All right, good morning, church. Let's start with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that we could gather today as your gathered church and spend time reading your word, singing praises to you, and just spending time building in anticipation of this time of season where we get to celebrate Jesus, your incarnate birth. And yeah, so I just pray for this morning as I am preaching that, Lord, these would be Words that are honoring to you and glorifying to you, and that they would be used to build up the church, encourage our hearts, and that we would leave here more in love with you and what you have done for us. Well, we love you, and in Jesus, your holy name we pray. Amen. All right, so this Lord's Day, we're taking, as we said earlier, a short detour from Jonathan's exposition of 2 Peter. So the next two weeks, we'll be in the Gospel according to Luke, preparing our hearts for Christmas. So we see that this is the season of Advent. You just have to drive down the street and you see people are putting up lights and all the ads are starting to change. So even the world is recognizing that there is a time for celebration and a season that's changing here. But we know true meaning for it. So if you would turn in your Bibles with me to Luke 2, we're actually going to be picking up for today in verse 22, and I'll be reading from 22 to 35 in its entirety. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout. waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him, and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God, saying, Lord, now you are letting your servants depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. a light for the revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people, Israel. And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed. And a sword will pierce through your own soul also so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Alright, so earlier Jeremy read through the beginning of this chapter, and it's when we think of a typical Christmas morning passage, what Jeremy read is kind of where we stop reading. And so when wondering what scripture to pick for today, Sam in the back helped say, hey, talk about Simeon, continue the Christmas passage, don't just stop short. And so that's how we get here today. And it is a great passage, so I'm glad that we have the honor to read this passage and to learn what Simeon, this man after God's heart and a devout man has to say about who Jesus is. The scripture, all the way up to this point, and especially in what Jeremy was reading, is building towards this birth of Jesus. We see from earlier that Jesus, the Christ child, was born. We have angels declaring that he was going to be born, shepherds praising him and worshiping him, And then we finished reading earlier on verse 21, which says, And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. So just so much there in that passage. We won't cover it all, but you see that he was given that name before he was conceived in the womb. So just the importance of conception in understanding our image bearing of God. And then the note above that though is that Jesus was circumcised and was called Jesus. So even though Jesus is ushering in the new covenant for everyone, that new covenant of grace, he was still born in a time of the old covenant. And His earthly parents were still subject to this, and like devout parents of the time, they were obeying the law and participating in this covenant and this sacrificial system. So what does it mean? It means that on the eighth day, Jesus was going to be circumcised and given that sign of the covenant, that He was set apart from the rest of the world and that He was part of the covenant people. And then after this circumcision, he would be presented to the Lord. So this is a really key point for us today, picking up in verse 22, and it says, and when the time for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy before the Lord. So this presentation to the Lord goes far beyond baby dedications, or as we read today, far beyond what some people would practice as baby baptisms. This is something that Israelites were commanded to do with every firstborn son as a sign pointing them back to Exodus, and they're being drawn out of Egypt We see this in Exodus 13, so if you want to turn there, you are welcome to join in reading there. We see that this is where the institution of consecrating these firstborns is given to Moses. So starting in verse 1, the Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine. I'm jumping down to verse 14. And when in time to come your sons ask you, what does this mean? You shall say to him, by a strong hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first opened the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. It shall be a mark on your hand and a frontlet between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord has brought us out of Egypt. So all the firstborn animals are given to God, they are sacrificed to Him, and the firstborn sons are redeemed. They're not sacrificed, but a sacrifice is given in their place. It is a sign of things that are going to be to come soon, but it is a substitution, a sacrifice in their place to consecrate them, to give them to the Lord. And this was to be a constant reminder for all of Israel, pointing them back to what God has done for them, leading them out of the land of Egypt, and the great cost that that came with, the killing of all the firstborn of the Egyptians in that process. And how did he save all the Israelites when he was going through that process? You look back and it's through the blood of the lamb. A sacrificial lamb was killed and they painted the blood on their doorposts as a sign and a seal that they believed and had faith in God. And so we see the institution of these sacrifices going through, especially for the saving of the firstborn. It's something that they are called then to remember every single year as they celebrate the Passover, as they are celebrating that God pulled them out of