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A Charge for Christian Women (Luke 2:36-38)
13 Plays3 months ago
Sunday Message recorded 01 September 2024
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
Opening and Greeting
00:00:06
Speaker
Well, good morning, everyone. How are we doing? Good morning. Come on. I feel like we go through this every time. I like energy. Y'all know that. So I need some energy from y'all. Are y'all awake? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Guys, today is the day the Lord has made. And we must what? Rejoice and be glad. Right? Not sticks in the mud. sorry i say you All right, well it's good to be with you guys.
Study of Luke Chapter 2
00:00:38
Speaker
um If you guys have your Bibles, go ahead and get those out for me. We're going to be continuing through our series through the the Gospel of Luke. So as you open up your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Luke chapter 2. That's where we're going to be spending our time today. Looking at just a few verses.
00:00:59
Speaker
But before we get into these verses, I'm going to pray over us one more time, and then I'm going to do a brief recap, like I i really love doing recaps, because I think that context really sets the tone and the mood of what we're going to be looking at in every passage, not just today. So I want to pray for us, and then we will dive in together. So will you pray with me?
The Significance of Jesus's Life
00:01:20
Speaker
Lord God, we come before you this morning again. We just thank you and praise you for the fact that you sent your one and only Son, Jesus, to come into down the cross for our sins. And that it did just stop there, Lord, that he didn't just down the cross for our sin, but Lord, he was buried. And three days later, you rose him from the grave, conquering sin, evil, and death.
00:01:40
Speaker
And then he rose from the grave to be sitting at your right hand right now to be preparing a place for those who are in Christ. And Lord, I pray this morning that there's anyone who is not in Christ and that you've been working in their lives, or maybe this is the first time they'll ever hear the gospel truth. I pray, Father, that you will open their eyes to the things unseen, that you will remove the veil in their hearts, that they may come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord, so they may spend eternity with you.
00:02:11
Speaker
God, I pray that it's our prayer all the time, as believers in Jesus, that we will be the hands of you and share this good news to those around us. Lord, we love you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:02:23
Speaker
So, over the last few weeks, really, we've gone through the book of Luke slowly, but it's been really, really good, hopefully, a bit official. It's to the point where we're still in chapter two. But, over the last couple weeks, so we've been looking at this very unique account that is only found in the Gospel of Luke, okay? And this is account of this young couple,
00:02:47
Speaker
Or this couple, I should say. One was young, one, we don't know how old he was, but it was Joseph and Mary, right? We all know we all know who Joseph and Mary are. If you know who Joseph and Mary are, raise your hand. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all didn't think you're going to be participating in class today, did you? OK. So but Mary and Joseph are Joseph and Mary. ah We've been following this account of them. So and they just had this new baby boy, Jesus. And ah what they are now doing in chapter two is they are obeying and demonstrating their righteousness and faithfulness to the Old Testament law, the law that was given through Moses.
Joseph and Mary's Temple Visit
00:03:24
Speaker
And so what we saw in verses 22 through 24 was that Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus to the temple out of obedience regarding the purification laws that were given to Moses. Okay, so they were coming to the temple for the purification rights and then from and as we saw as you can go back and look in Leviticus chapter 12.
00:03:45
Speaker
But while they were there, they had this incredible encounter with a man that I'm sure they probably were not expecting to meet. And I'm sure that this same man that we see in verses 25 through 35 was not expecting this to count with Mary, and Joseph, and this baby in Jesus. And what was his name?
00:04:05
Speaker
Simeon. Yes, Simeon. For those of you guys who were last week, his name is Simeon, right? And what we know about Simeon is that he was a man who has been in the temple for a long time. He was what he wasn't titled this in the scriptures, but we can Based off of what we see, call him a prophet. He was one who was in the temple who was declaring truth, who was worshipping God, right? So this baby Jesus. And do you all remember how the account went? Did he just say, oh, OK. That's a new new young couple. Hey, it's good to see you guys. We'll see you guys next week. Is that how he was?
