means yes, ascends to God for his glory. God never makes a promise but what he doesn’t keep it. He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. He will never abandon you in your weakness. But Paul says again, that his strength is made in our weakness.

He’ll supply all of our needs according to his riches and glory. Amen? The promises of God are sure. Third thing that I see from this passage of scripture is we look at Simeon and Anna’s waiting on the promises of God is that God’s promises are not always easily spotted, but sometimes packaged differently than expected. The spiritual leaders of Israel were interested in the Messiah.

Maesai. -It was obviously something that they knew about. Because when Herod asks, the Pharisees, where is this king of the Jews to be born? They said, Bethlehem. They knew all about.

Parker and I were talking last week. Seminars about how to recognize the messiah’s And while they’re holding all of these great conventions, God slips his promise through the back door messiah had come. It was an old man and an old woman who recognized him, while all of those who were studying the prophecies of old missed it. How many times do you and I miss the promises of God because we’re looking in the wrong places or looking for something and we expect God to do it this way. We expect him to come this way.

Want him to do something this way. And we miss his promises because he does it in a way that we don’t expect. Think about it. The Pharisees were there in the city of Jerusalem, probably in the temple that morning. Imagine the very presence of God was in the temple.

And the ones who should have known it missed it. But there was a simian. And there was an who were waiting for the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Israel. And because of their waiting, God revealed the promise unto them. Maybe in ways are sure and they’re precious.

Let me give you the final one. God’s promises are worth sharing because they are the hope of the nations. And look at Ana’s response. Ana sees the child. She recognizes this is the Messiah.

And without any hesitation, she goes off to start sharing that the redemption of Israel has come. Can I just tell you this morning that the promise of God is still here? Available. And can I tell you this morning, it’s worth sharing to a world where there’s a lot of broken, hurting people? In a world that’s filled with broken promises, there needs to be a broadcasting of the truth that the Messiah has come, that the promises of God are sure and steadfast.

This Christmas is you wait upon the Lord. Let me encourage you to lean into his precious promises. Talking about the things that God has promised to you in his word. And I’m talking about the things that God has promised to you in his word.

And I’m talking about the things that God has promised to you in his word. The promises that God has given to you in his word. Lean into those this Christmas season.

May this be a season of renewing your will to wait on the Lord as he stretches your faith. Why? Because the promise that was given was a promise that was fulfilled in the very presence of God. In the very presence of God, given to a man who had waited for years on a promise. A promise made, a promise kept, a presence received.

This morning as we close, I’m going to ask Brother John Parker to come and Brother Armstrong to slip to the organ. We open the service by singing a song, your presence for Christmas. You know, amidst all of the promises that are made, the greatest promise that was ever made, the greatest promise that was ever made, the greatest promise that was ever made was that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. And if we avail ourselves to that promise, you and I can receive the greatest promise of Christmas, his presence in our lives. Let’s stand together as we close with this song.

And let’s just invite the presence of the Lord to be a part of our Christmas this year. Lord, I want your presents for Christmas. Father, that’s our desire this Christmas is for your presence to be with us. Thank you for the promises of God that you have given to us that are sure and steadfast, precious promises. Laura, thank you for the promise that you will fill our hearts with all joy.

Salvation. I pray this Christmas season that there would not be a one who would reject that promise of salvation to those who would because of the sin of this of their life. Because of the effects of the fall, they’re so keenly aware that they’re broken. I pray this Christmas, May they have you for your presence for their Christmas this year. I pray.

Lord, we ask it in Jesus name. But Lord bless you. You were dismissed.

I’m going to invite you to turn with me to Luke’s gospel, chapter 1.

She says, Gabriel, there’s this is It’s impossible for me to carry a child. I’m I’ve never known a man. I’m gonna of Mary’s experience with Gabriel. And then we’re going to drop down a few more verses and we’re going to pick up Mary’s song of praise Lord. Look at Luke’s gospel chapter 1.

We’re going to begin reading in verse 26. And in the 6th month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into the city of Galilee named Nazareth man whose name was Joseph of the House of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came in unto her and said, hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women. Be The angel said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a shall call his name J. R. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, re and of his kingdom, there shall be no end.

