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Good morning.

Nice to see everybody here bright and early.

It's another beautiful day and a day the Lord has made. I want to welcome you to—

this is the church with a very long name.

It's so long we tend to say W-C-E-C, the Wilmington Community Evangelical Church.

I suggested when I first came here, can we just call it Community Church? And someone said, no, that's our name, WCEC.

So welcome this morning, and we are going to do a lot of things differently today, so you have to pay attention to keep up. We're gonna have a baptism and membership ceremony, and we're going to start out with the 4th Advent poem, Advent blessing, which will be from Sisi, and I'm going to pray and ask her up. Lord, thank you for this service, for this time. Make it special, make it memorable and meaningful. We pray for Alvin especially, but also for each heart that's here today, for your sake. And I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Sisi.

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Love is the theme of the fourth week in Advent, and this poem celebrates that and one of the unsung heroes of the Christmas story, Joseph. Love is dreaming of angels with fancy commands and not shaking it off come morning. But bending like the willow under the wind's command, love takes in all, willingly obedient, and leaves its doubts on stony roads en route to Bethlehem. It gracefully sheds the sly stares and the comments of others. It keeps its feet surely on the path. Love looks over her head to a star star rising in the east and shares a secret smile with heaven itself. I'm also very excited to be coming a member this morning.

I should have mentioned that's not just a poem, that's a poem that Cece wrote herself, and she'll be back on stage a little bit later. This morning we will celebrate New life for Alvin John in his baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Now the Old Testament foreshadowed baptism when the children of Israel crossed the River Jordan and entered the Promised Land. They consummated their marriage, the marriage covenant with God. Now later in the New Testament, John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by calling for national repentance and asking people to take a dip back into the Jordan River as if they were re-entering into a new promised land, to be remarried to God. And in a few minutes, we'll ask Alvin to come back here where we have a mini bit of water there, a little pool, and he will take a dip. Now there's no soap back there. In case you haven't gone to look for yourself, because it's not about cleansing physically. It is a heart thing, and it is symbolic of how we have received new life. The Pharisees, if you look in this picture, there's a couple of guys there standing in the back.

They decided not to get in the water. It was a voluntary thing.

They didn't think they needed a savior. But we know, and those of us that have been baptized know, that we acknowledge, yes, we do need a Savior, and that this, what's happening, is much bigger than just cleansing. Even the heart condition, it is also moving from death into life. And you won't get a good picture of Alvin's face as he comes out of the water, so I thought It will be something like that. And like Jonah, when he came out of this death condition in the belly of the whale, we will be able to walk. He will walk in newness of life. So without any further ado, Alvin, where are you? Come on up and please share your testimony, and I'll be waiting for you up there.

Good morning. My name is Alvin and I'm 14 years old. WCC has always been a place I've looked forward to going to. Whether it was Cubbies, Awana, or youth group, I've always been excited for church. I want to thank all the teachers and leaders from Cubbies, Awana, and youth. Thank you for letting my mom stay with me at Cubbies when I was 3 years old. Thank you for helping me memorize verses and enjoy the fun games at Awana. And thank you for your lessons in small groups and youth. I also want to thank my parents for always being there for me and helping my faith grow. I want to thank my brother for always supporting me, my friends for being people I can enjoy good times with and go through difficult times with. Lastly, I want to thank all of you for being here today. Today I want to share what Jesus has done for me and why I would like to be baptized. I've been coming to church for a long time, and I've known Bible stories for most of my life. However, I haven't always had a true relationship with God. I didn't spend much time praying or reading God's word outside of church. I didn't always turn to God when I was facing problems or fears. And I didn't really think about sin, repentance, or asking for forgiveness. However, over time I began to take my relationship with God more seriously and truly seek a relationship with Jesus. My mom always made sure we spent time together praying and helped me better understand the scriptures, while my dad often took me to church and Awana Olympics. Eventually, I truly understood that Jesus died for us so that we could be saved even though we are sinners. Making Jesus the most important part of my life didn't mean life suddenly became easy, but it did mean I knew I could always turn to God no matter what happened and embrace his love for me. Since establishing a relationship with God, my faith has grown a lot. I'm far from perfect, but I know my sins are forgiven, and I can face my challenges knowing God is with me. I've been talking to God more and studying his word. I try to show God's love and share how Jesus died for us with others. I learned to trust God even when things don't go the way I want or when the future feels uncertain. I know he is always with me. I know he has a great plan for my life. I'd like to be baptized today to show that I've accepted Jesus as my Savior, that I belong to him, and that I'll follow him for the rest of my life.