00:05:07
Speaker
Scripture tells us that he was waiting for this constellation of Israel that is ultimately being fulfilled through the birth of Jesus and through his life and ultimately through his death, his burial and resurrection and ascension into heaven.
00:05:20
Speaker
So it's this absolutely incredible account then of this man meeting this consolation, Jesus.
Simeon's Attributes and Spirit-filled Manhood
00:05:29
Speaker
And last week though, Victor did this incredible message, and I encourage you that if you were not here last week, go back and re-listen to it. The title of it was called Spirit-filled Manhood. Okay, so the title was geared towards men, but at the same time, the message applies to all of us.
00:05:45
Speaker
and how we are to live our life in honor and plea and pleasure to the Lord. right But there were six six six characteristics that we saw in this man Simeon that Victor brought to light for us as spirit-filled men. right So the first thing was that he was aligned with the standards of the Lord. And the second thing was that he was anointed with the spirit of the Lord. The third thing was that he was attentive. Y'all catching on to this. So he was aligned, he was anointed, he was attentive.
00:06:15
Speaker
It all began with letter A. Victor, you're really good at that, by the way. So he was attentive to the schedule of the Lord. He was available. That's a key thing. He was available for service to the Lord. As Ron Dishman, i your honor are you in here today? I'm calling you out. Oh, he's not. But anyway, so his one of his phrases is, your best ability is availability.
00:06:41
Speaker
Your best ability is availability. That always sticks with me. But has he used available for the service to the Lord? And then the the the next one is that he anticipated souls for the Lord. And the last one was that he was aware of sacrifices for the Lord. So Simeon demonstrates for us a man who is fully and on mission and on board of following God. And he was remaining faithful.
00:07:09
Speaker
And it should serve as a reminder to us of how we should walk daily and diligently, faithfully to the Lord in awaiting what he has for us as his people. As a believer in Jesus, it's not just that you confess to Jesus and you're done, but rather it's you committing your life, the time that you have here on earth, and walking in faithfulness to the command in which God has given us through Christ, that is to go make disciples of all nations.
00:07:36
Speaker
baptizing them in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Or in Simeon's words, serve, love, wait patiently, look for those who need counsel or those who need who need the good news of the gospel, right?
00:07:52
Speaker
And again, though last week's message was titled and focused on spirit-filled manhood, it still serves, again, as a great reminder for all of us how we should strive to love God in His will, to serve Him and others, and to wait patiently for the consolation and prize of Christ Jesus.
Christian Womanhood and Anna's Role
00:08:10
Speaker
Now, this morning, ladies in the room, please don't feel like we left you out last week, because this morning is for you.
00:08:18
Speaker
okay And I think this is something that Victor does on purpose. I think he plans out his message to where he leaves passages like this one for me. And it's a pleasure, but the title of this the message this morning it is A Charge to Christian Women. Now, am i am I qualified for this? My wife would probably say no, um but I'm going to do my due diligence. So are y'all ready to jump in with me? Amen. Great.
00:08:46
Speaker
So let's read this account, Luke chapter two verses 36 through 38. If you don't mind standing with me in honor of God's word, if you can, if not, it's not a big deal. I'll be reading out in the ESV translation. the The verses will also be up on the screen if you want to follow along. So picking up in verse 36, it says this, and there was a prophetess, Anna,
00:09:09
Speaker
the daughter of Fanywell, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years when she was a virgin and when then went as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping and fasting and praying night and day.
00:09:32
Speaker
And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Thank you guys. You may be seated.
00:09:48
Speaker
I'm going to pray one more time because I don't think we can ever ask the Lord enough to come and be in our presence. So let me pray. Lord God, we again thank you for this morning, and Lord, we thank you for this word, this message. And I pray, Father, that you will speak through me, that it will not be my words, but it will be your words, and Lord, that you will prepare the hearts and the ears of those who are listening, whether it's here in person or online. Lord, I just pray, God, that you will have your way this morning, and that you will refine us as believers,
00:10:20
Speaker
And then, there again, if there's anyone in this room who has never professed to know you, I pray, Father, that this morning's message will stir that on and that they may come to know you as personal Lord and Savior. But Lord, we love you, we praise you, and we just ask that you lead us through this time. It's in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so a charge to Christian women. Ladies, you all ready for this? All right, let's do this. so The first thing I wanna answer is this, who is Anna? How many of you guys have ever studied this particular section of scripture before? Anybody? You can raise your hand, it's okay. Okay, a couple. So this is one of those passages as well that in my own quiet time that I've read through and you know with Simeon and aunt Anna, but again, I've never stopped to actually study the person of Anna and who she represents for us.