Then Sid Marion to the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forre and of his kingdom, there shall be no end. Then Sid Marion to the angel. How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And man? And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Be because in Elizabeth, own. And this is the 6 month with nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, behold the handmade of the And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior, For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm. He hath scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree.

He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath hoping his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever, and Mary abode with her rejoice in the fact that there is nothing that is impossible with God. Are looking at circumstances in their life and saying there is no hope for this situation. We rejoice this morning that with you, all things are possible. I ask this morning that in these next few moments that you would help us as we consider what you want us to do in the periods of time in our lives where we are left to wait with anticipation.

I pray that you would speak truth to our hearts from your word. We ask in Christ’s name. Amen. You may be seated. Last week, I preached to us beginning this series, regarding silently we wait or the world waits.

We silently we wait or the world waits. We talked about waiting patiently for the Lord to work. To you that I was preaching to myself more than I was preaching to anybody else when I preach on the subject of patience or waiting patiently. I think you all probably know that that is not one of my strong virtues in life is waiting. When I was a teenager, I used to listen to some country music and there was a song that I used to listen to and loved.

I’m in a hurry to get things done. I rush and rush until life’s no fun. All I’ve got to do is live and die, but I’m in a hurry and don’t know why. But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why. Not a great spiritual song for you on Sunday morning.

There’s a lot of truth to the I find myself, RUSH, a couple weeks ago, right on the bumper of somebody on 178, who saw me coming and deliberately pulled out in front of me. And they didn’t know what the gas pedal was. You know those cattle catchers on the front of a train In a know, there are times in know what I’m talking about? You know, there are times in life that we find ourselves in situations that we just we wanna push our way through. We want to we don’t want to be patient.

We want to move things through. And yet, there are times I think the Lord, not I think, I know, the Lord deliberately shared with us as a congregation, I shared with us as a congregation back in the summer, preached a message on the importance of rest. You. There was one particular day I was on the phone with Sister Parker, Charlotte Parker, and there was some sickness going around in the church and she said, pastor, I just want you to know I’m praying that the Lord will keep you from sickness. I’m leaving it in the Lord’s hands.

If, if he sees that I need to slow. I guess he’ll let me get sick. You know, there are I guess he’ll let me get sick. You know, there are times that the Lord will purposefully allow things to happen in our lives that just put the brakes on and cause us to slow down. Sometimes we’re called to wait.

Our text this morning reminds us that waiting demands occupation. Waiting demands activity. In the process of our waiting, we do something, don’t we? The danger is, is that oftentimes we waste our waiting periods. Maybe I could give you an example of that.

When you go to the doctor’s office and you sign in, you go and take a seat. And when the doctor has already seen 4 patients before you and each patient took an additional 5 minutes extra, and all of a sudden, your appointment is pushed back. What do you do? Some of you pull out your cell phone and you start scrolling through Facebook. Maybe you do more than scroll through Facebook.

Maybe you post on Facebook what a shame it is that you’re stuck waiting. Ouch. Where you pick up a magazine, We, we all do something in the way. Maybe you clip your fingernails or worse, you bite your nails because you’re annoyed. We’re occupied with And yet in that process of waiting, we all are doing something.

We’re occupied with ‘d some lessons that I see that we’d learned about what we should do in our seasons of waiting. We know very, very little about Mary’s background, very little about her family, very little about, where she’s nature. But we know very little about You read secular city of Nazareth. You go back to the Old Testament. Anybody ever read about the city of Nazareth in the Old Testament?

Ever read about the city of Nazareth in the Old Testament? Anybody In fact, you read in the New Testament and you don’t read a whole lot of details about it. Cities. Nazareth is not mentioned. It’s an uncelebrated forgotten city by and large.

It was a place that was off the beaten path. It was a place that, is not memorable in any way because if Again, I mentioned that secular history tells us very little. You read even secular history. And there’s not much about Nazareth that is really known. We know very little about Mary, who’s from Nazareth.