So one of the things that we do, um, prior to baptism is we ask Albert a few questions. Good reminder, thank you. One of the things we do is we ask some questions, and so I've asked Alan to stay up. This is sometimes referred to as the interrogation, basically just asking some questions. It sounds very threatening in the US legal sense, but it's, I guess, in British English it's normal. So Alan, do you know that you're a sinner? And have you recognized your need for God's salvation and accepted Jesus?

Okay, good.

All right, let's see if this works. There we go. Do you hold the belief that the entire Bible is inspired by God and that you're willing to live a life in accordance with the teachings of the Bible?

Yeah.

And then finally, are you willing to publicly confess your Christian faith and become a child of God through baptism in the name of the Lord, not just here this morning but outside the church too.

Yeah.

Great, then I have a further thing to do now is to ask— is it right yet? I have to— yes, there's further things. Now that you're willing to do this, this is a little bit premature for you since you haven't yet been baptized, but we're going to do you along with Eric and Mabel. So Eric and Mabel, if you'll come forward now, we have what we call the new members interrogation. You thought it was just an easy slide in. And, um, I'll pass— oh yes, sorry, Sisi. So, do you know that you are born again and saved, not only a child of God but also part of the body of Christ? Christ, that is the Church. Are you willing to join the members in building up the Church led by Jesus Christ? I'll start at this end and then I'll finally come up to you.

Okay?

Yes.

Sorry.

Yes, I do, and I am.

Yes.

Yes, I do.

Yes.

I think I do have another mic too, so it's not so awkward, right? Sorry about that, folks. Okay, so are you willing to honor God, trust your life by following biblical teachings, demonstrating your faith through the Lord's power, striving for personal growth, and using your gifts to serve God?

Albert?

Yeah.

Yes, I am.

Yes.

Yes, I am.

And then, are you willing to become a member of WCC, Wilmington Community Evangelical Church, accept our constitution and bylaws, which you probably haven't gotten a copy yet, have you? And recognize— sorry, I put you on the spot— and recognize our faith and mission and faithfully fulfill your duties and obligations as members of our church to glorify to glorify God and benefit others.

Yeah.

Yes, I am.

Yes. Yes, I will.

So now, Alvin, you will go back to the baptism pool. Yes, thank you. You guys can sit down for now. And I think next is the, um, John, right? Oh, baptism. Well, Okay, we'll see how quick they get this.

Okay, good.

Happy to report the water's warm.

No, not yet.

Alvin, this is your public proclamation of your commitment to God's family.

Are you ready to be baptized?

Okay, now stand here. I now baptize you, Alvin Jong, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You were buried with Christ in baptism, and you were raised to walk in new life.

Welcome.

Okay, it's great to be with you all this morning and to witness such a wonderful thing and partake in such a wonderful thing. Would you all please join, uh, As we join worship. So yes, as, uh, Cece mentioned, we are continuing into the last week of Advent, and the theme is indeed love. So We can also sing of the culmination of the rest of the 3 weeks that came before, where we had hope, peace, and joy. And we'll just sing of all those things as we await our joyful birth of the Savior. Sing O Come, All Ye Faithful.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. O come ye home, come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Born of a King of angels. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels.

Sing, choirs of angels. Sing in exultation, oh sing, all ye citizens of heaven above. Glory to God, oh glory in the highest. Highest. Oh, come, let us adore Him. Oh, come, let us adore Him. Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Dear Lord, we greet Holy is happy morning. Jesus, to thee be all the glory given. Word of the Father, now in flesh appeared. Oh, come, let us adore him. Oh, come, let us adore him. Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. Joyful all ye nations, rise, join the triumph through the skies, when angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark! The herald angels sing glory to the newborn King. <LYRICS>Christ the highest, Emmanuel, Christ the everlasting Lord. May in time behold him come, offspring of the Virgin's womb. Verdi in festa, jadet sing. Hail the incomely King.</LYRICS> Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of righteousness! Life and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. Bow he lays his glory by, for that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth, born to gain the second birth. Hark! The herald angels sing glory to you, O King.

So for this last song, we are generally— if you are familiar with this, but there is a slight variation on the lyrics for the Christmas time. So the melody is the same, and if you'll sing along with me, With these unwise lyrics, we sing "Hell Within a Manger." Hell within a manger, the Son of God arrived.

