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I'm thinking today a verse in 1 Thessalonians

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5. Pretty interesting. It says, But you, brethren,

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are not about the coming of the Lord, the Lord's

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day, when Jesus will come again. And in this

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verse, Paul is telling the Thessalonians that

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they will not be taken by surprise. To quote

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Jesus, no one can know the day or the time. Only

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the Father knows the day or the time of his own

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second coming. But here Paul says that the brethren

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at Thessalonica would not be taken by surprise.

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So we can indeed not be taken by surprise when

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Jesus comes again. But we have to realize, that

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this was written in the context of the New Testament

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church. It was written to people who were doing

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church, people who were serving every single

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day, people who were spending their lives together

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with investing in each other as brothers and

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sisters in Christ. That's why he threw in the

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word brethren, if you ask me. That's why he was

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saying, if you are the church, as I know you

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are the church, as you are in community together,

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and as you are working together to bring about

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the will of the Lord in this day, you will not

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be taken by surprise. We don't have to be afraid

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that someday, just all of a sudden, Jesus is

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going to show up and we're not going to be ready.

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We just need to be. alert and ready and preparing

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ourselves for that moment at which Jesus comes

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again and will not be taken by surprise. And

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praise God for it, that we're a part of the family,

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the inner circle. If you're not, you're not serving,

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you're not giving, you're not going, if you're

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not as the church, I would encourage you to get

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involved in the local church today and live life

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in community as the New Testament leads. God

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bless.