WEBVTT 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:05.360 When was the last time you had something unexpected 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:10.259 happen to you? Has there been a time when the 00:00:10.259 --> 00:00:14.259 way you anticipated something going, it went 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:18.359 very different? About the time I got here this 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:22.699 morning, I had seen a notice that something happened 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:26.179 this morning. Did anybody notice anything maybe 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:30.489 about 9 .05 -ish this morning? Apparently up 00:00:30.489 --> 00:00:32.409 near Knoxville there was a little earthquake, 00:00:32.530 --> 00:00:35.869 like three and a half or four, and it could be 00:00:35.869 --> 00:00:39.149 felt down here in Georgia. Did anybody feel it? 00:00:39.229 --> 00:00:41.469 I was on the road driving here at that time. 00:00:41.549 --> 00:00:44.149 A few people are claiming that they felt it. 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:47.689 I don't know. So that was unexpected. This is 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:50.229 not a place where we usually have earthquakes. 00:00:50.789 --> 00:00:53.130 California? Some of you maybe have experienced 00:00:53.130 --> 00:00:56.079 earthquakes in California. Anybody? Been in California 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.679 for a bigger earthquake? Many of you have. If 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:05.299 you had been traveling about a week ago, a week 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:08.840 and a half ago, if you had been on your vacation 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:12.879 to Europe, maybe you were in Spain or Portugal, 00:01:12.900 --> 00:01:16.000 on a Monday afternoon, oh, about 2 o 'clock, 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:18.620 probably right about the time siesta would be 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.540 starting. I don't know. I'm making that up. But 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:26.900 something unexpected happened. The power went 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:31.239 out, not just in a little area, but across almost 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:35.239 all of Spain and Portugal, and even into France, 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.159 suddenly there was no power. There was a blackout. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:41.319 I have a really cool picture of a blackout here, 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.659 but you'll just have to use your imagination. 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:49.040 So if you were at work, well, there was no electricity. 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.359 If you were at the store, again, no electricity, 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:55.430 so you couldn't buy anything. because you couldn't 00:01:55.430 --> 00:01:57.469 use your credit card because that's connected 00:01:57.469 --> 00:02:00.109 to the power grid. You couldn't even use cash 00:02:00.109 --> 00:02:02.989 because most of the cash registers would use 00:02:02.989 --> 00:02:06.930 some sort of electricity. You couldn't, if you 00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:10.849 would use public transportation, well, the trains 00:02:10.849 --> 00:02:13.770 and stuff were not working because there was 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:18.000 no power. You couldn't call an Uber because you 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.080 had to have the internet connection to call an 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.620 Uber to get home. And so everything was connected 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:29.400 to the power grid. And so there was no internet. 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:32.479 There was no power. There was no electricity. 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:35.960 Everything was in the dark. You couldn't shop. 00:02:36.219 --> 00:02:39.240 You couldn't work. You couldn't travel. I have 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:42.800 a friend who lives in Spain. And the next day 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.939 or a day or so after, after all the power had 00:02:46.939 --> 00:02:49.780 mostly come back on, he posted a video on social 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:54.759 media. And he was just commenting on, I'm safe, 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:58.020 things are getting back to normal. But then he 00:02:58.020 --> 00:03:01.180 said, I'm really kicking myself for not being 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:05.949 prepared. I wasn't totally prepared. And there 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:09.090 was one thing that he said that he wished that 00:03:09.090 --> 00:03:12.169 he had through this blackout. He said, I wish 00:03:12.169 --> 00:03:17.729 that I had a radio with batteries. Because he 00:03:17.729 --> 00:03:19.810 couldn't listen to the news. He couldn't find 00:03:19.810 --> 00:03:22.289 out what was going on. He couldn't turn on the 00:03:22.289 --> 00:03:24.870 television. There's no power. He couldn't check 00:03:24.870 --> 00:03:29.090 the internet. There's no Wi -Fi. There's no internet. 00:03:29.370 --> 00:03:31.870 And so he's like, I wish that I had a radio. 00:03:32.409 --> 00:03:34.389 with batteries so that I could listen to the 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:37.250 news and find out updates and find out what's 00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:40.330 going on. How many of you have a battery -powered 00:03:40.330 --> 00:03:43.710 radio somewhere in your house? I went and checked 00:03:43.710 --> 00:03:47.229 just to make sure. We do have one. And I turned 00:03:47.229 --> 00:03:51.229 it on and it worked. So I did notice that it's 00:03:51.229 --> 00:03:54.669 rechargeable. You know, you plug it in. So whether 00:03:54.669 --> 00:03:57.860 that would continue for a long time. That's the 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:00.439 question that I'm not sure about. Oh, there's 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.259 the blackout there. You can see Spain and Portugal 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:08.539 without any lights on. Sometimes unexpected things 00:04:08.539 --> 00:04:11.979 happen. Are we prepared for it? Are we prepared 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:15.659 with something as simple as a radio with batteries? 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:21.079 Are we aware of what might be coming ahead? Here 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.699 we sit today in a Seventh -day Adventist church. 