Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014
Scripture
Luke 2:21-38
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the
name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time
of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph
and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in
the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), 24
and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair
of doves or two young pigeons." 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called
Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the
Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 Moved
by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the
child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took
him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 "Sovereign Lord, as you have
promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen
your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for
revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 33 The child's father
and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and
rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the
thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul
too." 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe
of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her
marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the
temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at
that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who
were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Core Idea, challenge, and summary
Core idea: In order to be the savior of the world, Jesus had to be willing to
sacrifice. Likewise, as followers of Christ, if we want to be used by God in some
great way, we must also be willing to sacrifice.
Challenge: To encourage people to sacrifice in order to be used by God to
spread God’s love and expand God’s kingdom.
Summary: When Simeon saw the baby Jesus, he knew he could die in peace
because the Savior of the world had arrived. He then approached Mary and
Joseph, took Jesus into his arms, and pronounced a prophecy concerning Jesus.
(Simeon may have been one of the priests, which would explain why Mary and
Joseph would allow him to take Jesus into his arms.) For the first half of the
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014
prophecy, Simeon announced that Jesus would save the world. He stated, “For
my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all
people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
For the second half of the prophecy, Simeon announced that Jesus would have
to sacrifice and suffer in order to save the world. He stated, “"This child is
destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will
be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a
sword will pierce your own soul too."
In order to be the savior of the world, Jesus had to be willing to sacrifice.
Likewise, if we want to be used by God in some great way, we must also be
willing to sacrifice.
Are you willing to sacrifice your time, money, prestige, power or even your life so
that God can use you to spread His love and expand His kingdom? In order to be
used by God, one must be willing to sacrifice but the end result is glorification.
You will be glorified with Jesus in an eternal loving relationship with God. But
first, we must be willing to sacrifice.
Sermon
I.
Introduction: In order to achieve greatness, we must be willing to sacrifice
A. Amazed when I watched Gabby Douglas win the Gymnastic All-Around
Gold Medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics

She made all those complicated moves look easy

It took years of training, pain, and sacrifice
 Started training when 6 years old.
 At 14 she moved from her family in Virginia Beach to live
with strangers in West Des Moines, Iowa
 Trained 6 days a week (Twice a day for three of those days)
 Regimented eating habits
 In winter 2011 she wanted to quit and move back home but
her mom said, “Life is not easy. You have to fight and just
refuse to quit.”1
1
http://blogs.discovery.com/dfh-insider/2012/08/-gabby-douglas-spill-her-gold-medal-secrets.html
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014
 She gave up a normal social life and high school experience
in order to win gold
 Gabby was willing to sacrifice and, as a result, achieved
greatness.
B. Unlike Gabby, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice in order to achieve the best in
wrestling

I wrestled 3 years in high school and 2 years in college

I was a good wrestler but not a GREAT wrestler
 Had winning season my senior year in high school
 Made the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) wrestling team but
never wrestled in a meet because there was always
someone else on the team who could beat me.

As I look back on it, I realize I wasn’t willing to make the necessary
sacrifice
 In order to be great, I had to wrestle all year round by going
to summer wrestling clinics and participating in tournaments
in addition to the regular wrestling season
 This would require me to get a job to pay for the clinics and
give up other extra-curricular activities such as Boy Scouts,
Civil Air Patrol and Speech Team.
 I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my other activities, time and
money. So, I became a good wrestler but never a GREAT
wrestler.
C. Even Jesus had to sacrifice in order to achieve greatness

Even though Jesus was fully God along with being fully human, He
still had to suffer and sacrifice in order to save the world. He was
not able to save the world from sin without a willingness to sacrifice
 He had to sacrifice some of His Godly characteristics to
become human.
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014
 He had to submit to false arrest and a mockery of a trial
 He had to endure the betrayal of friends
 He had to endure ridicule, beatings and whippings that made
made hamburger out of his back
 He allowed himself to be sacrificed/killed on a cross

This was understood from the very beginning. That’s why Simeon
was able to prophesy this about Jesus.
II.
Simeon’s prophecy about Jesus having to sacrifice and suffer in order to be the
Savior of the world. (Luke 2:21-38)
A. In accordance with Jewish law, Mary and Joseph went to dedicate Jesus
to God. Jesus was approximately 1 month and 10 days old (41 days = 8
days to circumcision + 33 days to Mary being declared pure rom her child
birth).

