He Heard Me
Tim Ross | December 11, 2022
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Transcription
Tim Ross: How many people would say that is your heart's cry as well? That I want the Lord Jesus Christ to come. If He would do it sooner than later, that would be fine with me. Anybody else? If you came right now, I'd cancel all my plans for this afternoon, jump on a cloud. It's this moment with this request that invites us to a telling of a story that has been told around this time of year for generations.
Yet, every time we revisit the text, God wants to say something new to us. For some it may be the first time you hear it, and for others it is but a reminder that without the Lord Jesus, we can do nothing. And with that in mind that I invite you to the Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter number two, the Gospel according to St. Luke chapter number two. I want to read a few verses in your hearing and then we'll pray.
If you're turning in the paper Bible, say, "What's up?" That's about 13 people. If it's a digital Bible, say, "Hey." That's the rest of us. While you're getting Luke, chapter number two I don't want to move forward without acknowledging a spiritual father, a mentor, a confidant a close friend, somebody that believed in me in ministry when no one knew my name, supported me financially for years, when no one thought to give us anything beside a few pieces of chicken from KFC and some biscuits.
I wouldn't be the man that I am right now, if it wasn't for this man, I for sure probably wouldn't be married if it wasn't for this man. He is one of my heroes, and so I would just going to, I know it embarrasses him, but if you would just stand for just a moment, would you all honor my dear friend, Pastor Jerome Lewis from Seeds of Greatness Church in Wilmington, Delaware. He's accompanied by his son Jay, with him, completely surprised me this morning, stayed for both services. I guess they're gluttons for punishment, but it's good to honor the people that have blessed you.
One of the worst things that could happen to you in life is for you to get amnesia, that type of selective amnesia that doesn't make you remember and consider that you are not here by yourself. You did not get to where you are on your own. Somebody had to help you. May we never forget, no matter where God takes us, of the people that helped us along the way, supported us on the way, loved us along the way, encouraged us along the way. Thank you Pastor Jerome. You being here is our early Christmas gift.
Luke, chapter number two, starting at the 25th verse, here's what it says. "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. When Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord, as the Lord required, Simeon was there, he took the child in his arms and praised God."
These are some very nice parents, "Saying, "Sovereign Lord, now let your servant 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." Mary, did you know? Yes, she did. "Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby's mother, this child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but He will be a joy to many others, He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppress Him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your very soul."
I want you to pay close attention to the 25th verse. 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. If you're taking notes, three words for the title of this message, He Heard Me. I feel very churchy this morning, so if you would turn to your neighbor and say, "Neighbor,
Congrgation: Neighbor,
Tim: good morning.
Congrgation: good morning.
Tim: Thank you
Congrgation: Thank you
Tim: for brushing your teeth.
Congrgation: for brushing your teeth.
Tim: That way when you say, hallelujah, I don't pass out. Say, neighbor,
Congrgation: Neighbor,
Tim: The title of this message
Congrgation: The title of this message
Tim: Is simply three words.
Congrgation: Is simply three words.
Tim: He.
Congrgation: He.
Tim: Heard.
Congrgation: Heard.
Tim: Me.
Congrgation: Me.
Tim: Now turn to your other neighbor and say, Other neighbor,
Congrgation: Other neighbor,
Tim: What's up?
Congrgation: What's up?
Tim: Thank you.
Congrgation: Thank you.
Tim: for wearing deodorant.
Congrgation: for wearing deodorant.
Tim: That way when you lift your hands to praise Him, I am not offended by anything malodorous emanating from your body. Say, neighbor,
Congrgation: Neighbor,
Tim: Just in case,
Congrgation: Just in case,
Tim: you didn't just hear.
Congrgation: you didn't just hear.
Tim: What your other neighbor just said.
Congrgation: What your other neighbor just said.
Tim: I am going to repeat for you
Congrgation: I am going to repeat for you.
Tim: the title of this message,
Congrgation: the title of this message,
Tim: He.
Congrgation: He.
Tim: Heard.
Congrgation: Heard.
Tim: Me.
Congrgation: Me.
Tim: That's good. He heard me. Bow your heads. Let's pray over the word, shall we?
Oh, Sovereign God, thank you for hearing us. Amen.
