Sermon based on Job 14:1–6, I Thessalonians 4:13–18, and Matthew 24:15–28 as part of the sermon series #CountdownToDoomSunday 2014.
The sermon takes a look at Jesus' proclamation of "Signs of The End and His Coming Again" and has us think about them in three ways:
1) That these signs can be understood as signs of completion. God is at work in History. We are a part of His Kingdom work – joining Him in what He is already at work doing – seeking the Shalom of our lives, our neighbors and the world.
2) That these signs are signs of hope. Paul’s message to the Thessalonian church centers on the Second Coming of Jesus as a Source of Hope. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we can also believe that, when He returns, we would see life again. We do not grieve like people who have no hope.
3) That’s why, perhaps, the most relevant understanding of Jesus’ signs is to see you and I as signs of Jesus First and Second Coming.
As such, the challenge before us is to live out as Signs of God's Kingdom - living with the end in mind.
The sermon then ends with a challenge and participation exercise: How do you want to be remembered?
- Write three things that you want to see in your eulogy.
- For a fuller exercise, consider writing out your eulogy to be read out by someone at your funeral.
2. Countdown to Doom Sunday
AswemovetowardstheendoftheliturgicalyeartowardsDoom/ChristTheKingSunday,wewillembarkonaseriesofthematicScriptureReadingstoguideourheartsandthoughtsinpreparation.
(DoomSunday–alsoknownasChristTheKingSunday–isthelastdayofthechurchliturgicalcalendar.“Doom”inoldEnglishmeant“Judgment”or“Destiny”.Thewholemonthfocusesonthe2ndComingofChristandtheFinalJudgment)
DATE
TIME
EVENT
READINGS
SPEAKER
LEAD WORSHIP
2 Nov
10 am
3rdSunday Before
Doom Sunday
OT: Jeremiah 31:31–34
NT: Romans 13:11–14
Gospel: Matthew 21:1–9
Pastor Augustin
Leigh
9 Nov
10 am
2ndSunday Before Doom Sunday
OT: Job 14:1–6
NT: I Thessalonians 4:13–18
Gospel: Matthew 24:15–28
Leigh
Sia
16 Nov
10 am
Sunday Before Doom Sunday
OT: Daniel 7:9–14
NT. I Thessalonians 5:1–11
Gospel: Matthew 25:31–46
Pastor Augustin
Alpha
23 Nov
10 am
Doom Sunday
OT: Isaiah 35:3–10
NT: II Peter 3:8–14
Gospel: Matthew 25:14–30
Pastor Augustin
Leigh
Bangsarlutheran.org
bangsarlutheran
bangsarlutheran
bangsarlutheran
web
#CountdownToDoomSunday
3. Matthew 24:15-28 (NLT)
15“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecrationstanding in the Holy Place.”(Reader, pay attention!)16“Then those in Judea must flee to the hills.17A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack.18A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat.19How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days.20And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath.21For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.22In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.
23“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it.24For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.25See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.
26“So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it!27For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Mancomes.28Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
7. Harold Camping
Predicted Jesus Christwould return to Earthon May 21, 2011… culminating on October 21, 2011, with the final destruction of the world.He had previously predicted thatJudgment Daywould occur on or about September 6, 1994.
Camping admitted in a private interview that he no longer believed that anybody could know the time of the Rapture or the end of the world, in stark contrast to his previously staunch position on the subject.In March 2012, he stated that his attempt to predict a date was "sinful", and that his critics had been right in emphasizing the words of Matthew 24:36: "of that day and hour knowethno man". He added that he was now searching the Bible "even more fervently...not to find dates, but to be more faithful in [his] understanding."
11. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among the mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the glass there may have been a looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different —deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know.
[…]
12. And for us this is the end of all stories, and we can most truly say they all lived happily ever after.
But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
-C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia –The Last Battle
14. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NLT)
The Hope of the Resurrection
13And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have diedso you will not grieve like people who have no hope.14For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have diedwill rise from their graves.17Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.18So encourage each other with these words.
16. “In my research, one reason people are so drawn to end-time predictions and prophecy timelines is the desire to experience the Bible as coming to life. People long to see connections between the Bible and their lives. End-time preachers and prophecy buffs generate excitement by drawing arbitrary correlations between the Bible and wars in the Middle East, natural disasters and other events in our lifetimes, claiming these were predicted in the Bible.” –Barbara Rossing, The Lutheran, June 2013
From <http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=11466&key=131469154>
18. “Scripture is coming to life in our world and in our lives —but not in a series of scripted disasters and wars. The Bible comes to life most of all in life-giving moments of hope and healing. We experience the message of the Bible and Jesus' coming by opening our eyes to see God at work in the daily events of our lives. As we await Jesus' coming again, we can give our own bold testimony to how God comes to us in sacramental presence and in our day-to-day experiences.”-Barbara Rossing, The Lutheran, June 2013
From <http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=11466&key=131469154>
19. “The church is only true to its calling when it is a sign, and instrument, and a foretaste
of the kingdom.”
-Leslie Newbigin
27. Job 14:1-6 (NLT)
14“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! 2We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear. 3Must you keep an eye on such a frail creatureand demand an accounting from me?
4Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one! 5You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer. 6So leave us alone and let us rest! We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.
29. "Everyone gets the same amount
of time to live –
one lifetime."
Inspired by Neil Gaiman's"The Sandman: Brief Lives"
30. Living With
In Mind
Your eschatology determines your worldview.
32. How do you want to be remembered?
•Write three things that you want to see in your eulogy.
•For a fuller exercise, consider writing out your eulogy to be read out by someone at your funeral.
33. “Are these the end times?
Well, what if there was an answer?What if you found out that the end of the world really was coming this October on a Tuesday at 2:37 in the afternoon? What if you had proof everything really was about to come to a grinding halt?
It wouldn’t change a thing, would it?You would live exactly as you are living.
Or…maybe it would, maybe it would spur you to take risks, be more generous, stand up for injustice, enjoy each day more.
In that case, what’s the problem?
Why aren’t you doing those things and living like that now?”
http://robbellcom.tumblr.com/post/75715722341/what-is-the-bible-part-41-paul-and-the-end-of-the
34. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NLT)
The Hope of the Resurrection
13And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have diedso you will not grieve like people who have no hope.14For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
[…]
18So encourage each other with these words.
35. "May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears."
~ Nelson Mandela