How to Represent Jesus in Times of War | The Essentials

Hey, my name is Justin Kowalski, and I am the associate pastor at our Palm Avenue campus

in Riverside, California.

Thanks so much for listening to Sandals Church.

Our vision is to be real with ourselves, God, and others.

We hope you enjoy this message.

Hey, guys.

Welcome to Sandals Church.

I want to start off with a question.

Whether you're married or single, young or old, have you ever had a crucial conversation

with someone you love?

Raise your hands.

Okay, look around.

A lot of hands up.

And have those conversations ever gone poorly?

Any married men in here?

Yes.

Anybody talked to a police officer last night?

You've been drinking and it went poorly, right?

Shouldn't be doing that.

But we've all had crucial conversations that were super important, but they didn't go the

way we wanted.

And so today's sermon is a crucial conversation.

So I'm going to do my best.

I'm going to do my best to talk with you and to talk to you about something that's so

important, that's essential to our Christian faith.

We're going to pivot a little bit here because we're going to talk about what's happening

in our world.

We're going to talk about the conflict in Israel and the current war that has been

declared on Hamas.

And specifically, what I want to talk to you about today is how to represent Jesus in

times of war.

I've seen so many posts from well.

Meaning Christians, godly people, and they mean.

Well, and I've seen this everywhere.

I stand with Israel.

I want to challenge you today to stand with Jesus.

Now, Jesus loves Israel.

Jesus loves the Jews.

Jesus hates what happened this week.

It was grotesque.

And there's nothing moral about killing children and babies.

It's disgusting.

And anybody who stands with that, they stand with the devil.

But I want you to stand with Jesus.

And so I want you to learn.

When you're talking with your friends, when you're engaging on social media, even as you

sit here in church with maybe.

Somebody who's curious about Jesus, but they're Muslim or they're from the Middle East.

And they have a very different perspective than you do of how this whole conflict rages

and why it rages.

Number one, I want to challenge you.

I want you to recognize that all religions get it wrong, all of them.

You're going to see me on social media this week.

We had a debrief episode that I think is super important for you to listen to.

But you're going to see this quote, and I say this.

If there are things about Christianity that.

Don'T embarrass you, you're probably not a real Christian.

And you just got to know, man, the haters are going to come for me.

But have you never met a Christian that does something or says something or.

Posts something that doesn't embarrass you?

And here's what you say.

Well, they're not a Christian.

Well, you don't get to decide.

You don't get to decide.

When someone says or does something in the name of Christianity, guess what the rest of

the world assumes.

That's what we all think or we all believe.

And there are just some things that are done in the name of Christ that should make you

sad, that should depress you.

And if that's never happened, I want.

To challenge is your faith real?

This is what Jesus said about his own faith in Matthew 20 315.

In Matthew 20 315 what sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law?

What law?

His law.

His law.

He says you hypocrites, for you cross land and sea to make one convert.

And then you turn that person into.

Twice the child of hell that you yourselves are.

Can we have some grace for the things I say?

I mean, can you imagine if I just called somebody out and said, not only are you going to

hell, but you're a child of hell.

Woo.

But Jesus wants to be clear.

There were elements within his faith.

And oh, by the way, he was Jewish.

He was Jewish.

I had an old lady tell me.

One time he was a Christian.

I was like he was Jewish.

We're Christians.

We're Christians.

He didn't convert, we convert.

She didn't believe me.

But there were elements in his faith that were like terrorists.

Many people and Christians over the centuries have wrongly assumed that Jews killed Jesus.

The vast majority of Jews love Jesus.

You know why?

He fed them, he clothed them, he healed them, he loved them.

He didn't say, hey, come to me in the temple.

He went to them and he ministered to them.

People loved Jesus.

You know who hated Jesus?

The powerful political religious elite.

So what I'm going to say is controversial.

But I want you to wrestle through this.

I want you to think about this.

We're talking a lot about terrorism today.

I want you to know that it was Jewish terrorists that killed Jesus 2000 years ago.

The vast majority of Jews were peaceful.

They loved Jesus.

But that's the thing about terrorism.

It doesn't take many to make damage, does it?

They had to kill Jesus in a kangaroo court in the middle of the night.

Nicodemus said not even the entire sanhedrin is present.

This is not an official case.

So Jewish terrorists killed Jesus.

And for the last 2000 years, Christian terrorists have killed Jews.

It's terrible, it's awful, it's evil.

And last week, Muslim terrorists killed Israelis.

And I want you to think about that because I didn't say Jews for a reason.

Their target was Jews, but they murdered Israelis.

And some of you, you've never been to Israel, you don't know anybody in Israel.

And all you know is what you read on social media or what you've seen someone else say or

share.

I've been there many times.

I love Israel.

I hope that you come with me one day to Israel.

It's a beautiful country.

It's full of beautiful people.

Israelis are a majority Jewish people.

But here's the thing that you need to know and you've never been told.

The Jewish people in Israel, 75% of them are not from Europe.

They are from the Middle East.

And in the war in 1948, they lost their homes in Libya, in Iran, in Iraq, in Egypt, in

Syria.

They lost their homes.

They're Middle Easterners.

They're not white colonial Europeans.

They lost everything.

They lost everything.

And they're trying to build a country.

They're trying to find someplace that's safe because Europe wasn't safe.

You want to know why most Jews in Israel aren't white?

Because those ones were murdered by Hitler, 6 million of them.

So many of the Israelis are Jewish.

Many more are Muslim Israelis.

When you come with me, our bus drivers will be Israeli, or they'll be Israeli Muslims.

Some of our friends will be Israeli Muslims.

Some of our guides are Israeli Muslims.

Many people don't realize that.

Some of the people that died in this attack, some of the first police responders that came

to the aid were Muslim Israeli police officers.

And you're never going to hear that many Israelis are Muslims, some are Christian, some

are Druze.

And you're like, what's that?

Well, we have some of those in our church.

Druze people that follow Christ.

And then there's nomadic peoples that you've never heard of.

But that's what Israel is.

Israel's not perfect.

Is your government perfect?

Does your government always do everything that you agree know, I don't know about.

You, but Biden didn't call me this week.

Hey, what do you think about and that's what happens in Israel.

No government is perfect.

And anywhere listen to me, anywhere where you have multiple religions and multiple

ethnicities, you will have multiple problems.

Israel is not a perfect nation.

They make mistakes.

Sometimes they harm Palestinians.

But that's not what the nation is about.

Israel is a beautiful place.

It's the freest state in the Middle East.

And no one is close.

No one is close, and we need to pray for them.

But Jesus criticizes his own religion.

Listen, instead of criticizing Islam, if you're a Christian, why don't you focus on

Christianity?

Because I don't know if you know.

This, we got some problems.

We got some major, major problems.

This is what Jesus says.

Religion looks to the outside, but he cares about what's on the inside.

And this is where people at calvary.

Well, that's why I'm not religious.

Everybody's religious.

Everybody's religious.

If you don't worship God, you just worship you.

Everyone's religious.

And all religious people ignore what's on the inside, what's going on on the inside.

This is what Jesus said.

He said you pharisees.

He's criticizing his own religion.

You pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup.

You know, if Jesus were speaking to you today, you know, you'd say, why do you pay so much

attention to your social media?

And your platform the way you present on the outside, but ignore what's really happening

on the inside.

When's the last time you made a.

Post so happy and you were miserable?

You see, hypocrisy has always been the same.

Just 2000 years ago it was a cup.

Today it's your phone.

He said, Why do you clean the outside of the cup and dish but you inside.

You are filthy, full of greed and wickedness.

You see, we got to understand.

All religions get it wrong.

Can I tell you when America has been at war in the past, I've gotten it wrong.

I don't always have the inside information.