You to take notice just for a moment this morning. Mary comes from a place, if you will, on the other side of the When you hear about Nazareth, you find Nathaniel. Canadian come out of Nazareth. It was known as a what would seem like an obscure family, more than likely just a working class family. There was nothing special about her that really seemingly draw any particular attention to her to be a potential candidate to carry the masai.

I tell you all of that this morning for the purpose that as we evaluate the Christmas story, here’s a young woman who comes from an obscure town, a town on the other side of the tracks, whose world was completely turned upside down that first Christmas. Stories about a star that announced the birth of her child. But we don’t often stop and really consider life of Mary. I want you to notice a couple of things as we explore the activity of the waiting season. The first is the inconvenience of waiting.

I want you to notice, first of all, Mary is just a young woman, more than likely just a teenage girl. More than likely, just a teenage girl. She’s not in any way, a woman who is, been around, has a husband, has experienced much of life. She’s just a young teenage girl. It may not carry a whole lot of weight with us today as much as it did in 1st century Palestine.

But I want you to consider the fact that here’s this woman who comes from or this girl who comes from an obscure family in an obscure place that I just say to our young people and our children this morning, your age is not a reason for which God would not desire to use you for his glory. Amen? God looked at a young woman and said, this is the one through whom I’m gonna allow the Messiah, the one who will bless the world to come through. Young people, God looks at your life and says, you have great value and purpose. Sure, you may look at your life and you’re waiting, aren’t you?

Let me just talk to our young people and children for a moment. I’ve heard some talk about it waiting until they can get it. There are x amount of more sleeps until Christmas. I’ve heard some talk about it waiting until they can get it. They’re not going to be waiting for Christmas.

I know that because I’ve heard it. There are x amount of more sleeps until Christmas. I’ve heard some talk about it waiting until they can get their driver’s license, waiting until they can go to college, waiting until they can get married. You know, in the middle of your waiting season of life, God has purpose for you even now. Maersities, not only is she just a young woman, but she’s betrothed, not yet married in the fullest sense.

Would have They would have looked at a woman who is betrothed. If we can put it in modern terms, we all understand she’s basically engaged. And here she is now, pregnant. Mary is setting aside all of her future that lies ahead for the purpose of fulfilling God’s call in her life. Imagine that.

She accepts the responsibility to carry the Messiah. She knows good and well what this could mean. Angel of the Lord came and spoke to you. -Yeah, Mary. Sure.

Sure. An angel of the Lord came and spoke to you. -An angel of the Lord came and spoke to you. -Yeah, Mary. -Yeah.

-And an angel of the Lord came and spoke to you. Good excuse, but not gonna work. Fact, Matthew records that that’s exactly what Joseph intended to do. Joseph doesn’t believe her account, obviously, because he seeks to put her away, private. Waiting period.

A waiting period, an inconvenience in that process. Here she is, risking her reputation. What will the townspeople say? The townspeople probably responded the same way that Joseph then, Not only that, but she had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem while pregnant. The throes of pregnancy?

Any ladies volunteer in this story? Now, some of you, when you’re near birth and you want the baby to come, you might would do that just to make sure the baby comes. That was not Mary’s in It was a great inconvenience for Caesar to or a census to be taken that would require all of those in Israel to go to their home, where their family was from. Bethlehem was David’s home. That’s why Mary and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem.

I want you to this is a sideline note. I want you to consider a divorcee in the old testament had said that, you know, this is a sideline note. I want you to consider a death Then he sends Gabriel to a woman in Nazareth, 80 to 90 miles from Bethlehem and says, you are going to give birth to the Messiah. But he’s got to get her from Bethlehem or from Nazareth to Bethlehem. So what does he do?

He has Caesar to apply for a census and taxation that would send Mary and Joseph from their home and Nazareth all the way back to the city of David. And is oftentimes the times that God is working behind the scenes to accomplish his glory. Value whatsoever. Why do I have to pack up in the middle of pregnancy and go all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem just to pay taxes, just for the census? Just for the census.

