Scripture: Luke 21: 5-19; Psalm 98 and Malachi 4:1-2
Title: Don't Just Wait! Be Jesus!
Scripture: Luke 21: 5-19; Psalm 98 and Malachi 4:1-2
Title: Don't Just Wait! Be Jesus!
Jesus is coming again! What do we do while we wait? 1. We stay awake and focused on Jesus 2. We grow deeper in our spiritual walk 3. We stay engaged in serving others
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world.
Recently, I read where someone explained human life this way - Birth, School, Work, Marriage, Debt, Children, More Debt, Cake, Weight Gain, Retirement, Cancer or Heart Disease, Sorrow and Death.
I thought that was a little cynical but I guess for a great many people that could sum up their lives. One thing we do know is that whether or not all those things are going to be a part of our lives there is one thing that we know for sure that will be a part of our lives and that is "waiting".
That's right. Waiting. It's something that we all have to endure. For example here are some of the things that we know require "waiting"
+To make our grand entrance into the world we have to wait about 40 weeks
+In order to eat solid foods we have to wait another four months
+It will be another 25 months before we have the whole potty trained thing conquered
+It will be another 15 - 16 years before we can get out of the house
But even then we are not through "waiting"
+ On average it will take six years for us to get our BA or BS degree
And then life continues to require us to wait
+The average time a person has to wait to get their car back after having a car accident is around 10 days and that is after they are allowed to work on the car.
+The average time a person has to wait to see a GP is about 10 days, to see an OB/GYN about 15 days and to see a cardiologist about 20 days.
+The average time a person has to wait in an ER is around 24 minutes and that is only if they have something life threatening. Otherwise it could days hours, days, months (only kidding)
+The average time it takes to build a single family home is around 7 months
+The average time it takes to close a loan on that house is around 50 days
+The average time to actually own that home is around 30 years
Waiting is just a part of life. We wait in traffic. We wait in lines at the store. We wait, we wait and we wait some more.
Our passage in Luke 21:5-19 deals with waiting. Jesus took the opportunity while he and his disciples were walking around the Temple to share some revelations concerning the Temple, the nation of Israel and the Coming of the Son of Man.
Jesus tells his followers that there are some thing that are going to happen very soon. One of course is that the Temple which they were all looking at and admiring would soon be gone. Another is that there would be the appearance of false messiahs. Still another would be wars, international conflicts and natural disasters.
What Jesus doesn't share is a calendar of exactly when all those things are going to take place. Scholars tell us that when Jesus shared this with his disciples it would be another 35 - 40 years before Jerusalem would fall into the hands of the Roman general Titus. As to wars, international conflicts and natural disasters those have been a staple before and since the time of Jesus. Jesus used a number of parables throughout his ministry to address the time of His Second Coming - the Parable of the Fig Tree, the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents.
As you look over all of Jesus teaching on the apocalypse and end time things you quickly can surmise three main tenets:
1. No one knows or will know the exact timing. Even Jesus doesn't know the exact timing.
2. There are no specific signs that clearly mark out the time. There are many signs but for the most part they are oblique and confusing. Even after studying the Parable of the Fig Tree one is left with some confusion and wonder.
3. There is "waiting"
There it is again. Waiting. So, if we have to wait what do we do while we wait?
It is interesting to look around a car repair shop, a doctor's waiting room or while you are waiting in line at a store and observe what people do while they wait:
+Some people simply smile a lot
+Others begin to talk or continue to talk on their cell phones
+Some get on their social media websites
+Some just stare out into space
+Some begin to play a game
+Some read the newspaper or look at a magazine
+Some watch a TV show, a movie or listen to a song
+Then there are some that begin to engage with all those around them
For the past 2,000 years or more we in the Church have been waiting for Jesus' 2nd Coming. Over that time many have tried to convince us that they knew how to read the signs and that they knew when the LORD would return. They would give us this date or period of time. So far, each prophecy has fallen short. But then again, Jesus told us that only the Father knows that exact day and time. So, the real issue this morning as we read this passage is not - Is Jesus coming back - or even when is Jesus coming back - but - What should we do while we wait?
What should the people of God do while we wait?
1. Luke 12:37 reminds us that we should be awake and be watching for Jesus
I think this is part of what Jesus is teaching here in Luke chapter 21. We should have our eyes and ears focused on Jesus and not on all the other stuff around us.