It's really, really hard as a citizen to know what's really happening.

Every government on earth engages in fake social media posts and fake news.

They all do it.

And many of the real articles that you're reading could be some dude named Smirnoff in a

basement in Know.

He's not even in the Middle East.

You don't know.

Some of you guys are dating a.

Super smoking hot Vietnamese gal but she's.

Smearing off from Russia.

You don't know.

Listen, we live in a world where.

We take a bath every day in propaganda and fake stuff and it's so hard to know what's

going on.

I've been texting this week with my friends who are on the ground in Israel.

What's happening?

What do you see?

What are you hearing?

And here's the thing.

Even they're confused.

They're confused because fake news spreads like wildfire.

And it's not just fake news on the left or fake news on the right.

It's fake news in every direction there is.

Next.

Let me challenge you.

Remember that people are watching you.

Now, you guys, you don't think people are watching you, but they're watching.

Everywhere I go, people are watching me.

I see you watching me when I walk by.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was late for an appointment.

I was late for an appointment.

I was supposed to get my hair cut.

I was 15 minutes late and I was running up to get my haircut.

And as I ran up, I saw this guy drop a sink and it shattered.

And I jumped over the sink and said, so sorry, man.

Sorry that happened.

And he went Pastor Matt for two weeks.

There's some dude in Riverside.

That's like when I needed my pastor the most.

He jumped over my mess and went off on his merry way.

People are watching us.

People are watching us.

The whole time I was getting the haircut, you know what I was thinking?

I got to get out there and help that guy.

I got to get out there and help that guy.

He's going to hate sandals, hate me.

Make a pose, start a blog, you know?

But do you know why people hate Christians?

Because they met one, they had a bad experience with one.

And I'm not saying you have to.

Be perfect all the time.

But when you mess up, could you be the first to apologize?

Listen to what Peter says.

He says, Dear friends, I warn you.

As temporary residents and foreigners to keep.

Away from worldly desires that do what?

That wage war against your very soul.

Listen to me.

If you're a Christian, there's part of you that loves Jesus and there's part of you that

loves the world.

And every single day, you got to decide who wins.

Listen to what he says.

Be careful to live properly amongst unbelieving neighbors.

So if you're watching online, I don't know where you live.

I don't know if your neighbors are Christians or not.

But if you live in California, most of all your neighbors and coworkers are not Christian.

And they're watching you.

And they're watching you.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says.

Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.

People are not listening to your argument nearly as much as they are watching your

behavior.

So just think about this.

When you're at the coffee pot and.

Everybody'S pontificating, well, you know what?

I think?

You know what, Fred?

Show up on time, and then I'll care about what you think.

Right?

Isn't it amazing how we're all expert.

At solving the world's problems?

But people at work can't even do the job they get paid to do, right?

So the next time that's happening, I want you to know that people are watching you because

they know you go to sandals and they're wondering, I wonder if you're any different or if

you're just like every other religion.

Every other religion.

Romans 1217.

Listeners, do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Anybody ever met someone that irritates you?

Yeah.

No, it's just me.

It's just me.

I'm the only one in this church.

Who'S met someone who irritates me.

You got to do all that you can to live at peace with everyone.

And do you know why that's a command?

Because it's not easy.

There's no command in the Bible to eat ice cream.

There's no command to enjoy candy.

There's no command to take luxurious vacations.

Those are things you want to do.

The commands are for the things you don't want to do, as far as it depends upon you.

Be at peace with all people.

And why is that?

Because people aren't peaceful.

People aren't peaceful.

Jerusalem is the city of peace.

My friend bought this cross.

This is Jerusalem cross.

He's in heaven.

He's not with us anymore.

And when we were in Israel together, there was only one of these left.

And so I said jokingly, when you die, you got to leave this to me as a part of your

inheritance.

And he's with the Lord.

And so his wife gave this to me.

Let me tell you something about the city of peace, Jerusalem.

