Luke #31: Understanding the Time (12:35-59)

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for being here today, whether you are here in the room or joining us online through the app, the website, Facebook, or YouTube.

If you’re a guest or a visitor this morning, we appreciate you as well! Thanks for being here today, whether you’re a believer or are just checking out the Jesus and the church, whether you’re in the room or online. We’d like to be able to send you a note of thanks for your visit this morning, so if you wouldn’t mind getting us a little information, it would mean a lot to us. If you’re online, you can jump over to our I’m New page on the website or the app and fill out the contact card at the bottom. If you’re in the room, you can just fill out the Welcome card that you’ll find in the back of the pew in front of you. At the close of service, you can either drop it in the offering boxes by the doors, or if you would, you can bring it down to me here at the front, so I can say hello if I haven’t had the chance already this morning, and so I can give you a small gift to thank you for your visit. Thanks in advance for taking the time.

Bible Study Leaders: We appreciate you!

Opening

Thanks to Trevor for taking the pulpit for me last week while I was on vacation. It was nice to be able to sit in the pew with my family and enjoy Trevor’s message on the heart of the kingdom, the heart of greed, and the heart of God all reflected in Luke 12:13-34.

This morning, we will continue our series looking at the Story of the King in Luke by finishing out chapter 12. So let’s stand as we are able in honor of the reading of the Holy Word of God as we open our Bibles or Bible apps to Luke 12, verse 35.

Luke 12:35–59 CSB

35 “Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. 36 You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. 37 Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” 41 “Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?” 42 The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected. 49 “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished! 51 Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. 55 And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this present time? 57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the ruler, make an effort to settle with him on the way. Then he won’t drag you before the judge, the judge hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny.”

PRAYER

I like to learn things. I like to read and wrestle with things, to figure out how things work, how they were designed, or what they might be useful for. I want to understand. But sometimes understanding is difficult, maybe even impossible. I’m just not capable of understanding everything. Agur the son of Jakeh, the author of Proverbs 30, even expressed this sentiment in verses 18 and 19:

Proverbs 30:18–19 CSB

18 Three things are too wondrous for me; four I can’t understand: 19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.

And to Agur, I want to say: “Four things? There are only four things you can’t understand?” For me, the list is much, much longer than four.

But there are things that I can understand, and in fact should understand. In this morning’s focal passage, Jesus challenged the people’s understanding of both what was happening in that time, and what would happen in the future. The concept for this message comes from verses 54-56:

Luke 12:54–56 CSB

54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. 55 And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this present time?

There were particular meteorological signs that the common people could interpret in Israel, and they didn’t have radar and computer models and all of the other weather tech that we have today. If they saw clouds rising in the west, over the Mediterranean Sea, they knew that a storm was brewing. If they felt the beginnings of wind from the south, they knew that it was what we now call a sirocco, a hot desert wind out of North Africa that can even cause plants to wither and die if conditions are right. They could easily predict the day would be a hot one when those winds started blowing.

And there Jesus was, the King of kings, standing before them, declaring the arrival of the kingdom of God, and they didn’t get it. He called them hypocrites not because they could interpret the weather, but because they claimed to understand God’s work and God’s Word, when in fact, they were clueless.

What about us? Even though we talk about the return of Christ, do our lives reflect that we really understand the reality of His coming, or is it just something we say? When we talk about being a part of the kingdom of God, do we consider what that means in the day-to-day, or is it a catchphrase that we use? Like many of the Jews in the time of Christ, is our walk with God only a surface-level or skin-deep understanding of the truths we claim to have built our lives upon?

In our focal passage surrounding verses 54 to 56, Jesus challenged the people to understand four aspects of what was happening in their midst and what was going to happen in the future, and how they should respond. He called them, and also calls us, to understanding: understanding readiness, responsibility, resistance, and reconciliation.

1: Understand readiness.

How many of you men out there were in the Boy Scouts (I only was in Cub Scouts, myself)? Any of you make Eagle Scout? Congrats to you. Anyway, what is the Boy Scout motto? “Be Prepared.” The point of that motto is that the Boy Scout should be ready in both mind and body for any situation, prepared to do their best and live without regret because he has done so. Jesus calls those who follow Him to perhaps an even deeper kind of readiness: one of readiness for a particular event—His return.

Luke 12:35–40 CSB

This is one of those times that Jesus explains the parables once He gives them, and there are two parables in this passage. Verse 40 tells us what the meaning is: that Jesus—the Son of Man—is coming back at a time unknown to us, and therefore, we must be ready. This is as far as we should take these two parables, and not try to read more into them than Jesus explained. Both parables have the same meaning or moral.

