Living With The End In Mind

Good morning brothers and sisters, welcome to Lighthouse Evangelism Online Service.

Let us stand up to read the Bible passage: from 1 Peter 4:7-11

“The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,

so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Introduction

Peter tells us in Verse 7a “The end of all things is near”.

During last Sunday service, we heard the message from 1 Pet 4:1-6 on “Judgement is Coming”.

Today I am going to share with you a message entitled: Living with The End in Mind.

In the not- so- distant past, I attended a church camp in Melaka.

Like all overseas trip, there was a beginning and an end to the church camp.

Before the trip, we made all the necessary preparations. Once we arrived in Melaka. We had a lot of fun, fellowship and also was fed with the full course of the Word of God. We enjoyed ourselves very much during the 5 days.

On the last day, there was a retro themed gala night with one of the pastors dressed up as Elvis Presley. Finally, that concluded the church camp.

The exchange rate for Singapore Dollar to Malaysia Ringgit was so good, so we felt very rich during the trip to Melaka. It felt like we were living by the motto

“EAT MORE, SHOP MORE, BUY MORE, SPEND MORE.”

Especially on the final night of the camp, people rushed out to do their last-minute shopping and had a durian feast. They wanted to spend all their ringgit and enjoy themselves before heading back to Singapore.

Can you imagine that if we can do that in the natural, how much more should we do that for the spiritual things especially because they have eternal consequences?

Peter tells in Verse 7a “The end of all things is near”. We must prepare ourselves diligently for the end to come. This life journey will one day come to an end and we must all go home. The Key ideas we want to take note of are – “BE PREPARED” & “BE READY”

We may not know how or when it may happen. But till then, let us do the following:

PRAY MORE, LOVE MORE, SERVE MORE, SHINE MORE.

Point 1 - PRAY MORE

Verse 7b tells us, “Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray”.

We remember Jesus tells a parable in Matt 25:1-13 of five wise virgins and five foolish virgins. All of them have a lamp in their hands. The difference between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins is that the wise ones have prepared oil for their lamps and the foolish ones have not.

The oil represents the Holy Spirit and prayer. We must constantly be in communion with the Holy Spirit through prayer and the Word, in order to have our flask filled with oil.

Do these in preparation of the difficult and trying times which will descend on all the people of this world. Those dark days can arrive at any time. By the time an emergency or a crisis strikes, it may be too late to panic and start looking for oil.

Now is the time to build up your prayer life. Pray more. Be in prayer at the Upperlight Service, form a small group of 2 -3 brothers and sisters to pray regularly.

And pray weekly on a weekend with your family and make the family devotion time a priority.

There are SEVERAL BENEFITS OF HAVING A REGULAR FAMILY DEVOTION. Here are just 3 of them.

1. Family devotion promotes Unity - A family that pray together stays together.

2. Family devotion builds the spiritual strength of each member through reading and meditating on the word of God.

3. Family devotion is a time to pray for the protection of God for each family member and also bring their particular needs and stress to the Lord. For example, we can pray for their struggles at work, or pray for their school exams and those who have fallen ill.

Point 2 - LOVE MORE

Verses 8 & 9 tells us, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling”.