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Dec 20, 2020

Advent 04 - Consolation (Click Here for Resources)

Passage: Luke 2:22-35

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Advent 2020

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: worship, hope, advent, peace, fulfillment, satisfaction.

Advent Week #1 saw how Mary ADORED Jesus through a powerful song. Week #2 walked with foreign magicians who laid down their power and status at the feet of the infant Jesus, ADORING him as the True King through sacrificial giving. Week #3, we ADORED in song, community and meditation. This week, Advent #4, we accompany Simeon who, in Lion King fashion, lifted up Jesus (not literally) and declared Him to be the fulfillment (“consolation”) of all of history, the fulfillment of Life itself, born for us, which gives us Complete Peace to live in the now.

 

12.20.20 GBV Livestream from Grace Brevard on Vimeo.

ILLUSTRATIONS

12.20.20 Album

Sermon Discussion Questions

(click HERE for a printable question sheet)

What is something you waited and waited and waited for?
How do you deal with waiting?
How can the waiting make the end-result even better?

The Waiting:
Advent is the season of expectant waiting.

How have you been handing the global “waiting room” as we hold out for the end of this pandemic.

What else are you personally “waiting for?”

What good things and hard things happen in the waiting?

Look at what Simeon was waiting for....the core of what we are truly waiting on, what humanity has always waited on, is satisfaction, fulfillment, peace.

How do you see that playing out in your life?
How do you funnel your resources toward fulfillment?

This word “consolation” is beautiful. It’s the union of two words: “alongside” + “exhortation” -- It is God calling us to be with Him! And the way he’s done it is to come be WITH US.

Think about the hard times in life when you were waiting for some kind of healing -- how valuable was it to have a strong person invite you to come be WITH him/her?

How about if that person first came TO YOU?

What if that person was able to do more than be with you, but to actually fix, truly heal, the problem.

How is that the exact story of Christmas?
The Gifting:
Put yourself in Simeon’s shoes. He was an old man who had been waiting his whole life for the Messiah when the Holy Spirit came upon him and told him to go the temple and meet the Savior.
What was going through his heart?
How might you have responded?

How does Simeon describe the Personification of Consolation?
(verses 29-32)
What did Jesus come to be and do

The True Gifting:
Jesus, the Man of Consolation, had to be born, but also had to be crucified and be raised to complete the consolation. Look in verses 34-35 to see how Simeon realized what Jesus was born to do.

How did Jesus bring a “rising” to many?
How did Jesus also bring a “fall” to many?

Go back to the word “consolation” (Greek: “Parakleesis”). In the detailed writing of God, this is a variant of the Greek word “Paraclete,” which is the common biblical name for the Holy Spirit, often translated as “The Comforter” or “The Advocate.”

As Jesus came as Immanuel (God With Us) in the flesh, the Holy Spirit is God With Us now that Jesus has ascended. As Jesus brought completion and comfort through his birth, life, death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit APPLIES that “consolation”...he IS that “consolation.”

How can we make this season not just about hearing about the gift of consolation, but “unwrapping” it as the Spirit “reveals our hearts” and then in turn fulfills them.

How does it make you feel that Jesus “reveals” (unwraps) our hearts? Read Colossians 1:27 for how it brings hope.