It's one of the most unpeaceful places I've ever been.

It's a difficult place because even in the city of peace.

It's hard to make peace.

And I'm not just talking about Muslims and Jews.

There's some Christians there where I'm like, I don't think you love Jesus.

They're like, yes, I do.

I go tell your face because your face says you ate a lemon, like, every day of your life.

And it's difficult.

It's difficult.

One time our church was in Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity.

We got thrown out of the church by a priest.

Yeah, he wasn't very Jesus like.

It happens.

This next point is probably going to be the hardest thing that I say today.

If you want to represent Jesus during times of war, here's the thing.

You got to let Jesus challenge your level of love.

Isn't it amazing?

Everybody thinks they're so loving.

I just love people.

You ever seen a march in the name of love?

And they're the most unloving hateful people you've ever seen.

Hey, Lafaya.

He's like, whoa, whoa.

Listen to what Jesus says.

And this is so important.

Luke 627.

Jesus said, this is so key.

But to you who are willing to listen, I wonder if today you're willing to listen.

Do you know why some of you are so messed up?

Because of what you've chosen to listen to.

Jesus says, I wonder if you're willing to listen.

He said, I say love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.

Christianity is not a better religion than Judaism or Islam, but we have a better teacher.

We have a better teacher.

Do you realize how odd that is for someone to say, love your enemy?

Man, I don't know where you are in your Christian faith, but no matter where you are, at

some point in time when you have an enemy, you're going to struggle with this.

You're going to struggle with this.

Some of you can't even love your own kids.

You're like, well, they're my enemy.

Some of you can't love your ex.

Some of you can't love your small group.

Some of you.

And I know this is crazy struggle loving me.

I know for those of you who are willing to listen, wow, I say love your enemy.

Look, there's good and evil in this world, but we don't make evil better by repaying evil

with evil.

We make the world worse.

We make it worse.

Now, I'm not saying Israel doesn't have a right to defend themselves.

Of course they do.

Of course they do.

And you're not following Jesus by allowing innocent people to be slaughtered and die.

That's not loving your enemy.

You know what loving your enemy is?

I actually watched a video of a police officer who was in a one on one situation with a

man wielding a knife.

And the police officer begged him, please put down your knife.

The police officer said, I don't want to shoot you.

I don't want to harm you.

The police officer said with tears in his eyes, please don't make me do this.

It's the best picture I've seen in our culture of loving your enemy.

Because you know who an enemy is?

Someone that's coming at you with a knife.

That's an enemy.

What we need to do is pray for our enemies.

Beg them, please put down the knife.

Please.

There are times and situations when, unfortunately, you will commit more evil if you allow

this person to do what they intend to do.

And so you must act.

But we need to love our enemies.

We need to pray for our enemies.

Next, I want to challenge you to weep with Jesus for the dead and wounded.

How many of you would say you struggle?

Memorizing scripture, raise your hand.

Anybody?

Okay, I'm going to give you a cheap verse.

You ready?

It's two words.

John 1135.

Jesus wept.

You just learned a verse.

Jesus wept.

If Jesus cried because one Jew died, I think you can weep because a thousand did.

I think one of the most moving times for me this week was when the US.

Ambassador was doing a press conference, standing next to a general, and she couldn't get

through it.

She said, I've never seen anything like this.

She walked through the area where they found the toddlers who were missing their heads,

and she apologized for crying.

I was actually proud of her because there are some things that should make us cry.

Many of you joined me on Instagram Live on Saturday night last week for a prayer time.

Thank you for everybody who was a part of that, and if you missed out on that or didn't

hear about that, I apologize.

But I think oftentimes what we do in situations like this is we become political rather

than remain spiritual.

And so what I just wanted to do was just pray.

And for those of you who prayed with me, you know, I had a hard time getting through some

of those prayers because I was so emotional.

As I'm texting with my friends, hey, Mark, are you okay?

He says, we are, but our neighbors were all killed.