The one who would be called Emmanuel. The promise was delivered to a virgin bride. One word they call Emmanuel. Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest, your name stands above them all. All thrones in the heavens, all powers in the nations, your name The saints of all the world and angels cry, holy, your creation cries, holy, you are lifted high, holy, holy forever. Holy forever. Hear your people. Your people sing holy to the King of Kings. Holy, you will always be holy. Holy forever.

Sing your name.

Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All thrones and dominions, all crowns and positions Your name stands above them all. Jesus, your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All roads in the end lead to Jesus. All paths in the city lead to your name. Stands above them all, and the angels cry, "Holy, all creation cries, holy, you are lifted high, holy, holy forever." Sing your people. He will be able to sing holy to the King of Kings. Also holy, you will always be holy, holy forever. You will always be holy, holy forever.

Let's bow our heads in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you that your name is great, that you're the wonderful counselor, The Mighty Warrior who goes before us, Emmanuel, God with us, the Prince of Peace. Lord, your name is truly above all things, above all creation, above all the angels, Lord. We thank you that you humbled yourself, that you would come as a child born into a manger. How amazing that is, that you are the God of the universe the universe, and yet you let yourself be joined in nature to lowly man. But yet, Lord, while you were like us, you were still without sin. Though you were fully man and fully God, you didn't leave behind any of your divinity as you took on that form. You are still worthy even as you walk this earth. As we prepare to celebrate that commemoration, we recognize that again you are still worthy the entire time you were here and the entire time afterwards, Lord. And in this time of Advent, as we prepare for the day that is coming, that is Christmas Day, as we celebrate your birth, Lord, also help us look forward to the day where there will be no more tears, where there will be no more sorrow, when you will come in power and bring your kingdom here in this whole grand, grand earth form. That is the hope we have in the Savior that is born this day. Thank you, Lord. Would you keep that on our hearts and on our minds as we worship you this morning in the word that is preached to us. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Before you're seated, Could you please spend a few minutes and just greet those around you?

Welcome again this morning. We're going to proceed now with our scripture reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2. 8 days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus. That was the name given to him by the angel even before he was conceived. Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the Law of Moses after the birth of a child, so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The law of the Lord says, "If a woman's first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord." So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord, either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout, and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the temple, so when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord, as the law required, Simeon was Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and he praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, now let your servant, let me die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel.

Jesus' parents were amazed at what was being said about him.

Then Simeon blessed them and he said to Mary, the baby's mother, this child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him, and as a result The deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your very soul. Anna, a prophet, was also there in the temple. She was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only 7 years. She lived as a widow to the age of 84. She never left the temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. When Jesus' parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God's favor was on him. And every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. That is the word of the Lord. Father, I just want to pray briefly and ask you to help us understand the scripture and its relevance to us. Well, you may be surprised that I wore a robe today, and you might think there's some special reason. I can tell you the reason is I left my change of clothes in my office. So that was the very subtle and important reason why you see me in black. It's not as comfortable as street clothes, but I'll get over it. Now this story reminds me of a kindergarten riddle. Have you heard of it? I'll show you the picture. What did the pig say?

When the farmer grabbed him by the tail. Does anybody remember? Surely some of you remember. What did the pig say? "That's the end of me!" Okay, not a very big laugh.

That's alright. Now when Simeon saw this baby, remember he had been promised you will live until the Messiah comes, right?

Well, now that he's seen the Messiah, what does that mean for Simeon?

It means his days may be few on earth. And his words were, he's okay, let me die, I've seen him.

And why is that? How could we, but not only not sad, but he's even joyful in this moment when he knows it's perhaps one of his last days.

And that is because he is so filled with hope, so excited that the Messiah is here.

It's something so much bigger than himself.

When he recognized that his whole faith, the nation's faith, was going to be vindicated, the time had finally arrived. So I want to get right to the point, which is when we see the Messiah, when we recognize what he is, God with us, Emmanuel.

This faith, when we embrace it, is life-changing.

When that light shines in our hearts, when ours are revealed, some of us will fall. But let's be among those, the many, who will rise. Now, in Greek, this letter X is the first letter of Christos, Christ, which is why we sometimes say Xmas.

But it's the letter chi, and the letter chi in this word chiasm—

who's ever heard of what a chiasm is? Yes, a few of you Bible scholars. A chiasm is an X-shaped literary device that's used, that's found in the Bible.

