The Rapture

Chase: Ball it's ⁓ Then It's all because the blood of Jesus Christ. Me and raised this deadness. Point church. You guys are alive and well and I love every minute of it. For those who don't know me, I am Joey and the worship leader here. So glad that you guys are here with us on this beautiful sunny day in Ohio. hey, before we get started with our worship service, ⁓ we have a couple announcements to check out. Good morning Point Church. We know that you're all looking for different ways that you can serve the community, and we're here to help you. We would love for you to visit the 2540 Center, and these are all of our partners, and these are the partners that we're highlighting right now. So you can visit the website or you could go onto the app, learn about each one of these partners. You can grab a bag that has a shopping list inside and return it to us, which would be great. After services, if you want to learn more, just stop by. There'll be somebody here to talk to you about 2540. Hey guys, join our softball league. Leaks are on September sixth at Delco Park. You can register online or on our website. It's fifty dollars to register. We'll help to see you there. Hi everyone, on August 23rd at 10:30, we are having outdoor worship. One service under the tent. We're asking that everyone brings a lawn chair to enjoy some incredible music out on the lawn. If you can sign up for a side dish or a dessert, the rest of lunch will be provided. But something exciting that we do every year is Yeah! I did tell first service. ⁓ you don't have to have floaties when you're getting baptized, but if that, you know, the Holy Spirit will bring you back up as well as, you know, Sam or whoever's baptizing you. But if you need the safety net, that's okay too. Hey, can you stand as we continue our worship service? Is man Sins of the world, his twilight breaks the chains, and every knee will bow before I So Stop. Stop Yeah. Yeah. Feel the world is broken, we do. Shadows deepen with Do you know that all the dark won't stop the bite from gambling? We do. That you could see it all made new. Reading. Is our creation growing? It is Is a new creation coming? It is Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst? Is good that we remind ourselves of it? Is anyone able to break the steel? Live Say it all. ⁓ Is he worthy of Good. Should I She will be Yes, he is. Amen. Let's take this opportunity to ⁓ connect with God and just have a conversation. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, thank you for everything. we're just internally in debt to you, God. We're thankful that you're able to fight those battles that we just cannot. We're thankful that you conquered death. We're thankful that we're able to gather in a safe environment and Just spread your love and just hopefully bringing, you know, your kingdom glory, God. And I pray whatever you put on Pastor Sam's heart just resonates with everybody in the sanctuary as well as the viewers online. I pray this in your name. Amen. Please remain standing. First, Thessalonians 4, 16 through 17. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so will be with the Lord forever. This is the Lord of the Lord. Brings me together. Friends, you may be seated. Whoop, too early for that. Just kidding. I have a prop. I'm not used to having props. I don't know what to do with them. Anyways, when you tell someone that we're going through the book of Revelation, there are three questions that everyone wants answered. There's about three questions everyone wants answered. What's the mark of the beast? What's 666 all about? Who's the Antichrist? And is it the political figure I don't like? And the third one is, it's okay, we can laugh. It's all right, you guys. Joy is a fruit the Spirit. And the third one is: what's the rapture? So we have been in the book of Revelation all summer, and this is our penultimate ⁓ message. So next week is our last week. And 19 and 20 talk about the second coming of Jesus. Clouds parting, he comes down, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. This is when we're like, okay, this is the big moment we have been waiting for. But when you throw in this idea of the rapture, there typically is a ⁓ somewhat standard response when people who haven't really studied it maybe say. We're typically more informed in our country on pop culture and specifically, I think Left Behind series has probably left the most mark on people's imagination of the Rapture. So if I were to go up to someone, you know, at a restaurant and say, What are your thoughts on the rapture? What happens? You'd probably get a version of this. Well, everyone's gonna be going about their day, and then a bunch of lights are gonna come down, random people are gonna go up into the sky, the good people go up to heaven, and the bad People stay down, and that's when like everything, like literally hell breaks out, and we're gonna have to just kind of deal with it. And then at some point, Jesus comes back. We don't really know what's going on with the good people, the gank they're on the cloud, maybe the bad people trying to survive all these plagues and disease, and it's it's just not good. Jesus comes back, and that's