00:11:14
Speaker
Right? So, who is Anna? Let's dig into this. The first thing we see right there, verse 36, she was a prophetess. She was a prophetess. Now, I know for some of you out in the room, you're already like, wait a second, she's a woman. How could she be a prophet? Right? But what we see in scripture is that God uses men and women to declare His message.
00:11:34
Speaker
okay doesn't just you now There's a role and a place for men in leadership within the church, but as far as God using men and women to declare His message, He calls anybody and everybody who is willing to be available. Amen? So if you're in this room and you feel like you are not qualified to share the gospel message or to share the good news of Jesus, that is Satan lying to you.
00:11:56
Speaker
All of you who are in Christ, those who believe and profess that Jesus is Lord, we are all given the same command, not just to go, but to share the good news.
Anna's Dedication Despite Challenges
00:12:06
Speaker
So let that sink in, okay? but So again, a prophetess though is just a female version of a prophet. The role of a prophet or prophetess was to declare or interpret God's messages to his people. So Anna served as a vessel for God to She had a very profound role.
00:12:32
Speaker
Now, again, because of the fact that she was a woman, it probably was not as how one profound or pronounced as a male prophet in the temple because she had to abide by the cultural standard at that time, right? But again, though, she did she was used by God as a vessel to share his messages to those in the temple.
00:12:55
Speaker
And again, she was not the only prophetess mentioned in scripture. We see back in Exodus 15.20, we have Moses' sister Miriam. In Judges 4.4, we have Deborah. In 2 Kings 22.14, we had Huldah. Say that five times fast, right? Huldah. Then we had a Nehemiah chapter 6, verse 14. We had Noadea. Have you guys have ever heard of Noadea before? She's there. Go look it up. It's like Nehemiah chapter 6, verse 14.
00:13:25
Speaker
And then also, we also see in Acts chapter 21 verses 8 and 9 that the power the disciple Philip had four daughters and they were all prophetesses. They were all these messengers who declared God's word, right?
00:13:42
Speaker
so And it was a prophetess. Then we also see next in this verse is that she was the daughter of Fanuel. We don't know a whole lot about him other than the fact that his name means the face of God. It's a pretty strong name, right? So for those of you guys who are expecting children anytime soon, remember the name Fanuel. Okay, if you want to use that, right? It's a good strong name, the face of God.
00:14:05
Speaker
um But he's also from the tribe of Asher, which we'll look a little bit more at here in just a second, and he is Anna's father. And then the third thing we see about Anna is that she is from this tribe as well of Asher. And again, as far as the particular tribe of Asher, it was not known to be this great this great tribe. You don't see a whole lot about this particular tribe of people other than the fact that is one of the the tribes of Israel, right? Asher, meaning happy, was the second born son to Jacob from the servant of Leah, Zilpah. So you can read that account back in Genesis 35, 26.
00:14:52
Speaker
So again, so she was a prophetess from the daughter of Fanuel from the tribe of Asher and then she was advanced in years. This is where I would kind of want to camp in a little bit more in this section, right? She was advanced in years.
00:15:08
Speaker
Some scholars believe that she was much older than Zacharias and Elizabeth. So if you guys remember back in chapter one, there was this couple that God revealed that would have a child, right? Zacharias was in the temple. This angel appeared to him and said, hey, you're gonna have a son. Even though your wife Elizabeth is barren, she can't have children. Even at her old age, and Zacharias was like, wait, I don't believe this. Are you joking? And because that he went mute, y'all remember this account.