Our next door neighbors, the whole family was killed.

And he's trying to process that.

He's trying to figure that out.

I texted with my security know, I travel with security when I'm there.

And his name is Moshe.

Wonderful man, loving man, kind man.

Got trapped in an elevator one time with Moshe.

He said, no time to panic.

No need to panic, because I was panicking.

But I text him, and he always minimizes everything.

He's always confident.

And I said, Are you okay?

And you know what he said?

We're not.

He said, Would you please pray for us?

He's not Christian.

He's asking a Christian man in a Christian church to pray for him.

Romans 1215 says this, weep with those who weep.

Man.

If Jesus cried over someone he knew he was going to raise from the dead, what do we do for

families that won't get that blessing, what do we do?

We cry with them.

We cry for them.

It's okay as Christians to weep for the dead and the wounded, because many of these

people, they will survive, but their lives will never be the same.

And they will live in pain for the rest of their life because bones have been broken,

tendons have been separated, limbs have been lost.

And we need to think about that.

We need to weep for that.

Next.

Here's.

My biggest challenge for us as a church is for us to stay spiritually united as a church.

I wonder how many disagreements you and I would have if we just talk politics.

I'm guessing many of you would find another church.

The Lord would lead you somewhere else.

But let me just say this.

How many of you disagree about politics.

In your own family?

Right?

Your own family?

Your best friend?

Most Christians today, or at least many Christians today, choose their church not because.

Of its theology or mission, but because of its politics.

And that's wrong.

That's gross.

And I just want to challenge you to remember what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 326.

He said, and all of you have been united with Christ in a baptism, and you have put on

Christ, like putting on new clothes.

Listen to this.

There is no longer Jew nor Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in

Christ Jesus at Sandals Church.

Listen to me.

We're not black, we're not white, we're not gay, we're not straight.

We're not Democrats or Republicans.

We are followers of Christ.

And if we focus on anything else, satan will divide us and destroy us.

How many guys have wondered, you know, Israel has the best technology in the world.

They have the best defenses in the world.

They have the best spy information in the world.

Anybody wonder how this happened?

I don't know how it happened, but I'm guessing that the divisions, the political divisions

in Israel are so great because there are extremely liberal Jewish Israelis and there are

extremely right wing conservative Israelis.

And oftentimes they think each other are the enemy.

And they're so focused on each other, I'm guessing that maybe they forgot who their real

enemy was.

And that's what we're doing in America, the left versus the right.

And if we're not careful, we may not have a country to argue about anymore, because our

real enemies will come for us and destroy us.

The same thing can happen in the church when we make politics the central issue, what

we've made is Jesus is no longer the center of our church.

And let me just say this.

If we don't have Jesus, what do we have?

What do we have?

And let me just challenge so many of you.

There are so many people in our church this last three years.

Jesus, come soon.

Amen.

Just come.

I know you're not ready.

I'm ready.

I'm ready.

One of the things I want him to save me from is Christians.

But there are so many of you that you wish I was more political, but there are just as

many of you that think I'm too political.

And let me just say this.

As long as I lead this church, I will be centered on Jesus.

And what that means is I will be too left for some of you and too right for others.

And that's where I feel called.

I cannot do anything that I don't feel called and convicted to do.

I'm trying to remain centered on Christ, and I hear the amens, and I appreciate them, but

I encourage you to share that with your small group members when they're so upset at what

I didn't say or did say or what they thought I meant.

I'm trying to be as transparent and real as I can, but there will be people who take

things out of context, who will manipulate my words, who will frame them and post them to

say something they want me to say, but it's not what I said.

Next.

If you want to represent Jesus in time of war, I want to challenge you.

Get control of your anger.

It's not my job to babysit your temper.

It's just not.

Ephesians 426 says this, and don't sin by letting anger here's the key control you.

Is it okay to be angry?

Yes, I'm angry.

When you kill kids, you rape women, you attack civilians.

