A new 4 week series on the Book of Romans begins on Tuesday and runs for 4 weeks. Beginning the day after the Romans series airs there will be a new mini-series titles, "Enduring Faith" - short daily messages designed to help you carry the truth of Romans into everyday life. Romans gives us the foundation. Enduring faith helps us live it.

Both begin this week. I'm excited to share this with you.

Keep Choosing Love Today.

We're in our last 2 days of our “Heroes Who Waited” series – as we are finishing up in the Book of Acts and I wanted to talk to you about Simeon and Anna. Now, if you’ve never heard of Simeon and Anna, you’re in good company. Most folks sitting in their car or folding laundry have no idea who these two are. They’re tucked quietly into Luke 2 — same chapter as the Christmas story — but they’re not part of the manger scene, so they get skipped.

But their story is one of the most beautiful pictures of waiting in the entire Bible.

Let me give you a little background. Simeon was an older man living in Jerusalem. Scripture says he was righteous, devoted, and deeply connected to God. And at some point in his life, God made him a promise: He would not die until he had seen the Messiah.

Imagine carrying that promise in your mind day after day...year after year. Decade after decade. Walking into the Temple wondering, “Is today the day? Will I see Him today?”

That was Simeon’s life — a long, faithful wait.

Anna’s story is just as powerful. She was a prophetess. She had been widowed young — married for seven years, then alone for decades. But instead of becoming bitter or isolated, she devoted her life to worship. Scripture says she stayed at the Temple day and night, praying, fasting, and waiting for God to fulfill His promise to Israel. Two elderly believers. Two quiet lives. Two long waits.

And then one ordinary day, Mary and Joseph walk into the Temple carrying baby Jesus — just doing what Jewish parents did. Nothing flashy. Nothing dramatic.

But Simeon sees Him… and instantly knows. This is the One. This is the promise. This is the moment he’s been waiting his whole life for.

He takes Jesus in his arms and basically says, “Lord, You kept Your word. I can die in peace now.”

Anna sees Him too. And she doesn’t hesitate — she starts praising God and telling everyone around her that the Messiah has come.

So what make Simeon and Anna heroes?

They didn’t wait for relief. They didn’t wait for healing. They didn’t wait for a personal miracle.

They waited for Jesus Himself.

Their waiting wasn’t passive. It wasn’t frustrated. It wasn’t resentful.

It was devoted.

They kept showing up. They kept worshiping. They kept believing God’s promise even when it looked like nothing was happening.

And that’s the message for us today:

Friends, please hear me when I say this. Some waiting seasons aren’t about what God will give you. They’re about who God is shaping you to become while you wait.

Simeon and Anna remind us:

You’re never too old for God to fulfill a promise. You’re never forgotten. You’re never overlooked. And your faithfulness in the quiet years matters more than you think.

They waited their whole lives… and God made sure they didn’t miss the moment.

So, Keep praying, don't stop waiting and Keep Choosing Love Today.

We're in the last 3 days of our “Heroes Who Waited” series – as we finishing up in the Book of Acts and I want to talk to you about Hannah. You can read about her in the Book of 1st Samuel specifically in the 1st and 2nd chapter. Now, if you’ve never heard of Hannah, you’re not alone. Most folks only know her because she’s the mother of Samuel — one of Israel’s greatest leaders — but her own story is powerful all by itself.

Hannah lived in a home as one of two wives — her husband loved her deeply, but she couldn’t have children. And in that culture, that wasn’t just a disappointment… it was a wound. A public wound. A wound people talked about. A wound people judged.

To make it worse, the other wife — the one who could have children — rubbed it in. Year after year. Little comments. Little digs. Little reminders that Hannah didn’t have what she desperately wanted.

So Hannah carried this quiet heartbreak. Not for a week. Not for a season. But for years.

And that’s where her heroism begins — in the waiting.

Hannah didn’t wait casually. She waited with longing. She waited with tears. She waited with prayers that felt like they were hitting the ceiling. She waited while other people got the blessing she was begging God for.

One day, she went to the Temple and poured her heart out so honestly that the priest thought she was drunk. That’s how raw she was. That’s how deep the pain went. That’s how long she had been waiting.

And here’s the part that makes Hannah a hero: She kept showing up.

She kept praying. She kept hoping. She kept trusting that God saw her — even when she didn’t feel seen.

Hannah teaches us something that every listener needs to hear:

Waiting doesn’t mean God is ignoring you. Waiting means God is preparing something bigger than you can see.

Her waiting wasn’t wasted. Her tears weren’t wasted. Her prayers weren’t wasted.

God eventually answered her — not with just a child, but with Samuel, a man who would become a prophet, a leader, and a voice for God in Israel.

But here’s the deeper truth: The miracle wasn’t the point........the waiting was.

Because in the waiting, Hannah learned to trust God with her deepest desire. In the waiting, she learned to surrender. In the waiting, she learned that God’s timing is better than her timing.

And that’s the message for us today.

Some of us are waiting for healing. Some for clarity. Some for a relationship to mend. Some for a door to open. Some for a prayer to finally be answered.

And like Hannah, it feels slow. It feels quiet. It feels unfair. It feels like everyone else is getting what you’re praying for.

But Hannah reminds us:

God sees you. God hears you. God remembers you. And God is working — even when you don’t see anything happening yet.

Hannah waited with longing… and God turned her longing into a legacy.

Don't stop praying, don't stop waiting and Keep Choosing Love Today!