December 6th

When Simeon saw the baby Jesus for the first time, he prayed: Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples: A light for revelation for the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2:29-32).  What Simeon understood was that the child he held in his arms was the Savior of the world who is the light of the nations through whom all can now be reconciled to the only true God, and Jesus was the glory of Israel in that He is the promised messiah that God assured Israel would come. 

After blessing Marys child, Simeon turned to her and promised: Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be opposedand a sword will pierce your own soulto the end that thoughts and many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34-35).  In other words, one day Jesus would be rejected by many which will lead to their fall in judgment, and he will be believed by many who would experience Gods salvation.  But the news was not all that encouraging for Mary, because one day she would experience tremendous grief a grief she would later experience with the crucifixion of her son for sinners like us.  

This Sunday we will be looking at a fifth part of the armor of God: The helmet of salvation.  The question I would like you to think about is what is salvation?.  What does it mean to be saved?  When Simeon held Jesus and said, my eyes have seen Your salvation... what did he have in mind?  For some, their understanding of salvation is too small and limited only to Jesus death for sinners and defeat of death through the resurrection.  

What we will consider this Sunday with the helmet of salvation is that the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not only a past salvation, but a present and a future salvation. The promise of the gospel includes the promise of a joy that will be restored fully after Jesus comes back as promised.  Randy Alcorn described our place in history in the following way: We live our lives between the first Christmas and the second.  We walk on disputed turf, between Eden and the New Earth, not that far from either.[1]

I look forward to celebrating the promise of Christmas with you this Sunday in our 9:00 and 11:00AM worship services!

Grace,

Pastor Keith  

P.S. We had an Elder Board meeting this past Wednesday and one of the things we talked about was related to our plans for an interim Worship leader/pastor beginning this January.  I am happy to share with you that we have made a decision who will be filling in that role and will be sharing it with you this Sunday.