blc sermon - signs - 20131109
TRANSCRIPT
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#CountdownToDoomSunday
9 Nov 20142nd Sunday before Doom Sunday:
Countdown to Doom SundayAs we move towards the end of the liturgical year towards Doom/Christ The King Sunday, we will embark on a series ofthematic Scripture Readings to guide our hearts and thoughts in preparation.
(Doom Sunday – also known as Christ The King Sunday – is the last day of the church liturgical calendar. “Doom” in oldEnglish meant “Judgment” or “Destiny”. The whole month focuses on the 2nd Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment)
DATE TIME EVENT READINGS SPEAKER LEAD WORSHIP
2 Nov 10 am3rd Sunday Before
Doom Sunday
OT: Jeremiah 31:31–34
NT: Romans 13:11–14
Gospel: Matthew 21:1–9
Pastor Augustin Leigh
9 Nov 10 am2nd Sunday Before
Doom Sunday
OT: Job 14:1–6
NT: I Thessalonians 4:13–18
Gospel: Matthew 24:15–28
Leigh Sia
16 Nov 10 amSunday 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
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#CountdownToDoomSunday
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 desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea
must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to
pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for
pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in
winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began.
And it will never be so great again. 22 In 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.24 For 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. 25 See, 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! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the
west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a
carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
Of Completion
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_eventsBonus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictions_and_claims_for_the_Second_Coming_of_Christ
Harold Camping
Predicted Jesus Christ would return to Earth on May 21, 2011… culminating on October 21, 2011, with the final destruction of the world. He had previously predicted that Judgment Day would 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 knoweth no 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."
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.
[…]
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
Of Hope
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NLT)
The Hope of the Resurrection13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who
have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For 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.
15 We 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.16 For 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 died will rise from their graves.17 Then, 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. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
“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>
“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>
“The church is only true to
its calling when it is a
sign, and
instrument, and a
foretasteof the kingdom.”
- Leslie Newbigin
Of You And I
It's not just what God has saved you FROM,
but what God has saved you FOR.
In The End, There Is An End
Job 14:1-6 (NLT)
14 “How frail is humanity!
How short is life, how full of trouble!2 We blossom like a flower and then wither.
Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.3 Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature
and demand an accounting from me?
4 Who can bring purity out of an impure person?No one!
5 You have decided the length of our lives.You know how many months we will live,
and we are not given a minute longer.6 So leave us alone and let us rest!
We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.
"Everyone gets the
same amount of time to live –
one lifetime."
Inspired by Neil Gaiman's"The Sandman: Brief Lives"
Living With In Mind
Your eschatology determines your worldview.
One Last Sign:
(And An 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.
“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
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NLT)
The Hope of the Resurrection13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who
have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For 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.
[…]
18 So encourage each other with these words.
"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." ~ Nelson Mandela
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#CountdownToDoomSunday
9 Nov 20142nd Sunday before Doom Sunday: