Church Requel
Instructions For The End Of The World
Edgar Whisenant published a book, 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988. 1988 came and went - no rapture. Harold Camping published a book 1994? a prediction that Jesus’ return was likely pointing to 1994. When that failed to happen, Camping claimed the rapture would be on May 21, 2011 followed by the end of the world on October 21 of the same year. Here we are 6 years later. So what should we do about end of world predictions? How should we live? How do we avoid skepticism and cynicism and doubt about Jesus’ promised second return to Planet Earth. That’s the topic of today’s apocalyptic sermon!
Locations & Times
Church Requel
2 Marion Ave, Mansfield, OH 44903, USA
Sunday 11:00 AM
Free Gift For Our Guests
If you are visiting with us today, WELCOME! We’re glad you’re here. If you will stop by the piano on the north side of our sanctuary after this morning’s worship, and drop off your connection card, we have a FREE Christian book to share with you. We promise no one will show up at your door. But we will include you in our weekly Friday email newsletter and tell you about the good things happening at Church Requel. Thanks for being our guest!
Food Pantry
We continue to need non-perishable foods. When you come to church Sunday mornings bring some food to share with others, who may be sitting in the pew next to you. The Food Pantry is downstairs and will be open for 15 minutes after each Sunday service. You are welcome to receive food if you have a need. We are looking for volunteers to work in the food pantry 15 minutes each Sunday. Please see Sheri if you are able to help.
Community Night Of Worship This Tuesday
This Tuesday, June 20th at 7pm we join with several other churches for a community night of worship, led by local worship leaders including our own Brandi Walker. This event will take place at The Renaissance Theatre. Let’s worship together with other brothers and sisters in Christ!
Splash Park - July 8th
Our next fun summer Church Requel event will be here before you know it! On Saturday, July 8th we will all gather at 11am at the Splash Park in Ashland, Ohio for two hours of wet fun. Plan to meet at 11am at the Kroc Center Splash Park, 527 East Liberty Street, Ashland, Ohio 44805. Bring a sack lunch and a towel with you when you come. This event is FREE and fun for kids of all ages.
Reserve Your Indians Tickets!
It’s hard to believe we would begin registration for a Sept. 8th event. However, ticket prices will be $21 a ticket and will include fireworks and $1 hot dogs, so we anticipate this night will be sold out quickly. Church Requel will not be able to pay for tickets this year. So if you and yours want to go, we must ask you to sign up and pay up early. Please see Brandi. Thank you for understanding and cooperating!
Donate To Church Requel
Use the link below to make a one time donation to Church Requel using your debit or credit card. We want to make sure you know that we provide this as a convenience for those who use the debit or credit card responsibly in their financial lives. It is not our intent for you to go into or add to credit card debt to give to CR. We appreciate your ongoing financial support of our ministry!
https://churchrequel.ccbchurch.com/trx_submit.php?type=public_gift
Instructions For The End Of The World - Luke 17:20-35
Intro - End of World genre very popular in movies and books. Many preachers stake their reputations on being able to predict when Jesus will return and how everything will play out. So far all have been wrong. Pharisees also interested. Believed in afterlife and in a coming messiah.
“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied…” Luke 17:20 NIV
What I should know about the 2nd Coming Of Jesus:
#1. Jesus’ revelation will be completely ______________ .
Jesus always equated the coming kingdom of God with the Son of Man’s revelation. Jesus returns (2nd coming) = ushers in the end.
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed… People were eating, drinking, marrying,… buying and selling, planting and building.” Luke 17:30,27,28 NIV
As big a deal as this will be - just like before all time will be divided between the before and the after - no one will really be expecting it. The world will be doing what it always does - business as usual. So as much as we may try to add everything up and foresee what’s coming…
#2. Don’t bother trying to make __________________ .