This is the time of year where nativity scenes are strategically placed in front of the unashamed believers that wanted to be a reminder that there is a reason to this season. This is the time of year when all of the music changes even in the secular world, to the acknowledgement of a significant baby that was born. This is the time of year where those that are conscious of how potent the narrative is returned to scripture to be reminded of the accuracy of the prophetic words that were given in the Old Testament now being fulfilled in the new.
This is also the time of year when those not as astute, forego what has been written and try to just recollect off memory what they believe scripture says. I find the latter very careless and dangerous for the moment we get away from the text, is the moment we get away from context. I invite you back to a passage of scripture that you probably have already heard and known, but to make sure that we are all oriented in the right position, we are talking about the birth of Jesus.
A birth that literally splits time in half, changes the course of human history, and sets in motion the most upsetting life that has literally ever been lived. We find Mary in Luke chapter number two real pregnant. What we would call in 2022, pregnant pregnant. I'm not sure where the doubling up of words comes from but I do know that it has its roots traced in scripture where the verily verilys of Jesus Christ live.
People coming back to the Bible whether they know it or not. Mary is good and pregnant. Nine months in her third trimester, Joseph and Mary have been given a word from Gabriel at separate times but confirmed enough that brings them both back together to literally steward God in the flesh. Of any two people across the expanse of all human history, Mary and Joseph are the ones selected to literally babysit God. "Mary, you have been selected upon amongst all women to literally carry a move of God." Literally.
Colloquialism that we use in church now that, "You know what? You're going to give birth to the things of God." Well, them too, literally had to steward the birth of God in the flesh. They are in Nazareth, Mary is waddling, uncomfortable. I only know this because I impregnated a woman and I saw her in her last trimester. I remember the glances she would give me wondering simply why. I had fun that night but nine months later there is a reminder that a baby has been growing. I'm just talking about Nathan and Noah.
I can't imagine who Mary glances at. It's not Joseph, for they have not even consummated their marriage because she's carrying someone that holy. Here she is in her ninth month, third trimester and it happens to be the year in Rome where the census takes place. The census takes place every 14th year. Mary is in her third trimester, ninth month, days away from giving birth to God in the flesh. The census is not the next year or the year after. This is not the 13th year in which Mary is pregnant before the census. It's not the 15th year right after. This is the 14th year and now we start seeing how sophisticated God is and making sure every single one of his words comes to pass.
It's the 14th year, it's time for the Roman census and because of this, two residents of Nazareth must by obligation legally leave Nazareth and go to the homeland of their fathers. Because Joseph is a descendant of David, he must return for the census and an accurate count to Bethlehem. While Nazareth is the address that Jesus grew up on, it's not His birthplace and it couldn't be his birthplace because the prophets in the Old Testament had already declared that this baby would be born in Bethlehem.
Joseph and Mary are not sophisticated enough to read the words and say, "You know what? In order for prophecy to be fulfilled, we must scooch back really quickly to Bethlehem for this baby to be born." Unbeknownst to them, God starts playing chess and uses a Roman census to get two residents of Nazareth to go 90 miles away from their home to Bethlehem. For a baby to be born. Bethlehem literally means, the House of Bread. How appropriate that the city that Jesus would be born in would be literally be called the House of Bread.
For whom this woman is given birth to is the bread of life and the bread of life should be in a house of bread. Checkmate. This should give at least a 100 people some hope that whatever God has for you, he knows how to strategically get you to the place where it's going to go down. You don't have to overthink it. God will providentially move you and use circumstances that seem insignificant in your life to get you to the place and space where you need to be to fulfill the prophecies that were already spoken over you. He's born in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem, that place where Rachel would push out a baby while she was dying and misname him based on her own struggle, Benoni. Only to have Jacob, her husband and his father run up behind and say, "You will not be Benoni, you shall be Benjamin, son of my right hand." Bethlehem, the place where David was born after the miraculous connection between a Moabites woman named Ruth and Boaz, her kinsman redeemer. David is born whose name literally means 'beloved'. Jesus coming back from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the bread of life in the house of bread. The beloved son of God's strong at his right hand. Checkmate.
You have no idea how many times God has winked as he looked upon your life as you've navigated through it. Not knowing why you took that job, why you moved to that city, why you had to go through that experience. He's literally writing a tapestry of divine prophecy upon your life. Most times we don't even see it into hindsight. We have to walk a little bit further into the distance to turn around and say, "If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side." I know for a fact anybody beside me in the moment, I could not tell that God was in it but five, six, seven feet from it. Six, seven months from the situation I turn around and say, "If it had not been for the Lord that was on my side, I would've been--" He's here. He's here.