And by the way, you don’t send Rome a note that says, we’ll take a rain check. Can we send this in by a vote absentee ballot? No, it wasn’t an option. Goal. Are times that God’s pathway in your life and in my life will take detours, won’t it?

Passing of a loved one unexpectedly and all of a sudden we’re left alone by ourselves. There’s loss of job that occurs and all of a sudden, we’re left alone by ourselves. There’s loss of job that occurs and all of a sudden the inconvenience is an opportunity for God’s glory to be manifest. A and We look at childbirth from modern standpoint and all of the conveniences. You go to the hospital where you get your own suite.

I just had the opportunity. I look bad back Jonathan’s. You all need to hook up with Jonathan and Rachel if you’re going to have. I went in to visit them and I got to the end of the hall and they had a 2 room I mean, they had their own little a whole room that was just a seating area. Listen, it wasn’t the convenience of That wasn’t the convenience of Mary.

Mary ended up in a stable where animals were housed. Mary ended up in a place where there was no family. Mary’s with a betrothed husband who she has never known in an intimate way. There’s no luxuries of modern and modern conveniences in birth. In fact, in Mary’s day, the death rate was up there, was higher in the birth process.

An inconvenience This what you think is going to be a routine checkup turns into, hey, we we’d like to go to the doctor. And what you think is going to be a routine checkup turns into, hey, we would like you to come back for another test. All right? That happens. You go back for a second test and they say, now, we’re concerned enough.

We want you to come back for a biopsy. And then all of a sudden, the biopsy takes place and you have that waiting period. And you begin to ask yourself, be? Is it going to be good news or is it going to be bad? What do we do in those waiting periods, the inconvenient times of life?

You know, what seems to be inconveniences for us, for you, is really an opportunity for God to be glorified in your life. Because in that waiting period of life that you and I are doing something, we’re engaged in some form of activity. The waiting process isn’t for our convenience or our comfort. But it’s meant for our good and the glory of just suggest to us this morning, the standard We’re all gonna have to wait for things in We experience it everyday, is shaping the person that you are becoming and giving great demonstration of who. Think about it from an earthly perspective.

What do you do while you’re waiting? A lot of times while we’re waiting, we’re finding something to occupy our mind or our attention, aren’t we? I’ll just confess. I’ve been known and guilty of when I come to a stop, right, rather than waste the time sitting there, I’ll pull out my phone. And you so much for years ago showing me a roundabout way.

That has been such a I don’t even care if I have to drive longer as long as I don’t have to sit. I just don’t want to. What do we do in the waiting period? We scroll. We situation.

Will Joseph say? Happen in this birth? What if it means my life? Well, Joseph understand, store. And, of a trial in your life and you’re looking around and saying, And yet, the Lord is in the process of doing greater things in our lives.

Those ways that you and I deal with the periods of time, God is working out as master plan in our lives. And when those things creep up, our fear can reveal to us our lack of faith in God’s goodness, our doubt can become an anxiety, can reveal to us our lack of belief in God’s striven, our trying to manipulate the situations around us, reveal to us, our lack of faith in God’s ability. Our doubt, and the promises of God reveals our lack of faith in the word of God to be sufficient for our lives. Ramps that you and I take, the activities that we turn to in those waiting seasons. But I want you to notice with me very quickly.

Our time is running out. Let me just show to you 2 activities that Mary engages in the waiting season of her life. First is obedience. Obedience. What do you do in the waiting season of life?

Mary obeys the Lord. Messiah. You it’ll be through you that the world is going to be blessed. And Mary said, wow. It seems impossible with man accepts between faith and obedience is unmistakable.

I get weary in a world where there’s a lot of this, well, that’s just legalism, that’s legalism, that’s legalism. All these you gotta do, you gotta do, you gotta That’s just legalism. This whole idea that people that just want to say I have faith, James says, I will show you my faith by my works. Of what we do. And word.