00:15:33
Speaker
OK, they end up having the son John, who had become John the Baptist, right the one who prepared the way for the Lord. um So what we see here, based off of what we see, is that Anna was much older than Zacharias and Elizabeth, but yet she remained faithful.
00:15:51
Speaker
bri
00:15:53
Speaker
And then also scholars believe that what we see in these verses that she can be anywhere from the age of 84. Or, some other scholars attribute the age by which she was married, plus the seven years, meaning that she could have been up to 105 to 106 years old, still serving in the temple, faithfully. And everything that we see in this passage indicates that she was healthy, there was nothing wrong with her, and she was doing the will of God. Okay, yeah this is blowing my mind. I don't know if it's blowing your mind. Are are we still awake?
00:16:28
Speaker
So, for those of you guys who feel like, again, you are not qualified, or you're at an age and you're a point in your life where you cannot be used by God, whether it's to disciple others, to, I don't know, be a part of a church plant, to be a minister or an ambassador of God to the community, do not believe the lives of Satan. I don't care what stage of life you're at, God desires to use you. And we all know that right now, in this generation, in this culture specifically, we need more mentors and disciplers than ever before.
Mentorship and Discipleship Call
00:17:07
Speaker
We allow the the noise of the outside world to tell us that the world is turning away and they're following after their own gods and their own belly and they're following after the deception. But the reality is is that we have a culture right now who desires and is seeking truth.
00:17:23
Speaker
and Would y'all agree with that? I'm across the street with them, I see it. They desire and they seek truth, but no one is willing to step up and to deliver the truth to them and to walk alongside them when they're facing the hardships of this culture and this life and the social media presence.
00:17:45
Speaker
So may we learn from this, no matter how old you are, no matter how young you are, God desires to use you and He just desires you to remain faithful.
00:17:55
Speaker
So again, regardless of which age is correct for Anna, 84, 105, 106, the incredible truth seen in her life is her faithfulness to God despite her circumstances, especially in first century Palestine. And you're probably thinking, what circumstances are you talking about? Well, let's keep reading, right? So as she said, she's from the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in vaing years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin.
00:18:24
Speaker
So, she was married. And what this phrase means is that from when it says, when she was a virgin, it was from when she became a woman. Back then in the first century Israel, you became a woman who at the ages between 13 to 15. That's when you would get married, ladies in the room. Would you guys like to go back to that time? I have a daughter. I don't want to go back to that time.
00:18:52
Speaker
Right? But, so she was married at the age of between 13 to 15, and she lived with her husband for seven years, and then what we get out of this past is that her husband died. Can you imagine how young she was, ah you know, and having to walk through that, especially in a culture, in a society where when you became a widow, you were oftentimes outcasted, you were neglected, you were looked down upon,
00:19:24
Speaker
And then get this, it wasn't that she just was a widow, but it goes on and says that she was a widow until she was, sorry, was she was a widow until she was 84, right? So she chose to remain a widow. Back then they highly encouraged the women to go and to be restored and go and to be remarried so that way they would be taken care of.
00:19:49
Speaker
But we what we see in Anna is that her identity, her purpose in this life was not wrapped up in what the world was telling her and this was speaking to her as far as where her identity lies. She remained faithful to the God of the universe, the God who created it, the God who knows her, the God who has a plan for her and had a will for her, for her that life to play out. She remained faithful to God. She chose to remain a widow.
00:20:20
Speaker
So you can only imagine that between these two life events of losing her husband and then also choosing to remain and a widow, her status and identity in society were greatly impacted. But despite those circumstances, she chose to remain faithful and to give herself a continual, continual service to who? God, the Lord.
00:20:46
Speaker
For she trusted what he had for her and not what the world has for her." And we see that played out again in verse 37, so if we continue on. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. This woman did not depart from the temple.
00:21:10
Speaker
Every opportunity she had from the moment she became a widow, she dedicated herself to going and to worshiping and serving the Lord. And I'm sure what we see from the scholarship is that she could have been in there just cleaning the marble on the temple. She could have been in there just serving the other the other priests that were in there. She went in there—it wasn't like she was just in there declaring the message of God every day, but rather she went in there declaring the servanthood of God every day.
00:21:39
Speaker
So where are we at? What excuses are we coming up with? We feeling good? Am I stepping on toes? I hope so. It's a wake up call, right?
00:21:58
Speaker
She remained faithful. It was a continuous act, meaning that she fasted and prayed. She fasted often, and her prayers were many, as we saw there. For she worshiped with fasting and prayer night and day. This was convicting for me, as ah even as ah as a man. i I have a hard time getting up and reading my Bible in the morning. If I'm being honest, there's days where I don't read my Bible.
00:22:30
Speaker
because I get so distracted by the the pressures and the things around us, right? But yet Anna, she woke up and she did not leave the temple. Night and day she fasted and she prayed as she worshiped the Lord.
00:22:49
Speaker
Now, again, I get it. We all have busy lives. We have jobs. We have families. Trust me, I have a three-year-old who is running reckless in my house right now. okay When you walk in, it's like Paul Petrol exploded in the living room. okay So I get it. We have things that are going on in our lives. But that should not be a reason or an excuse of why we can't stop and praise God and thank Him for the things that He has blessed us with in this life. Amen? That little three-year-old who You know, you you know how parents, you know, parents in the room, y'all understand, you clean up the living room and 30 seconds later, it's like it never even was cleaned, right? But that little three-year-old is the biggest joy that the Lord could have ever blessed us with. Many of you guys know Shiloh. She is, man, you guys say she's wonderful and beautiful. I'm like, man, she is driving me up the wall right now, right? But we but again, though, it should not stop us from worshiping and praising God and being thankful for the gift that which He has given us in this life.
00:23:49
Speaker
And then he goes on and says, not only does she worship with fasting and prayer night and day, but rather she spoke and testified about Jesus's true identity. Did y'all catch that? Worshiping fasting night and day in verse 38. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
00:24:16
Speaker
So that very hour, right, this phrase, that very hour, at least in the ESV, that's what it says in other translations, it says in that very moment, that very moment. So that very moment that Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were visiting with Simeon and Simeon was giving this awesome prophetic message to them and declaring it over Jesus.
00:24:39
Speaker
I don't know if if if Anna was just like, that looks like a special moment. I just want to go see what's going on or what. But her spirit moved in her and told her to go. And so that very moment, that very hour, she went over and began to give thanks to God for the same thing that Simeon was waiting for, the consolation of Israel, consolation of Jerusalem.
00:25:05
Speaker
Anna was also waiting for it. And so her reaction, her first reaction was to stop and to give God glory and thanks for the gift that she that that he had given through Jesus. Give thanks, and then not only just to give thanks to God, but what does it say she did after that? Did she just like go off about her business, went back to you know rubbing the marble in the temple like and making it shine like my head? That's not what she did.
00:25:35
Speaker
But rather, she went to all, who and she went to speak to all who were waiting for the of
Jesus's Purpose and Good News
00:25:42
Speaker
redemption of Jerusalem. In other
00:26:09
Speaker
That's the joy that Jesus brings into the heart of those who listen and hear and understand. You see, Jesus later on in his life, he tells us in the Gospels that many will hear, but not all will see and understand.
00:26:26
Speaker
So I pray that if you're in this room today that you will hear this good news of Jesus's birth and the reason of why he came. He did not come just so that way he can prove himself to be God to man. God didn't have to do that.
00:26:41
Speaker
But rather he came because from the very beginning, back in Genesis chapter three, when sin entered into the world, God had a plan already established to send his son Jesus to come back and to redeem us, to restore us, and to bring us back into the newness of life because as a result of sin, we can't be in the presence of God. He's
00:27:11
Speaker
We can't come into the light if we have sin in our life. That's why Jesus came, so that way when he died on the cross, he could take our sins from us, be our propitiation, which is a big fancy word, our substitute, so that way he could take the payment of our sin, which was death, to where we can now have life, those who are in Christ, who've been covered by the blood of Christ.
