2009 has been a crazy year to say the least. So many things have happened in the political, economic, environmental, and religious arena’s this year. It has been difficult to keep track of all the events, even harder to make and sense of it all.
The trends we have seen include:
- A new US President and a different direction of the political and social agenda for our country
- A rise in environmental activism
- The collapse of the US housing and credit markets, steep unemployment, and a severe case of economic uncertainty
- The continued efforts of rouge nations to acquire nuclear weapons
- The escalation of Islamic extremism and violence, increased suspicion against Christians at home, and increased persecution of the Christian faith abroad.
It’s easy to disregard the times and go about our daily lives, we see all of these things happening and we want to put our heads in he sand! Yet the apostle Paul encouraged us:
You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 1 Thess 5:5-6
I believe this verse encourages us to be “watchful”, discerning the times and how they relate to end-times prophecy. We are also to be “sober”, not getting swept away in the drama, but seeking to be ever more diligent in our calling and our mission as Christians.
This coming Sunday we’ll look at the events of the past year, and we’ll discern them through the teaching of the Word of God.
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 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, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 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. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Matt 24:36-44
It’s as if there is a large train coming. We cannot see it yet, but we can feel the rumbling on the tracks. Indeed.
Pastor Clay