But I’ve never really stopped and contemplated the indigdoras of the word, being not heres of the word only, but doers also, deceiving your and Because for instance, your desire, Aloe, for instance, what the Lord has asked of her. Here’s the second thing that I want you to notice. Mary worships in her, where she worships in her. Mary worships in her, Mary breaks out into song of worship to the Lord as she considers what the Lord has done for a lot of you just have taken time to stop in the middle of the trials and the difficulties and the waiting periods of life and said, in my waiting, I will worship. I will choose to exalt the bravery finds great joy in the midst of this inconvenience of her life, where her world is totally turned up.

So risking her reputation, her life, she’s risking her. But she says, God is worthy to be praised. He’s found me worthy to carry the masaiah. How many times do we look at the inconveniences of life in those periods where the Lord has just put the brakes on in our life, and all of a sudden, we’re behind a slow driver on 170. It isn’t This isn’t comfortable for me.

This worthy of praise. You are doing something far greater than what I can see. And I praise you. And I praise you. And I praise you.

And I praise you. And I praise you. And it begins to worship the cross, the inconvenience of the cross, and found great joy because of what it produces for us. How to do that in the waiting periods of life. Not a matter of us trying to muster up hearts.

But it’s a matter of us coming to the Lord and say, Lord, I don’t understand it all. I don’t get it all. But I do know that you’re good and you’re working out your good will in my life and you’re working out your goodwill in my life and you’re working your glory through me. And so, father, give me a hard of praise. Lift you up in this season of my life.

So morning. We’re all waiting on we’re all in the season of waiting in some waiting for the test raisait wait to come in, waiting for What are we doing in the middle of waiting? Through gripe and try to find ways to draw the help of the holy spirit. God wants to help us in the middle of that weight to just obey him and worship because of what he’s do. And I say, Lord, breathe fresh faith upon us to trust you in the middle of that.

Faith upon us to trust you in the middle of that waiting is not idle. It’s not empty. God accomplishes much in the waiting. Lord, help us this morning to make great use of the opportunities of our weight. Let’s stand together as we close and pray.

Let’s stand together as we close and pray. Father, this morning, our hearts are rejoicing in you to know and often times that comes through our seasons of weight. As we’ve looked at the life of Mary this morning, our hearts are challenged to worship you and to obey you in the middle of inconveniences of life in those seasons where we wait upon. Way they want them to go. And there’s a process of you working your will out in their lives that seems uncomfortable.

To wait upon you. Would you teach us to grow in faith? Would you teach us to worship you in obeyed a our faith, strengthen our faith, use these as that would turn our gaze towards and your Amen. The Lord bless you. You are dismissed.

This morning, we’re looking at Luke’s gospel chapter 1. I’m gonna invite you to stand with me. I always love preaching Christmas series. There is so much richness, in the Christmas account. And I believe it was John Piper once made the statement.

He said, you could preach on the subject of Christmas for years, never repeat yourself and always have new There is so much richness in the Christmas story. Reading in Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 5. So this is a setting that’s taking place that is before In reverse 5, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of a bi. Daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

Blame, and they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren. And they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass that while he executed the priest’s office before the Lord or before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense and there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Troubled and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, fear not Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee acedure. Thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, And many shall rejoice at his birth, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall be turned to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just Lord.

And Zachariah said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife, Welles Striking in the and said unto him, I am gay tights shalt be dumb and not speak and not be able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believest not my words, and the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple and when he came he could not speak into them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple for he beckoned into them and remained speechless. And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his administration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself 5 months saying, thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach.

Among This morning, we’re grateful for your word that you have given to us. Words that are meant to be a lamp into our feet, a light into our path, words that are intended to instruct us in the way in which we ought to go. This morning is we are looking at this passage of scripture, I pray that you would speak truth into our hearts in those moments of waiting. We can find you to be real in that process as we wait patiently. I pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. Your maybeseed. And Trismus is a season Christmas is a season of waiting. Children, you’ll find them, they can hardly wait Or maybe they’re waiting with anticipation that hopefully, sledding. How many of you kids say, yes, yes.

Let me This is a sideline note. I just saw that Chris Justice, our local meteorologist, is predicting a good snowy season this year. So kids just keep waiting. All right? Kids are waiting.

Parents are waiting. School. They’re waiting in lines as they’re purchasing gifts. Grandparents are waiting. They’re waiting for their children and their grandchildren to come into town, visiting.