4,000 years of prophetic word, he's finally here. Genesis 3:15 is the first prophecy about Jesus given with promise. God looks at Eve but literally through Eve, who says the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent and he shall bruise his heel. They give birth to Cain and Abel. "Is this him? Is this him?" "No." "Is this Seth?" "No." "Is it the great-grandchild?" "No." "Is it the 10th grandchild?" "No." "Is it the 100th grandchild?" "No." Can you imagine receiving a prophetic word? It's not that you don't see it in your lifetime, but your kids don't see it in theirs and their kids don't see it in theirs and their kids don't see it in theirs and their kids don't see it in theirs and their kids don't see it in their for 4,000 years. What do you do when you get a word from God? That's not only not going to happen in your lifetime, it's not going to happen in your millennia. How do you stay faithful to a word that you're not going to even see coming to pass? Believe.
[clapping] That's when you have to have the type of faith that says, "If I don't see it in my lifetime, I'm going to stay faithful enough to pour in what God has taught me to the next generation so that they can take their faith to the next generation, so that they can take their faith to the next generation." Don't give up hope. Don't give up on the word that you received that could not be for you. You were the one who heard it, but it might be fulfilled in your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren.
He's here. This baby is wrapped in some swaddling clothes bundled up. The word of God is here, but it is a weird sight to see the word of God speechless. It is an absolutely weird sight to see the creation as a creature, the creator as the created. It is a very strange sight indeed to see God in the flesh. He is placed in a manger. Prepare yourself about to blow up your nativity scene. It's not a wooden barn like you would find in the countryside of Virginia or Argyle. [laughs] He's not placed in a wooden manger. Most scholars agree that this animal trough was hued from stone.
That after he was wrapped up in these swaddling clothes, he was placed in stone that had been cut out for the feeding of animals. The baby was placed in stone, stone-on-stone that had been cut out to house the chief cornerstone that had been brought in,
rock-on-rock, stone-on-stone. It is another wink of God to just show off and say, I hope you read the signs. This baby is wrapped up in this manger. Most scholars believe that it was a cave that they all huddled in with the animals.
While they're marveling trying to make sense of what this may be, some angels appeared to some shepherds and announced to them that the Messiah has been born. Now this is strategic because the angels could have appeared to anybody. They could have revealed it to the glory of earthly kings. They could have shown themself to scholars. They could have revealed it to the high priests. Why shepherds? Perhaps these angels are killing two birds with one stone being that the shepherds are indeed shepherds who tend sheep.
It would be appropriate then that the angels would reveal and make this announcement to the very person that baby is both shepherd and lamb, both good shepherd and docile lamb. They say, we have an announcement to make. He's here. That really old prophecy, the one people keep going back through Genesis, Exodus of Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the major prophets of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Daniel, the minor prophets like Nahum and Amos and Zephaniah, that book.
Nobody can get to the one that causes panic in the church service on the Sunday when they say, turn to the book of Zephaniah. People go, ''Oh Lord, he's here and you can go see him.'' We already peaked because we've never seen our creator as a creature. It was baffling to us. We have never had the captain of the Lord's army so small. We have never seen the word not speak. You should go see them and the angels sing a serenade in front of these shepherds and these shepherds go, we about to go see if this is the truth.
They show up to the manger and just like the angels has said, he is here, we waited and he is finally here. Now we have to wait for him to grow up. Can I just say that? You do have to let Christ grow on the inside of you. That when you first give your life to Jesus, it is as if this Jesus is introduced to you in a form that you can handle, but trust and believe. If you receive him into your heart, he is supposed to outgrow you until everything about you no longer looks like you and ultimately looks like Him.
He's growing in me. Eight days later, they find themselves in the temple because as devout Hebrews, every male born must be circumcised on the eighth day. Mary and Joseph find themselves in Jerusalem eight days after taking a 90-mile trip to Bethlehem. Thank you Holy Spirit. Let me just pause and say that God is not leading you on a wild goose chase. There are some places you have visited and you've been asking, ''God, why did I have to go through that? Why did I have to go there? I live in Nazareth. I have to go 90 miles away to go to Bethlehem just to turn around and come like 95 miles back to Jerusalem. I don't like the way you're leading me God.''