It's okay to be angry.

Just don't let the sun go down while you're still angry, because anger gives a foothold to

the devil.

I want to ask a question.

How do you go from a religious Muslim to a murderer of children?

How does that happen?

You think these Muslim men that did these atrocities when they were a toddler.

They'Re like, I want to be a terrorist.

You think that's what they were saying?

What changed them?

What was the avenue that took them from a human being to an animal?

It's one word.

It's anger.

It's anger.

Either you are in control of your anger, or your anger is in control of you.

And you've got to decide.

You've got to choose.

It's okay to be angry.

I tell people all the time, anger is like milk.

You leave it out too long, what happens goes rotten.

This week, the Lord was like, you need a little more illustration for that.

I was throwing back some vitamins, and I didn't check the expiration date of the milk.

Yeah, just think cottage cheese.

But Stinky threw it straight back.

Look at how grossed out you all are at my suffering.

My wife said, it's not my fault I don't drink milk.

It's what she said.

I'm like it's not helping.

But that's what happens to your anger.

Your anger leads to bitterness, and bitterness never makes you better.

It never makes you better.

Anger destroys any Christian who lets it rot inside.

It's okay to be angry.

So what do you do with it?

You give it to God.

Read Luke 19.

Jesus says when he returns, he will deal with the people who wounded people in his name.

Read it.

It says he will rip them into pieces.

This is what it says next.

Pray for the leaders in Israel and the world.

And I got a lot of negative feedback.

What about Palestine?

You can see it all on my feed.

What about Palestine?

Here's the issue.

Palestine has no control over what happens next.

Israel is the stronger country.

Israel's the more capable country.

Israel has a real military that can do real damage.

And that's what we need to pray for Israel.

Because what they need right now is restraint.

How many of you are good at restraint when you're mad?

I mean, as Christians, we need to learn the lessons of James and John, the sons of

thunder.

You know what they tell Jesus to do?

Lord, do you want us to bring down fire from heaven?

Destroy these people?

Jesus is just like, Why did I pick you two?

But some of you are just like them.

Just like them.

So we got to pray for Israel.

There's going to take an incredible amount of restraint.

Israel's never been more unified as a country.

But there's danger in that.

Because when everybody thinks the same way, you do really stupid things.

And to my Jewish friends, there's going to be a window.

This is just the way the world works.

There's going to be a window where people give you a pass for whatever you do, and then

that window will close and they'll judge you.

It happens.

It happens.

You cannot count on the faithfulness of the world.

I don't care what world leaders say.

One Timothy two, one through four.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.

Ask God to help them.

Listen this.

Intercede on their behalf.

Listen this.

Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority.

Why?

So that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by Godliness and dignity.

This is good.

And pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

Why should you pray for Israel?

Why should you pray for our leaders?

Because we want to live quiet and peaceful lives, and they can screw up our lives.

They can make our lives miserable and terrible.

And I've even heard some of politicians on our side that I like, that I admire, say stupid

things into a microphone.

And I'm like, this is not the way we need to go.

We must practice restraint.

You must never forfeit the moral high ground, ever.

You got to be so careful.

So pray for Israel.

Pray for Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has nutty people in Israel that want him to do crazy things.

Anybody have a crazy, nutty relative?

Raise.

Your hands.

If you don't, it's you.

So there are people in his own party that are going to push him to make decisions that

could ultimately lead us to World War Three.

And they don't think right because they're not right.

We have a president who's not too old.

Listen to me.

And whether you like him or not, or you voted for him or not, would you please pray for

him?

Because we need Him to make a good decision.

We need him to make a good decision.

Our future listen to me.

Is in Joe Biden's hands.

That scares me.

So let's pray.

Let's pray for him.

It.

Pleases, God.

Listen to me.

And it benefits you.

It benefits you.

Last point.

Prepare for the return of Jesus.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

I know many of you are upset, concerned, worried.

The Bible said, man, this all would take place right there.