Do you remember how it was when you were a child, the waiting process for Christmas? How many of you can remember back that A stripper, a As kids, it was like, oh, I just I can’t wait. And I can’t wait a Old enough to know better. There was a gift under the tree that I just could not wait any longer. And so he peeled back the tape.

I slid it out. I looked at it. I slid it back, put the tape back on, and then had to act surprised them. Just couldn’t wait. All of that waiting, especially in our childhood years, may just be preparation for what we as adults are waiting for today, right?

Degree to finally be completed. Maybe your waiting for to come along. You’re waiting for the office space that you really want, you know, the one with the window view, We’re waiting for enough money to be built up in our bank account so that we can put that addition on the house. We’re waiting for that report from the doctor.

Life is full of waiting, isn’t it? You know, Christmas is a reminder of the waiting room of life. This year, I’ve been drawn to that idea of waiting. Waiting produces a whole host of emotions, the build up, the anticipation, the excitement of what’s about to happen. You know what I’m talking about?

The emotions that come with the waiting process. And oh, it’s just so exciting when it finally -And it also sometimes produces -Awards of dread, because you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait, and nothing ever happens. Waiting experience. It’s warning I want to talk to us about patiently. That’s not probably what you would really like to hear about this morning.

Waiting. There are several things that I want to point out to us this morning. As we look at Luke’s account, he’s writing to Theophilus. He’s giving him an account of Jesus I want you to notice this morning that in our text, there was a Herod, King of Judah, there was a priest named Zacharias, it gives us a time stamp of when these events are taking place. So Luke gives us a time stamp of when these events are taking place.

It’s in the period of time when Herod is a Now, that’s an interesting statement to me. And there are several things that I think we need to just pause and reflect on that this the rule of Babbleon. You find Israel in captivity. Now they’ve been allowed matriculate back to Israel. They’ve begun to process of rebuilding.

Testament, you know that of the new testament. You know that Israel has gone through a series of transfers of power within the and history tells us that there’s at least 4 major transitions of power that take place. We could look at those this morning. One of those would be Alexander the Great, brought in Greek culture, established much of what became the foundational elements for the opening of the new testament. But then you roll a little farther along and you discover the Roman, overthrow of power and their rule that is now taking place.

And Herod is king of Judah, king of Judaea. But Herod’s not a Jew. Herod’s not of the descent of David. So we’re looking at a period of time in history that Israel is again in captivity, this time to the Romans. First is this, waiting accentuates the problems that we’re facing.

Waiting will accentuate the problems that you’re facing. Within this particular account, if we could just zoom out for just a little bit, Israel is in a waiting process. Aren’t they? Silent. God has not said a word.

It seems like all is dar. For 400 years, they’ve been waiting from some word, from a prophet somewhere. They’re waiting for a messiah. They’re waiting for deliverance. Just a little bit on this picture, we begin to see Zaccaria and Elizabeth have been waiting.

And their waiting process has accentuated the reality of their barrens in our text we read, that our and Elizabeth have no that’s significant in their that if a woman was not able to bear her husband children, it was grounds for divorce. Her. It’s waiting process. We’re told in this passage of scripture that they’re old in years or advanced in years. Raider, and as a raider, and this has been missing seats around your table.

For some of you, that barrenness is unanswered prayers for family members that you have prayed would receive Christ as their savior. For some of you, that barrenness is the loneliness that you feel from the loss of a accentuate barrenness, but it also has a tendency to elevate hopelessness. As we read this passage scripture, Luke records that while Zechariah was in the holy place, he was administering the offering of incense on the altar. It says that an angel appeared to him. Approached.

You know the difference between approaching and appearing, right? If somebody approaches you, it’s not as troubling if somebody just appears. I have to confess this morning that, that I love scared and to Open the door and there stands somebody and they’ve got phone in here. Don’t look at me funny.

It’s, it’s great stuff. Phone in hand. Don’t look at me funny. It’s great stuff. You know, phone in hand and all that the phone goes and they’re on the floor.

