Tomorrow is 1/1/24 AD. Does anyone remember what AD means? It comes from the Latin phrase Anno Domino, which means the year of our Lord. We tend to forget that God controls time, history, and the future. In this section of Daniel, we enter the prophecy of the end times, which theologians call eschatology. The focus is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This type of literature is called apocalyptic literature. Daniel uses symbolic language with strange symbols and descriptions which appear "like." As we explore these chapters of Daniel, let us remember that the centerpiece is the Second Coming and our preparedness.
: The core meaning of Christmas is faith and hope. To understand this, we need to put ourselves into the time and place of the faithful Jews of Israel who understood God's promise of the coming Messiah who would suffer and die for the salvation of Israel and the world. They had faith and hope in the promises of God about the incarnation of Jesus into this mess of humanity to bring redemption, forgiveness, new life, and new purpose by faith in Him. In this passage written by Dr. Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we meet two people of faith who trusted God's promise of the Messiah. We will learn valuable faith lessons from Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna.
[audio mp3="https://www.crossbridgeofocean.org/wp-content/uploads/sermons/2023/12/2023_12_10.mp3"][/audio] Paul, in his letter to the churches in Philippi, received word that some were not getting along in the churches. So, he gave them a directive to help…