“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed.” Luke 17:20b NIV
This is really worth considering, because so many well-intentioned people do try to figure this out. As if there are some deeper secrets in the Bible, if you only could understand it perfectly you’d know just when Jesus is coming again.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36 NIV
If the angels don’t know and the Son doesn’t know, then trying to know ourselves is a waste of time. So what should we know about it? What does Jesus tell us about it?
#3. Jesus’ revelation will bring _____________ .
There is both a positive and negative side to Jesus’ promised 2nd coming. This is the negative side. There will be destruction. Jesus gives 2 comparisons -
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man… Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:26, 27b
Not insignificant that Jesus compares to Noah - the destruction of all life except life on the ark. And came because God “regretted” creating man because of all the wickedness. The flood destroyed them all.
“It was the same in the days of Lot… But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:28a-29
Same theme with Lot. Sodom evil wicked city. God destroyed city, wiping out wickedness. Remember when you cry for justice! Justice is coming!
#4. Jesus’ revelation will bring ______________ .
Jesus’ return brings in, not only a destruction, but a restoration. God’s will and God’s plan, which have not been carried out here on Earth, will now change. Those who follow Christ will be separated to safety…
“I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” Luke 17:34-35 NIV
This has always been the plan - God’s will WILL be carried out. Creation will be restored to God’s original intent. AND - according to Romans - this is intimately connected not only to Jesus’ revelation, but to the children of God’s revelation.
“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed… that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:19, 21 NIV
So what should I do? If Jesus is coming again, and no one will know when, (it will be a complete surprise), what should I do? How do I prepare?
Obvious answer - Know Christ! Be a Christ-follower. Learn to recognize the voice of Jesus in your life so you’ll know Him when He comes. So you won’t be fooled by imitations.
#5. So how should I prepare for Jesus’ Second Coming?
A. The Lesson From Noah: __________________ .
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Genesis 6:22 & 7:5
Noah just followed directions. Point by point. Regardless of how foolish he felt in front of others. Always desired to please God more than people. First check - are you doing everything you know God wants you to do?
B. The Lesson From Lot: ___________________ .
No accident that Jesus gives us examples of both Noah and Lot. Lot is opposite. Lot hesitated. He wavered. He lived right on the edge of sin…
“When [Lot] hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.” Genesis 19:16 NIV
This is the reminder that it’s not just about our perfection. It’s also about God’s protection. Learn to live in a state of grace. Understand you do not deserve God’s favor. God loves you and thus grants you favor. We respond to His love and favor with a desire to please Him, to live for Him!
C. The Lesson From Jesus: _________________ .
“Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” Luke 17:33 NIV (Also Luke 9:24, Matthew 16:25, and Mark 8:35)
Why does Jesus include this particular verse in this description of the apocalypse? Because this is the one key instruction that really matters. Do I hold onto my life? for my selfish desires? to please myself? to live for me? Is my entire life about “looking out for #1?” Then I’m going to have a very hard time discerning the authentic call of Christ.
On the other hand, if I “lose my life I will preserve it.”
This is a shortcut version that Jesus repeats in 3 other places. Every other time the key words are inserted: whoever loses their life for my sake will preserve it. In other words it’s about living for Jesus and for the purpose of why He created you. You can only do that if you spend time regularly listening to Him (Praying, Bible.) Living out each and every day as if THIS DAY could be the day our Lord returns. Are you ready?
Intro - End of World genre very popular in movies and books. Many preachers stake their reputations on being able to predict when Jesus will return and how everything will play out. So far all have been wrong. Pharisees also interested. Believed in afterlife and in a coming messiah.
“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied…” Luke 17:20 NIV
What I should know about the 2nd Coming Of Jesus:
#1. Jesus’ revelation will be completely ______________ .
Jesus always equated the coming kingdom of God with the Son of Man’s revelation. Jesus returns (2nd coming) = ushers in the end.