And the scripture we just read is an excellent example of a chiasm, which is ideas presented in order in a sequence, and I've marked them out here, A, B, C, D, and then again they're repeated but in reverse order, D, C, B, A, and you'll see those to that in a minute. It's a kind of like a sandwich.

You have bread, then you got the mayo, then cheese, then meat, then another piece of meat, then another cheese, then the mayo, and another piece of bread, and puts the whole sandwich together.

And these are very helpful to identify because they assist us in interpretation. And in this form of expression, the most important idea went in the middle. So the meat is in the middle, but they also use it as a means to help with memorization.

And when we look at these parallel verses, the A's together, the B's together, the C's together, we can learn something and we can appreciate the literary artistry in the scripture.

Now we're not going to reread it, but if you notice the A section, the bread at the top and at the is all about the law, following the law and the rites and the rituals that they went through and how they went to Jerusalem to follow the law and they did circumcision and they acknowledged, they went into the temple to do it. Then the 2B sections, what I call the meo, are certain people in Jerusalem who have this very strong expectation Messiah is coming very soon.

Imminently and are very excited about it and talking about it. That makes up these two sections.

Then the C, or the cheese here, is talking about people in the temple who are very devout and who really spent their lives. Simeon is about to lose his life literally.

Anna had given her life, she kind of gave her life figuratively.

And then finally in the middle We see two sections here about revealing.

On the one hand, God, through the Messiah, is revealing his light to the whole world, to the Gentiles as well as Jews.

And then in the second section, when he talks to Mary directly, this light is going to also reveal what is in people's hearts. So that is the structure, this A, B, C, D, and it's going to provide the organization structure for this message today because each of these layers has a slightly different application for us. So when we first look at how Jesus' family observed the law, we read how Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day. Now if you ever went to a Christmas, like, live nativity event, what do you see? Jesus, a baby infant in the manger with animals and Wise men, right? Wise men from the East. But then how did they— and then after the wise men were warned in a dream, and Joseph was warned in a dream, they had to run off to Egypt, remember? But if you're from any Chinese family, you know very well that when a baby is born, the mother needs a whole month, right? In bed to stay at home and to recover from the birth. Man yeh, you can't just go running off to Egypt. During the first month. And so we learn from the record here, both on the 8th day and the 40th day, Joseph and Mary were still in Jerusalem. So I wanted to ask the first question of you. What do you think? Should we be circumcised today? Jesus was circumcised, we should be circumcised. Case closed. Am I right? No, I see one very bold Sunday school teacher saying, no, that's That's not right. Indeed, that is not right. And it says in the book of Acts in chapter 15, they had this big dispute over whether they should or shouldn't be circumcised because some brothers, some Christians, or they were half Jews, half Christians, were saying, yes, you must be circumcised, otherwise you cannot be saved. But Paul is very clear in Galatians and other places that the circumcision, the physical thing, doesn't either help or hurt. It doesn't count for anything.

What does count is faith working through love.

So then we don't need to follow it.

We could have a freedom to do or to not do circumcision.

And I looked it up online. Do you know how many circumcisions there are in the United States? It's about 50% in the hospitals around the United States currently, which means it's an open question. Some people will and some people will not. Now the parents of Jesus, the family, also recognized Jerusalem as the City of God.

That is Zion.

That is where they went for their pilgrimages. And so I wanted to ask, do you think we should go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem? Perhaps every year? Or 3 times a year? Any takers for that? Well, the answer is, No. So we don't always do it just because it's in the Bible, right? Those things in the Bible are about another people that aren't exactly like us. They had a covenant. They had the Mosaic Covenant, which we also called the Old Covenant. But Jeremiah had prophesied when the Old Covenant was breaking down, the days are coming when I'll make a new covenant, not like the Old Covenant. The law will be within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people. In other words, the new covenant is invisible, invisible, and it's not located in Jerusalem necessarily. And we read, we spent a whole, the whole fall season going through the sermon series on the book of Exodus, which is about the birth of a nation on earth, Israel. But we're starting today on a new direction in the New Testament where we'll be talking about God's invisible nation. He started out with the visible, and then he's projecting and now building and teaching us about how to live in his invisible nation.

So if you come back this winter, we'll have messages on the Gospel of Luke.

And of course, Jesus himself, when he's talking to the Samaritan woman by the well, he's— she asked him this question because she was very concerned that There was this temple in Jerusalem, but the Samaritans worshiped in Samaria. They had their own altars. And so she asked him, where should we worship? And Jesus said, woman, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

So we see there's nothing wrong with Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, and certainly we could worship there, but it's far from required, in fact not at all. Wherever the people of God are, so that is where the Spirit will go.