Just know that every place that He is bringing you is preparing you for every place that He is taking you. I need to say that again. Every place that he is bringing you is preparing you for every place that he is taking you. Nothing will be wasted. I can't tell you how much God taught me about preaching, working as a vending machine filler. I used to fill Gatorade vending machines. I'm going to just let that marinate.
God taught me more about evangelism filling Gatorade machines than me preaching in churches evangelizing because nothing will be wasted. They get to Jerusalem with their eight-day-old baby and they walk in and he has to be circumcised. First male has to be circumcised and given back to God. One brilliant writer would say that this was Jesus' first suffering. That literally his circumcision is the very first time he sheds blood. That blood was as potent then than it was on the cross. It was the right blood, but it wasn't the right season. He is dedicated to the Lord and given back to the Lord and Jesus is literally Joseph and Mary's tithe because Jesus is literally God's tithe. The first fruits amongst many brethren. The only thing you can do with the tithe is give it back. You can't pay it because it wasn't yours, to begin with. The only thing you can do is give it back. The baby that was given to Mary is given back to God because it's the first, and if it's the first, it belongs to God and so the only thing you can do is give it back. God blessed me on my job and I got a big old bonus. The only thing I can do is give it back. Not the whole thing, Tim.
[laughter]
I know I scared 10 people. They were like, "Oh my God.
[laughter]
We already spent that money on gifts."
[laughter]
He's in the temple, He's circumcised, He's been dedicated back to God, and while all this is going on, some random dude named Simeon is introduced into the text. We don't hear nothing about Simeon before this and we hear nothing about Simeon after this. It's almost as if it's an aside to the entire narrative. Could I live with the gospel text without Simeon? Yes. I don't get to know his origin story. I don't know where he comes from. All I know is this dude is righteous and devout and he's eager to see God's salvation. He's righteous, he's devout, and he's eager to see God's salvation. He is righteous, he is devout and he's eager to see God's salvation.
Tim, why are you repeating this? I just want to know, and you mean to tell me people born 100 years before Simeon weren't righteous, devout, and eager to see the Lord's salvation? You mean to tell me Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Judah, Simeon, Levi, Ruben, Naphtali, Asher, Gad, none of them wanted to see the Lord's salvation? You mean to tell me Boaz, Jesse, David, and Solomon did not want to see the Lord's salvation? Isaiah, who volunteers to be used by God. You don't think he wants to see the Lord's salvation? Nahum doesn't want to see the Lord's salvation? Amos does not want to see? What makes Simeon so special? Nothing.
See, the reason why I think it's important to highlight Simeon on a day like today is because Simeon is no different between you and I. As a matter of fact, I believe that Simeon is no different between you, me, and everybody else in the entire world because whether people are consciously aware of it or not, everyone wants to be saved. Everyone intrinsically knows they need a savior.
There's some people at a bar right now at 12:06 PM trying to find salvation at the bottom of a drink. There is somebody cuddled up in the arms of a stranger right now desperately wanting to be saved. There is somebody that has mixed a cocktail of drugs together hoping to get high enough to see something they've never seen and experience something they've never experienced.
Everybody wants a savior. Simeon is just a random dude, who just happened to be around at the right time. He's not the only one that prayed to see the Lord's salvation, but the Holy Spirit tells him, "You will not die until you see God's salvation." Can you imagine being in your quiet time and hearing that? You like, "I'm going to write that down. I'm not going to tell nobody just in case it don't happen because it's been like 4,000 years and nobody's seen Him yet, but just in case, let me just write down my name."
He writes it down and the Holy Spirit says, on this seemingly random day, "Go to the temple." It wasn't the Sabbath day. We don't know what day it was. We know it was eight days after Jesus's birth. It could have been a random Thursday, it could have been Monday morning, but the Holy Spirit tells Simeon, "Go to the temple." Simeon doesn't question and he just goes.