In our passage the disciples were enamored with the Temple. The historian Josephus spent a great deal of time in his writings talking about its majesty and glory. Josephus tells us that it took over 80 years for the Temple and all its outer buildings to be constructed (19 BC - 63 AD). That means while Jesus and his disciples were walking around the area the Temple and its buildings were still under construction. In fact, seven years after all the construction was finish Josephus tells us that the Romans came in and demolished all of it. Jesus' prophesy of not one stone would be left upon another came to pass.
Everyone was focused on the Temple and its buildings but not on the person of Jesus. In a way its comical. The disciples were amazed at the all the alabaster stone and the plates of gold that was being attached to the walls of the Temple while they were walking around with God in flesh. They thought that the most glorious thing around was all the stones when they had been walking around with the Lamb of God for over three years.
It's easy for us as we wait for Jesus to get our attention off of Jesus. It's easy to begin to focus on brick and mortar rather than on Jesus. We see a picture of a beautiful church building and we find ourselves doing the same thing that these disciples did in being amazed with the architecture, the furnishings and all the tapestries. We get caught up looking at the numbers and the finances of the church instead of Jesus. We get caught up looking at all the stuff that is really just dust and rust. We sit around planning and plotting how we can pay for this, how we can build this or how much we now need this or that we forget what is the most important part of any church. It's Jesus.
Today, we are to rejoice with all that the LORD has provided us. We are to see our churches for what they really are - places to meet God. They are not to be worshipped in and of themselves. If we do that then we commit idolatry. We are not to overly focus on numbers or finances. Yes it is true we need numbers and we need finances but how many times did Jesus have to remind his disciples that we are to first seek the Kingdom of Heaven and all these things will be added to us.
Today, the most important thing we can do as we wait for Jesus it to watch and be focused on Jesus.
II. Secondly, we are to Growing - Ecclesiastes 11:6
King Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes 11:6 the need to continual be sowing. He tells us that while we always do not know what will grow or what will not grow we do know if we don't sow anything then nothing will grow. Waiting for the LORD does not give us a license to become stagnant and stale. Waiting for the LORD gives us the time to study His word, deepen our prayers lives and be restored into the image of Jesus.
Waiting for the LORD gives us the time to become like Jesus. The Apostle Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:11-14 that while we wait we should be working on becoming "holy and godly" people. We are to spend part of our time becoming the best people we can be for Jesus. Peter tells us that we to make sure that we are "found by him without spot or blemish and at peace."
Now, that is a tall order. Holy, godly, without spot or blemish and to be at peace. In all of this Peter reminds us to be diligent. That means we should be progressing in our walk of holiness. While we wait, we are called to be the people that God has called us to be - Spirit-filled and walking in the Spirit.
Jesus brings this home in his Parable of the Talents. The sin of the man with the one talent was not that he had not earned another talent but that he had hid it. He had decided that he wouldn't put it to any use. He decided that he would allow it to remain by itself. As a result, Jesus tells us that the man had his talent removed and he was thrown out.
What does that say to us? It tells us that during this "waiting" time the LORD wants us to be busy learning, developing and growing in our faith.
I have known people who have told me that even though they have walked with the LORD for over 30 - 40 years they have never read the entire Bible. Others have shared that they have never fasted and prayed or spent 2 - 3 hours in solitude with the LORD. Still others have never bought or completed a study on a portion of God's Word. Still others believe that one or two times a month is all they need when it comes to Worship and Fellowship.
We have got to wake up and understand that Jesus is giving us time to grow in the faith. Today more than ever we have the means and the opportunity to read His word, spend time in prayer and fasting and learn more about Jesus. There are literally millions of Bible studies on line and in Christian book stores. There are at least 107 different translations of the Old and New Testament for us to be able to read. 107. That's right - 107. So, if you can't read and understand one of them then you have another 106 chances.
We simply do not have any excuse today to not be scholars of God's Word. We simply do not have any excuse not to be a prayer warrior or a person skilled in the spiritual disciplines. We live in a golden era of spiritual knowledge and help. All we have to do is to be disciplined enough to reach out and gather all the spiritual fruit that God is providing for us.
Today, we have to pause here and ask ourselves the question - Are we growing deeper while we wait for Jesus or are we just waiting?
III. Finally, while we wait we are to be serving - Romans 11:12
Romans 11:12 reminds us to "not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord". In other words while we wait for the Lord, He expects His Body of Believers to be actively fulfilling the Great Commission. He wants us to be actively fulfilling his mission of reaching out to the lost, the disenfranchised and the marginalized. He wants us to pick up both our cross and our towel and be active in serving others.
The Gospels are full of stories where we see Jesus reaching out to serve. He reached out to the Woman at the Well. He reached out to the Centurion whose servant was sick. He reached out to the lepers, to the lame and to the blind. Jesus was always reaching out to those who were sick in body and mind. Jesus was always reaching out to those who were social outcasts. Jesus was reaching out to those who were considered saints and sinners.
The question we have to ask ourselves this morning is - While we wait are truly serving? If you look at the average church we would have to give ourselves an "A" when it comes to serving ourselves but not such a high grade when it comes to serving others.
Recently, there has been a bit of buzz concerning the need to tax the church. It has been estimated that billions of tax dollars could be garnered from taxing the church's income and property. Part of the argument for doing so is that when a church is placed next to one of the top charities in the US the church is failing to put a majority of its money into areas of service. Where most three and four star charities are using 75 - 90% of their monies on actual service, the average church is using 75 - 85% of its money on itself. On average only around 5 - 10% of the average church's money goes towards helping those outside of its doors.
This may sound like harsh and unfair criticism. But the truth is we in the church have to take a second look on who we serve. We have to take a look on what we do with the time and resources that have been placed into our care. We have to make sure that we are not attempting to build our own kingdoms instead of simply doing Kingdom work.
It would be easy to simply pass the buck. To say that if we could only raise more monies then we could and would do more. More often than not, however, the more we raise the better buildings we build and the more we pay one another than reaching out to those who need us most.
We tend to focus on those things that are "rust and dust" than those things that are spiritual. We tend to focus on things made of brick and mortar than we do on human beings. Take this simple scenario for example.
There was this church that desperately wanted to grow. Two people approached them with an idea. One was that the church needed to invest in some new equipment. They believed that if the church would spend some money to modernize itself then growth would result. The other person wanted to actually invest in different people praying for the church. They wanted to "scholarship" some people to spend the next few weeks praying for the church. Praying for the LORD to give wisdom and to open new doors for evangelism and ministry. Knowing that some of the congregation needed money they thought that if the church could "scholarship" some of them to come and pray for the church that two things would be accomplished - it would provide some needed funds for some of its older and more needy members and it would create a "house of prayer and intercession" around the church.
Needless to say the group voted overwhelmingly for new equipment. The only statement made by the group about the other option was they could not believe that anyone would be paid to pray. Why in the world would you spend money for someone to spend time praying for a church?
Yet when we read Acts 2:42ff and Acts 6:1ff we find that Early Church believed that the key to their existence and growth was mainly due to the Apostle's ability to share the Word and spend time in prayer. They understood that the two most important things to enable a church to have the power to fulfill the mission that the LORD has given it is for there to be people dedicated to studying God's Word and spending quality time in prayer.
It causes us to wonder how much of a value we truly put on the Word and on prayer. It would be amazing to see a church somewhere someday put an ad for a Prayer Warrior. And if we ever doubt the power of prayer we need to look at the lives of Moses, Elijah, Esther, Daniel and the LORD Himself.
The real question we have to ask ourselves is this simple one - If tomorrow something happen that our church was no longer here at this location what real difference would it make in the lives of those around us? Would people be begging for us to come back or would we simply be just another business that has gone out of business? Would people notice that we did not exist any longer?
I believe that while we wait for the Second Coming the LORD is challenging us to:
1. To keep our eyes and ears focused on Him - not on buildings, not on numbers, not on finances, not on anything that is "rust and dust". Jesus is calling us to focus on Him. For He tells us that if we lift Him up then all people will be drawn to Him.
2. To be busy growing - to be actively involved in a walk of progressive holiness. To be busy in our spiritual formation - Diving into the Word, deepening our prayer life and doing all we can to walk in the Holy Spirit.
3. To pick up our cross and our towel. To make a difference in our communities and in our world. To be reaching out to the lost, to the disenfranchised and to the marginalized. To reach out to those who have been rejected by society. To reach out to those who we find trapped in addictions and in emotional distress. We may not be able to help everyone but if we don't reach out then we won't help anyone.