Now the temple, they also had to recognize the temple when they did all the sacrifices, but Jesus, as you know, he predicted that the temple would be destroyed and not one stone would be left on another.

And now the temple is in us, not just one of us, but in all of us. And if you go to Jerusalem, you can see these very, very large stones at the bottom, at the base of the Temple Mount there, that they've dug out only there for viewing.

Now Jerusalem, not only the temple was destroyed, but the whole city was sacked.

And the priesthood was completely deposed.

And we see in the New Testament how both Paul and Peter are describing this, what I'm calling this invisible nation, as a new thing.

It's not based on DNA anymore, and it looks more like this. It's like a network wherever God's people are, and they, they just are connected spiritually in this new kingdom and even a kingdom of priests.

So I want to ask the question, since the Bible's got so much about Israel and it's set in Israel, well, what's left? What's left? And what we have is what they call Judaism. And how many of you have set foot in a synagogue and been part of a service, Jewish service, bar mitzvah or anything? There are synagogues, they're a little bit like churches if you go inside., and people dress nice, and they're like churches a little bit. But what's inside, we don't want to confuse rabbinic Judaism with what they did, what Joseph and Mary were doing. What Joseph and Mary had was a whole lifestyle, a whole nation, a whole sacrificial system. They killed animals, they had these high priests, and it was all based on the Old Testament. What they have now is, after this destruction I just mentioned, the rabbis sort of picked up the pieces. And made a religion out of it. So we're not really in favor of rabbinic Judaism.

They have some good things about them, and it's worthwhile going in and check it out and look, look at it.

But there is something that we like, and that's called Messianic Judaism. Who's heard of Messianic Judaism? So Messianic Judaism are, are Israel people with Jewish background who become Christian, but they decide decide to keep a lot of the customs. So they will have the Israeli holidays, they might, their way that they structure their, I don't know, their food and their worship, they'll use a lot of Hebrew in it. And you might have heard the word Jews for Jesus, there's a group based in New York, they call them by that name. That's good. We like Messianic Jews, we hope all of the rabbinical Jews will become Messianic Jews.

Messianic Jews. And they're like an Israeli-flavored church, just like ours is a Chinese-flavored church.

But I want to ask about this other question because it's really been in the news a lot over the last couple of years, and that is, what about the modern state of Israel? So that is, in some churches they would say, oh, you know, we should support Israel. Why? Because the Bible says so. And indeed it does. It says, Whoever will bless God's promises, that if you bless Israel, I will bless you, and if you curse Israel, I will curse you. So it raises the question, is this modern Israel, that Israel that they were talking about and that God wants to bless? And that's what gave—

has risen— the controversy has come out of that.

Now, there are churches who believe that indeed the promises of God to Israel will literally happen in Israel.

And it's a theological position they sometimes call dispensationalism.

Has anybody ever heard of dispensationalism? It's the same people raising their hand each time. It's a way of thinking, of reading the Bible very literally, that says if God's coming back to, or if God's promised something's going to happen in Israel, it must happen in Israel.

But I understand that it's It's the new Israel, the new Jerusalem.

It's the spiritual kingdom that came out of the physical kingdom, which means that the fulfillment, or the promises that God will bless those who bless you, is now for the Christians. It's for Christianity that God will bless. It's not rabbinical Judaism that God will bless.

Does that mean that I don't like Israel?

No! I like Israel. Let's go visit. Would anybody like to go with me? I'm planning a trip in the summer of 2027. We're going to take names today.

You can put down a $100 deposit. No, that's a joke.

I've been there twice and I want to go again.

Why do I love Jerusalem?

And we should support Jerusalem—

not Jerusalem—

Israel for some good reasons. I think Israel is great for Christianity because it's like this living witness. You can go to these places. Places where these things happen. You can observe the geography. And some of these institutions in Israel are doing great work on archaeology. They're doing the biology of all the plants that are mentioned in the Bible. It's a great place to tour. There's some linguistic work going on in these ancient texts, like the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found. There's awesome things happening. So we want Israel to survive as a nation, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we agree with everything they do or we want to spend all of our tax dollars to support it, but we do—

it's open to debate.

So for me personally, I wouldn't take the position that it's all good or that it's all bad, or that it's just like any other country. It's not just like any other country.

It's kind of like the mother country, if you would, for spiritually, it's like the mother country.

