My Sermon on the web

The message was delivered at the Adventureland Chapel on Memorial Day weekend. We are now approaching Labor Day weekend, however, in my defense, Jack encountered some technical difficulties getting it on the website, and it was not posted until around July 20.

In my last post, I said that the Lord was prompting me to write about some of the things that are happening in this world, and what I feel He is leading me to do about all of this. In this message, I discuss some scriptural issues regarding God’s timetable for the Lord’s second coming, and why I feel that though His return is coming soon, it is nonetheless a ways off yet. These ideas are pivotal to my assessment of our present times and are necessary to my understanding of what we need to be doing in the present day, so I hope that you will take time to listen to it before I start rattling on in the days ahead about what I think is going on in the world.

The easiest and shortest way to access my message is to go directly to www.sermon.net and type in my name in the search box in the upper right hand corner of the page. This will give you all three of my recorded sermons and just click on the one for 2013. A page will appear with a box in the lower left portion of the screen. Click the Media button and a drop down will give you a button to press to play the recording of the sermon. In the upper right corner of the page is a playlist. This will give you access to other Adventureland Chapel sermons as well as those by other CRM chaplains.

Below is a copy of a scripture sheet that I handed out for the benefit of those who were unable to bring their Bibles with them. All quotes are from the New Living Translation.

Thanks form sharing this moment with me today.
 

2 Timothy 3:1-5.          1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

Acts1:9-11       After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Matthew 24:6-14                     And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.* 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations* will hear it; and then the end will com

Rev. 5:9                       And they sang a new song with these words:

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and break its seals and open it.

For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation."

(pay attention to the tense of the verbs)

Acts 1:6-8        So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Matthew 28:18-20      18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,* baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

2 Peter 3:14    Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.     And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

Matthew 24: 36-38     “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.* Only the Father knows.

37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

Limitations

“A man’s got to know his limitations.”

”Dirty” Harry Calahan

                               

Several friends have asked me recently why I have not written in this blog lately. It was gratifying to me to hear that someone even noticed! I didn’t really think that anyone, except perhaps Bob Johnson, actually read any of this.

When I first began writing this blog I was a mere lad of 60 years (see archive 2006, New Beginnings). I am now 67, and if I have noticed nothing else over the last seven years I have noticed that my stamina and endurance have decreased. By the time I work a 50-55 hour work week, and by the time I prepare my lesson for small group, I have nothing left for the blog. Add to this the fact that I have felt particularly uninspired in recent years, and the blog has gone unwritten, compared with what I had done in the beginning. “A man’s got to know his limitations.” And I am certainly beginning to know mine!

To any and all who have wanted to read and have been disappointed, I apologize. Some who have followed in the past know that I have had a tendency to beat myself up over the fact that I have been writing nothing. I have become convinced that this has been God’s will, and that He has wanted me to do other things with the time and energy that He has given me. Not the least of these things is the small group teaching both here in Des Moines and in the Rio Grande Valley.

The summer work marathon is now over. I am cutting back to 40-45 hour work weeks with a whole two days off each week. Also, God has been speaking to me about getting back to the writing. I am also feeling His prompting to offer my comments about what exactly is going on in our very troubled world and what He has lead me to do regarding these times we are finding ourselves in.

I am encouraged by the famous Isaiah 40 passage, and will claim it’s promise:

 Have you never heard?

Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
        He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
        Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
          But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)

Stay tuned to this “station” for more.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.