Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
You know, this evening we're concluding our series. We started, I guess, five weeks ago, so we started going into the book of First Thessalonians, and Pastor Jeff kicked us off with a great message. And I remember hearing that message, and I cannot remember how to summarize that, but I know he started us off. Thank you for that. And then Pastor Terrence came in and continued that and brought us in chapter two. And then we talked a little bit about persevering under pressure and how we can handle the pressures of life and persecutions, problems, or, you know, the difficulties. And last week we talked about having both hope and faith, how we move forward in that. And this evening we're concluding our series.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:50]:
Now, I don't know if you've ever felt like, you know, you were ill prepared for something that that would happen or you guys ever felt like that. Do you guys ever get the dream that you wake up and then it's like in your dream that, oh, shoot, I forgot, I have a test tomorrow. You guys ever get that kind of a dream, right? I mean, like, yeah, some. Some of those guys, every once in a while I would have those dreams, but. But sometimes they're real things that happen. One January morning started like, just like a normal day for Captain C. He's a airline pilot, was a crisp winter morning, and he got up like normal, had breakfast like normal, drank his coffee like normal, headed to the airport like normal, and met his crew like normal and ran through the checklist like normal. And the plane was nice and full, which was pretty normal for that day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:43]:
And that route that he had. And then they taxied off, had a nice easy takeoff. And then just a few minutes as they were into the air, a flock of geese came across the sky in New York City. And the plane struck that flock. And you know, if you're familiar that one of those engines went down. And actually both engines then lost power. And as they lost power, all of a sudden, in the midst of that crazy chaos, we had only seconds between life and death decisions. Captain Chelsea Sullenberger calmly assessed the situation, determined that the returning to the airport was not possible.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:36]:
And so he made a decision that with skill and composure, landed the plane. An emergency landing in the Hudson river, something he'd never done before, something he'd never practiced before, but was able to do it and had all 155 people on the plane survive. Now, what made that possible was, although he'd never done that before, it's true that he had 40 years of flying experience. It's True that he had training for different kinds of emergency scenarios on the fact that all the different kind of possibilities that could go wrong or something that could fail, and that with all of those things, he was able to maneuver the plane and kind of land it. Now, maybe you've not been in a situation where 155 people's lives are totally in your hands, whether the kind of decision that you make, but it doesn't have to be that for us to know that there are times we need to be ready, that when we're called upon, that we need to be ready to rise up to the occasion at times. And this evening, what we're going to take a look at is a time when God wants us to be ready for his return and that we're talking about how we can be readying ourselves for the return of Christ. And the apostle Paul has kind of walked through different seasons addressing where they've been, what they've done, and. And then turning to what will happen lies ahead.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:14]:
And he concludes his book this in chapter five with the following words in first Thessalonians, chapter five, verses one and two. And we're going to read that just as an opening. Would you be kind enough to stand in reverence for God? Reverence for His Word. And we're going to read these things together. Ready? Let's read now. Concerning the times, the seasons. Brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. And you know, when it says times and seasons, it uses a couple different words.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:54]:
One of those words is kind of the first word is kronos, where we get like a digital or analog time. You know, it's the time like you watch well, will dictate, that talks about how time moves in sequence. And the other word that he uses is the word kairos, which more determines the season. It's not so much the ticking of a clock, but like a period of time, right? And he says that, you know, sometimes we're wondering, when are certain things happening? You know, when is that prayer going to be answered? You guys ever think about that? It's like, next week? Is it this week? Is it next month? And we get concerned about those kind of times. And then sometimes you're in this place, it's like, I'm just in a different season. You know, I feel the season changing in my life. And he's saying, whether it's individual specific things or specific dates or whether it's seasons in your life. He says, you know, you're aware, brothers, because I've written to you about something that will happen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:53]:
And he says, it's the day of the Lord. Now, let's say that that phrase, the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. Now, the day of the Lord means different things to people, but it's the same day. It's the same day that will be a day of judgment for some, it's the same day that will be a day of deliverance for others. It'll be a day of great anguish for some, it'll be a day of rejoicing for others. But this is what he wants you to know. But his desire is that for you, when that day of the Lord comes, it is a day of great rejoicing. So do me a favor before you're seated, turn to the Lord, turn to the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:37]:
Tend to your neighbor. Don't call him Lord, but turn to your neighbor and say, hey, God has good plans for when he returns for you. Now, this thing called the day of the Lord is. It's well written about in the Old Testament in the prophets. And the prophet Isaiah or the prophet Amos or Obadiah, the minor prophets, the major prophets, the prophet Joel, talk about it as a day where the wicked in the nations are judged. And even it's saying about the ones in Israel who haven't repented and the ones who haven't been faithful to God. And he talks about a day of judgment. Now, the thing is that it's kind of a fearsome day, right? And at the same time, the day of the Lord when we see in the New Testament, is a day of your deliverance.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:34]:
It's the day where Jesus comes back for you. It's the day that he rescues us out of whatever the situation that you're in. It's a day that if those who have passed away, who have been already in the presence of the Lord, spiritually, in our spirit, in the heavenly realms, says that we'll have a resurrection. And all of these things are great days of rejoicing, he's saying is that we're going to set things right, we're going to make things work the way that it's supposed to. But it's really kind of depends on where you're at, whether it's a day of rejoicing or a day of judgment. But he makes it very clear that this will be a time that is, for the believer, is not something to be fearful of, but it's something to know that it's the sign of your deliverance. And he goes on, and he's going to explain this in the following verses. In verse three, he says, while people are saying that there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:47]:
But you are not in darkness. Do me a favor, turn to your neighbor and say, you are not in darkness. Right, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not children of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. Now, when he says these things, if it's the same day and. And it's basically like two sides of a coin, why is he saying that? This day of destruction, for some, he talks about it like a woman who goes into labor, right? And we had some friends this week who had a baby.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:34]:
To the Mohoys, we say congratulations to them. They had a brand new baby. Yeah, Kinohi. And then one super long sentence, mohoy. And, you know, I cannot remember all that, but I can remember kinohi, which means new beginning. But, you know, the thing is that I remember getting the texts from Chad saying, hey, you know, can you pray for us? We're headed in the castle. This is it, right? I think this is the time, right? So Anela is feeling it. This is.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:04]:
This is the time. And the thing is that for them, it was of great expectation, right? It was like they were excited at the same time. You know, this is their eight child, so they're not that surprised. But so they. They kind of know the drill in some sense, but it was still a time of great rejoicing. But he's saying that for some, it's going to be like a labor pain, that when the time comes, you know, you cannot put it off, right? You cannot, like, push it back. This baby is coming, and he's coming whether you like it or not. And they know that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:37]:
Well, because they had one baby, some of us know, on the freeway right before, so. And so they know that when that time comes, it doesn't matter whether you're ready or you're not ready. But he's saying in this thing that for some of us, for some people in life, that it will be a time that when that labor pain comes, that it's. There's no time for escape, that the time to escape, the time for renewal was before the time that he comes, right? And so, but the reason why he Says to us who are in the faith, he says, because for you, though, it's not in darkness, brothers, that you would be surprised. Like when a thief comes. I don't know if you guys ever been robbed before or had somebody take something before, but generally you don't hear it, right? It's not always like in the movies where, say, I hear a sound outside. Can you go outside and check what's going on? Right? Like sometimes you just wake up and it's gone, right? And so he's saying it's like a thief in the night, because it comes unexpected. He comes unannounced.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:47]:
He comes in a way that it's surprising, but he's saying it's not going to surprise you. Not because you know the exact day or time. You don't know the day or time. He's saying about the dates and the seasons. We don't know. It's not that you know exactly when, but you know that it's coming, right? And so we know that Jesus, when he came, he isn't like Arnold Schwarzenegger where he said, hasta la vista, baby. Right? But he did say, I'll be back, right? That he left us the Spirit of God. God gave us the spirit of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:24]:
That we experience his presence now through the Spirit. But one day he. He will return, right? And so he says that in Luke 19 that he gives an illustration, and he gives these different clues about the stories about the ten virgins and when the wedding is happening. And then he gives this in Luke 19, a different story about 10 servants. And he says that he said, therefore, a nobleman went into a far country to. To receive for himself a kingdom, and what then return, right? So he leaves, but then he will return. And so he called ten of his servants, and he gave them ten minas or measures of gold. And he said to them, engage in business until I come.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:15]:
And what he says in that moment, it's that the story is that we don't know when he's going to come, but we know that he will come. And then he doesn't say, sit around and just kind of wait till I come and don't do anything. He says, no, I want you to engage in business. I want you to live life. I want you to not be idle. I want you to be about my business. I want you to live in a way that is godly, but I want you to live in a way that prepares for eternity. But, hey, don't live like, I'm going to come in 10 minutes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:57]:
And so that it doesn't matter what I do, right? I'm going to sell everything. And then like, no, he says, occupy, live, do business until I come. He's saying, live for me in the midst of that now. So we don't know when Jesus is going to come, right? And anybody who tells you, like, hey, it's going to be, you know, in this state, it's going to be in this week, it's going to be in this month, to be honest, I stopped listening often because if Jesus didn't know the day or the hour, then I don't think that guy knows the day or the hour, right? And sometimes now it's easy to find guys who want to be so prophetic that they give such exact kind of clues. And I don't know, but are there signs? Yeah, there's signs. If you were ever to look in. Matthew 24 talks about that there will be wars and rumors of wars and that there will be natural disasters and earthquakes and there will be famine and there will be all of these kinds of things. 21 tells us the same thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:57]:
And so that when all of these things are happening, he says that's not the end. That's not the end, but that's the labor pain, right? And if you guys know labor pains, they're not continual. They come in waves, right? They come in episodes. But the thing about it is these episodes getting shorter and shorter duration, right? And I don't know about you guys, but like, you know, when we look at all the crazy changes that have happened over the last few years, isn't it seem like, man, the duration between whatever, it's the news cycle or whatever dominates, and it's just getting shorter and shorter in between these crazy events. And I think that's part of the sign, what he's trying to say. It's like, because these things also increase in severity, right, in terms of labor pains, that we feel the tension, we feel the discomfort, then we start to know. And so he's saying in the midst of that, when that happens, some people will say, hey, you know, there's peace and security. And then sudden destruction will come upon them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:14]:
Like a woman, right, who's going through these labor pains. And it's not saying, I think that, you know, everybody's going to be. Everything is going to be easy. But some people will be so optimistic, right, that some people will be so not wanting to think that Christ's return is coming. Somebody, some people would like to think that these things, that's all fairy tales, these are things that they talked about forever. But. And so they don't discount them. And so they'll say, no, things are just getting better and better.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:49]:
And that they cannot see with their natural eyes. They cannot see that God is bringing things to a head. And there in that sense is a willful blindness that will not be an excuse for when Christ returns. But he's saying this, but if you're a follower of Jesus, you notice if you're a follower of Jesus, that you hear the warnings, you sense those things, right? And what he wants us to do is live in a way that is ready for him. How ready can you be? In some ways, you're never going to be completely ready, right? Can I say this? It's not that, that you know, your life is going to be all perfect when Jesus comes. And, you know, you'll never struggle. I don't think that's the point that you'll never struggle with something. But it's this fact of being able to live with faith and knowing that he's coming.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:51]:
I'll say it like this. You know, when Covid hit, I understood that it was destabilizing for the world. And nobody was prepared for Covid, right? Nobody even knew what Covid was. And in that sense, it was very, you know, kind of engendered a lot of fear. But at the same time, and you know, like, we gotta wipe our Dorito bag and we gotta, you know, it was just crazy, right? What telling us, stay in your house, wear a mask, don't wear mask, and all this stuff. It was that it was crazy. But. But I also seen where some people were so destabilized, so paralyzed that they couldn't function.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:32]:
And some of us, to be honest, we had a faith that said, I don't know exactly what's going to happen. I just know God is still with us in the middle of it. And we were able to press forward. And I got to work with all of you guys who made stuff happen, to keep reaching out, to keep encouraging others and those who, you know, like, you know, we still had to live. And sometimes we stepped into situations. I stepped into situations. I didn't know exactly what was going to happen. I don't know if somebody was sick.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:05]:
I don't care. I'm gonna still go, right? And God shielded us and kept us going, right? Now, here's the thing. I didn't know about the ins and outs of COVID but I knew Jesus was with me. And that made me prepared, right? That made me prepared. I knew days like this would come and when it started happening and everything, I said, lord, I don't know if this is when youn're planning to come, but I know you're going to be sufficient for us. And so what he's calling us to do is to live in such a way that we make the Lord our confidence as we anticipate his return. Make the Lord your confidence. I wasn't confident that the mask was going to keep me, you know, healthy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:56]:
I mean, we have all the stuff. We still have all the remnants of air filters and, you know, the foggers. And we did all those things, to be honest, not because I needed it, but because we just wanted to make it as safe for anyone who would come, right? Did I care about math? To be honest, I didn't care. I didn't care that much. But I mean, I wore a mask out of respect. I wore the mask to make people feel comfortable, and I didn't. You know, we did that. But to be honest, my personal feeling was, if you didn't want to wear a mask, don't wear a mask.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:31]:
Up to you. But we tried to make it in a way that we could all feel safe, right? Because I'm not Superman, but I just know that the Lord was my confidence. So when we're in this kind of a situation, that's what God's trying to say, make the Lord your confidence. Because if it's not the Lord that your confidence, then it's something that's on shaky ground. If it's your experience, if it's your wisdom, if it's your connections, if it's the fact that things will get better. Because it always gets better, you know, sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't, right? And so make the Lord your confidence, and then it's something that's unshakable. When you make Jesus your anchor, then he'll always be holding on to you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:22]:
When you make Jesus your strength, then even when your strength runs out, his strength is still strong, right? So do me a favor, turn to your neighbor, says, let's make the Lord our confidence, right? Let's make the Lord our hope. Because he doesn't fail, right? He's still strong. And he goes on in this time because there will be a sifting of people, right? Because what it's talking about on the day of the Lord, that when he comes, that there will be a separation of those who have trusted and those who haven't, of those who are like the wheat and then those of the tares. And there's these different illustrations that Jesus gives sheep and goats. And he uses these things. And the whole of humanity will be divided. And that there's not going to be a middle ground. And so it's not that it's who's deserving and who's undeserving.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:17]:
It's those who've trusted and those who have not trusted, right? It's those who have humbled themselves and those who have refused to humble themselves, right? And so it's not because he's looking at a religion, he's looking at those who have a relationship to him. And so he says in the midst of those times, in verse eight, but since we belong to the day, let's say since. What does that mean? Since it means in light of right, but in light of the fact that we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on a breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Now when it says let us be sober, it literally is saying, let's stay awake. And you guys ever try to stay awake, but you get the sleepies. Anybody ever driving? You get the sleepies, right? You guys ever drive and then you start driving, like by feel. Then you wake up, like, you know, when you're hitting all the reflectors on the side. I mean, I've.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:23]:
I've had the sleepy sometimes, and it didn't help when I was in college and my car had carbon monoxide coming into the cab. So I used to get sleepy every once in a while. They didn't realize until I think, oh, geez, this car is going to kill me if I'm not careful. But here's the thing, is that sometimes it feels like, man, you cannot stay awake. But he's saying, let's stay awake, let's be sober. Let's be having put on, he says, the breastplate of faith and of love and a helmet, the hope of salvation. And he starts listing out some things that we can see that Paul had talked about in Ephesians. Putting on the armor of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:05]:
And he talks about only a couple of things, but he's saying it's to guard your heart, the breastplate. And it says instead of righteousness and of right living. He's saying faith and love can be also things that protect your heart, right? He's saying, what protects your mind? He says it's the same thing thing. It's the hope of salvation. It's the confidence that God has saved you, not by your deeds, not by your actions, but by his actions and your trusting in him. And so he goes on and he says for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation to our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, last week I had mentioned a little bit where it talks about the fact that we talked a little bit about the rapture, about the snatching away. That's what the word rapture means.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:58]:
And that word rapture doesn't actually exist in the Bible. But the thought does, right? The thought does. The idea does. It just doesn't use that word because the word rapture is a Latin word and the New Testament is written in Greek. So it's not going to have that word. But it has that idea. And it's this idea of being snatched away. And you know, like for some of us that we've been around for a little while, you probably heard that there's three views of when the rapture happens, before all the hell will break loose on the earth and before the Antichrist comes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:36]:
Sometimes we call that the pre tribulation, right? So there's three basic views. The pre tribulation, it's the middle tribulation, it's like the seven year period, you're saying between the first three and a half years and the second three and a half years, that's where it's going to happen. And then some say at the end it's post trip that where after the Antichrist has come on the scene, after all of destruction has been poured out on the earth, that's when God will come for his people. And I had mentioned, it's like I used to be pre trip for the beginning, for many years, because that's what I was taught and that's what I think God is calling us to be ready. But to be honest, the more I've been around and the more I've read the scripture and you see the fact that even today there are people who give their lives for the faith. And we have people that are closely connected to us in countries that they literally are putting their lives at risk daily to serve him right. And for them to leave their house and do the ministry that we're partnering with them to do, it puts their lives at risk. Like literally can be picked up off the street, either shot or forced to serve in an army.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:59]:
And that's just the way it is. And I don't think we can say that nothing's happening. Stuff is happening already. But this is what I know, that God never destined you for his anger and his wrath. God never destined you for his judgment. When it says wrath, it's not just the fact that somebody gets upset Wrath is a. It's a. A stronger, much stronger term.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:31]:
It's the punishment that is poured out on a rebellious and people who are opposed to the will of God. And so he's saying, that's not your destiny. You're not destined for that in Christ. He says, I took all the pain, all the suffering, all the judgment that was meant for people who have failed. He says, I took that all myself so that grace could be given to you. You're not destined for wrath. Turn to your neighbor, says, God doesn't destine you for wrath. He says, for you, it's favor, it's grace, it's mercy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:18]:
Why? Because he died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him. In other words, if we die before he returns, don't worry, you'll be in his presence. And if you live when he comes, he says, don't worry because he already paid the price. And then he says this in verse 11, therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. And so what is the picture that we see about staying sober, staying awake, not getting sleepy, not falling and not going backward? And be vigilant in faith, right? To be vigilant in faith, to know that because God is faithful, that let us be faithful. Right? And then he goes on and he says, well, how do we do that? How can I stay faithful? Because sometimes everybody do you have up and down in life, right? Isn't that just kind of like the norm for everybody? Everybody has ups and downs, right? Everybody has. There are there some days that you totally feel the strength of the Lord, that you feel the joy of the Lord, you feel his presence, right? There are some days that you go like, I don't know, I don't really feel it today. Right, right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:40]:
And to be honest, I think if we're real honest, we all feel that at times, right? And so this is what he's saying. He's saying it's that we're not doing it by our feeling, but we're doing it by faith, right? Because everybody has ups and downs. If you have ups and downs, you're normal. But here's what. How do we. How do we maintain that? Then he says that you got to live out your faith in community. You got to live out your faith in community. Because you know what is an odd thing in the scriptures that you don't see in the Bible is you don't see Christians, you don't see followers of Jesus who don't associate with a faith community, a Church, you don't see that it's not a practice that happened in this time.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:37]:
Why? Because they all understood that I cannot survive in my faith apart from a community. And Jesus never called me to do it apart from a community. And so he says it like this, the Apostle Paul. He says, we ask you brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Now, it's not saying, you know, to honor and respect the leaders in church because they're better than you or because they're more mature than you, or because they have a special call and a relationship with God that you cannot have. That's not what it's saying. It's saying, recognize leaders because they work hard in your midst, because they encourage and warn you. And it's not always easy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:33]:
It's not about a title, right? I don't know if some of you guys know I don't really care too much about titles, but recognize that they care for your soul. He's saying, and you know, we don't need titles to care for people and to care for people's well being, right? And I'm glad that you guys are people, that it doesn't matter that you just care about people, right? You care about people who know Jesus, you care about people who don't know Jesus. And but he says, recognize that because, to be honest, because if we don't recognize, then we tend to say, it's like, I could just do my own thing, right? That if we're not part of something, we're not part of a community. You don't have to be a part of this church, but if you're not a part of this church, you ought to be a part of some church, right? You ought to be a part somewhere. Because we were never designed to live this life of faith alone, right? This is not something that you just see in the scriptures. It's just me and Jesus. It's just me and Jesus. I'm not about religion, so I don't care about like the church, whatever.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:38]:
It's just me and Jesus. You don't see that in the Bible, do you? Because we're called to do to one another's, love one another, encourage one another, strengthen one another, bear one another's burdens, right? It's called to at times warn one another, right? It's called at times to stir up the faith of one another. We're called to live in community. And when you do I think when we live in community, it's. It's to create a culture. It's to create a culture that will be often counterculture to the larger culture. You know, in the past, the current of society in America, the current of society was largely mirrored the culture that was talked about in the scripture about honoring God, about having respect for authority, about having a sense of community, about saying, hey, there's right and there's wrong. But over the last 50 years, I don't know, however many years even before that, but we see all of a sudden there's this current of society and the current of the gospel seem to be cross currents, right? They're not going in the same direction anymore.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:10]:
And so he's saying that we ought to have a community and a culture within the church. That's a culture of honor, that's a culture of encouragement. That's a culture of faith, that's a culture of gratitude, right? How many of us have. There's people at your workplace or people at home, they'd always point out something wrong, right? They'd always say, it's like, hey, how's dinner? It's like, it's all right. Could be better anyway, you know, like. Like kind of like negative. Always saying, like, well, you know, to be honest, isn't that a drag? Right? But he's saying that we are honest. Can things be improved? Probably everything can be improved, right? At different place.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:57]:
But we're looking not to be judgmental or skeptical, but to be encouraging, to be strengthening. So he says this. He says, be at peace among yourselves. Let's say peace, right? What kind of peace is that? It's not the fact that you can control that everything always goes your way or you never have an argument or a disagreement. But he's saying that we have peace because we're not at war with one another, and we had a sense of settling and that we have a sense of peace. In yourself, right? So he says, when you do that, he says, then we can urge you brothers to admonish the idol. In other words, some people need to be warned. Hey, you know, come on, you know, you got to be about the Lord's business, and you got to take care of your own business at times.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:53]:
Last week when we. When we said that to mind your own business, it's not the kind like, hey, mind your own business. Don't tell me what to do. It was what. Take care of what's on your plate, right? Care for your loved ones, right? Do your job, work, provide. Provide for yourself, provide for others. And he's saying, you know, I heard some people just say, you know, just reading that, just talking about that last week, that just, you know, with some of the trouble that they're having at work, or sometimes you see different things, say, you know, I don't have to fix everybody's thing. I don't have to know every problem, but I got to just take care of business for myself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:34]:
He's saying this, right? So some people need to be encouraged. You got to take care of business at home, or you got to take care of business at work, or you got to take care of business at school, right? Because somebody. Nobody's going to do it for you. And so he says. And see that. And he says, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, but be patient with them. All right? And so he's saying, the culture ought to be accepting, but it ought to speak truth with grace, right? It ought to speak truth with love. And so, you know, it's not.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:11]:
Somebody told me once, it's like, you know, that man, the church is always like, so kind of like, oh, it's all good. I said, oh, I mean, I don't think we're not honest, right? But I don't have to be negative about everything, right? Let's talk about things that are going well, and if there's some things that we need to improve on, let's improve on them. But to be honest, how about you guys? I'd rather be encouraged into something than shamed into something. And sometimes what we find is when people try to shame people into being righteous and strong, this is what I found. It never works because all they do is hide. All they do is lie. All they'll do is pretend. You'll never shame someone to be the man of God or the woman of God that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:06]:
That they could be. They need to be encouraged, right? They need to be accepted. Do they need to be warned? Sure. Sometimes, right? Do they need to be. Do they need to be taught? Absolutely. But let's create a culture of honor, of encouragement, of faith and gratitude. And so we speak that truth. We're thankful he says these things, to see that no one repays anyone.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:33]:
Evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone, right? And so it's not like, hey, that guy, he never smiled at me. Then forget them, right? That guy didn't like when I was gonna. When I went through hospitality and had the big piece and the small piece that they never gave me the good sized piece, they gave me the small piece. I'M not going to be friendly to them, right? Like, it's like, that would be. That doesn't make sense, right? He's saying, like, look, do things happen in the world? Yeah, sometimes, right? Things happen. But he says, you know, we're not there to do tit for tat. We're not there to. He says, instead, see that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:20]:
He says, in the church. He's saying, in the church, make sure people seek to be a blessing and not to be a curse, right? Seek that people want to be an encouragement and not a discouragement. But he says this, and not only in the church. He says, outside the church. He says, when you go to work, when you interact with your neighbor, when you go home to your family, when you go hang out with your friends, he's saying, be that kind of people. And then he says this, verse 16, Rejoice, always, pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God. What is he saying? Practice your faith.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:04]:
Practice your faith. I'm glad that you guys are here this evening. But he says, don't let this be the only time that we pray, right? Don't let this be the only time that we worship. Don't let this be the only time that we're in the word of God. Don't let this be the. He's saying, pray continually, right? When it says pray continually, by the way, it's not saying be neurotic, right? Like, I didn't pray like 10 seconds ago, I better pray now, right? It's just saying that as you go in life, keep in prayer. Be in an attitude of prayer right now. Be a person of prayer and don't be ashamed to pray, right? Don't be ashamed to pray.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:45]:
Keep talking to God. Keep bringing things before God. Trust him. Rely on him, right? Cooperate with God. He goes on and he says this. He says, for this is the will of God, right? And when it says, give thanks in all circumstances, sometimes people say, you know, I'm so thankful that I lost my job, or I'm so thankful that I got cancer. I mean, everybody's like, if I have to be thankful, it's not saying, be thankful that you got cancer. It's just saying, if you have cancer, is there something that you can be thankful for in the midst of it? I'm thankful God's still faithful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:23]:
I'm thankful the Lord's my healer, right? I mean, it's crazy. We don't just. We're not supposed to be thankful for something, right? If somebody, you know, you got your total wreck of your car. Thank you, Jesus, for this wreck of my car, right? Thank you that I got in this great accident. That's not normal. He's saying, though, can we be thankful in the midst of it, Lord, thank you that, you know, no one got seriously injured, right? I've been in total wrecks before. Not when I was driving, but we were just thankful that, man. We literally could have all died, but we all made it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:12]:
We were thankful one guy had glass coming out of his head for a few months. But, you know, hey, compared to what could have happened, you know, we're grateful. And so it's. In all circumstances we can be thankful. Why? Because God's always with us. He's never abandoning us. And he says, and this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Then he goes on and there's a little bit of this thing where he's saying that when we're living in community, that the spirit of God wants to move among us, right? The spirit of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:50]:
There's nobody who has so much of God. There's nobody who has so many gifts that they don't need other people. There's nobody. There's no pastor. There's no kind of an overseer. There's no, you know, it's not like, who's your favorite preacher or who's your favorite Christian leader. There's nobody out there that doesn't need other people. We all need people, right? That's why he's saying we're supposed to do this thing in community, right? And there's no leftover parts, right? So do me a favor, turn to your neighbor and say, you're needed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:36]:
You might not know what your gifting is. You might not feel like I have any gifting. You might feel like I'm too old to do this. You might feel like I'm too young to do something. But you're not, right? Everybody's needed. But then he says this. There will be times. There will be times that the spirit of God moves and wants to move among us, but that we can put it out, we can stop it, right? It's like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:06]:
There's a flame that's going to start. It's going to kind of warm up the room, but if we're not careful, we can take the cup and throw the water on it, and we can quench and put out what God's trying to do. So he says this verse 19 don't quench the spirit. When God begins to move in a sense of corporate togetherness, that when God begins to move, if you recognize it for what it is, it doesn't have to start with a specific person. You know, I mean, to be honest, if I'm in a meeting, I don't have to have every good idea, because I don't have every good idea, but I just need to recognize the good idea that makes sense. You know, when you're at home, when you're. You get into this, we got to figure out what to do. You don't have to figure every good way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:12]:
You just need to be able to recognize what is the right way. It doesn't matter who came up with the idea, right? And so he's saying, don't quench the spirit. How do you quench the spirit? Sometimes it's pride, sometimes it's judgment, right? Sometimes it's jealousy, sometimes it's skepticism. But he's saying, don't quench the spirit. And then he says this verse 20, do not despise prophecies. And that when certain people will say, I felt the Lord told me something, he says, you're not saying that you have to be a lack of discernment. Don't not be without discernment. But he says, do not despise prophecies.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:09]:
If someone says they hear the Lord, tell them something in a way that you're like, I don't believe that. He says, don't despise the fact that God can speak to people, wants to speak to people, but test everything. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. You know, sometimes even in the small groups that I get to lead, I want people to practice. Let's practice hearing from God. Let's practice listening to what God might be saying. And that when we pray, if you feel led to pray a certain thing, we're going to be quiet for a second.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:52]:
Let's ask God to lead us. And whether. Right. Whether you know exactly what we're talking about, you feel impressed by God to pray something, have the courage to pray that thing out loud. Why do we do that? Because when that happens, you know what? Sometimes people, you never say anything. But when that happens and somebody goes like, wow, that's exactly what's going on with my life. That's exactly what's. And you know what they'll think? They're not going to think, oh, Ben.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:28]:
Ben is the man of God. No, this is what they think. Wow, God knew, right? God is moving in this Midst. And so he's saying, let there be space. So he's saying, in the community, can we have space for the spirit of God to move? In the community, can we have space for God to redirect us? Not just by what it says on paper and with paper and pencil and us calculating. Sometimes God might tell us to do something that on one level doesn't make sense, but on another level, you go, like, I really feel this is God. And he says, but test everything. Hold fast what is good.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:14]:
Abstain from every evil. So when we live in community, we practice our faith. We create a culture of honor, encouragement, faith and gratitude. We recognize those who lead us. And then he comes to this end. He comes to this place, I think, where he's just going to end the book. But he's saying this. Let's finish well together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:40]:
Let's finish well together in verse 23. Let's read what it says. We're going to read this together, this last portion. Ready? Let's read now. May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:09]:
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. You know, when it's saying this, he's praying for them, right? He's praying for the believers in Thessalonica. And he's saying to them, you guys pray for us, right? And then he says this. And then wherever you go, greet people with a holy kiss. The operative word is holy, right? And then he says this. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to how many of the brothers? All the brothers, right? So he's saying.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:59]:
Paul's not saying, hey, I'm going to finish. Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to finish. Well, that's what he's saying. He's saying, let's all finish well together, right? And he says, would there be grace of Jesus with you? You know, I had lunch with Pastor Kimo, who's the regional pastor in. In our district, in our foursquare family. And, you know, it was a good time to catch up. And somewhere in the conversation, I was just. To be honest, this was just yesterday.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:39]:
And so somewhere in the conversation, he said, hey, you know, Hulk Hogan died. I go, oh, yeah, I saw that. In the paper today, he said he's 71. And he said this, you know what? I'm the same age. And I was a little surprised. I didn't know his exact age, but he has a little bit more years on him than I had thought. And then I know a lot about his life. I know that he had been in the Navy, and after getting out of the Navy, that he became a believer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:10]:
And throughout his life, he's wore so many hats, I can't really count, but I know among them, it's been. He's been a Christian radio dj, he's been an actor, he's been a pastor, he's been a professor, he's been a college president, he's been a businessman. And after his retirement, after his retirement from all the things that he's been doing, that's when he moved back home from California that we saw this guy that had all this background, been a man of faith for some 40 something years, and we called him, hey, would you be part of that regional team in our. In our district? And I'm an area guy, I'm under him directly, and I help oversee some of the pastors in our area. But the thing is, you know, he's had all these things, and when we're talking, he just said this yesterday. He goes like, man, I. I really hope I finish well. And, you know, when I heard him say that, I was like, wow.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:19]:
I mean, I think exactly the same thing I said, Me too. But sometimes you just see somebody just think, well, of course they're going to end well. He's retired and he's doing all this stuff now. Right. But, you know, he's not the only guy who's had a lot of experience, had a lot of different things going in his life that I knew that. He's the same age. He's the same age as Pastor Kimo. His name is Rick Warren.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:48]:
Are you guys familiar with Rick Warren? Founded Saddleback Church. They were like 30,000 members. Pioneered the Purpose Driven Church model. He wrote a little book called the Purpose Driven life that sold 50 million copies. Right. I think this is the premier devotional guide of this time. There's different titles for the same book. There's one is called what on Earth Am I Here For? It might look a little different, can have a little update, but I think it's.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:27]:
It's the best thing that's been out there. Pastored for 43 years, trained over a million pastors worldwide with his Purpose Driven Church conferences and materials. Preached his last message at Saddleback Community Church, August 28, 2022. And since he retired, he's been traveling around the world speaking about his peace plan, where you plant churches, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation. And he came here, he spoke about it in Hawaii not a couple years ago. But you know, Pastor Rick, I know he wants to end well, but you know, the thing is, he's been, he's done such amazing things, but he wasn't the first Christian in his family. His dad, he's actually the son of a. He's a pastor's kid.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:34]:
And nobody ever heard, at least, I don't know, I never heard anybody talk about Jimmy Warren. But that's his dad, who's a Baptist minister and a church planner as well, and deeply committed to missions and evangelism. But he also had a passion for building churches with his own hands, like, literally helped construct the thing, right? But his life was greatly influenced by Rick's ministry. But Rick's life was greatly influenced by his dad's. And he writes about it a little in, in this book that I want to. I just want to read to you. And he, he says this, he goes, you know, my dad was a Minister for over 50 years, serving mostly in small rural churches. He was a simple preacher, but he was a man with a mission.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:32]:
So he never had the 30,000, he never had. Like, if you've ever been to Saddleback Community Church, it's on like something like 10 acres. It's like these massive buildings. It's like, it's amazing. But dad never saw any of that. But he said. In 1999, my father died of cancer in the final week of his life. The disease kept him awake in a semi conscious state nearly 24 hours a day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:02]:
And he dreamed and he talked out loud about what he was dreaming and sitting by his bedside. I learned a lot about my dad by just listening to his dreams. He relived one church building project after another. So one night near the end, while my wife, my niece and I were by his side, dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course, he was too weak, and my wife insisted he lay back down. But he persisted, trying to get out of bed. So my wife finally asked Jimmy, what are you trying to do? She says, gotta save one more for Jesus. Gotta save one more for Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:47]:
And he kept repeating that phrase over and over, Gotta save one more for Jesus. And he said, during the next hour, he said that phrase probably a hundred times. Gotta save one more For Jesus. And I sat by his bed, he said, with tears flowing down my cheeks. And I bowed my head to thank God for my dad's faith. And at that moment, dad reached out, placed his frail hand on my head, and said, as if commissioning me, save one more for Jesus. You know, it was right after that that Jimmy went to be with the Lord. But his life was lived in community, influenced his son, who's changed a lot of the Christian world today, influenced all over the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:50]:
And you know what? Pastor Rick, he's trying to end well. And all of us, you know what? Would we all end well? Will we finish well? But you know what? You can't do it by yourself. Right? We need each other to encourage, to stand strong. He says, recognize that when the enemy comes and attacks you, you know what? Yes, you have your faith. Yes, with peace and faith, put on the breastplate right of faith. And yes, have the helmet of salvation. But you know what? When you have somebody to come alongside, stand with you, pray with you, encourage you, warn you, strengthen you, and you get to do that for somebody else. And guess what? Although there will be this great divide of the day of the Lord of Judgment for some and deliverance for others, I really, truly believe that each of us, every single person in this room, every single person watching online, can you win one more for Jesus? Because we don't want to go to just go to heaven.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:11]:
We want to bring everybody that we can with us. And I think when we do that, we end well. Amen. Let's bow our heads. We're closing a word of prayer, Father. This evening, Lord, it's a full chapter that we talked about. And I might not have done it justice, but I thank youk. It's the living word of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:48]:
And, Lord, in the midst of that, I know there are some. When we talk about the day of the Lord, there is a spirit of fear that rises in your heart. And if that's you this evening, would you just raise your hand a little bit? I want to pray for you. Because if you have fear sometimes, this is the fear that we have. I don't know if I'm good enough. But you're never good enough. Have you trusted Jesus? Do you know him? He says if you do, he says you're his child, you're his son, you're his daughter. If you've been born again, he says this, that you're born alive in Him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:42]:
And Father, I pray against that. Just that spirit of fear, Lord, the spirit of condemnation that some that they we get so Introspective. And Lord, there's a need for introspection at times. But Lord, none of us will ever get to heaven because we deserved it, because we earned it. Because we proved something to you. Lord, it is not by what we do by which we are saved. It is in whom we trust. And thank you, Lord, we place our faith in Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:16]:
And Father, I pray, Lord, that we would stand together and Father that we would create that culture of honor and encouragement and respect. And Father, that practices faith. Lord, we're not perfect, but we're being perfected, Father, that we can be sober and vigilant our faith. But Lord, we want everybody to finish well together. So would you strengthen, Lord, those on our left and those on our right? Father, would that those maybe who've been disconnected from the church, Father, would they recognize that there may be seasons that have been. That life gets disrupted. But. But that's not supposed to be a normal situation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:09]:
It happens maybe from time to time. It happened maybe in Covid, but it's not supposed to be happening today. Father, I pray that they would recognize we need them and they need us. Because Lord, that's how we were created. And if you've not known the grace of and the mercy of Jesus, it's not hard. You just gotta humble yourself and come to Christ and ask. Lord, would you'd forgive me that you would have a change of heart? I know I've done life my way all of these years. But Lord, I want to do things your way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:59]:
I want to put my faith in you. I know I can't save myself. But thank you. Jesus died for me. And if you say that to him, Lord, would you come live in me? God, would you forgive me of my sin? You know what he will do? He will take you from where you are and bring you into his family. He will transfer you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his light. And all you got to do is ask. In no way he says, will he turn anyone away who asks.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:03:35]:
And if you're asking this evening, would you just raise your hand wherever you are, you're at home, you're here. We're gonna just pray together. Lord Jesus, I know you're coming again. And Lord, I know that rather than judgment, your preferred way of meeting people is to make them your friends. So Jesus, I want to be your friend today. I humble myself before your mighty hand. And I turn from all the things that I know are wrong. And I turn and bring myself before you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:04:23]:
I need you today. Come live inside me today. Would you come forgive me. Today I trust in you. Help me to become who you created me to be. A person of honor, a person of faith, a person of courage. But Lord, I need your grace. I need your wholeness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:04:47]:
I need your healing. I need you. So would you lead me today? Would you guide me? Today? I give myself to you. Thank you. You have given yourself for me. I trust you right now. In Jesus name, amen. If you prayed that prayer today, would you know God heard you that the enemy has lost because you belong to him? Today, can we just say congratulations to those who said yes to Jesus?