This week for our Advent series, Pastor Josh looks at Simeon’s Song. Together we see that God is a promise-making God, and we should look forward to the fulfillment of the great promise that Christ will return again.
KEY IDEAS:
- The year 2021 has been a brutal year, reminding us that our hope cannot be in this world.
- We as Christians should turn our attention specifically to the promise of Christ’s second-coming.
- The first aspect of this promise is a relief from death.
- The second aspect of this promise is a restoration of our dignity.
COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS:
- Take a moment to reflect on 2021. What are some of the joys or pains that you’re carrying from the year?
- We have a promise making God. But Christians often miss the power of this, because we receive God’s promises as general rather than specific. Why is it important that we receive God’s promises as specific to us rather than just generalized? What could that do to our faith?
- The promise we are invited to embrace in Advent is the promise of Jesus’s second-coming. When this promise is fulfilled, God will destroy death forever and wipe away every tear from our eyes. When you consider God’s promise of relieving us from death, what happens in your heart?
- The second aspect of this promise is a restoration of dignity. We will finally be fully convinced that we are clean before God, and shame will be unthinkable. How are you carrying shame at the end of this year? What does faith in God’s grace look like as you battle that shame?