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:27.649 We are here on the seventh day of the week. because 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:30.370 we believe the seventh day is the Sabbath. So 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:33.769 we're here on the day that we believe we're called 00:04:33.769 --> 00:04:36.649 to worship God, our creator. We're here on this 00:04:36.649 --> 00:04:38.870 day. But there's a second part of that name, 00:04:38.930 --> 00:04:44.410 seventh day Adventist. That's a word we don't 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:48.050 use quite as often. Maybe at Christmas time, 00:04:48.170 --> 00:04:51.649 we talk about being in the Advent season because 00:04:51.649 --> 00:04:55.259 we're remembering the first coming. of our Lord 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:58.680 and Savior Jesus Christ. And so as Adventists, 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.259 that means we are looking forward to the second 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:06.899 coming, the return of Jesus. And so we are anticipating 00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:10.500 that something is going to happen, that there's 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:13.600 going to be events that happen, and Jesus will 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.399 return. And sometimes we study different prophecies 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.399 like Matthew 24, for instance, and we talk about 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:23.720 wars and rumors of wars and famines and pestilences 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:26.959 and all these things, and we can recognize that 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.720 it sure seems like we are getting closer and 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:35.300 closer to Jesus coming again. We expect Jesus 00:05:35.300 --> 00:05:40.800 to return and to return fairly soon. But the 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.300 question I want to consider today is do we allow 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:48.920 that expectation to impact the way that we live 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:53.199 our life? Does that expectation of Jesus returning, 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:57.939 does it change the way that we go about our daily 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:02.199 living? In other words, are we ready? Are we 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:06.399 prepared? Are we thinking about Jesus coming 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:10.199 again? Here we are in May. And I see several 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:13.399 students out here. How many students do we have 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.480 in the room today? Okay, we don't have any students. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.019 They're so tired of school that they don't want 00:06:19.019 --> 00:06:22.500 to even... How many students do we have? Young 00:06:22.500 --> 00:06:25.399 people, at least. Raise your hands. Are you guys 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:29.160 ready for summer vacation? I would imagine. They're 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:32.800 very quiet. That's good. They're not going to 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:37.060 admit. But students at this time of year are 00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:40.360 typically ready. to get to a little bit of a 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:44.459 break at least. And teachers and those that work 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:47.279 at schools, I know from experience that you too, 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:50.199 at this time of the school year, you are ready 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:53.680 for some sort of break, some sort of change because 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:58.500 you just get in your tests and classes and homework 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.379 and you're just ready for something new. But 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:04.420 I also know that young people, by the time the 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:07.779 end of July or August rolls around, you're probably 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:10.899 ready to get back to school, to get back to the 00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:13.579 routine, to see some of those friends that maybe 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:16.980 you've missed a little bit. And for those of 00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:21.740 us that are out of that stage of life where we 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:25.439 have summer vacation and graduations and different 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:29.759 things like that, Maybe we would like some sort 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.079 of break. We would like something to break up 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:36.300 the ongoing, you could even call it the monotony 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:39.300 of life, because sometimes it seems like, well, 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:42.939 you wake up, you go to work, you wake up the 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:45.060 next day, you go to work, you go to sleep, and 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:48.639 there's nothing like a summer vacation that we 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:51.660 get to look forward to. And sometimes we can 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:55.829 seem like life gets in our way. And sometimes 00:07:55.829 --> 00:08:04.149 we can almost be drowsy or be bored. Now we're 00:08:04.149 --> 00:08:06.290 going to turn to Matthew 25. And I know if you 00:08:06.290 --> 00:08:09.689 were here last week that Pastor Derek explored 00:08:09.689 --> 00:08:13.689 Matthew 25. And we're going to look at the similar 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:17.329 parable, but I think we're going to look at it 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:20.310 from a different aspect. So I was hesitant a 00:08:20.310 --> 00:08:23.279 little bit to... You probably don't usually have 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.220 two sermons in a row over the same passage, but 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:29.439 we're going to explore this first parable of 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:35.500 Matthew 25. Now, Matthew 24 explores the signs 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:38.320 of the times and the conditions in the world 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.940 before Jesus comes, those wars and rumors of 00:08:41.940 --> 00:08:45.639 wars. Matthew 25, as was mentioned last week, 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:49.470 has three parables. One is about being... awake, 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:51.730 being prepared, being ready. That's what we're 00:08:51.730 --> 00:08:53.789 going to look at today. And then there's one 00:08:53.789 --> 00:08:57.809 that talks about using your talents, your gifts 00:08:57.809 --> 00:09:01.769 and skills for God. And then there's a third 00:09:01.769 --> 00:09:04.929 one that talks about how do we treat other people? 