Therefore, it deserves a little bit of extra honor in my view. So we honor— it's like when David took over from Saul, or Samuel said, David, you're the new king, even though Saul was still king. And David took care of and treated Saul well because he was the anointed king, even when Saul wasn't all that good to him. So now finally, to wrap up the first section, the others are much shorter. The Christians observe— the Jews observe through following the law. Well, how do Christians observe? And in one— I can tell you in one word: freedom. So you don't have to do it just like other Christians do it because that's the way they do it.

Now, if you are following—

if you have faith and you have love and faithful and trust God, we're likely to see the fruit of the Spirit. And that's how you know that we're still Christians, even though your churches look different, your robes look different, your rituals look different. You might have a tree, you might not have a tree, but we can tell by the fruit of the Spirit.

So we do observe, but we do it in a way as we discover or choose or figure it out.

And this summer we're having a a sermon series on the wisdom literature in the Bible. And among those things, it says there's a time for this and a time for that, right? There's a time for decorations and a time for no decorations, a time for robes and a time for not robes, and so on.

So come back this summer if you are interested.

Now, what Simeon and Anna were talking to these people they were meeting with were waiting expectantly for the Messiah.

Why?

So if you study this, you know there was a special time in history. Well, the two things that were— that had happened in particular, one was that the temple had been rebuilt, you know, big time. So that was perhaps part of it.

But also there had been—

John the Baptist was born. And you remember at John the Baptist's birth, Zechariah made a prophecy and the word got out. For those devout Christians that— excuse me, devout Israelites, that something big is coming. And there had also been a prophecy from way back to the book of Daniel that after 490 years something big is going to happen. I mean, 490 years is when the Messiah is coming, and they didn't know exactly when the 490 years started, but they knew it was close.

So there was this kind of fervor, and as you You know that the Romans were still occupying Jerusalem or Israel at the time, and they really wanted to get rid of that. So they're really looking forward to the Messiah coming.

Now what Messiah means, we're not going to get into it, but you get the general idea that it's going to be the kingship of David is going to be restored, our country is going to be restored, the exile will be completely over, we'll throw off the Romans and will be saved, will be reborn. Now, there were people that had a different understanding of that. I think most of them expected that that would mean that the Messiah would bring back the visible Israel, not an invisible.

And that was Jesus' teaching over and over. He had to explain, I'm going to die, I'm going to rise from the dead, and they didn't quite get it.

But that tension between the visible future kingdom and invisible future kingdom, it still survives to this day in this idea that will they build a third temple, a new temple will be built in Jerusalem. And there is a place today called the Third Temple Institute that has already figured it out. They got the plans and they're working on how to get the animals back and how to get the priests' garments and and the right kind of grain you need to grow to get the right kind of fibers to put together a third temple. And there's some in, I think, particularly the charismatic movement who would actually kind of like to see a third temple because when you read about Jesus coming back, it sounds like there may be a third temple there. And so next fall, we have another sermon series coming on the book of Isaiah. And in that, we're going to go into a lot more detail about what is it going to look like, the future of Christianity, so that we should still have messianic expectation today. And you will have people in some churches who will often talk about, you know, Jesus is coming back and we should be hopeful. But I can remember, I think I was 19, and someone said, Jesus is coming back! And I was like, well, I hope he doesn't come back right away! 'Cause I'm only 19. And I'd like to have a family and, you know, live, and then let him come back, you know, when I'm old. And the reason I— it seems silly, doesn't it? But what, for me, the expectation of Messiah isn't the end.

The end is part of it.

It's between now and then. It's all the great things that are happening as Messiah and the The influence of Messiah is like that grain of mustard seed that's growing bigger and bigger so that all the birds can come and nest in its branches. So the expectation is for growth of the church. And if we— this will come again next fall, but there are many images in the Old Testament.

And one—

these two that I'll mention are in Daniel chapter 2, where he says the stone that struck the the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. And this, uh, later in that same chapter, during the reigns of those kings, God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. It will crush all these kingdoms and it will stand forever. That is the kingdom of God that he's talking about. Now, how are we doing as a church? I think Apostle Paul would be absolutely thrilled to see this chart and to know that 2,000 years roughly after he was doing his thing, that there would be this bar chart and that the Protestants would be the number 4 faith in the entire world. He would be so excited. And if you include Catholics or Orthodox, you put all those red stripes together, we're number 1. Christianity is number 1. Already in the whole world, and it's only been 2,000 years, right? So obviously we have a lot more work to do, don't we? So that is worth having hope. Now, Simeon and Anna were two people who embodied this verse that we don't like to read very often in church. It goes like this: If anyone would follow me, let him deny himself, take up Pick up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

And you can imagine the audience saying, I'm out of here.