Isn't it funny?

Israel is the most irrelevant, small, tiny country on Earth, and yet the entire world

hinges on what happens there.

Do you know why that is?

Because God said it would be that way.

God said it would be that way.

Some of you are anxious.

You're upset.

Listen to what Jesus said in John 14.

One, two, three.

He says, don't let your hearts be troubled.

Anybody had troubled hearts this week?

I did.

I've not slept well.

If you're not sleeping well, if you're worried, if you've not been in God's word, but

you've been on Fox News.

Oh, that's comforting.

Listen what he says, trust in God and trust also in me.

He says there's more than enough room in my Father's home.

You know, Israel's problem is there's not enough room.

There's too many people and they're neighbors that don't like each other.

It is a tiny, tiny country.

You know what Jesus says about heaven?

It's a big, big house with lots and lots of room.

Listen this.

He says, if it were not so, I would have told you.

I'm going to prepare a place.

For who?

For you.

I love this.

When everything is ready.

When will Christ return?

When everything is ready.

And I know you're on TikTok.

You're listening to some dude in his basement in North Dakota who's got a chart and

prophecies.

Can I just tell you something?

Every single pastor, preacher, scholar, person on earth who's predicted the end, in all of

human history, 100% of them have been wrong.

So what are the chances your guy in a basement with hot sauce on his chest has figured it

out?

When everything is what ready, I will come to get you.

I'm worried about a lot of things.

Judgment Day is not one of them.

He says, so that you will always be with me, where I am.

Listen to me, some of you who are not Christians, jesus didn't come in the world to judge

you.

You're already judged.

Look at our world.

It's broken.

It's heinous it's evil.

It's gross.

Religion does not put evil in the hearts of men.

Evil was already there.

Jesus came to save us from this.

And the only thing that will bring peace to Jerusalem is when the King of peace returns,

and his name is Jesus.

And that's what we need to pray for.

That's what we need to ready ourselves for.

That's what we need to share with people.

Why aren't we freaked out?

Why aren't we worried?

Why don't we worry about the end?

Because it's all in his hands.

And if you're in his hands, you're going to be okay.

You're going to be okay.

And we're going to be okay.

And I just want to close by praying for you.

Two things.

If you're not right with God today, man, you need to be.

And there's only one way to be right with God.

It doesn't matter if you're Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, or Christian.

The only way the Bible says that you can be right with God is through Jesus.

He said, I'm the truth.

I'm the way and the life.

No one goes to God but by Him.

Those are his words.

You need to confess your sin and invite Jesus to become the King of your life today.

And then if you're a Christian, would you invite the King to challenge you?

Would you stand with Him and become a person of peace?

And I understand things are confusing, things are hard to understand.

Things are complex and things are scary.

But what we need to be for our family, friends, and neighbors is a person of peace that

reminds them this whole thing ends when he's ready for us, and he's going to come back for

all those who are his.

And that's the beauty of it.

I can't control the Middle East, man.

I can't control what's happening in America.

I can't control gas prices.

But you know what I can control?

Where I spend eternity, because Jesus put that control in my hands, and it's in your

hands.

So let's pray together, church.

And let's pray that this message and somehow helps and encourages people who are confused

and scared and need peace.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we pray in the name of Jesus.

Lord.

We agree with Scripture.

The last sentence in the Bible, both the Church and the Spirit say, come, Lord Jesus, come

return.

Fix this earth, restore it to what it was, a beautiful creation where we live in harmony

and in peace under Your rule and Your reign.

God, let us be ambassadors for you, peacemakers for you.

Let us comfort our neighbor and our family and our friends, not with scary prophecies, but

with words of peace, with words of hope, and with words of love.

We pray this in Jesus name.

Amen.

Thank you so much for joining us for our very last weekend in the Essential series.

I want to take a quick second and invite you to give to the work that God is doing in and

through Sandals Church.

You can do so by going to donate SC.