that. And you're like, ⁓ okay, like so how how do we understand that? How do we navigate that? And whenever I've been a part of those conversations, here's honestly my response, you know what? I'm just gonna do all I can to follow Jesus as best as I can and let him sort it out in the end, but we should go get some chips and salsa or some brunch. Who can really figure it out? I mean, honestly, are we really gonna study the book of Revelation and first century Greek and metaphors and Old Testament prophecies? Are we, nah, let's just get some brunch and just kind of chalk it up to someday we'll figure it out. Anyone? All right. Me too. Like, honestly, like I was a pastor, and you're like, what's your view on it? I was like, ⁓ I don't really know. Like, that's not exactly Rapture 101, isn't exactly offered in seminary, but. I have come to a conclusion, navigating a lot of resources and the history on this, and have come to the conclusion. Here's my first take on this idea of the rapture that the rapture is nothing to be scared of. Nothing to be scared of at all. Not even close. Here's what I mean by that. Palm Sunday. Pretty exciting Sunday. Like all the kids come in, usually through that back door, and they're waving their palm branches, and they come up and they're singing Hosanna, and they're going around, and everyone's like, ooh, and on and taking pictures of the kids. You know what I mean? It's so cute, but it's such an exciting time as well. Like, I remember for our last Palm Sunday that Casey was on the keys, and she took a moment just to say, Hey, like this was the welcoming of Jesus into the city, and let's just welcome him into our hearts. Let's welcome him into South Dayton with that same excitement. Excitement and joy, and everyone's waving their palms. It's a great Sunday. It's an awesome Sunday. Is there anyone sitting in the room who would be like, I'm kind of scared of Palm Sunday? No. Honestly, first take. The rapture is a global Palm Sunday. A global Palm Sunday. We will get to this in a moment, but it is a global palm Sunday. It is nothing to be afraid of. It is an exciting time. But unfortunately, it has been twisted by the enemy to be something that we're scared of, to be something we're frightened of, that somehow the devil has led us to believe that Jesus coming back is a bad thing or a scary thing. Because the devil is a liar, and of course he wants to take the greatest event and make it scary. Let's unpack what the Bible has to say. Come to the biblical and historical conclusions and see it for what it is, not what culture tells us it is. That sound good? That when you walk out of here today, you will walk out of here. Not afraid of the rapture, excited by it, excited about the second coming of Jesus, and hopefully filled with a resurgence of joy and hope for the meantime while we wait for his return. Okay. First passage of scripture. Let me give a little bit of a ⁓ pretext of this. This is probably on the way more heavier side of scripture. I think I sent in about 17 scripture references to the slides. So they're gonna be working back there. If you're a note taker, this is a note taker kind of sermon, okay? This is gonna be like 98% scripture and 2% Sam's interpretation of it, okay? So here we go. First one, Matthew chapter 12, verse 22. If you have your Bible, please open up, follow along. It's on the screen as well. Matthew 12, 22. Let me set The scene. Jesus is having an average Jesus day. He's healing people, driving out demons, and teach speaking truth. It's an average Jesus day. It's an average Tuesday. This is what happens. Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, casual, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, Could this be the Son of David? This is another title for the Messiah or the coming Savior. Next one. But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. So he's like, Well, if I was the devil, why would I tell the demons to leave? I would want them on my side. I'm not the devil. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out out demons by Beelzebub, another name that they had in the first century for Satan, by whom do your people drive them out, so then they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus is saying, instead of me being the devil attacking the devil, maybe I'm the enemy of the devil. And a more powerful force is here, driving them out. Or again, how can anyone, this is key, how can anyone enter a strong man's house, carry off his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can plunder his house. Now I don't think we have a necessarily a lot of people with a history of B and E in this congregation who are like, yeah, yeah, here's my strategy for breaking and entering and robbing a house. But here is a good strategy if you ever fall into sin. That but if you're gonna break into someone's house, tie them up, then steal their stuff. Don't steal their stuff before you tie them up, is what Jesus is saying. Okay? But what does Jesus mean? Let's unpack that in a second. Second passage of scripture. This is from John chapter 12, starting in verse 27. Again, setting the scene. This is Holy Week. This is specifically Palm Sunday in the afternoon. Jesus is in the temple answering questions because he has the city abuzz. Everyone's like, Who's this guy? Who's this guy? Is he the Messiah? Is he not? The crowd's very divided. So they're peppering him with questions. They want signs. And Jesus, in the middle of it, he kind of has this interesting commentary, almost like an Internal thought he's letting out loud. Follow the logic. Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. And a voice from heaven, I have glorified it and will glorify it again. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered. Others said an angel had spoken to them. Jesus said, This voice was for your benefit, not mine, as in I know what the Father sounds like, but now you do too. Thirty-one. Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out. How will he be driven out? And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. Okay. The first statement, the first passage we read, Jesus is saying if someone breaks into a man's house, he cannot take that man's possessions until he ties him up. But remember, he had just driven out a demon and was talking about Satan when he said that. The second passage, the John passage, he is stating that by being lifted up on the cross, he will drive out the prince of this world, and all people from around the world will come to him. Now, white. I did not draw this. I have terrible handwriting. Here we go. It's pretty simple. We have the world. That's a world. God made the world. Right, class? Okay, great. If we can't agree on that, we're gonna be here a while. So God created the world. Genesis 1 and 2 says God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. And everything he created was bad or good, A or B. It was good. It wasn't bad, right? Everything God made was good. God can only make good, God can only make what is beautiful. He cannot make evil, he cannot make anything bad. But when he gets to, you know, human beings, those were the ultimate of his creation. That was the pinnacle of his creation. In order for God to be a God of love, philosophically, logically, love. Must be a choice. Without choice, it's not love. You're just a robot if you're forced to do something. Love can only exist if there is a choice. So, in order for God to create creatures who love Him back, He gives them free will. Not just human beings, but the angelic beings as well. Are you with me? Okay. He wants to be freely chosen, freely loved. He's not forcing. He's a God of love. One of those angels rebelled and made a free choice to not love God back, but instead to want to be God. And he's cast out of heaven with a third of the angels. We've talked about this before. Where does he land up? On earth. Okay? He ends up specifically in the Garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve. That's what this little guy is. That's a snake. Can you say snake? All right. That's a snake. That's the devil, a created being who was originally created good because God can only create good, who chose to rebel and become evil. And what does he tempt Adam and Eve to do? The same as what he did. Choose to listen to yourself, which is really listening to me instead of God. Take a bite from the tree that you're not supposed to. So, what happens? The world falls into chaos, the world falls into sin, and who is now ruling the world? The serpent. Jesus is actually incredibly, incredibly clear on this. The serpent is the one who he refers to as the prince of the air, the prince of this age, the prince of this world, the prince of darkness, is the one who is ruling and reigning. I put it like this: I think it's on the slide. Satan, though, is an illegitimate ruler occupying what belongs to God. For those of you who've seen the Odyssey, this is one of the dynamics. There are Illegitimate men attempting to rule, and they're waiting for the king to come back and take his rightful place. So Satan is an illegitimate ruler in the world. In the Old Testament, over and over and over talks about, but there is going to come a deliverer. There is going to come a better Moses. There's gonna come a new Noah, there's gonna come a greater Abraham, there's gonna come one who will set the world right. All the way back in Genesis 3, it says, You, the serpent, will strike his heel, but he will crush your head. That one is coming who will eradicate evil. But in Meantime, the devil is able to be the prince of the air, an illegitimate ruler. Okay. Jesus shows up on the scene. This is a Christmas tree. So, yay, Christmas. So, ⁓ so Jesus shows up on Christmas. Is he met with fanfare? Is he met with hostility? Yes, by the rulers of the world. They do not want him here. They are operating on behalf of the serpent, as we've talked about in Revelation. But he essentially sneaks into the world. He sneaks into the world and is hidden. Like he actually has to hide in Egypt. And then he keeps a low profile for like 30 years. They literally call it a backwoods town like Nazareth. Like, could anything good come from Nazareth? So for 30 years, God has infiltrated the world and is walking among them. And then he comes to be baptized. The time had come, it says, for him to reveal himself. And his revelation, his revealing was going into