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:10.669 And it even challenges us to think about who 00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:13.570 do we like the least? Don't think about that 00:09:13.570 --> 00:09:16.789 too hard. Don't name any names. But the way you 00:09:16.789 --> 00:09:20.370 treat the person that you like the least, Jesus 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:22.350 says, whatever you've done to the least of these, 00:09:22.590 --> 00:09:26.570 you've done to me. So we need to remember that 00:09:26.570 --> 00:09:29.889 as we treat others, that's how we treat Jesus. 00:09:30.009 --> 00:09:33.070 So Matthew 24 looks at the conditions of the 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:36.830 world, but Matthew 25 looks at the conditions 00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:39.909 of the church, the conditions of God's people. 00:09:40.429 --> 00:09:43.929 So let's turn to Matthew. 25 and verse 1. And 00:09:43.929 --> 00:09:45.269 we're going to spend a little bit of time in 00:09:45.269 --> 00:09:48.210 this parable before we go to Romans. And it says, 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:51.470 Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 00:09:51.470 --> 00:09:54.549 ten virgins who took their lamps and went out 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:57.509 to meet the bridegroom. So there's a wedding 00:09:57.509 --> 00:10:00.870 taking place. And without taking the time to 00:10:00.870 --> 00:10:03.889 explore all of the symbolism, what this picture 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:07.769 is, it's looking forward to this advent, this 00:10:07.769 --> 00:10:12.129 return of Jesus. When Jesus comes again. It's 00:10:12.129 --> 00:10:15.649 called the wedding of the bridegroom, Jesus. 00:10:15.809 --> 00:10:19.509 And there's people that are expecting that. And 00:10:19.509 --> 00:10:22.549 it says in verse 2, now five of them were wise 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:27.750 and five were foolish. So there's a difference. 00:10:27.830 --> 00:10:31.470 There's people expecting and anticipating and 00:10:31.470 --> 00:10:34.990 waiting to meet God. But it says five of them 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:37.909 were wise and five of them were foolish. Now 00:10:37.909 --> 00:10:40.769 we have to make it clear here that this is... 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:46.279 talking about God's people. This isn't God's 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:49.600 people versus those who don't follow God. This 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:53.779 isn't Christians versus pagans. These are all 00:10:53.779 --> 00:10:58.100 those who are anticipating, expecting something 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:01.419 to come. And it says five were wise and five 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:03.860 were foolish. And it goes on in verse three. 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:06.580 And it says those who were foolish took their 00:11:06.580 --> 00:11:11.539 lamps and took no oil with them. but the wise 00:11:11.539 --> 00:11:16.320 took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.440 so that's what set them apart, whether or not 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:21.860 they had oil in their lamps. Now I have here 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:27.039 a little clay oil lamp. Jolie and I were able 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:30.639 to go over to Israel several years ago, and we 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:34.039 got this little souvenir. This is not a historical 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.570 artifact, let me assure you. This is a tourist 00:11:36.570 --> 00:11:39.970 artifact. But you would put oil in it, and you 00:11:39.970 --> 00:11:42.110 would have a little wick, and you could light 00:11:42.110 --> 00:11:44.350 that little wick, and depending on how much oil 00:11:44.350 --> 00:11:49.909 you had would determine how long your lamp could 00:11:49.909 --> 00:11:53.110 burn. And people didn't typically go out at night 00:11:53.110 --> 00:11:56.429 in those days because there weren't street lamps, 00:11:56.730 --> 00:12:00.230 there weren't headlights, and so at nighttime 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:03.330 it would be very dark. And it could be very scary 00:12:03.330 --> 00:12:06.159 because there could be criminals or potholes 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.220 or whatever, and so people didn't go out very 00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:11.899 much at night. But if they had a little lamp 00:12:11.899 --> 00:12:15.340 with a little bit of oil, it could light their 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:19.240 way. Now, most of us don't carry a little oil 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.019 lamp to light our way. What would we do if we 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:27.100 found ourselves in the dark? Maybe a flashlight. 00:12:27.700 --> 00:12:31.100 Maybe a flashlight like this. Does anybody carry 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:34.460 a little flashlight with them? Why don't you 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:37.360 pull out your little flashlight? Let's, you know, 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:40.299 this little light of mine, I'm going to let it 00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:44.440 shine. Let's see the lights that we have. Sometimes 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:46.960 you'll use this light. Sometimes I'll even just 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.480 turn on the screen, you know, and use the light 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.419 from there if I don't want to wake up Jolie if 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:56.100 I'm coming to bed or if you're looking for the 00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:59.080 plug to plug in your phone, you know, to charge 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.809 it at night. Because we don't... worry about 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:07.570 how much oil we have in our lamp, but we do have 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:11.470 to worry about how much battery, how much charge 00:13:11.470 --> 00:13:14.889 we have on our phone. And if you don't plug it 00:13:14.889 --> 00:13:17.669 in, you know, at least once a day, that little 00:13:17.669 --> 00:13:20.669 battery up in the corner, it's going to get less 00:13:20.669 --> 00:13:23.590 and less and less, and it's going to say 20 % 00:13:23.590 --> 00:13:27.269 battery. And then if it says 10 % battery, maybe 00:13:27.269 --> 00:13:28.950 you're starting to panic just a little bit because 00:13:28.950 --> 00:13:31.230 I've got an important phone call to make. I've 00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:34.029 got to use the GPS, and I forgot the charger. 