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed… People were eating, drinking, marrying,… buying and selling, planting and building.” Luke 17:30,27,28 NIV
As big a deal as this will be - just like before all time will be divided between the before and the after - no one will really be expecting it. The world will be doing what it always does - business as usual. So as much as we may try to add everything up and foresee what’s coming…
#2. Don’t bother trying to make __________________ .
“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed.” Luke 17:20b NIV
This is really worth considering, because so many well-intentioned people do try to figure this out. As if there are some deeper secrets in the Bible, if you only could understand it perfectly you’d know just when Jesus is coming again.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36 NIV
If the angels don’t know and the Son doesn’t know, then trying to know ourselves is a waste of time. So what should we know about it? What does Jesus tell us about it?
#3. Jesus’ revelation will bring _____________ .
There is both a positive and negative side to Jesus’ promised 2nd coming. This is the negative side. There will be destruction. Jesus gives 2 comparisons -
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man… Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:26, 27b
Not insignificant that Jesus compares to Noah - the destruction of all life except life on the ark. And came because God “regretted” creating man because of all the wickedness. The flood destroyed them all.
“It was the same in the days of Lot… But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:28a-29
Same theme with Lot. Sodom evil wicked city. God destroyed city, wiping out wickedness. Remember when you cry for justice! Justice is coming!
#4. Jesus’ revelation will bring ______________ .
Jesus’ return brings in, not only a destruction, but a restoration. God’s will and God’s plan, which have not been carried out here on Earth, will now change. Those who follow Christ will be separated to safety…
“I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” Luke 17:34-35 NIV
This has always been the plan - God’s will WILL be carried out. Creation will be restored to God’s original intent. AND - according to Romans - this is intimately connected not only to Jesus’ revelation, but to the children of God’s revelation.
“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed… that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:19, 21 NIV
So what should I do? If Jesus is coming again, and no one will know when, (it will be a complete surprise), what should I do? How do I prepare?
Obvious answer - Know Christ! Be a Christ-follower. Learn to recognize the voice of Jesus in your life so you’ll know Him when He comes. So you won’t be fooled by imitations.
#5. So how should I prepare for Jesus’ Second Coming?
A. The Lesson From Noah: __________________ .
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Genesis 6:22 & 7:5
Noah just followed directions. Point by point. Regardless of how foolish he felt in front of others. Always desired to please God more than people. First check - are you doing everything you know God wants you to do?
B. The Lesson From Lot: ___________________ .
No accident that Jesus gives us examples of both Noah and Lot. Lot is opposite. Lot hesitated. He wavered. He lived right on the edge of sin…
“When [Lot] hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.” Genesis 19:16 NIV
This is the reminder that it’s not just about our perfection. It’s also about God’s protection. Learn to live in a state of grace. Understand you do not deserve God’s favor. God loves you and thus grants you favor. We respond to His love and favor with a desire to please Him, to live for Him!
C. The Lesson From Jesus: _________________ .
“Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” Luke 17:33 NIV (Also Luke 9:24, Matthew 16:25, and Mark 8:35)
Why does Jesus include this particular verse in this description of the apocalypse? Because this is the one key instruction that really matters. Do I hold onto my life? for my selfish desires? to please myself? to live for me? Is my entire life about “looking out for #1?” Then I’m going to have a very hard time discerning the authentic call of Christ.
On the other hand, if I “lose my life I will preserve it.”
This is a shortcut version that Jesus repeats in 3 other places. Every other time the key words are inserted: whoever loses their life for my sake will preserve it. In other words it’s about living for Jesus and for the purpose of why He created you. You can only do that if you spend time regularly listening to Him (Praying, Bible.) Living out each and every day as if THIS DAY could be the day our Lord returns. Are you ready?
Church Requel's Website
Here is your online link to everything Church Requel on the Internet. Here you will find all of our sermons, in video and audio. Each week our pastor writes in his online blog and publishes an audio podcast. You'll find all of our pictures, our Facebook page and our Twitter feed. You can even connect with other Church Requel folks in our online community!
http://www.ChurchRequel.org/