Jesus is coming again. That is a fact. The question is what will He returns? Will he find us focused on Him? Will He find us growing in His Holy Spirit? Will He find us actively serving Him?
Altar Call or the Lord's Supper
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world.
Recently, I read where someone explained human life this way - Birth, School, Work, Marriage, Debt, Children, More Debt, Cake, Weight Gain, Retirement, Cancer or Heart Disease, Sorrow and Death.
I thought that was a little cynical but I guess for a great many people that could sum up their lives. One thing we do know is that whether or not all those things are going to be a part of our lives there is one thing that we know for sure that will be a part of our lives and that is "waiting".
That's right. Waiting. It's something that we all have to endure. For example here are some of the things that we know require "waiting"
+To make our grand entrance into the world we have to wait about 40 weeks
+In order to eat solid foods we have to wait another four months
+It will be another 25 months before we have the whole potty trained thing conquered
+It will be another 15 - 16 years before we can get out of the house
But even then we are not through "waiting"
+ On average it will take six years for us to get our BA or BS degree
And then life continues to require us to wait
+The average time a person has to wait to get their car back after having a car accident is around 10 days and that is after they are allowed to work on the car.
+The average time a person has to wait to see a GP is about 10 days, to see an OB/GYN about 15 days and to see a cardiologist about 20 days.
+The average time a person has to wait in an ER is around 24 minutes and that is only if they have something life threatening. Otherwise it could days hours, days, months (only kidding)
+The average time it takes to build a single family home is around 7 months
+The average time it takes to close a loan on that house is around 50 days
+The average time to actually own that home is around 30 years
Waiting is just a part of life. We wait in traffic. We wait in lines at the store. We wait, we wait and we wait some more.
Our passage in Luke 21:5-19 deals with waiting. Jesus took the opportunity while he and his disciples were walking around the Temple to share some revelations concerning the Temple, the nation of Israel and the Coming of the Son of Man.
Jesus tells his followers that there are some thing that are going to happen very soon. One of course is that the Temple which they were all looking at and admiring would soon be gone. Another is that there would be the appearance of false messiahs. Still another would be wars, international conflicts and natural disasters.
What Jesus doesn't share is a calendar of exactly when all those things are going to take place. Scholars tell us that when Jesus shared this with his disciples it would be another 35 - 40 years before Jerusalem would fall into the hands of the Roman general Titus. As to wars, international conflicts and natural disasters those have been a staple before and since the time of Jesus. Jesus used a number of parables throughout his ministry to address the time of His Second Coming - the Parable of the Fig Tree, the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents.
As you look over all of Jesus teaching on the apocalypse and end time things you quickly can surmise three main tenets:
1. No one knows or will know the exact timing. Even Jesus doesn't know the exact timing.
2. There are no specific signs that clearly mark out the time. There are many signs but for the most part they are oblique and confusing. Even after studying the Parable of the Fig Tree one is left with some confusion and wonder.
3. There is "waiting"
There it is again. Waiting. So, if we have to wait what do we do while we wait?
It is interesting to look around a car repair shop, a doctor's waiting room or while you are waiting in line at a store and observe what people do while they wait:
+Some people simply smile a lot
+Others begin to talk or continue to talk on their cell phones
+Some get on their social media websites
+Some just stare out into space
+Some begin to play a game
+Some read the newspaper or look at a magazine
+Some watch a TV show, a movie or listen to a song
+Then there are some that begin to engage with all those around them
For the past 2,000 years or more we in the Church have been waiting for Jesus' 2nd Coming. Over that time many have tried to convince us that they knew how to read the signs and that they knew when the LORD would return. They would give us this date or period of time. So far, each prophecy has fallen short. But then again, Jesus told us that only the Father knows that exact day and time. So, the real issue this morning as we read this passage is not - Is Jesus coming back - or even when is Jesus coming back - but - What should we do while we wait?
What should the people of God do while we wait?
1. Luke 12:37 reminds us that we should be awake and be watching for Jesus
I think this is part of what Jesus is teaching here in Luke chapter 21. We should have our eyes and ears focused on Jesus and not on all the other stuff around us.