Let me just pause and say that when the Lord gives you a nudge, you should move on it. When God tells you to go somewhere, you should just go. Even if it just seems like, "Well, why would I go to the temple? Today is Wednesday, Lord. It ain't the Sabbath. Why would I go?" "Go. Pull up to the church." It's Tuesday and it's three o'clock in the afternoon. "Pull up to the church." "Okay." Simeon goes into the temple. It is Solomon's. He goes to the temple and he's just walking around. "I don't know why I'm here today, but I think I'm supposed to be here. I don't know who I'm supposed to run into today, but the Holy Spirit told me to come to the temple, so here I am. I hear babies crying, but I don't know what I'm doing here."
He said, "I was going to see the Lord's salvation today. Maybe it's a metaphor. I don't know. I'm not sure how to figure it out." I don't know this for sure, but on the day that Jesus was circumcised, that's the day he's also named. I'm going to blow your mind again, especially the Western American church. He's named on the eighth day and his name ain't Jesus. He has no problem with us calling him Jesus, but that's not the name that was uttered out of Joseph's mouth, Mary's mouth. Yeshua.
I don't know if Simeon heard that or not. I can't say that I want y'all to draw that conclusion, but on the day He was named, Simeon is called into proximity with Him. On the day He is named literally Yeshua, meaning God's salvation, Simeon is here. He rose up on Mary and Joseph. What His name is? I don't know why I just made him so — .
[laughter]
What his name is? Yeshua.
[laughter]
Again, Joseph and Mary had to be super nice. If somebody reaches for my eight-day-old baby, it ain't going to go the same way. They going to get a two piece. He grabs this baby. He's looking into the face of God. I know Moses saw God face-to-face, but Simeon did too. He looks at this baby, he looks up at the parents, he looks at the baby. This is the salvation of the Lord. Then he says something that is absolutely crazy. "Lord, I can die now."
A lot of people think that Simeon is an old man. The text does not support that. It does let us know that Anna was an old woman, but it is not clear that Simeon was an old man. There's a tradition that says he's about 130 years old when he sees the face of Jesus but, that's merely a tradition. We don't know how long he had been waiting, but isn't it just like us as humans, to consider any waiting to be a very long time? You can be stuck in traffic for 30 minutes and your retelling of the story is so embellished. "It took forever. Oh my God. Soon as I turned off of 635 to 35, Oh my God. Took me nine hours to get home." The accurate record reflected was 42 minutes. Nobody died.
Here you are in the retelling of the story. It lasted forever. I don't know if Simeon was 130 or 27. I don't know if he was 35 or 93. All I know is he was given a promise that he would not die before he saw the Lord's salvation. When he looked into the face of this baby, he literally said, "I can die now." The preacher in me because I woke up so preachy this morning, the preacher in me almost entitled this message, "I've Seen Enough."
For Simeon literally looked into the face of Jesus and said, "I don't have to live past this day. I have seen enough. I don't have to see Him open up blind eyes, I don't have to see Him turn water into wine. I don't have to see the crippled walk, I don't have to see a bent over woman with a issue of blood, have her issue dried up, I don't need to see leper skin healed, I don't need to see blind eyes open, I don't need to see deaf ears unloose. I have seen enough. I don't know if there's anybody in here that's like me, but when I gave my life to Jesus, that's all I needed, baby.
I don't need a promotion. I don't need a bigger house, I don't need you to call my name, I have seen enough, He freed me from pornography. He freed me from a life of sin, He freed me from all the bondage I was in. If He never does another thing, I've already seen enough. I saw Him heal me on the days where I thought my mind was going to be trapped in darkness. I've seen Him move in people that I thought would never be free. I've seen Him do miracles that were incomprehensible. I have seen enough."
Once you get to that place, the enemy can't bother you because your salvation isn't in how many zeros you find in your bank account. It's not found in the lambskin that's hanging on the wall. It's found in the lambskin that was hanging on the cross.
[applause]
He turns around, he says, "Mary, there's this word swelling up in my heart for you, Mary. This baby, this baby is going to be a stumbling block for many and a joy for others. Mary, you gave birth to a splitter. He'll bring some families together and break some families up. You gave birth to a splitter. He will be the condemnation of some, and the consolation of others. You have given birth to someone who will cause people to want to kill Him and others to want to keep Him. Oh Mary, who you have here is going to be a sign, a brilliant light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Do you know what this-- I can't believe I'm holding this baby.
