When Jesus was in Capernaum, on one occasion he was confronted by a demon-possessed man in the synagogue.  The demon cried out, "why are you here to disturb us, Jesus of Nazareth?"  This confrontation served to show the war of authority that was going on then and now between the unseen spirit realm and the Kingdom of God.  This sermon explores the idea of authority and how it works in our lives.

This sermon begins with the experience of young boy Samuel and the voice he heard in the middle of the night.  Samuel learned a good lesson about being tuned in for God's voice in his life, and that is the subject of the sermon this morning.

This sermon focuses on the work that Jesus did to destroy the work of Satan.  A central text to this sermon is Hebrews 2:14 which says, "Only by becoming a human being could Jesus die, only only by dying could he break the power of the devil."  And to the Corinthians that "If the rulers of the world knew what God was up to, they never would have killed Jesus, who by dying would cause their defeat."

The sermon challenges listeners to take responsibility for the wrongs they commit and to turn their energies to resisting Satan's attempts and turning to God.

This sermon is taken from Luke 2:21-40 on the occasion of Simeon's encounter with the infant Jesus.  A hymn called Nunc Dimittis recounts Simeon's statement that he could now depart in peace because he had seen the Messiah.  This sermon