00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:39.529 So we don't need oil, but we do need a certain 00:13:39.529 --> 00:13:43.769 kind of cord to plug it in. And it used to be 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:46.309 that my wife and I had the same phone, and so 00:13:46.309 --> 00:13:49.269 it used the same cord, but then she got a new 00:13:49.269 --> 00:13:52.029 phone, and it uses a totally different cord, 00:13:52.149 --> 00:13:55.029 even though it's the same company, and that can 00:13:55.029 --> 00:13:59.450 be frustrating if you have one cord but not the 00:13:59.450 --> 00:14:03.679 other. And so, in just a small way, this is a 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.639 reminder. These guys needed oil for their lamp, 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.960 and we have something that we need power for, 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.919 that we need to make sure that we charge that. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:15.580 Now, that oil, of course, as was mentioned last 00:14:15.580 --> 00:14:21.059 week, talks about the Holy Spirit. And how we 00:14:21.059 --> 00:14:23.379 get that. And if you missed that, you can go 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:25.720 back to last week's sermon and look that. But 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.360 I want to go ahead in the story to verse 5. It 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:32.539 says, while the bridegroom was delayed, they, 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:37.860 what's that next word? They all slumbered and 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:42.100 slept. It wasn't just the foolish ones who fell 00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:46.379 asleep. All of them. They were all waiting for 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:50.090 the bridegroom to come. But they all, every one 00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:53.610 of them, the wise and the foolish, fell asleep. 00:14:54.490 --> 00:14:58.610 So could it be that as we're anticipating, as 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:03.070 we're expecting the return of Jesus, the problem 00:15:03.070 --> 00:15:05.690 isn't the fact that sometimes we have different 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:09.990 levels of our spiritual excitement, our spiritual 00:15:09.990 --> 00:15:15.139 engagement. The challenge would be how we respond 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:18.700 to that when maybe we're in a spiritual rut or 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:22.820 how we prepare for that ahead of time. We're 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:26.100 going to have some natural ebbs and flows in 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:29.440 our spiritual life, but how do we respond or 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:34.700 how do we prepare for that when maybe we're falling 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:40.159 asleep spiritually? Not physically falling asleep 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:44.049 right now. Maybe some are. If that's the case, 00:15:44.049 --> 00:15:45.970 I'll take the blame for that. That would be my 00:15:45.970 --> 00:15:51.149 fault. But spiritually, falling asleep. Sometimes 00:15:51.149 --> 00:15:54.149 maybe we use a word, and there's many words that 00:15:54.149 --> 00:15:58.169 could be talked about, but we use a word that 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:02.090 sometimes we are apathetic, or we have spiritual 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:06.070 apathy. Have you heard that word before? Well, 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:09.330 the word apathetic comes from the word pathos. 00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:14.769 Pathos. Anybody know what that means? Well, that 00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:20.809 comes from that, but pathos really has to do 00:16:20.809 --> 00:16:27.210 with showing a feeling, enthusiasm, being excited 00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:30.049 about something. You have deep pathos as you 00:16:30.049 --> 00:16:33.809 are really engaged in whatever is going on. Now, 00:16:33.830 --> 00:16:38.809 in the English language, if you add an A in front 00:16:38.809 --> 00:16:45.450 of a word, what does that do? What? It changes 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:48.450 it. It makes it the opposite. So instead of with 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:53.409 feeling, if you say apathetic, that means a definition 00:16:53.409 --> 00:16:57.590 of showing or feeling no interest, no enthusiasm, 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:01.809 no concern. And sometimes as we're going through 00:17:01.809 --> 00:17:04.930 our life as Christians, as we get in a spiritual 00:17:04.930 --> 00:17:09.190 rut, sometimes we can find ourselves apathetic, 00:17:09.190 --> 00:17:13.430 not enthusiastic. expecting someone else to fill 00:17:13.430 --> 00:17:17.309 our spiritual need and not even having the engagement 00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:20.869 to want to go to Jesus. We're just going through 00:17:20.869 --> 00:17:23.450 the motions. Now, what are some things that can 00:17:23.450 --> 00:17:28.430 cause our spiritual apathy or cause us to fall 00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:32.930 asleep spiritually? And there's many, but I just 00:17:32.930 --> 00:17:35.529 want to look at a couple this morning. One is 00:17:35.529 --> 00:17:39.490 busyness. Not business. Business is something 00:17:39.490 --> 00:17:41.230 that... You know, you've got to take care of 00:17:41.230 --> 00:17:44.609 your business. A business is your employment, 00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:49.069 your livelihood, whatever that is. But busyness, 00:17:49.289 --> 00:17:53.170 you ever seem like you're never done with anything? 00:17:53.390 --> 00:17:56.109 You're never caught up with anything? Before 00:17:56.109 --> 00:17:59.069 you finish the one assignment, the one project, 00:17:59.109 --> 00:18:01.230 there's already something else that you're supposed 00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:04.309 to be working on, whether it's at home or at 00:18:04.309 --> 00:18:07.150 the job, and you're just on this hamster wheel. 