He's going to reveal the hearts of men and people are not going to want to see themselves. He and even you, Mary, I'm so sorry. This cute little baby I'm holding will pierce your very soul." Joseph is standing right next to Mary. "You didn't mention my name." "You won't be here Joseph," which is why the prophet prophetic word about the piercing of the soul is only attributed to Mary and not to Joseph 'cause he wasn't going to be alive long enough to even see that coming to pass.
I found out something about God that was just mind-blowing to me. God doesn't only answer prayers, He answers thoughts. I did not know He would do that. I thought it had to be like an official, I thought the formula was, Dear Lord. If you're from a certain circle, Father God. If you're from a certain circle that's more Father Gods than there are any other words in the whole prayer.
Jeanette, I didn't know that He heard thoughts and that He would count thoughts as prayers and answer them. Simeon's name literally means God hears me, that's where the title of this message comes from because while holding salvation, Simeon, holding Yeshua is literally a sentence that the whole world has been looking for. The salvation of God is here.
He heard me. I did not know it was you I was looking for, but you heard me. You heard my heart crying out for a savior. I thought it was Him. It was really you. I thought it was her. It was actually you. I thought it was there. It's actually here. I thought it was here and it's actually there. He heard me and He hears you. Today, I want you to see the salvation of the Lord in the same way Simeon did. There is somebody in this room today that needs the salvation of the Lord and the Holy Spirit brought you here to see the Lord's salvation.
Well I'm not sure I wanted it to be at a relationship with Jesus. You may not have known that, but it's what every single one of us needs. Hear me. It's not what every single one of us wants. Jesus is not so much of a want as much as He is a need, by necessity we need Jesus. It is only after a relationship with Him did your desire change to the fact that you want Jesus, but we all need Him.
The reason why we don't want to need Him has to do with ego and has to do with pride. Has to do with the fact that we want to be in control and we don't want a Lord and we don't want to savior. We don't want nobody telling us what to do. We don't want nobody telling us to put that down. We don't want nobody telling us to pick that up. That's not what you want, but it's what you need. My invitation with this entire message is to let someone know today, whether in this room or watching us online, that He heard you. Today is the day of your salvation. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?
There's a Simeon in the room who had no idea they would see the Lord's salvation today. God has set it up that you don't have to leave this place without seeing God's salvation face-to-face. Without literally holding it in your heart and allowing that salvation to grow on the inside of you. While every head is bowing and every eye is closed, I'm wondering if there's one person in this room that would not be opposed to embracing the salvation of Yeshua today. Not only has God heard your prayers, He's heard your heart. He's known what it's crying out for, and He's telling you today it's not money. It's not sex. It's not more fame. It's not more exposure. It's not more notoriety. It's not a fourth quarter sales boost. It's Him.
If you would not be against embracing Yeshua today, you'll walk out of here like Simeon did, saying, "I've seen enough. I now have the salvation that I've been looking for, and this is all I need for the rest of my life." If that's you and you want to give your life to this Yeshua that I'm talking about, would you just raise your hand? Every head is bowed, every eye is closed but I want to give my life to Jesus right now. I see that hand. I see that hand. Thank you. I see that hand. Thank you. I see your hand in the back. You should be proud to raise it up. I see that hand. I see your hand. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. Ooh, I see you. More importantly, He sees you.
He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. He cares for you. Thank you. You can put that hand down. Every head is bowed, every eye is still closed. I just want to let you know how easy it is to accept this baby who became this man to die for us. Romans 10:9 makes it so simple that it almost feels like you're missing something. "If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Not might. You will be saved. That's the promise. It's not difficult. It's rather very —. Jesus died on a hill on a rugged cross, not a mountaintop. If he died on a mountaintop, it would take only the mightiest of men and women to get up there. He died on a hill and alas, if Jack and Jill could get up the hill, I believe you can too.
God, I thank you for every person that has raised their hand, but more importantly, opened their heart to receive the Christ, Yeshua, into their hearts. I ask that you would God do what only you can do when no one else can fathom. Save us from the inside out. Bring light to dark places. Bring hope to our helplessness. Bring good and bring God to every aspect of our life. For the glory of your name, the angels hear rejoicing at one hand going up. I'm sure they have to be having a ridiculous party seeing how many hands went up today. We join in that celebration to say thank you, God, for the salvation of many at the telling of the story that heals, saves, set frees, delivers, transforms and renews. Thank you that you hear us. In Jesus' name, amen.