In our passage the disciples were enamored with the Temple. The historian Josephus spent a great deal of time in his writings talking about its majesty and glory. Josephus tells us that it took over 80 years for the Temple and all its outer buildings to be constructed (19 BC - 63 AD). That means while Jesus and his disciples were walking around the area the Temple and its buildings were still under construction. In fact, seven years after all the construction was finish Josephus tells us that the Romans came in and demolished all of it. Jesus' prophesy of not one stone would be left upon another came to pass.
Everyone was focused on the Temple and its buildings but not on the person of Jesus. In a way its comical. The disciples were amazed at the all the alabaster stone and the plates of gold that was being attached to the walls of the Temple while they were walking around with God in flesh. They thought that the most glorious thing around was all the stones when they had been walking around with the Lamb of God for over three years.
It's easy for us as we wait for Jesus to get our attention off of Jesus. It's easy to begin to focus on brick and mortar rather than on Jesus. We see a picture of a beautiful church building and we find ourselves doing the same thing that these disciples did in being amazed with the architecture, the furnishings and all the tapestries. We get caught up looking at the numbers and the finances of the church instead of Jesus. We get caught up looking at all the stuff that is really just dust and rust. We sit around planning and plotting how we can pay for this, how we can build this or how much we now need this or that we forget what is the most important part of any church. It's Jesus.
Today, we are to rejoice with all that the LORD has provided us. We are to see our churches for what they really are - places to meet God. They are not to be worshipped in and of themselves. If we do that then we commit idolatry. We are not to overly focus on numbers or finances. Yes it is true we need numbers and we need finances but how many times did Jesus have to remind his disciples that we are to first seek the Kingdom of Heaven and all these things will be added to us.
Today, the most important thing we can do as we wait for Jesus it to watch and be focused on Jesus.
II. Secondly, we are to Growing - Ecclesiastes 11:6
King Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes 11:6 the need to continual be sowing. He tells us that while we always do not know what will grow or what will not grow we do know if we don't sow anything then nothing will grow. Waiting for the LORD does not give us a license to become stagnant and stale. Waiting for the LORD gives us the time to study His word, deepen our prayers lives and be restored into the image of Jesus.
Waiting for the LORD gives us the time to become like Jesus. The Apostle Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:11-14 that while we wait we should be working on becoming "holy and godly" people. We are to spend part of our time becoming the best people we can be for Jesus. Peter tells us that we to make sure that we are "found by him without spot or blemish and at peace."
Now, that is a tall order. Holy, godly, without spot or blemish and to be at peace. In all of this Peter reminds us to be diligent. That means we should be progressing in our walk of holiness. While we wait, we are called to be the people that God has called us to be - Spirit-filled and walking in the Spirit.
Jesus brings this home in his Parable of the Talents. The sin of the man with the one talent was not that he had not earned another talent but that he had hid it. He had decided that he wouldn't put it to any use. He decided that he would allow it to remain by itself. As a result, Jesus tells us that the man had his talent removed and he was thrown out.
What does that say to us? It tells us that during this "waiting" time the LORD wants us to be busy learning, developing and growing in our faith.
I have known people who have told me that even though they have walked with the LORD for over 30 - 40 years they have never read the entire Bible. Others have shared that they have never fasted and prayed or spent 2 - 3 hours in solitude with the LORD. Still others have never bought or completed a study on a portion of God's Word. Still others believe that one or two times a month is all they need when it comes to Worship and Fellowship.
We have got to wake up and understand that Jesus is giving us time to grow in the faith. Today more than ever we have the means and the opportunity to read His word, spend time in prayer and fasting and learn more about Jesus. There are literally millions of Bible studies on line and in Christian book stores. There are at least 107 different translations of the Old and New Testament for us to be able to read. 107. That's right - 107. So, if you can't read and understand one of them then you have another 106 chances.
We simply do not have any excuse today to not be scholars of God's Word. We simply do not have any excuse not to be a prayer warrior or a person skilled in the spiritual disciplines. We live in a golden era of spiritual knowledge and help. All we have to do is to be disciplined enough to reach out and gather all the spiritual fruit that God is providing for us.
Today, we have to pause here and ask ourselves the question - Are we growing deeper while we wait for Jesus or are we just waiting?
III. Finally, while we wait we are to be serving - Romans 11:12
Romans 11:12 reminds us to "not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord". In other words while we wait for the Lord, He expects His Body of Believers to be actively fulfilling the Great Commission. He wants us to be actively fulfilling his mission of reaching out to the lost, the disenfranchised and the marginalized. He wants us to pick up both our cross and our towel and be active in serving others.