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:10.450 You're just going. And you never seem to have 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:15.069 any time to consider who you are, to consider 00:18:15.069 --> 00:18:18.529 what place God has in your life, to consider 00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:21.730 your place in your family or your church, and 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:25.029 you're just so busy that that church stuff doesn't 00:18:25.029 --> 00:18:28.390 have any preference. It doesn't have any place 00:18:28.390 --> 00:18:32.049 in your life. We just are going, going, going. 00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:37.230 It reminds me of an old scene from a classic. 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:43.619 television show, I Love Lucy. Lucy and her friend 00:18:43.619 --> 00:18:47.220 Ethel decide that they want to get a job. They 00:18:47.220 --> 00:18:50.119 want to get some extra spending money. So they 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:54.019 go down to the candy factory and they get a job 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:56.740 and they bumble around and they get moved around 00:18:56.740 --> 00:18:59.539 and before long the two of them find themselves 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:03.140 on the assembly line. Some of you maybe have 00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:08.059 seen this scene before. The stern boss comes 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:11.240 in and says, when this assembly line turns on, 00:19:11.339 --> 00:19:13.359 you will get the chocolate and you will wrap 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:15.279 it in paper and you will put it back on the assembly 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:19.259 line. And if one chocolate gets through, you 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:25.619 will be fired. Roll the assembly line! And here 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:29.539 come the chocolate. And Ethel's taking the chocolate 00:19:29.539 --> 00:19:31.960 very daintily and wrapping it in the paper and 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:34.180 putting it back on. Lucy's doing it a little 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:36.579 faster. And then before you know it, here comes 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:39.880 a few more chocolates. And they're having a hard 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.880 time keeping up. And they start putting them 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.839 in their mouth. And they move them off the assembly 00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:46.819 line. And they're putting them in their hats 00:19:46.819 --> 00:19:49.200 and in their shirts. And before long, the picture 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.819 looks something like this. Because the chocolates 00:19:51.819 --> 00:19:54.720 just keep coming through. And they can't keep 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.519 up. They're too busy. And then they hear the 00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:01.670 boss coming and the assembly line stops. They 00:20:01.670 --> 00:20:03.410 scrape them all off and they put them in their 00:20:03.410 --> 00:20:05.549 hat and in their mouth and in their shirt. And 00:20:05.549 --> 00:20:08.029 so there's no chocolates on the table, on the 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:11.329 line. And the boss comes in and says, well done, 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:15.609 ladies. Very good. Nothing got through. Speed 00:20:15.609 --> 00:20:19.470 it up. And now here come they come even faster. 00:20:19.650 --> 00:20:23.910 And sometimes in life, we are so busy, busy, 00:20:23.990 --> 00:20:27.769 busy that we don't have time for God. We don't 00:20:27.769 --> 00:20:30.990 have time. for what is most important, and we 00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:33.529 fall asleep. Another thing that can cause this 00:20:33.529 --> 00:20:36.230 spiritual drowsiness is sometimes perhaps we 00:20:36.230 --> 00:20:40.849 are unnourished spiritually. We're not taking 00:20:40.849 --> 00:20:45.490 the time during the day to feed ourselves, to 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:49.049 spend time in God's Word. to spend time in prayer. 00:20:49.309 --> 00:20:51.890 And this can have to do with the busyness because 00:20:51.890 --> 00:20:54.950 we just don't have time to it. And maybe our 00:20:54.950 --> 00:20:58.069 spiritual life has been relegated to a verse 00:20:58.069 --> 00:21:01.430 of the day or a little half -page devotional 00:21:01.430 --> 00:21:04.549 that we read. And those are good things. Don't 00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:07.289 get me wrong. Those are good things. But we need 00:21:07.289 --> 00:21:12.650 more than just one verse a day. It's like trying 00:21:12.650 --> 00:21:17.740 to survive on a goldfish. Now, I love goldfish 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:21.180 crackers. I could eat the whole package of goldfish 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:23.920 crackers. But if I was trying to survive on just 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.740 one solitary goldfish for each meal, I wouldn't 00:21:28.740 --> 00:21:32.160 last very long. And neither would you. And if 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.279 we're trying to survive on one solitary little 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.400 morsel from the Word of God, what does it say? 00:21:39.460 --> 00:21:42.059 Jesus says, man shall not live by bread alone, 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:45.559 by goldfish alone, but by every word that comes. 00:21:46.220 --> 00:21:49.160 from the mouth of God. If you just read one verse, 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:52.299 okay, read it, but don't just read it. Write 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:56.380 it down. Memorize it. Think about it as you go 00:21:56.380 --> 00:21:59.559 through the day. Put it on your mirror. Put it 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:02.359 on your desk at work and contemplate, how does 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:05.680 this one verse make a difference in my life today? 00:22:05.819 --> 00:22:08.799 Because we can't just survive on a tiny little 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.720 morsel. We are unnourished. And another thing 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.220 that can sometimes put us to sleep is that we 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:19.140 can be spiritually malnourished. Now, what's 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:21.099 the difference? Unnourished means we're not getting 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:24.319 enough. Malnourished would mean, well, we're 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:26.640 getting enough content, we're putting enough 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:31.440 stuff in, but it's not the good stuff. It's not 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.579 the healthy stuff. It's not the things that are 00:22:34.579 --> 00:22:38.069 going to... draw us to God and the things that 00:22:38.069 --> 00:22:41.230 are consuming our time and filling our heads 00:22:41.230 --> 00:22:45.849 and our imaginations. It's not just unnourishing, 00:22:45.950 --> 00:22:50.009 but it's pushing us away from God. It's malnourishing. 