I love that And watched when the angel appeared in Zachary. -And verse 13, it says, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been And your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a and you will give him the name. And when I read that, I thought, well, that’s interesting. There are 2 ways that we could read that or interpret that.

Read that or interpret that. And this is amazing. Here’s Zach Rice. He’s advanced in years. We know that from verse 8.

He’s advanced in years, and here he is still praying because the angel says to him, Gabriel says to him that your petition has been heard. That’s, that’s amazing. But the more that I read through this passage and you come to verse 18, I realized that I think Because in verse 18, his excuse to Gabriel is, how can this be? I’m an old man. My wife is old.

We’re beyond the years of bearing children. And I think he had given up. It is a bit It’s given up on the idea that they would have a stripper. And we asked you a question this morning. Are there things that the waiting for Maybe there are prayers that you have prayed and you’ve thought are some of you this morning that your marriage is And maybe there are prayers that you have prayed and you’ve thought And I’ve prayed about it and I’ve prayed about it and nothing is your situation that you’re facing you say there’s, there’s no hope of it ever.

I’ll forever be in this situation. Nothing is ever going to change. I don’t see Maybe you’ve lost hope for a promise that the Lord has given to you. You see, the waiting process has a way of just accentuating barren places and hopelessness in our lives. But as we read in our something about our and the waiting process not only is our barren places accentuated, but I believe also that the divine is high.

It was a priest to the line of David’s rule, if you go back in Israel’s history, you go back to David’s rule. David’s rule, if you go back in Israel’s history, you go back to David’s, preparing to slip off of the face of his rulership and his life was in. He took the priestly line and he divided it into 24 divisors tell us that at the time of Zacharias Priesthood, there was more than likely somewhere around 20,000 priests that were administering the priestly duties in the church. Could you imagine having 20,000 pastures, so every division was given a 1 week period Prius. So they would take lots as to who would do what duties.

And it just so happens at this particular occasion. At this particular occasion. And it was Happenstance, right? Pure luck.

A luck of the draw, and sta. It was divinely ordered by God. It was divinely ordered by God. It was divinely ordered by God. It was divinely ordered by God.

It God. I want you to notice within this text, there is nothing special about the time that Zachariah is ministering at the temple. Again, if you look at the history of the priesthood, at the high times of the year, the festival seasons of the year, all of the priests would come to minister when the Passover was taking place, the Feast of Booths. On those high occasions, all of the priests would come to be part of the administration of the priestly duties. But through the rest of the year, it was just each one of these divisions would take a week every, twice a year that they would come and time of the year.

Zachariah happens to be there because it’s his division’s turn, a Bayou’s division’s turn. That’s important because it’s a lot of times in the mundane activities of life that God is doing his divine work in the midst of our. I want you to observe that there was nothing special that’s going on, other than the fact that it was special that Zachariah was in the but there’s nothing special about the events. It’s just the everyday activities. Draw run the kids to school, pick up gross.

It’s just the normal activities of life, and God slips into the scene and reveals himself to Zachariah. I wonder what so many times in our lives we think God only works And in reality, it’s oftentimes in just the everyday that are standing outside of the temple. Their but they’re done praying, and Zachariah has a and Zechariah is still inside speaking. To the I look at that and I say, here’s, here is all of this stuff that’s going on outside of the holy place. There’s a lot of hustle and bustle and prayers and things that are taking place.

And in the midst of that, God is communicating. The divine is communicating with, with Zachariah through the angel Gabriel. Often the mundane events that God reveals. Process of waiting, just the everyday grind that God begins to reveal his divine purpose. The experiences of your about your business and you’re not really you’re not engaged in anything extraordinary.

And you’re not engaged in anything extraordinary. And you’re not engaged in and anything extraordinary. Nowhere God slips into your world and begins to minister grace in your there have been times that it seems like I can be going about just my routine activities when God the Holy Spirit begins to work and navigate through my mind and into my heart to give me aid and give me help. Do you know, in the every day activities of life, God is looking for opportunities to highlight his divine presence in your world. In the middle of your waiting process, God is looking for ways to highlight his divine revelation in your life.