the Jordan River to be baptized by his cousin John. And as he comes up out of the water, that same voice that we just read about speaks from heaven, saying, This is my son whom I love. Listen to him. What does Jesus do? He goes out into the wilderness, right, for 40 days. Who meets him there? Who does he have a little party with for 40 days? Serpent, same one. He knows what's about to happen. He has finally come forward. It's like Odysseus throwing his cloak off. He's here. And what is the devil tempting Jesus with? Authority, kingdoms of the world, and glory. I will give all of this to you because it's mine to give. Well, how is it his to give? He broke in and took it. He has possession of it. He says, I'll give it all back to you if you do it my way. You do it my way. You can reclaim the world, but you're still gonna be under me. You gotta do it my way. And Jesus says, No, I'm not here to share. I'm here to take what's mine. Amen. Then his ministry begins. What's Jesus' ministry look like? Healing people. Back to a healed state physically in the Garden of Eden. Healing people by casting out demons, healing them spiritually, back to the Garden of Eden. Teaching them how to live, healing them mentally. You've got this all wrong. You're thinking about this backwards. Jesus' ministry is healing and redeeming people in every part of the word. Or they are just being healed from beginning to end. Can we put that passage back up, Amy, of Matthew 12, 29? The one about the strong man. This is how it's been historically understood. The strong man is the serpent. His house is the world. And the one who's broken in on Christmas is Jesus Christ. Has broken into his own home to take back what is his. Are you with me? Okay. But he said, You cannot take back what is the strong man's until you tie him up, right? He said, you gotta tie him up first, or else he's not gonna let you just walk off with his stuff. You gotta tie him off. So when does this happen? Well, first let me say this. Jesus' ministry between here and here, specifically those three years of walking around doing ministry with his disciples, Jesus is slowly reclaiming what belongs to God. He is reclaiming it over and over. And the way he's reclaiming it is by saying the kingdom of God is here. But sometimes he says it and it's just him standing there. Other times he might have some disciples. What does that mean? How like if he if someone came to you and said, the kingdom of God is here, and you'd look around and be like, Am I missing something? The king represents the kingdom. The kingdom is wherever the king is. The king's staking his claim. That's why Jesus can say, this new kingdom is here and now, and it's me. I have broken in, and the rebellion has begun. Let's go to Palm Sunday, Matthew 21, verses 4 through 8. This is the exciting moment, the last week of Jesus' life, as everyone is heralding him as king to come into the city of Jerusalem. It says this: this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to daughter Zion, See, your king comes to you, gentle in riding on a donkey, on a colt, the fowl of a donkey. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. And they brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. The other gospels say went out to meet him, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. So This is known as a royal entry. When a king was coming to a city he had conquered, those who were loyal to the king would hear the trumpet sound, go out of the city, meet the king outside the city, not just to have a picnic and be like, We're so glad you're here. They would go outside and say, All right. We're gonna process in. We're gonna parade in. We're gonna herald that the king is here. It's the same thing that is happening with Jesus in Jerusalem. All those who are loyal to him go out, cut down their palm branches, and they lay their cloaks down. Some that's the only clothing they own. That's like, you know, under the undergarments. ⁓ my goodness. And They are saying the king is here. Prepare the way. Welcome him. Joy. Celebration. He's ushered in with a royal entrance to the city. Keep this in mind. Now, here's a Latin word you don't need to know, but it's important. It's called Christus Victor. Okay? It's understanding what Jesus did on the cross. What did he do on the cross? Because remember, one week before we were talking about Palm Sunday, where he's being heralded as the king and the savior, and everyone's so pomped. And then a few days later they're all like, nah, it's not him. Let's kill him. Right? Like everyone rebels against him. The same ones who are in the crowd welcoming him, flip-flop, and they're like, crucify him. They're all whipped up by the crowd. And it's sometimes difficult to understand what's going on in the invisible spiritual world on the cross. Because what we see with our human eyes in that scene. Is a carpenter who was a good person, maybe even a great person, maybe even a perfect person dying a terrible death. And somehow that's supposed to impact the way you live in 2026 in Dayton, Ohio. What about that scene? Should it give one iota of difference in your life? It's that when you understand the victory that was won on the