We don’t have a very solid personal understanding of what Jesus is saying about this servant readiness, because we have never been household servants. In that culture, a wedding was an extended affair: it took a week. So in this case, the master of the house had gone away to attend a wedding banquet. The master here wasn’t the one who was getting married. He was attending the banquet celebrating someone else’s wedding, and he would come back home when the celebration was over. His servants had one job for his return: to welcome him home by opening the door for him.

And to do that, they would need to be ready. Literally, the phrase “be ready” was to “have your loins girded,” which was to take the back of the bottom part of your robe, bring it between your legs, and tuck it into the front of your belt so you could move quickly, even to run. The servants were to be ready for action. And it doesn’t matter when the master arrives home—in the middle of the day, the middle of the night, or the wee hours of the morning—his servants were to be waiting in anticipation, ready for him to arrive, having their lamps lit fully prepared to celebrate their master’s return. They were to be ready at all times.

Similarly, we who are the servants of Jesus are to be in such a state of readiness. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:

Ephesians 6:14 CSB

14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

This passage from Ephesians isn’t in the context of Christ’s return, however the idea is the same: “belt around your waist,” is the same idiom in Greek—to have your loins girded up… as you stand, let the truth make you ready to take action when the time comes.

But there’s even something deeper in our focal passage: Jesus tells us that the servants who are prepared are “blessed:” fortunate, happy. In fact, they are incredibly blessed, because not only does the master arrive home, but he changes positions with them—the faithful servants are told to recline at the table, and the master then serves them. This is the example that Jesus gave during His earthly ministry: He came to serve by giving Himself so we could be blessed.

Mark 10:45 CSB

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is God incarnate. The only person who has ever deserved to be served by every other person on the planet is Jesus. But instead of Him taking that position, Jesus came to ransom us—we who do not deserve God’s mercy because we are slaves of sin—by giving His life on the cross. The Scriptures tell us that then He rose from the grave so that we can have eternal life.

Jesus literally purchased our freedom from slavery through the payment of His blood. We are brought under that payment through faith: believing that Jesus really did live, really did die for us, and really did rise again, and that He really is Lord. He is the Master, we are the servants. So those who already believe the Gospel should be excited for His return, and we should look forward to it with anticipation! Watching and waiting for Jesus to come back should drive us to walk in a way that reflects our readiness for the Master’s return.

But for those who haven’t trusted Christ yet, believing the Gospel is the first step of being ready, because the Bible also tells us that we aren’t His servants if we don’t believe. We’re actually His enemies.

Philippians 3:18 CSB

18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

And Jesus promised that He would return and receive those who belong to Him by faith, and the timing of that return is unknown to us. This is why Jesus gives the second parable of this passage: the one about the homeowner and the thief. It’s a parallel message—that we are to be ready for the unexpected return of Jesus. The imagery of the thief as an illustration of Jesus’s sudden and unexpected return is used several times in the New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 3:3:

Revelation 3:3 CSB

3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.

We cannot predict when Jesus will return. It could be tomorrow. It could be tonight. It could be right now. His return will be at the right time according to the plans of God the Father, and we are to live in a constant state of being prepared for that return.

Jesus gave us another parable in Matthew 25 that illustrates a similar kind of readiness for His return—the parable of the ten virgins, which will help us transition to our next point:

Matthew 25:1–13 CSB

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them; 4 but the wise ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. 5 When the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 “Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 “The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us!’ 12 “He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’ 13 “Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.

In this parable, we see the connection between the wisdom of preparedness and the foolishness of being unprepared. Five of the virgins were ready for the bridegroom’s arrival, and five were not. Being ready is wise and responsible. Not being ready is foolish and irresponsible. And Jesus’s next parable in our focal passage emphasizes our need to understand responsibility.

2: Understand responsibility.

Yes, our salvation is something that is given to us. However, it’s also something that we are supposed to do something with. If Jesus didn’t have any use for us after He saved us, He could just take us to heaven when we came to faith. But He doesn’t do that. Instead, we see in the next parables (again, there are two in the next section) that Jesus calls us to a responsibility that we must understand as His followers:

Luke 12:41–48 CSB

41 “Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?” 42 The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.

Peter opens this section with a question about the last two parables: “Are these for us, or for everyone?” Jesus’s answer shows us that these warnings are primarily for His disciples, because He gives two more parables, this time contrasting the faithful and unfaithful servants. Suppose a master goes on a journey, and leaves one servant in charge of the others, giving him the task of making sure the other servants have the food that they need to survive while the master is gone. This servant has a responsibility: his master is trusting him to carry out what he has been assigned to do.