Jaccariah thought I’m just simply going in to do my priestly duties. Sagerai thought, I’m just simply going in to do my priestly duties. I’ll offer my sacrifice. I’ll do what is asked of me. Now, this, this was a great honor for him.

No doubt. But instead sun. A son. It’s not just any son. You know, if you go back to Malachi chapter 4, the closing out come along, One who had the spirit of Elias.

One who would prepare the way for the coming of the mausai. That were some of the final words that were given in the Old Testament, they become the first words, some of the first words that we hear recorded in the new who has the spirit of Elias is coming. What is it? It’s the promise that had been given years before coming to fruition. This morning, maybe the barren areas of your life that waiting will accentuate your problems, but it’s the opportunity for God to highlight the divine work that he wants to do.

Strikes me about Zachariah and Elizabeth is the fact that even after What strikes me about Zacharias and Elizabeth is the fact that even after all of these years of and what seemed to be hopeless situation, they’re not Right. The fact that God is still God in the world. Waiting will reveal a lot of stuff about us. 1 it reveal what you’re willing to sacrifice in the process of waiting. A brain?

When year after year after year, the promise of a child didn’t come to pass, what did he do? He and Sarah conspired together and said, Ah, Hagar. We’ll have a child through Hagar. That’ll be God said, prom. Waiting will reveal to us what we really value.

I watched this with interest, with some in my family. I really want this. I really want this. Okay? You want that.

It’s going to cost this much. Okay? You want that. It’s gonna cost this much. And it’s not a small amount.

You realize that if you spend that $10 here, what you won over here, You realize that if you spend that $10 here, what you want over here, you’re never going to get there. Waiting reveals how easily you and I can lose sight of process of waiting, That waiting reveals to us the barren areas of our life, whatever that might would be, And it’s easy for us to lose sight of the big picture in life. By getting our eyes off of the big picture to see the little picture. We get caught up in seeing the temporal, the here and the now, what’s right before us. The here and the now, what’s right before us.

And we lose sight of the bigger picture, the grander scope. Picture, the grander scope. So the patient waiting that you’ll find God working out the details of your life. For, it’s in the patiently all of those areas of your life, the barren areas, the hopelessness, are accentuated that God wants to come into your world and reveal his divine appointment with you and his purpose to means to begin to press in on your faith. Do you believe?

Do you trust the Lord? This Christmas season is you and I are patiently waiting for the Lord to work in our lives. They continue to be faithful in the mundane. The same way that Zachariah and Elizabeth were faithful in their daily activities, they didn’t lose sight that God is still God. You and I not lose sight that God is still God.

Amen? In your everyday activity that just seems like the regular run of the mill daily grind, God is at work. Knows what I’m going I don’t think God understands any more. And I’ll tell you that God is still God. And he’s divinely working in your life to bring about the fulfillment of his promise to you.

So this morning, the things that you’re waiting for that the Lord has given promise to you, don’t lose sight that he’s still in control. Know this morning that you can trust his plan. You can trust that he’s still working out his divine plan and purpose. Amen? So as this Christmas, we wait upon the Lord, whatever that might be in your life.

May I remind you that God is still God. Wait we acknowledge that it’s so easy for us to hear your word in the intervening time of waiting to see that promise, to hear your word, to hear your word, to at one point take great confidence in that word, those promises that you’ve given to us. For all sorts of things to transpire that cause us to lose hope. So it’s a things to transpire that cause us to lose hope. So, to lose reasons for us that we begin to doubt in our faith to be Zachariah of Zachariah and Elizabeth that here’s a couple that they had waited and waited and waited and you, the divine, showed up on their behalf.

Trying to breed hopelessness. Maybe there are some that have even despaired of the promises that you have given. But this morning, I pray that you and allowing you to accomplish your divine purpose. We know that you are still God and it’s God you are good and you’re working all things together for our, so help us to wait patient as you work. I pray it in jesus as you work.

I pray it in Jesus name. Amen. The Lord bless you. You are dismissed. And then, the Lord bless you.

You are dismissed.