00:22:50.069 --> 00:22:54.769 It's causing us to forget about God, to be distracted, 00:22:54.910 --> 00:22:58.289 and to not even really care about God. Let's 00:22:58.289 --> 00:23:00.529 look at another passage here. Let's go to Romans 00:23:00.529 --> 00:23:04.589 chapter 13, our scripture for the day. Riley 00:23:04.589 --> 00:23:08.390 did such a great job in reading for us. Romans 00:23:08.390 --> 00:23:27.029 13, starting in verse 11. It says, There's a 00:23:27.029 --> 00:23:29.450 lot of little statements in there. I want to 00:23:29.450 --> 00:23:32.190 examine them kind of one by one. The first one 00:23:32.190 --> 00:23:37.019 is, Knowing the time. Do we know what time it 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:41.759 is in our world? We can look at headlines. We 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.380 can look at prophecies and different things like 00:23:45.380 --> 00:23:48.640 that. Do we pay attention? It's important to 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.759 pay attention, but not to get so consumed on 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.259 a headline that we're forgetting what is most 00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:58.880 important. It's okay to recognize, okay, well, 00:23:58.980 --> 00:24:02.880 there's a conflict between... India and Pakistan, 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:06.579 two nuclear powers. It's okay. Let me pay attention 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:10.339 to that. It's okay to realize, okay, there's 00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:14.200 a new pope, the first American pope. That's intriguing. 00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:18.980 Could that lead to something prophetically? It 00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:22.559 might. Could it not lead to something prophetically? 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:27.079 Maybe not. We don't know at this point, but it's 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:30.200 okay to know the time. It's okay to pay attention. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.619 If you were to go back to the 1960s, I see a 00:24:33.619 --> 00:24:36.160 few people who might have been alive here. Kennedy 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:39.960 became the very first Catholic president in the 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:42.279 United States. And people were like, well, this 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:47.880 is it. And here we are a long time later. And 00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:51.400 so it's okay to know the time. It's okay to pay 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:54.799 attention. We need to pay attention. But we also 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.380 have to make sure that we're focusing. on the 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:00.460 things that are most important. Because notice 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:03.559 the next phrase. It says, knowing the time, now 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:07.720 it is high time to wake up out of our sleep. 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:11.660 Wake up. It's time to wake up. Paul wrote this 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:14.980 a long time ago. It was time to wake up for the 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:17.779 people in Rome, and it's time to wake up for 00:25:17.779 --> 00:25:19.920 the people in Ringgold. It's time to wake up 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:24.740 now. What do you use to wake up? How many of 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:27.700 you use the alarm on your phone? Anybody set 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:30.079 your alarm on your phone? How many of you have 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.359 another kind of alarm, maybe a clock that sits 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:34.920 next to your bed? Anybody have a clock next to 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:40.039 your bed? Okay. Anybody have a, maybe the kids, 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.759 your mom come and wake you up because it's time 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:44.660 to go to school. How many of your mom comes in? 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:47.779 That's good. I don't see any hands up. A couple 00:25:47.779 --> 00:25:50.880 people there. That's good to be able to be there. 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:53.799 How many? You just wake up on your own naturally. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.960 You just wake up and it's always the right time. 00:25:57.079 --> 00:26:02.279 Very good. Biological clock. How many of you, 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:04.740 maybe your pet, your dog or your cat, jump on 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:06.859 your head and say, okay, it's time to get up. 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:09.859 You've got to take me out. A few people there. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:13.819 So there's different things that we have to wake 00:26:13.819 --> 00:26:16.539 us up. When I was a student at Georgia Cumberland 00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:21.940 Academy back in the 80s, believe it or not, They 00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:24.119 had lights out, and you didn't just have to turn 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:26.220 off the light, but they would actually flip the 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:30.259 breaker so there was no power in your room. So 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:32.519 you couldn't listen to that secret radio that 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:36.619 you weren't supposed to have. So you couldn't 00:26:36.619 --> 00:26:39.000 have a clock that plugged in. You had to have 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:42.119 either a battery -powered clock or a clock that 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:46.019 wound up. We use different things to wake us 00:26:46.019 --> 00:26:50.819 up, but it says now is the time. to wake up out 00:26:50.819 --> 00:26:54.220 of sleep. And then it says, for now our salvation 00:26:54.220 --> 00:26:59.559 is nearer than when we first believed. We don't 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:02.539 know when Jesus is going to come. The Bible says 00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:05.079 no one knows the day or the hour. We can look 00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:07.579 at headlines, we can look at prophecies, but 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:11.940 we don't know when Jesus is going to come. But 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:16.579 we can know for a fact that it is nearer than 00:27:16.579 --> 00:27:19.450 it used to be. Believe it or not, I've been a 00:27:19.450 --> 00:27:21.289 pastor of this church now for about a year and 00:27:21.289 --> 00:27:24.650 a half. And guess what? We are a year and a half 00:27:24.650 --> 00:27:28.730 closer to when Jesus is coming than when I started. 