So the faithful servant is the one who is found “doing his job” when the master comes. As we’ve already seen, and as Jesus repeats for these parables, the master’s return is unexpected and sudden. The faithful servant just keeps doing his job, even though the master isn’t there watching. The servant has integrity. And according to Jesus, that servant’s reward will be great.

The picture that Scripture paints about this is that if we have been given a responsibility, then we should strive to fulfill it NOT because people are watching us, but because we serve Jesus, and rewards awaits those who faithfully fulfill their responsibilities. Paul wrote to those who were slaves in the church at Colosse:

Colossians 3:22–24 CSB

22 Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, 24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.

If these were the instructions for slaves, how much more should they apply to us who are free? It matters how we work. It matters how we approach school, students. It matters how we approach parenting. We are called to be responsible managers of whatever God has given us responsibility for.

And let me say especially to those who serve in leadership positions in the church, and those who aspire to do so someday—how we lead and how we serve matters. Consider what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 CSB

1 A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God. 2 In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful.

We as servants are to be faithful in serving, knowing that we will be rewarded by the Lord.

But what about the unfaithful servant? We read this passage and we’re like, “wow, that guy is terrible.” It’s like this servant’s mantra is, “While the cat is away, the mouse will play.” Since the master is taking a while to return, this servant decides to act like he owns the place, even though he is just a steward. He abuses the other servants. He takes advantage of his supervision of the master’s provisions. He completely rejects his place. What’s going to happen to him? He’ll face the judgment of the master. And what a judgment it will be! Cut to pieces, and assigned a place with the unfaithful.

We need to remember that being a part of the visible body of the church doesn’t save us. Being baptized doesn’t save us. Being on a church roll, being super involved in the church, being a leader in the church, even being a pastor of the church… NONE of those things save us. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Someone can play a part, have all the right answers, and still be lost. If we claim to follow Jesus, but refuse to do Christ’s work, are we really Christ’s servants?

It’s not that we earn our salvation—certainly not! But if we claim to follow Jesus, and our lives never actually follow Jesus, can we have any real confidence that what we claim is true?

When Jesus returns to put all things right again, there won’t be any hiding. No faking. No pretending. Jesus cannot be fooled, tricked, bought, or manipulated. We’re all either His, or we’re not. This isn’t a question of being perfect. It’s a question of the belonging: Do we belong to Jesus, or not? The last couple of verses help us with this.

Verses 47 and 48 show that there’s a deeper responsibility for the one who knows what is right and still chooses sin versus the one who does what is wrong out of ignorance. The master in the parable disciplines his servants based on their knowledge.

Child of God: Once you know what the truth is, what God’s definition of right and wrong is in a particular instance, you are without excuse if you habitually walk in the wrong. Do you know that viewing pornography is wrong? Then you have no excuse if you go looking for it. But it goes the other way: Do you know that serving one another in love is right? Then you have no excuse if you refuse to do so when prompted by the Lord.

The book of James is very instructive in this regard:

James 1:22–25 CSB

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

James 4:17 CSB

17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.

Brothers and sisters, we have been given a responsibility to steward well the truth in our lives, and to live out that truth in the view of others. Yes, there is a deeper responsibility for those who have been placed in leadership positions, but as Paul says in Philippians 3:16, we should each live up to whatever truth we have attained. We are to be faithful in living the out the unexpected love of Jesus every day, and helping others do the same, because He has called us to follow Him. But if we live it out, Jesus also says that we must understand that we are going to face resistance.

3: Understand resistance.

There are preachers out there who try to make the Gospel more palatable. They preach about Jesus and about love, but avoid the topics of sin and judgment. They manipulate the promises of God in Scripture so that they can preach that belonging to Jesus means that you’ll be happy, healthy, and wealthy in the world’s way of looking at those things: that following the path of Christ will be smooth sailing without any roadblocks, with no opposition or stress. Everyone will be your friend and love you because you’re such a wonderful person. But this is not what the Bible tells us. Jesus dissuades any notion of this in the next section of our focal passage:

Luke 12:49–53 CSB

49 “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished! 51 Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

The fire that Jesus came to bring on the earth is the fire of judgment. Fire is often a reference to God’s purifying judgment in Scripture. In fact, we even see that our works will be judged by fire according to 1 Corinthians 3:

1 Corinthians 3:11–13 CSB

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.

However, what Jesus says here is that it wasn’t quite time for that judgment yet. First, He had to undergo a “baptism.” What did He mean by this? He connected it with the “cup” that He had to drink in Mark 10:38, so He is referring to His crucifixion, where He took the wrath of God against sin upon Himself. He said that He was consumed with that mission until it is finished, which He would declare on the cross just before His death:

John 19:30 CSB

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Jesus’s first coming wasn’t for judgment, but for salvation. And this did, in fact, bring peace. The Scriptures are replete with promises about the peace that comes to us through faith in Jesus… passages like John 14:27, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:17, and Philippians 4:7. Even at His birth, the angel declared that He would bring peace:

Luke 2:14 CSB

14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!