You join your— what is this, a cult? You just want us to all die? That makes no sense at all. But Simeon and Anna help us to to interpret, to understand this in wisdom, that what he's talking about is pouring yourself out, getting into it. And the example of Simeon being willing to die with joy knowing that he had seen what was coming, or Anna after her becoming a widow to devote her entire life to service in the temple. And now I have a video. Are we ready to roll it? The role of Simi.

If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement.

They're like leaders in this movement.

Okay, let's—

right at the beginning. So Simi and Anna are like the first follower and second follower.

Both works. Happens start to finish in under 3 minutes and dissect some lessons. First, of course, owning. If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen start to finish in under 3 minutes and dissect some lessons. First, of course, a leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key: you must be easy to follow. Now here comes the first follower with a crucial role. He publicly and he shows everyone else how to follow. Notice how the leader embraces him as an equal. So it's not about the leader anymore. It's about them, plural. Notice how he's calling to his friends to join in. See, it takes guts to be a first follower. You stand out. You brave ridicule yourself. Being a first follower is an underappreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the like a flint, the first follower is the spark that really makes the fire. Now here's the second follower. This is a turning point. It's proof the first has done well. Now it's not a lone nut, and it's not two nuts. Three is a crowd, and a crowd is news. A movement must be public. Make sure outsiders see more than just the leader. Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers, not the leader. Now here come two more people, then 3 more immediately. Now we've got momentum. This is the tipping point, and now we have a movement. As more people jump in, it's no longer risky. If they were on the fence before, there's no reason not to join in now. They won't stand out, they won't be ridiculed, and they will be part of the in-crowd if they hurry. And over the next minute, you'll see the rest who prefer to stay part of the crowd, because eventually they can cut the video.

We're not doing video at this point.

Great, thank you.

You get the idea. So I thought this is a great example of how important Anna and Simeon were in the big picture.

And also we can draw, hey, that's what we're doing when we support each other, and that's something that we can do for each other, and we can see that how it impacted—

next slide. Somehow I've lost my slides. Slide power.

It influenced Mary, and it says that she kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And I bet all of you, or any of you that have been in the church for a while, can think back to moments where people in the church community said things or did things that were such a huge encouragement and made all the difference to you. And so finally, in the meat, it says a light. To reveal God to the nations.

Now to us that's like, duh, you know, God made the whole world, we're the nations, so God was revealed to us, right? But you have to remember in that world, the Old Covenant world, there are like two worlds. There's the people of God and there's everybody else. The people of God are by DNA, they're Israel.

They're chosen and everyone else is not chosen.

But what Simeon is saying is this Messiah is going to take that stream of orange and is going to—

pshew!—

shine a light like a prism, and it's going to divert. Some of those people are going to switch sides, and they're not going to be in those not-people-of-God anymore.

They're going to come on our side.

That's what light to the Gentiles is all about, and that is very good news. The prophecy of to Abraham, or the promise, is is finally coming true. And then he says it's going to be glory for Israel. Now we don't understand what does it mean to have glory for your nation very well, but there was a time when China was trying to get the Olympics in 2008, and they were competing, 'cause, right, the officials would decide where will the Olympics be and they'll have a vote. And all, whole country really wanted to have the Olympics in China, They won the vote and they had stayed up in the middle of the night to watch it. And then all the people literally flooded the streets saying, we won!

Womanyinwa!

They were so happy because finally we, China, you know, we're just like every other country. We're out there. We're able to do the Olympics. And that's the kind of glory that's coming to Israel because that is the place. Where God, through country, through whom, through which, God has revealed himself to the whole world. But there's a little bit of bad news in that good news. And that is that he says to Mary, this child, whoops, this child is going to cause many to fall. We're not, something's gonna go wrong, what is it? And I use this diagram to show just like the orange stream went through a prism and diverted, So the Israelites also will run into a stumbling block. Some will accept it and pass right through. Some are going to be diverted. They won't be God's people anymore. And that's sad.

So there's joy and there's sadness.

And that is why he says you, that the thoughts of the hearts will be revealed, and even Mary herself.

Yourself will face this kind of pain.