The Gospels are full of stories where we see Jesus reaching out to serve. He reached out to the Woman at the Well. He reached out to the Centurion whose servant was sick. He reached out to the lepers, to the lame and to the blind. Jesus was always reaching out to those who were sick in body and mind. Jesus was always reaching out to those who were social outcasts. Jesus was reaching out to those who were considered saints and sinners.
The question we have to ask ourselves this morning is - While we wait are truly serving? If you look at the average church we would have to give ourselves an "A" when it comes to serving ourselves but not such a high grade when it comes to serving others.
Recently, there has been a bit of buzz concerning the need to tax the church. It has been estimated that billions of tax dollars could be garnered from taxing the church's income and property. Part of the argument for doing so is that when a church is placed next to one of the top charities in the US the church is failing to put a majority of its money into areas of service. Where most three and four star charities are using 75 - 90% of their monies on actual service, the average church is using 75 - 85% of its money on itself. On average only around 5 - 10% of the average church's money goes towards helping those outside of its doors.
This may sound like harsh and unfair criticism. But the truth is we in the church have to take a second look on who we serve. We have to take a look on what we do with the time and resources that have been placed into our care. We have to make sure that we are not attempting to build our own kingdoms instead of simply doing Kingdom work.
It would be easy to simply pass the buck. To say that if we could only raise more monies then we could and would do more. More often than not, however, the more we raise the better buildings we build and the more we pay one another than reaching out to those who need us most.
We tend to focus on those things that are "rust and dust" than those things that are spiritual. We tend to focus on things made of brick and mortar than we do on human beings. Take this simple scenario for example.
There was this church that desperately wanted to grow. Two people approached them with an idea. One was that the church needed to invest in some new equipment. They believed that if the church would spend some money to modernize itself then growth would result. The other person wanted to actually invest in different people praying for the church. They wanted to "scholarship" some people to spend the next few weeks praying for the church. Praying for the LORD to give wisdom and to open new doors for evangelism and ministry. Knowing that some of the congregation needed money they thought that if the church could "scholarship" some of them to come and pray for the church that two things would be accomplished - it would provide some needed funds for some of its older and more needy members and it would create a "house of prayer and intercession" around the church.
Needless to say the group voted overwhelmingly for new equipment. The only statement made by the group about the other option was they could not believe that anyone would be paid to pray. Why in the world would you spend money for someone to spend time praying for a church?
Yet when we read Acts 2:42ff and Acts 6:1ff we find that Early Church believed that the key to their existence and growth was mainly due to the Apostle's ability to share the Word and spend time in prayer. They understood that the two most important things to enable a church to have the power to fulfill the mission that the LORD has given it is for there to be people dedicated to studying God's Word and spending quality time in prayer.
It causes us to wonder how much of a value we truly put on the Word and on prayer. It would be amazing to see a church somewhere someday put an ad for a Prayer Warrior. And if we ever doubt the power of prayer we need to look at the lives of Moses, Elijah, Esther, Daniel and the LORD Himself.
The real question we have to ask ourselves is this simple one - If tomorrow something happen that our church was no longer here at this location what real difference would it make in the lives of those around us? Would people be begging for us to come back or would we simply be just another business that has gone out of business? Would people notice that we did not exist any longer?
I believe that while we wait for the Second Coming the LORD is challenging us to:
1. To keep our eyes and ears focused on Him - not on buildings, not on numbers, not on finances, not on anything that is "rust and dust". Jesus is calling us to focus on Him. For He tells us that if we lift Him up then all people will be drawn to Him.
2. To be busy growing - to be actively involved in a walk of progressive holiness. To be busy in our spiritual formation - Diving into the Word, deepening our prayer life and doing all we can to walk in the Holy Spirit.
3. To pick up our cross and our towel. To make a difference in our communities and in our world. To be reaching out to the lost, to the disenfranchised and to the marginalized. To reach out to those who have been rejected by society. To reach out to those who we find trapped in addictions and in emotional distress. We may not be able to help everyone but if we don't reach out then we won't help anyone.
Jesus is coming again. That is a fact. The question is what will He returns? Will he find us focused on Him? Will He find us growing in His Holy Spirit? Will He find us actively serving Him?
Altar Call or the Lord's Supper
