36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[a] but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour[b] your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (NKJV)
He also pointed out the previous verse:
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
He said that confirmation is when we stand up and we know what it means to know the Lord personally. Not our parents or godparents, but WE say what Christ is to us. His words become important to us. There are 3 things we get from vs. 35: 1) None of His word will pass away or prove to be untrue; 2) Jesus is coming soon; 3) We mush be ready! We are between the 1st and 2nd Advent (the Second Coming). His question is: how do we get ready? It shouldn't be hard-we're always getting ready for something. Getting ready for work; for a holiday; a deadline at work. We should make getting ready for the Lord part of our schedule.
He also spoke about the church in China. China is an emerging power. Not just economically but spiritually. Even missionaries from China are coming to Pakistan to spread the Gospel. {Insert big smile here.}
We also had some hymns that I really enjoyed. One of my childhood favorites was the opening hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy. I think the reason it was my favorite was that I always pictured someone with a bunch of holes in their socks. LOL We sang a hymn by Rob Hayward.
"I'm accepted, I'm forgiven, I am fathered by the true and living God. I'm accepted, no condemnation, I am loved by the true and living God. There's no guilt or fear as I draw near to the Saviour and Creator of the world. There is joy and peace as I release my worship to You, O Lord."
We also sang "As a Deer Pants for the Water", another favorite of mine.
The confessional prayer from the liturgy was:
"Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against you and against our neighbor in thought and word and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen."
After church we went to a member's home to practice for the Nativity program which will be on the 21st. All 3 kids will be in it...if the twins can be persuaded to do it. They're more interested right now in playing with whatever toys are around while the others are rehearsing.
I hope when Sunday roles around this week that you all enjoy your time of worship and prayer as much as I did today.
2 comments:
Awesome message, Beth. We get so caught up in the every day that we forget to 'get ready' for the Lord. What were the ways your pastor elaborated to 'get ready'? Or was it just a general message?
BTW, Holy, Holy, Holy is one of my favorites, too, but not because of the socks. ;)
A unique perspective to hear how that Gospel text was preached--it was our text this Sunday.
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