the land of Egypt and that he passed over the killing of their own firstborn and bringing them, saving them, and pulling them out of Egypt. And so here we have Mary and Joseph as Jesus' parents continuing this tradition and continuing the law of Moses. And so they are coming to the temple with their firstborn, the young baby Jesus, and they're going to do their sacrifices as they are called to do. We know that Jesus didn't need any special sacrifices to be made holy. He was born perfectly holy, not of the seed of Adam, but of the seed of Jesus. So he was already made holy. But in a beautiful continuation of this Passover image that we'll see later, Jesus becomes the ultimate sacrificial lamb. He lived the pure and sinless life that each one of us is called to live, but that we continue to fail to live. And as he grew, then he died in our place. He died taking God's wrath, that wrath that each one of us deserves to face. He took that as that sacrificial lamb. but he did not stay dead and that's the joy that we'll celebrate later in the year that he rose again in victory defeating sin and death and it's something that we get to remember every year not just once a year but every Sunday as we come we get to remember the body and the blood of Christ and then also when we get to celebrate baptism we get to celebrate believers being buried with Christ and then raised to walk in newness with him again. So these are celebrations that we get to then celebrate every single week. But we see here Mary and Joseph participating in this sacrificial system. So jump with me back to verse 22 and we'll reread this part. When the time came for the purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as is written in the law of the Lord. Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. So what is this purification of Mary? We're going to turn to Leviticus 12, but I thought it was interesting this morning as we were going through Sunday school, talking about Mary, as some would call immaculate conception, and that Mary was overflowing in grace as an incorrect reading and interpretation of some old translations. And we see here that Mary is still a child of Adam and is in need of the purification that is outlaid in the the law of Moses. So Mary had to go through these steps to be purified as Moses, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. So let's read in Leviticus verse 12 starting in verse 1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the people of Israel, saying, if a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days. And at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for 33 days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purifying are complete. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for 66 days. And when the days of her purifying are complete, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb, a year old, for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering, and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean. So this is a three-step process we see here for any mother who gives birth. After the birth of a son, she's unclean for seven days. And then he used to be circumcised on that eighth day, as we just saw Jesus was in verse 21. Then she's to enter a time of waiting for 33 days. And finally, she is then to offer two sacrifices, a burnt offering and a sin offering, to make atonement for her before the Lord. So it's worth just a quick aside and noting here that Jesus' earthly parents were rather poor, so we see the call for them is to offer a lamb, a year old, but if they do not have the means to provide that, then two turtle doves or two pigeons, which is what we see Mary and Joseph here offering before the Lord. So we see that God uses all people from all stages of life, the rich, the poor, and we can be blessed in knowing that. It's also worth noting though that they are being devout. So His parents are following the law. Even though they're poor, they are still making that effort to go in and sacrifice those two turtle doves or the two young pigeons. You see that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, and after that time of purifying, that time of waiting, they go to the temple for Mary's purification. And that brings us up to the point here where Mary and Joseph are entering the temple where we meet Simeon. He's a super interesting character. He's only found here in the book of Luke. And look at how he is described here in our next verse. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name is Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. So in our time of wanting to be constantly recognized for everything that we do, a time of social media where we are oversharing and posting everything online that we do, what we eat for breakfast and how everything's going throughout our day, we see here a super short biography of a man. It's not the multi-volume tomes that we read about different people throughout history. but it's only the important highlights. I like what Spurgeon has to say about this. He says, what a biography of a man, how short and yet how complete. That is enough of a biography for any one of us. If, when we die, so much as this can be said of us, our name, our business, waiting for the consolation of Israel, our character, just and devout, our companionship, having the Holy Ghost upon us, that would be sufficient to hand us down, not in time, but in eternity, memorable amongst the just, and esteemed amongst all them who are sanctified. So that we could be likewise remembered like this, not for our wit, our perfect poses on line or our complete theological treatise that we may publish, but that we would be remembered for our love of God and that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. There are so many individuals like this throughout the Bible that we just don't spend much time reading through. These couple weeks I've been thinking about another succinct, very similar biography about Tychicus, Ephesians 6, verse 21. And so that you may also know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. So you see here, Tychicus, his name, beloved brother and faithful minister, expositor of the word and encourager of the church. It's such a beautiful and short biography. You get to know him, his character, and you get to know what is most important in him and in his life. These are just two examples of ordinary men. There are plenty, even including some ordinary women like Lydia, who are all doing the Lord's work and being remembered as such for being who they are, what God has done through their lives. And so we see that they're not the main character in the story. It's all about God. It's about the Holy Spirit working in these individuals. So that's what we get to see here today as we continue learning through this biography of Simeon and the words that he prophesies and sings over Jesus and Mary and Joseph, or specifically Mary. So let's spend some time walking through these verses, especially focusing on Simeon here. We see that next line, it says, So it's a very specific man. There is a dude, or a bloke who lives in Jerusalem. Even though this account is only recorded here in the book of Luke, it's not a fabrication. It's a very true account, and it's one that God, in His sovereignty and justice, has decided that He wants us to be able to read and to be recorded here for us. We see that he's just an ordinary man, like any of us in this room. The last chapter and a half, so starting all the way at Luke chapter 1 verse 1, we see so much proclamation of the coming Messiah. We see, starting with angels declaring to Zechariah that Jesus' cousin, John the Baptizer, would be born. We see Gabriel, the angel, telling Mary that she would have a baby. We see angels appearing before all the shepherds, singing, glorifying God, and sending them off to go and find Jesus and to worship and to praise Him. And then here's this man, flesh and blood, who is being used by God to continue this proclamation and to continue to share the good news that is Jesus' birth. And so what else do we know about this man? Look at that next line. And this man was righteous. So righteousness is not some character that we just dream up and decide that we're going to have. We can't try really hard and suddenly become righteous as a character trait. That's not how we get it. For we know that no one is righteous. No, not one. No one understands and no one seeks God. Think back to Abraham. He believed in the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness. Righteousness is something that we are given by God. For us in this room, it is a blessing that righteousness is something that is imputed to us by Jesus. It's through his substitutionary and atoning death on the cross that we can be declared righteous before God. And while it's not something that we decide to have, it is something that we should continue to pursue. We look at 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness. faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. So we should be pursuing righteousness and faith. Even though these things are granted to us and given to us by God, they're not something that we earn by our own doing, we should be pursuing them and pursuing a life that is consistent with one that is filled with righteousness granted to us by God. which leads us to that next character that we see in Simeon, that this man was righteous and devout. When we think about the word devout, we tend to think of someone who is deeply religious. I'd say I use the word devout mostly to refer to a Catholic who is devout, a pious Catholic who is following all of the right rules. So being devout is this outward sign that you can see that others are being able to observe. Therefore, it can be assumed that Simeon is not, this is not his first day going to the temple, that he is there often. It is known that he is there and worshiping God while he is waiting for this promised Messiah. We know that he is following the law and is a continual sign of him being worshiping God. The problem, though, with outward signs, and only being known by that outward sign, is that sometimes it doesn't always match your inward condition. You think of that devout Catholic, or a Mormon, or even a Pharisee from Scripture, individuals that outwardly are following a set of rules and are looking like they are religious, looking like they are good, but their inward heart is corrupt. They're following these rules out of some delusion that through these rules they can be made right and that they can earn their salvation. But here we know that Simeon is not following these rules in some rote fashion, not like some Pharisee where he is trying to earn God's favor. We see that he is righteous and devout. He is obeying God, not to earn God's love and his salvation. He loves God so much, he understands God's love for him, and in return, his natural outpouring is to follow God's rules and to obey him. His life is evident in the fruit that he is producing from that devotion to God. It's not contrived fruit, trying to earn that righteousness, but it's the fruit of a true belief in his heart, a belief in who God is, and a belief in the promises that God has made to him. So as we admire this biography and desire to emulate it in whatever way, it is key for us today to see that these two characteristics go hand in hand, being righteous and devout. Our beliefs about God, his character, His promises, they all influence the fruit of our lives, that is, the actions of our lives. The outpouring of the state of our heart is the actions that we take, and it's the thoughts behind those as well. It's why we do what we do, and understanding that we do that because of who God is, not because of who we are and because of what we want to achieve. And one of the ways that we know that Simeon's beliefs and actions are consistent is because of him waiting in hopeful anticipation for the coming Savior. So you look at the next line here in our verse. This man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. He is waiting in eager anticipation for the consolation, the comfort of Israel. And true comfort does not come from meeting our material needs. It did not come from the Israelites leaving Egypt. It's not anything that is purely earthly, but it is a restored relationship with God. Humanity has been waiting, has been longing for this for a very long time, this restored relationship and this promised Savior. We have been waiting since the day that sin first entered the world for that Savior that was promised to Eve in Genesis 3, 15, when God, cursing the serpent, says, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Humanity has been waiting and did not know how long they would have to wait. We can see this in Eve's response as her sons are born. Her first response is in Genesis 4, 1. Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. Well, we know that Cain did not live up to the expectations of a savior. He murdered his brother and then was sent away and cursed by God. So now Adam and Eve are left without feeling that they have that promise. And so we see in chapter 4, verse 25, Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. So the word offspring is pointing and linking us back to that promise of the Savior given to God when he was cursing that serpent in chapter 315. It shows that hopeful expectation that the Savior is coming and that he would come soon. We follow this promise all the way through the Bible. We follow it from Eve, through the flood, to Abraham, Isaac, Judah, David, and on through his sons. Another famous Christmas passage for us that shows this is Isaiah 9 verse 6. For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of the peace there will be no end. on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. We see that there is a future savior. There is a future king who is coming, one who would be from the line of David and that he would see a kingdom that would have no end. And now we know that that future Savior and that future King being on this side of the first Christmas was Jesus. In this passage, we see that Simeon also knows this. Jump ahead to verse 30. You see, And by salvation here, he is holding the baby Jesus and singing this to God, saying he has seen the salvation that is found through Jesus. So today, here in this room, we are blessed to experience this salvation. We're no longer waiting for a Savior to appear and the initial constellation of Israel, but we're still waiting. We're waiting for the constellation of the Church and Jesus to return. Like Simeon had hope in that first advent, we can have hope in Jesus' second. Jesus will return, and we can all be sure of it. Simeon here is not speaking of his own volition. He's not making this up. He is a prophet of God while he is saying this. So look again with me in our verse here. It says that the Holy Spirit was upon him. This is a description to which we can all aspire, that the Holy Spirit is upon us. God using ordinary men, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to accomplish great things. Last week, when Jonathan was preaching on how God uses ordinary men to make his word known, He read from 2 Peter 1 verse 21. For no prophecy has ever been produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So prior to Christ's ascension and ascending of the Holy Spirit, we see that this is not a common description of different individuals throughout the Old Testament, but since be limited to the prophets with the Holy Spirit carrying along that word. They're individuals who are the instruments and the mouthpiece of the Spirit. So we pay close attention to what they are having to say. We listen to their words because these are God's words. And especially with someone like Simeon, they're God's words and they're recorded for us in God's holy word, the Bible. So pay attention to what Simeon has to say for us. And we're going to spend some time next week looking at the specifics of his psalm and his prophecy. So we'll cover most of that next week. But while we are not in this room here prophets, we are still blessed with the Holy Spirit. Jumping into John chapter 14. starting in verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be with you. And jumping to chapter 16. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you, and when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer. Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have come, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine, therefore I say that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. So here we have Jesus talking to his disciples, declaring that for them it is better that he would leave so that they could have the Holy Spirit, that helper that would be sent. That spirit of truth, and that Jesus has promised his disciples this Holy Spirit, that helper who would guide them. And now, we know that when we live, we are here, we are also indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8, 9. You, however, are not in the realm of flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, then he does not belong to Christ. So, we who are true believers have that Spirit of Christ, that Spirit of truth, Not that we're all prophets and not like the apostles, the disciples, or Simeon here. We're not adding any new revelations, we're not adding to the scriptures, but we do have that spirit to help us and to be an encouragement and a guide for us. And this spirit, this spirit of truth, revealed a promise specifically to Simeon. So we see in our verse here that it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. So we just saw that Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, that he's waiting for his Savior, that Savior that had been promised since Genesis 3, 15. But unlike every saint since Adam and Eve all the way up to this point, Simeon actually knew that he would see this Savior. So I don't know how amazing is that, that he had received that promise and that he knew he would be able to see the Christ, that he would see the Messiah. That promise had been made to him that he would not die until the Messiah had