00:27:29.009 --> 00:27:32.369 We've got some students here. If you're, say, 00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:35.490 18 years old, well, guess what? We're 18 years 00:27:35.490 --> 00:27:39.109 closer than when you were born. We've got some 00:27:39.109 --> 00:27:43.250 retirees here. You're at least 65. We won't go 00:27:43.250 --> 00:27:45.650 into any more numbers than that. But guess what? 00:27:46.269 --> 00:27:50.450 we're 65 years closer than when you were born. 00:27:50.549 --> 00:27:53.049 Whatever starting date you want to put on it, 00:27:53.109 --> 00:27:56.970 we are that much closer. If you want to say yesterday, 00:27:57.430 --> 00:28:01.630 well, guess what? We are one day closer to when 00:28:01.630 --> 00:28:05.630 Jesus comes. So it is high time to wake up for 00:28:05.630 --> 00:28:09.470 our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 00:28:09.970 --> 00:28:12.309 So I can guarantee that we are closer than we 00:28:12.309 --> 00:28:14.710 used to be. And a second thing I can guarantee 00:28:15.289 --> 00:28:19.170 is that we are no longer than one lifetime away. 00:28:20.329 --> 00:28:24.829 Whatever lifespan that may be, when someone passes 00:28:24.829 --> 00:28:27.730 away, their next thing they're going to know 00:28:27.730 --> 00:28:31.170 is Jesus coming again. And we don't know when 00:28:31.170 --> 00:28:34.190 our life is going to end. So we need to know 00:28:34.190 --> 00:28:36.410 the time. We need to wake up out of our sleep 00:28:36.410 --> 00:28:39.950 because we are nearer than when we first begun. 00:28:40.109 --> 00:28:42.329 And notice verse 12. It says, the night is far 00:28:42.329 --> 00:28:46.259 spent. The day is at hand. Therefore, let us 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:49.640 cast off the works of darkness and let us put 00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:54.740 on the armor of light. We've got to take away 00:28:54.740 --> 00:28:57.799 those things which are causing us to be too busy, 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:01.500 which are causing us to be unnourished or malnourished. 00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:05.700 And it says we've got to cast off those works 00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:08.880 of darkness. And then in verse 14, it says, put 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:13.339 on the Lord Jesus Christ. and make no provision 00:29:13.339 --> 00:29:17.220 for the flesh to fulfill its lust. So we've got 00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:20.740 to set aside those things that cause our spiritual 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:24.319 apathy, and we've got to put on Jesus. We've 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:27.619 got to focus on his total, inconceivable love, 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:30.420 and the hope, and the guidance, and the forgiveness 00:29:30.420 --> 00:29:34.039 that he has. That's what we have to put on as 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:36.319 we're waking up. We have to keep our attention 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:39.380 not on who the Pope is, but on who Jesus is. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:42.299 Not on what conflict is happening in the world, 00:29:42.339 --> 00:29:45.279 but on what the Prince of Peace is doing in our 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:48.660 life. I saw a statement just yesterday that said 00:29:48.660 --> 00:29:51.920 if we're more concerned about Popes than about 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:55.319 saving other people, then probably we don't need 00:29:55.319 --> 00:29:58.180 to look any further than our own reflection to 00:29:58.180 --> 00:30:02.759 see the spirit of Antichrist. Have mercy. We 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:05.359 need to care about the people that we know, the 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:08.440 people that are in our sphere of influence. And 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:10.559 we can know the time and we can pay attention 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:16.000 to things, but let us put on Jesus Christ. Now 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:20.019 we've got to go back because we left 10 people 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:22.859 sleeping on the side of the road. We don't want 00:30:22.859 --> 00:30:26.599 to leave them there. Matthew 25, let's go back 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:32.019 there briefly. It says, and at midnight, A cry 00:30:32.019 --> 00:30:35.039 was heard. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. 00:30:35.240 --> 00:30:38.619 Go out to meet him. And then all the virgins 00:30:38.619 --> 00:30:42.559 arose and trimmed their lamps. And it goes on 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.160 and says, they trimmed their lamps and the foolish 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:47.240 said to the wise, give us some of your oil for 00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:50.720 our lamps are going out. But the wise answered 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:53.059 saying, no, lest there should not be enough for 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:56.420 us and you, but you go and gather from those 00:30:56.420 --> 00:31:03.279 who sell and buy for yourself. said, wait, we 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:08.400 have this. We prepared. We had woken up. We had 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:12.779 expected something. But sometimes even the expected 00:31:12.779 --> 00:31:17.000 thing happens at an unexpected time. And these 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.400 foolish young ladies, they were anticipating, 00:31:19.579 --> 00:31:24.380 expecting Jesus to come, but they still missed 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:27.059 out. Notice this next verse, verse 10. While 00:31:27.059 --> 00:31:30.480 they went to buy, The bridegroom came and those 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:32.920 who were ready went in with him to the wedding, 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:38.000 but the door was shut. They were expecting the 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:42.140 bridegroom to come, but they missed it. They 00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:45.460 were anticipating it, but they weren't ready. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:47.819 They hadn't prepared. They hadn't been filled 00:31:47.819 --> 00:31:49.900 with that oil of the Holy Spirit. They hadn't 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:53.759 spent that time focusing on what God is, but 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:56.700 they had been tied down and they had gone to 00:31:56.700 --> 00:32:00.170 sleep. spiritually, and they hadn't prepared 00:32:00.170 --> 00:32:03.789 for how they were going to interact with that. 00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:07.769 And so just a few verses later, verse 13, notice 00:32:07.769 --> 00:32:11.210 what it says, Watch therefore, for you know neither 00:32:11.210 --> 00:32:14.390 the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man 00:32:14.390 --> 00:32:17.509 is coming. We've got to keep watch. We've got 00:32:17.509 --> 00:32:20.890 to wake up, because we don't know exactly when 00:32:20.890 --> 00:32:23.609 Jesus is coming, but we know he's coming soon, 00:32:23.690 --> 00:32:27.279 and each day we go by, He's coming that much 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:31.440 sooner. There's a story from a few years ago 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:35.259 about a gentleman, James Shaw. He was hungry, 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:38.460 and he wanted to go eat somewhere, and it was 00:32:38.460 --> 00:32:40.500 the middle of the night, like 2 o 'clock in the 00:32:40.500 --> 00:32:43.079 morning. Now, there's not a lot of places you 00:32:43.079 --> 00:32:46.180 can go find some food at 2 o 'clock in the morning, 00:32:46.259 --> 00:32:49.099 but in Nashville and many other places, there's 00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:52.759 at least one, and that's Waffle House. Open 24 00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:55.460 hours. So James Shaw was at the Waffle House. 00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:58.980 probably eating a waffle, maybe some hash browns, 00:32:58.980 --> 00:33:00.920 covered, smothered, I don't know how he liked 00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:04.599 them, when suddenly there was an unexpected noise 00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:10.680 of gunfire and windows shattering, and someone 00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:13.700 begun shooting into the Waffle House and came 00:33:13.700 --> 00:33:16.099 into the door. And as you might imagine, everyone 00:33:16.099 --> 00:33:19.279 in that facility scattered and tried to find 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:22.200 a place to hide, and James found himself with 00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:24.410 others. down the little hallway that goes back 00:33:24.410 --> 00:33:27.190 towards the restrooms. But that door doesn't 00:33:27.190 --> 00:33:31.089 lock. And so they could hear and sense that that 00:33:31.089 --> 00:33:35.329 person was coming closer. And James already had 00:33:35.329 --> 00:33:38.470 a graze of a bullet on his arm. And as that gunman 00:33:38.470 --> 00:33:41.430 was getting closer, they could tell he was reloading. 00:33:42.509 --> 00:33:45.589 fixing a jam or something. And James jumped out 00:33:45.589 --> 00:33:48.309 and he grabbed the barrel of the gun and it burned 00:33:48.309 --> 00:33:50.750 his hand, the hot barrel. He wrenched the gun 00:33:50.750 --> 00:33:52.910 away from the gunman. He threw it over the counter 00:33:52.910 --> 00:33:56.390 back to where the cooks are. And that gunman, 00:33:56.410 --> 00:33:59.529 without his weapon, he ran away and later was 00:33:59.529 --> 00:34:04.849 arrested. Now, four people died in that shooting. 00:34:04.970 --> 00:34:08.230 Tragically, four people died. But how many more 00:34:08.230 --> 00:34:11.659 might have died? This is what James said when 00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:14.659 they interviewed him later. He said, I was completely 00:34:14.659 --> 00:34:19.860 doing it just to save myself. Now, me doing that, 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:23.039 I did save other people. But I don't want people 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:25.119 to think that I was the Terminator or Superman 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:28.300 or anybody like that. It was just, I figured 00:34:28.300 --> 00:34:31.019 if I was going to die, he was going to have to 00:34:31.019 --> 00:34:35.780 work for it. And so he did that to save himself. 00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:39.320 But in the process of saving himself, he saved 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.340 the lives of many other people. It was an unexpected 00:34:42.340 --> 00:34:46.079 situation, but he responded in a positive way 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:50.139 and made a difference. And as we find ourselves 00:34:50.139 --> 00:34:54.300 in unexpected situations, as we are waiting for 00:34:54.300 --> 00:34:58.519 Jesus to come, how will we respond? If we respond 00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:01.659 in a way to save ourselves, to wake ourselves 00:35:01.659 --> 00:35:05.039 up, to make sure that we are focusing on Jesus, 00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:07.920 that we're putting on the Lord Jesus, well, guess 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:10.940 what? There's a good chance that by saving yourself, 00:35:11.099 --> 00:35:13.659 you're going to save somebody else. You're going 00:35:13.659 --> 00:35:15.980 to influence somebody else. You're going to bring 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:19.579 somebody else along with you. So let's make sure 00:35:19.579 --> 00:35:24.099 that as we expect Jesus to come soon, that no 00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:27.380 matter what comes along that is unexpected, that 00:35:27.380 --> 00:35:30.099 we will keep our attention and we will keep our 00:35:30.099 --> 00:35:33.460 focus upon Jesus. And in all that we do, we will 00:35:33.460 --> 00:35:36.699 let our light shine for him. Let's bow our heads 00:35:36.699 --> 00:35:40.960 for prayer. Dear God, we thank you so much that 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:45.420 you love us enough to care about us. You love 00:35:45.420 --> 00:35:49.500 us enough to give us clues and hints and a promise 00:35:49.500 --> 00:35:51.659 that you are coming again. And Lord, forgive 00:35:51.659 --> 00:35:53.860 us for times that we have gotten spiritually 00:35:53.860 --> 00:35:56.539 drowsy when we have fallen asleep. But Lord, 00:35:56.599 --> 00:35:59.940 help us in all that we do to focus on you, to 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:03.440 put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to know the time 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:06.699 that we live in, to awake out of our sleep, and 00:36:06.699 --> 00:36:09.599 to keep our eyes on you. In your name we pray. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:10.440 Amen.