The fact is that we do have peace because of Jesus: peace with GOD. But that doesn’t mean that we have peace in or with this world. The truth is that we should expect that we won’t have peace with those who belong to the world. Just after His birth, Simeon said:

Luke 2:34 CSB

34 Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed—

And some of those who will oppose us, as Jesus says in our focal passage, are those who are closest to us: those who live in our very households. Standing up and following Jesus might mean that we are opposed by our families, our friends, our teammates, and our allies. Here are two examples:

Matthew 10:21 CSB

21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

John 16:2 CSB

2 They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.

We have to understand that these things are going to happen. If we think that the Christian life is going to be one without any form of opposition or trouble, without any difficulty or conflict, free of resistance or relational stress, we haven’t taken to heart what Jesus says to us:

John 15:18 CSB

18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.

Matthew 10:22 CSB

22 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

I’m not saying this is a happy thing. I’m saying it a real thing—Something that Jesus promised would be a part of belonging to Him and following Him. But that doesn’t mean it’s a situation that we should look forward to, or worse, attempt to make happen through our own actions. Instead, we should just humbly walk with Christ, trusting that first the Lord, and then those who are our brothers and sisters in the faith will stand with us, even if the rest of the world stands against us.

However, if it is possible, we should strive to live at peace with everyone, especially the Lord Himself. This takes us to our final point:

4: Understand reconciliation.

The last part of our focal passage sort of feels like it’s out of place. Why did Jesus all of a sudden start talking about someone taking me to court? Certainly, we could take this passage literally, and it gives us sound advice about reconciling with those who have something against us. However, I think that its primary purpose has more to do with reconciliation to God:

Luke 12:57–59 CSB

57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the ruler, make an effort to settle with him on the way. Then he won’t drag you before the judge, the judge hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny.”

Again, this can be super practical. Before I was a pastor, I was a legal assistant. Things always went better for people when they settled before going to court. And notice that it we take this in the practical sense, then it’s US who owes the debt. This reminds me of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:23–24 CSB

23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

But if this passage goes with what we’ve just seen: the message about being ready and responsible in light of Jesus’s imminent return, along with the promised judgment and the fact that we need to understand the time that we’re in: waiting for Him to come back and set the world right… then this passage could be taken parabolically (or as a parable) as well. If that’s the case, what is the central meaning? It’s that the time is short, and we need to be reconciled to God before we face the judgment.

Even though we were God’s enemies (as I said back in our first point), Jesus died so that we could experience reconciliation with God. And He rose from the grave and lives, never to die again, so that we can have eternal life with Him if we have been reconciled through faith in His work on the cross. Paul summarizes this in Romans 5:10:

Romans 5:10 CSB

10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

So if you have not been reconciled to God through faith in Jesus, now is the time to surrender. Now is the time to stop rebelling against God by going your own way. Believe in Jesus.

And for those of us who have already believed, this warning of judgment should prompt us to be people who would beg those facing the coming judgment of God to be reconciled to Him before it is too late. The message of reconciliation is ours to proclaim:

2 Corinthians 5:19–20 CSB

19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

Closing

Do we understand what it means to be ready for Christ’s return, to fulfill our responsibility as we await His coming? Do we understand that resistance is going to come, and that we have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation? In 1 Chronicles 12:32, there is a list of Israelites who came together in one accord to make David king over all of Israel after Saul’s death. There is a special designation for the men from the tribe of Issachar that says they “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” They knew that David should be king. Do we understand the time that we are in? Do we know that Jesus is King, and He is coming again? Are we ready?

If you aren’t ready...

Baptism

Church membership

Prayer

Giving

PRAYER

Closing Remarks

VALUES

Authentic Family

We have fun and encourage each other through life’s ups and downs.

Real Truth

We dig into Scripture for clarity in a confusing world.

Transformational Growth

We thrive as we learn to become more like Jesus together.

Practical Impact

We seek to meet the needs of our neighbors wherever we find them.

Bible reading (Acts 19:21-20:38, Ps 36)

Pastor’s Study will resume September 7

Prayer Meeting: Randy & Joan Bell 5:30 as we said earlier

Memorial services this week: Denis Martinelli on Friday at 4pm, Don MacKenzie on Saturday at 11am.

Instructions for guests

Benediction

Titus 2:11–14 CSB

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.

Related Media

Related Sermons

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.