Remember when Jesus healed the 10 lepers but only one said thank you?

And that's what's going to happen.

And this sword will pierce your soul. It's when we understand what's going on, we as Christians can feel the pain of those others, our loved ones, that are not that are rebellious and that don't accept the word and who find themselves, estrange themselves from God himself.

So this is what it looks like today.

So let me end with a prayer and we'll get on with the presentation.

Lord, we are thankful to have the example of people who observed faithfully the law, who trusted in the process. I ask that you give us wisdom in exercising our freedom of worship. I pray that we will have optimism for the future of Christianity. I pray that like Anna and Simeon, we will influence others to trust you and not doubt. I praise you for sending the Messiah. I ask that people will open their eyes, open their hearts when they hear the message of what Jesus did and what he said, that we will mourn for those who oppose him but rejoice with those who accept. Help us to endure hardships and to remain hopeful always, remembering Simeon and Anna. I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Alvin and Eric and Mabel and Cece— is Cece still here? If you could get Cece to— oh, there you are. Okay, yes, please come on up. While they're coming, I will just mention that membership has its privileges. Not only do you get to answer tough questions, but we present you with a certificate. You get to vote in the elections, and volunteering is volunteering, and so nobody gets their arm twisted, but there's all kind of opportunities that do open up to you to serve on committees and such as that. Some people think, oh no, I don't want to do that. But anyway, yes, membership does have its privileges. So I do have certificates here. We have members join 3 times— 4 times a year whenever we have a quarter ending. So keep that in mind. And so firstly, I would like to present to Alvin. This is a gift for you from WCC. Don would be normally giving this to you, but he had already planned to be out of town for his anniversary. Yes, we can come on. We'll do the family pictures right after the presentation. And Eric and Mabel, I have something for you also. There's the membership certificates, but also there's a gift here for the two of you. If it hasn't arrived yet, it's coming. And then Sisi, the same. There you go. Okay, so if we could get everybody to come in front here, we'll get Michael first to take a picture of Alvin with his, his mom. Anybody else here from the family? Fung Fung, anybody else besides? Come on up. Yeah, anybody else in the family here?

Yeah, oh, all right. Lady, come on. Louie, come on.

Yeah. And Paul, come on and join, please. Okay, and then all new members, that's you Alvin, then Eric and Mabel, and also Cece. Yep, please come on up.

Oops.

Very good.

Thank you.

Let's welcome, uh, some new visitors. I have Justin and Danny Tennant. Where are you? They are from Pastor Thomas Wong's church in New Jersey. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm Justin. This is my wife Danny. We're actually— some of you might know Daniel Godsave. He's the pastor at the church that we go to in New Jersey. We're visiting because him and our head pastor got us connected with Michael, and we'll be spending most of the, most of the day and afternoon in the church sharing about a ministry that we do at Rutgers University. If some of you are familiar with Cru, or Campus Crusade for Christ, we work with the ministry associated with that. So we're glad to be here. To be here and excited to meet some more of you guys here this afternoon.

Welcome. Welcome to our Sunday service from Narwon. It's not that far from New Jersey, right? Any other first-time visitors to our church?

No? Okay.

All right, so first, our church bulletins always available at the wcc.churchcenter.com, and all the bulletins have been posted. And if you want to know more detail about announcement, you can always go there and check it out. Next one is the Amonkow, January 13th at the 6 PM over at at the new, well, nan, the fellowship hall over there. And so where all the younger moms are welcome. Sort of like fellowship, January 17th at 4:00 PM, same way, the lounge. We have every Wednesday night, have a prayer circle. It starts at 7:30 PM. So if you would like to know more about this prayer circle, you're always welcome to join the WhatsApp app. If you want to know more detail or you want to be included, please contact, I believe, Elder Michael Patarola. He will add you in. Then the church expansion, please continue to pray for our church expansion project. So far we have raised $827,000. $700,000. We still have a little distance to go to meet our goal of $1 million by the end of this year. So we still have about 10 days to go. All right, so if there's no other announcement, okay.

Please rise for the toxology. Right before the benediction, which is a blessing that we give to the congregation as they leave, we want one more picture. There's time if the youth would come up and get a picture picture with Alvin, we'd appreciate that. So after I say the doxal, the benediction, if the youth could come on up. Okay, please receive the benediction. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of his Holy Spirit be with you. Go and serve the Lord in peace. Okay, if the youth can come forward and get a picture with Alvin. Yeah, center around here. You can be in the center there, Alan.