Jesus Is Coming Soon

Catfish Season 2  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Intro

On February 5th 2017, a Super Bowl was played that included an underdog Atlanta Falcons facing the great and aging possibly greatest QB of all time Tom Brady. Tom Brady was going for his 5th Super Bowl but the Atlanta Falcons had something to say about that! Midway through the 3rd quarter Atlanta was winning the game 28-3! But then, as many teams do, they began to change what they did to get there. It would seem as though they began to watch the clock waiting for it to get to zero and the most amazing thing happened. Because of the change in focus and procedures they allowed new England to score 25 unanswered points, take the game into overtime, and they would eventually win! While we are called to be aware of the “signs of the times” we must still be in active service. We cannot watch the clock simply because we have become Christians. We must be diligent active servants, being People of More in His kingdom!
The world today would have us believe many things about life after death or the end of the world. People will have you to believe that after we die; we go to heaven immediately, we are recycled into another thing or person, we simple cease to exist, become a part of the universe, etc. But I want you to understand that there is an end coming to this world and those in Christ will continue to truly live! The end is described in detail throughout the Bible.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 NRSV
16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Acts 1:11 NRSV
11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Matthew 24:30 NRSV
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.
Revelation 5:11 NRSV
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
Matthew 25:31 NRSV
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
Revelation 22:7 NRSV
7 “See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Luke 21:34 NRSV
34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly,
Luke 21:35 NRSV
35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.
1 John 3:2 NRSV
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
Today we will take a peek into the congregation at Thessalonica through a letter written to a very young congregation much like our own. At the time of the writing there were no Gospels to read and the church is dealing with a problem. So they were led by example, word of mouth, and the writings that would flow to them like this one from Paul. It is obvious that they had been told about the coming of Christ and up until this point they had been faithful but time was passing, they were still suffering, and Jesus still had not come back yet.

Sleeping Saints

1 Thessalonians 1:5–7 NRSV
5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–15 NRSV
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
1 thess
13- We as Christians need to be informed about the status of those no longer inhabiting a human body.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NRSV
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Loss of loved ones
There are people who have no hope in their grief
Should we grieve yes but in a different way
14 If you believe in Him then believe you will rise again, even if he is, in your opinion, slow coming back
15- The living will not come to Jesus before the dead. This they will live again.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 NRSV
16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
1 thess 4 16-
Here we have a description of how it will be to provide a description of detail.
Cry of command, it won’t happen until God says so
archangel call
God’s trumpet
dead will rise
descend from heaven
17 - caught up or snatched up to the clouds
Once that happens we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 NRSV
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Paul explains that the dead are not in a permanent state but only sleep, gives a detailed description so as to inform, and then tells the young church to use what they know to encourage each other.

Alert Saints

1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 NRSV
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;
1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 NRSV
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;
1 thess 5 1
1 Thessalonians 5:7–8 NRSV
7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
1 Thessalonians 5:9–11 NRSV
9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
1 thess 5 7-8

Conclusion

What does Jesus’ return mean for you?
What should it mean for you?

Encouragement is like a peanut butter sandwich—the more you spread it around, the better things stick together.386

In a 1978 interview, Lou Holtz, at the time the head coach of the then number-one rated Arkansas Razorbacks, modeled and stated his philosophy of coaching. At practice, Holtz grabs his players by their face masks and shakes them; he flails at them with his hat; he throws his hat in disgust; he smacks players on the rear with his omnipresent manila folder. “Once you get things going, then you begin to build confidence,” he says. “You praise loudly and criticize softly.”388

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