00:27:40
Speaker
This is the good news. So when So again, who is Anna? And to that show, Anna was an incredible elderly prayer warrior who spent her life dedicated to worshiping and sharing God's word despite her circumstances.
00:28:10
Speaker
I don't know what you guys may be facing today, but the reality is is that sometimes what we think in our the circumstances in our lives, sometimes they may be inconvenient, sometimes they may be hard, sometimes they seem overwhelming, but the reality is is that those things in the eyes of God are not inconvenient. Those things in the eyes of God are not overwhelming.
00:28:35
Speaker
Those things in the eyes of God, His plans are higher than your plans. His ways are higher than your ways. You have to trust Him. This life is gonna bring all kinds of momentary struggles and issues. And many of you in this room have probably experienced way more than I've ever had in my life when it comes to hardships.
00:28:58
Speaker
But at the end of the day, one thing is true. If you're a believer in Jesus, the same spirit that's in within me is the same spirit that's within you. The same spirit that gets you through those things is the same spirit that gets me through those things. And we can trust that spirit. Amen? Amen.
00:29:17
Speaker
And that's the other reason why this is, I don't want to get off on this tangent, but that's why God gave us the church. You got this, right? So that way, we can go through those things together. We're not meant to carry them alone. Don't be isolated. Rather, come to the house where God has asked us to dwell. This building, this the building itself is not the church, okay? We've said this before, but I want to reiterate it. Building itself, this is a beautiful place the Lord has blessed us with. But guess what? You are the church. does It doesn't matter if you're in this place or at AGB.
00:29:57
Speaker
where you choose to dwell, there the Spirit will be. So again, she chose to worship and share God's word despite her circumstances, and she anticipated the coming constellation of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord. So after looking at Anna, it sounds pretty familiar, right? I've kind of alluded to this already. Who does she sound like? She sounds a lot like Simeon. This account with Anna is not much di in this different than Simeon. So again, that's why I'm saying the message last week, Spirit Field Manhood, yes, it was good for us, but at the same time, it was very applicable to all of you women in the room today. Just like today's message, a charge for Christian womanhood is not just for you ladies, it's also for the men in the room.
00:30:43
Speaker
Now ladies, I do hope and pray that you hear and see the witness and the testimony of Anna, that you do learn from her. and that you do grow wisdom and knowledge of stature in the ways of the Lord. That is my prayer. I don't care how old young you are to how old you are in this room. God desires to use you for his kingdom. God uses women in the New Testament just as much as he uses men. So do not let that hinder you from being God's hand in this world.
00:31:18
Speaker
But I'll also be remiss if I didn't stop for a moment though and think of another individual who also reminds us of Anna as someone that we actually just set of celebrated the life of on Friday. Because when you think about women like Anna, I want you guys to stop and think for a second about people in your life who demonstrate this.
00:31:41
Speaker
Because it's not just Anna. there i can tell i can count I
Call to Rise to Your Calling
00:31:45
Speaker
can mention names all morning long of women who serve in this church who remind me of Anna. And I'm sure many of you guys can do the same thing. Just like I can mention guys in this church you probably who remind me of Simeon. You guys do the same thing. But there was one lay individual in this church who does remind me of Anna. That was Miss Chaney.
00:32:07
Speaker
And I hope and pray that those who got to know Chaney, that her legacy, her testimony will precede her in the days to come, and that you will remember and reflect on the things that she demonstrated for us as a woman of Christ.
00:32:23
Speaker
That you will never forget that, right? So again, we are called right now, ladies and gentlemen, to be the Sennian and the Annas in this world today. Are you guys ready to take up that call? Again, many of you guys ah are already doing that, and I'm so thankful for that. But there's some of you in the room who have been sitting on the bench, cheering the team on, and the Lord doesn't want you to sit on the bench. He wants you to get in the game. The Aggies could have used that last night, just saying. Sorry, too soon? Sorry, okay. But all I have to say is is this, right?