After eight days, Jesus was to be circumcised (Leviticus 12:1-3)

Then Mary had to wait 33 more days to be declared pure from her
child birth (Leviticus 12:4)

Then, after 33 days, Mary & Joseph were to take baby Jesus to be
dedicated to the Lord. (Leviticus 12:6-7)

When a baby is dedicated to the Lord, the parents offer a Lamb for
a burnt offering and a pigeon or dove for a sin offering. If the
parents can’t afford a lamb for a burnt offering, they could offer a
pigeon or dove instead. (Leviticus 12:8)

Mary & Joseph offered pigeons or doves, indicating their lowincome status.
B. When they walked into the Temple, Simeon greeted them and took baby
Jesus into his arms.

Simeon may have been a temple priest, which would explain why
Mary and Joseph would allow him to take Jesus into his arms

Simeon then pronounced a prophecy concerning Jesus
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014
C. The prophecy spoken by Simeon

First part of the prophecy
 Simeon announced that Jesus would save the world.
 He stated, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for
revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
 Mary & Joseph were probably feeling really good at this
moment

Second part of the prophecy
 For the second half of the prophecy, Simeon announced that
Jesus would have to sacrifice and suffer in order to save the
world.
 He stated, “"This child is destined to cause the falling and
rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken
against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.
And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
 Mary & Joseph probably felt some chills when they heard
this
D. Yes, Jesus rose on the third day and saved the world from sin. Forty days
later, He ascended into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father. But
before receiving this glorification, He had to first be willing to sacrifice and
suffer.
E. Likewise, as followers of Christ, if we want to be used by God in some
great way, we must also be willing to sacrifice.
III.
The necessity of our willingness to sacrifice in order to be used by God in some
great way.
A. Modern examples of people willing to sacrifice their lives for Jesus

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014
 Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany during the
1930s & 1940s
 Anti-Nazi and founding member of the Confessing church
 Strongly opposed Hitler’s genocidal persecution of the Jews
and other ethnic groups
 Wrote: “The Cost of Discipleship”
 Arrested by the Nazis in April 1943 and executed by the
Nazis in April 1945.2

Stores found in the book, “Jesus Freaks” by DC Talk and The Voice
of the Martyrs
 Close to 164,000 Christians martyred around the world in
19993
 1997: Story of two Christian girls in Pakistan: One was killed
by her family for becoming a Christian. The other was
arrested and tortured for her beliefs and went into hiding.4
B. In America, most of us are not asked to sacrifice our faith for Jesus. But
we must still be willing to sacrifice in order for God to use us in some great
way. What are we willing to sacrifice?

Our time? Giving up our time or changing our plans to serve
others?

Our reputation or popularity? It’s sometimes necessary to sacrifice
this when taking a righteous stand.

Our opinions and preferences? Doing the loving thing often
involves not having things our way.

Our money? Generosity involves sacrificing some of our money.

Our security? We must be willing to take risk.
2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer, http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/
DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs, Jesus Freaks (Albury Publishing Tulsa, Oklahoma 1999) page
15
3
4
Ibid, pages 27-29
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“You want to be great? Be willing to sacrifice!”
January 5, 2014

Even in America, we may be called upon to sacrifice our lives
C. Remember, as followers of Christ, our ultimate destiny is a loving relationship
with God in the ‘New Heaven and New Earth’. But before we get there, we need
to be willing to sacrifice so God can use us to bring about His loving will.
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