been seen by him. So we don't know when he received that promise, if it had been days, weeks, months, years, decades. He could have been waiting a very long time. It seems that a lot of people just assume that he is very old and that he had been waiting for this a very long time to see this promised Messiah. And he waited. He waited and waited, trusting in the Lord that he would see the revealed Messiah. And then one day, it was revealed for him. That day had finally arrived. Our verse says, And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and he blessed God. After all of that waiting, the Spirit finally prompted him to go to the temple that day. day like any other, but that day he was to meet a little baby and know that he was meeting the Savior of the world. A great reward for a faithful servant of God. I can't even imagine his excitement as it is building up towards this. I think of my kids and any kids in here, you see their excitement building up towards their birthday, Christmas, a big trip, some big event, this excitement that's bubbling up in them day by day. And then finally that day arrives and the excitement just overflows. And here's that excitement just a hundredfold, a thousandfold, that excitement building, of waiting for the Messiah, and then finally being revealed to him that Jesus is here, that Jesus is that Savior. So on this side of the Christmas account, we can see God's providence in all that He has done leading up to this point. from Simeon in the temple that day to Caesar Augustus, issuing a decree that a census should be taken, driving Joseph to go to Bethlehem, where Jesus was to be born, as it had been promised long ago in the Scriptures. So we get to see all of that providence building up and being answered in this excitement of that day when Simeon gets to meet and see the baby, Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of lords. And the Spirit drew Simeon to that temple that day and pointed Jesus out to him. And Simeon runs over, takes the baby in his arms, and he blesses the Lord. He praises God with this great blessing, and he says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of your people Israel. In that moment of great joy, what does Simeon do? He turns to God and he praises Him. And we can have that same response. When we think of Jesus, we are drawn to praise Him. Praise Him for being a better Adam. Praise Him for being that perfect lamb and that sacrifice. Mary entered that day with two young doves, two pigeons, for her purification. She was there to purify herself after the birth of Jesus, after the birth of her firstborn. Jesus, that child who would become the better sacrifice, the complete sacrifice, Mary was sacrificing to remove the her sin in that moment, and we know that Jesus would go on to remove the sins of all of us. And also in that, removing the need for those continual animal sacrifices. Reminded of Hebrews 10 verse 10, and by the will of God, we have been made And by the will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at this service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sin, he sat down at the right hand of God. For by a single offering, he made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified. So Jesus offers that perfect sacrifice once. No longer do we continue to come here on Sundays, offering sacrifices for our sin. We don't have to face the wrath of God now for those sins. Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice, taking that wrath for all those sins. Like Simeon, we can now be just and righteous and devout. Righteousness because of the perfect sacrifice that Jesus made in our place, imputing to us that sanctification and that glorification. And we can be devout in our loving response to him. continuing in Hebrews chapter 13. Through Jesus, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of the lips and an acknowledgment of his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have. for such sacrifice is pleasing to God. So we no longer are sacrificing animals and sacrificing to cover our sins, because Christ has done that. We are offering sacrifices of praise to God. And as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12, And I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable before God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. So let us continue to offer up this sacrifice of worship and praise to God today, through this Christmas season and every day. Let us live lives that are holy and acceptable before God, not being conformed to the world, not being conformed to the passions of this world, but being renewed. our mind and in our beliefs so that through that our actions may come out. So join me in prayer today as we continue on in our time of worship and praise. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word, for the life of Simeon that we could cover oh so briefly today, covering through his life, seeing his righteousness and him being devout. and being covered by the Holy Spirit. We think that this is a model for us to follow. We understand that we are called to be devout, not because of anything that we are trying to do of our own accord, but because of Christ's work in us. and that we can be redeemed, not because of our works, but because of his work on the cross. We are so thankful for this Christmas season where we get to remember Jesus coming as a young baby, coming as truly God and truly man, coming to be the perfect sacrifice on our behalf, coming to take the wrath that we deserve to take from you. Jesus took that in our place. And Jesus, we are so thankful for that, that sacrifice that you made. We're thankful for your life that you lived, the death that you died, and your resurrection defeating sin and death, and then ultimately giving us the Holy Spirit that draws us together today to come on your day to praise you and to worship you and to gather here in your name. We continue to praise you and sing and enjoy each other's presence and your company. And Jesus, we pray this in your holy name. Amen.