00:33:07
Speaker
Anna is an example for us to follow. And when we read through this account and read through the testimony and the witness of who Anna is, think about the opportunities that she had as a woman back then. She had an opportunity to encourage younger women struggling with a desire for marriage. Or she could have had the opportunity to empathize and to grieve with the other widows in the community.
00:33:35
Speaker
Or overall, just to be an example for all the young girls, young women, mothers, and older sisters in Christ around her.
00:33:44
Speaker
There's always opportunities. So don't let this world, our culture, our society, whatever that stumbling block may be, don't let it be a stumbling block anymore. Because the Lord knows each of you by name, and he desires to use you specifically for his kingdom and for his purposes.
00:34:03
Speaker
You just have to be willing to accept it. So as we wrap up our time though, I'm just going to again ask this question, where are you at today? Where are you at with the Lord? Are you allowing the Lord to work in you, to use you?
00:34:25
Speaker
Are you allowing him to train you and to equip you for the opportunities that are being presented before you while you still have breath in your lungs today?
00:34:36
Speaker
Again, ladies in the room, there are so many opportunities. there's There's so many young girls and teenagers and young women in our community who could use the the wisdom and the knowledge and the experience and the testimony of those who are living more seasoned.
00:34:55
Speaker
Those of you who are a little bit older in the church, ladies, y'all can even learn from the younger generation if I'm being honest.
00:35:04
Speaker
So I pray that you will walk with humility in that. And then gentlemen in the room, I pray that we will do the same thing as we saw from Simeon as well. That we will humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that way he can use us and equip us for the things and the opportunities presented before us.
00:35:24
Speaker
You know, we always talk about how the nation, America, needs to come back to God. Right? And a lot of people think Trump is the answer. Sorry, I'm not gonna get up on political stuff just yet, but I am gonna miss this. A lot of people are saying Trump's the answer. Trump's not the answer. You know who the answer is? Jesus.
00:35:46
Speaker
Jesus is for you as an individual, man or woman, to step up into the calling which God has called you you to, disciple to disciple, to train and to equip the next generation of leaders so that way they can stand up and lead us and guide us into the next future into the future as a country.
00:36:12
Speaker
So may we feel that calling, may we feel that conviction, and actually go be the hands and feet that Jesus called us to be. I'm going to pray for us, and after we pray, I'm going to be day
Closing Prayer and Invitation
00:36:24
Speaker
down front. And if anybody needs to come down and do some business with God, the altar will be open up here. You can come down and pray. If you need to come talk to me, I'll be down here in the front. I promise I'm not a scary guy.
00:36:37
Speaker
But whatever the Lord is doing in your heart today, specifically though, if he is calling you to surrender your life to him so that way he can use you, I pray that you will do not reject that opportunity.
00:36:51
Speaker
Following Jesus is the greatest thing that you'll ever do. It's the most freeing thing you'll ever do. But I also want to say this, following Jesus is a life decision.
00:37:08
Speaker
And it's a heavy one at the same time. But a good thing that Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, that his burden, he says, take our yoke upon, our so his yoke upon us, because his burdens are easy in in their life, right? So let us pray, and if you need to make a decision, I pray that you'll do that this morning. Let's pray. God, we come before you, Lord, and we just thank you for witnesses and testimonies of individuals like Anna.
00:37:37
Speaker
Lord, what a beautiful woman and sister in Christ she was. Her legacy goes before us. And Lord, I pray that for all of us in this room that whether it's Anna or Simeon, Father, or even the example of Mary and Joseph of being faithful to the Old Testament law, Lord, I pray, God, that we will learn from those who've gone before us and that we will take that knowledge, that wisdom, that we will then push it forward. Now we will train this next generation on what it means to be Christ-like followers who are steadfast, day and night, ready to be and willing to be used by you. But God, again though, I pray that there's anyone in this room who's never served their life to you. God, that they will experience the freedom of knowing Christ Jesus today. That they will come.
00:38:28
Speaker
whether it's down here at the altar or there in your seat, Father, that they'll surrender their life to you, and that they'll commit to following you to the very end of the age. God, again, that we thank you for this good news, the gospel message, and for the work and the ministry of Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:38:51
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.