cross and how he won it, Christus Victor. So what is he doing on the cross? Who is the enemy he's come to conquer? Colossians chapter 2, verse 15, Paul says this: what he did on the cross, he disarmed the powers and the authorities, and he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. That by the cross he strips the enemy of the world, the devil, the prince of the air, he strips him of his power. Hebrews 2:14, and we're gonna talk about how. ⁓ do we have that? 2.14, Amy? Sorry. I told you, there's a lot of scripture. So, since the children have flesh and blood, that's you and me, he too shared in their humanity. Christmas came as a baby, physical form, flesh and blood. So that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil. By taking on death, defeating death, he takes on the worst weapon the devil had, and he took it out of his hands. He took the worst of it, submitted himself unto death, and conquered death three days later. Christus Victor. In the second century, it was described as this: that through death, Jesus Christ breaks the power of the one who holds death, the devil. That on the cross is when the serpent was tied up. Therefore he could plunder his world and regain all that was his. The devil was tied up, but watch this, not gagged. That's why we say the devil is a liar. He can still speak lies, but his power, his reign, has been broken on the cross. Are you with me? Okay. What happened during those three days? Because there's a small gap right here. Three days. What happened? It's very small on the history of the world, but they're very important days. Where did Jesus go? In a moment, we're gonna say the creed that says he descended to the dead. What does that mean? Let's talk about it. He disarms the devil by taking his worst hit, descends into the depths, he enters into death, and this is what the apostle Peter says 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 18. For Christ suffered once for sins. He doesn't have to do this all over again. He does this one time, and it's sufficient for all, one time. The righteous for the unrighteous, the beautiful exchange, to bring you to God. This is how you were brought to God. He was put to death in the body, but made alive in the spirit. And being a made alive, he went and made proclamations to the imprisoned spirits. Down under the earth. Verse 20. To those who were disobedient long ago, when God waited patiently for the days of Noah while the ark was being built, and only a few people, eight and all, were saved through the water. He is using a metaphor here. What Peter is saying that we understand Christologically what Jesus did is he descended to the depths, he descended into Hades, he took the worst weapon the devil had, disarmed it, and then went into the headquarters. He broke into Command center station, and he started to preach: I am now the Lord of even death and hell. That is now under my rule and dominion, because the strong man has been tied up, and you are no more. That Jesus Christ is now the most powerful force in the world. No longer is it the serpent, it is Jesus Christ, for he has tied up the snake, he has taken his weapons, he has taken hell and death. And sin and made them obsolete when it comes to him. They will still rule your life until you come to Jesus. There is only one power greater, and it's not even close, but it's Jesus. This is why we preach: Jesus is the only way, because he's the only one who can take the weapons of the enemy and break them. There is no strength inside of yourself. If you could do it, you would have done it. We are no match for the weapons of the enemy, but the weapons of the enemy are no match for our Savior. So we cling to Jesus Christ. And he comes out of the grave showing he's conquered death, showing he has broken darkness. He has begun a new kingdom. From that point on, there is a new power in the world, a greater power, ruling and reigning. And what does he come out with? What does he come out with? Revelation chapter one. This was actually read to us on our first Sunday this summer. Jesus says, his introduction to John, I am the living one. I was dead, and now look, I'm alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades. I hold the keys of death and hell. If you were trying to get into someone's house and a police officer was called on you, and you said, No, I've got the keys. That's your house. Jesus took that house. Jesus ransacked that house. He reclaimed what was his. He reclaimed his home too and said, I am now Lord over every square inch of the universe. The devil has been tied up and his powers have been broken in my name. Are you with me, class? Wonderful. Now, Jesus spends 40 days with his disciples after resurrection. In his last day with them, notice what he says, Matthew 28. Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Well, that's not what he said when he was being tempted by the devil. The devil was offering him power and authority because he had something to offer. But now Jesus has it because he has wrapped up the snake, broken his power, and says, I've got it now. I've got it. I've got all of it. I've got all there is no authority I do not have. And here's what I want you to do, knowing that I have full authority. Go and make disciples of all nations. He could have said anything. What he said to do was go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the end of the age. That for the rest of time, Jesus will rule and reign and be with us. So Jesus wins, ties up the strong man, Christus Victor, breaks the power, but he doesn't gag the devil. He's still allowed to have a very dangerous weapon. His tongue, he can still lie. So how do you combat a liar? With the truth. And here's the truth: here's what we proclaim, here's what we carry. That Jesus Christ is King. We proclaim the kingdom has come, that Satan has been defeated. We say it without blinking and we say it without equivocation. We also proclaim if the king forgives you and frees you, you are forgiven and freed indeed. Because some of us get so hang up on our own timeline that before we meet Jesus, we're thinking about something we did back here. How could he forgive me for this? How could he ever love me for this? Well, friends, if you put your timeline here, he already forgave it. His forgiveness predates your worst day. His forgiveness, his suffering, his passion on the cross predates the worst moment of your life. And he knew it would happen. And he chose it anyways. And he chose to offer forgiveness for you. Quit listening to this serpent telling you you're too far gone. He is gagged and he or he is bound, but he is not gagged. The only weapon he has is to convince you Jesus isn't enough. Not for you. You're too far gone. You're too special for Jesus to love. Some of us get so focused on our past that we refuse to move forward. Jesus has forgiven it. You've been set free. You're no longer your own. You were bought with a price. And now you go out and you proclaim that Jesus is here to forgive sinners. The other thing that we do that breaks my heart that the devil teaches us to do is: yeah, okay, I've been set free. That's great. But you know what? I've now got this light. It's kind of a light, it's a terrible light. In me from Pentecost, you know what I need to do? I need to I need to hide. I need to cover up. I need to stay in my little Christian bubble. I need to hold on for dear life until Jesus comes back and takes me away from this scary place. When did he say that? When did he say that? When did he say, go and hide? Stay in a Christian ghetto. Don't talk to anyone who doesn't go to church. Where did he say that? He said, Go into the darkness. Why? The darkness is afraid of us. The darkness is afraid of the light. And yet the devil has flipped it on us. You can't go there, it's too dark. You can't talk to those people, they're too far gone. You can't go there, it's too scary. What is too scary for Jesus Christ? What power is greater than him in the world? The same power that raised him from the dead now dwells inside you. So what are we afraid of? Discomfort. Looking weird. Maybe being awkward. Friends, I truly, truly tell you, what are we afraid of when he rules and reigns as the king? And he sends us as his advocates almost through my marker. What are we afraid of? What do we get so tripped up on? The lies. The lies. Quit listening to the liar. He's been broken. He's been bound. Don't listen to him anymore. Listen to the truth. You've been set free. You've been forgiven. All can be made well. All can be healed. You can be made new. All this world will be made new. Jesus is ruling and reigning. Come out of the grave. Don't cover up your life. Into the world. Now, what does all this have to do with the rapture? Great question, glad you asked. There was a belief that when Jesus ascended back into heaven, this is heaven over here. It's a cloud. Heaven, yay. That when Jesus ascended back into heaven, that he would come back any day, like literally any day. There are letters from that time period where like Yeah, like at the end of this month, Jesus is coming back. It's gonna be great. He's going for like a long like sabbatical and then he's gonna right back. And others are like, ⁓ it'll probably be at the end of the year. Like there there's truly, there's letters from the early church saying it's gonna be any day now. Like he said it wouldn't be long. They didn't have 2,000 years of waiting like we do. They were like, any day Jesus is gonna come back, and they're like, okay, it's not gonna be in two months, it's gonna be in one year. ⁓ okay, it's not gonna be one year, it's gonna be five years. ⁓ okay, maybe it's gonna be on the 10-year anniversary, is when Jesus is gonna come back. But the problem was The gospel starts spreading around the world, specifically around the Mediterranean, the Roman Empire, starts spreading, but then Jesus didn't come back in their lifetime. And what happened was some who were Christians started to die. And this was very concerning. Because wait a minute, hold on. No one was supposed to die until Jesus comes back. It was such a question, it was such a concern that they wrote to the Apostle Paul and said, Can you explain this to us? W we we we thought he's coming back any minute now. And now some people are dying. So the Apostle Paul writes his first letter, the first letter he ever wrote was on this topic in First Thessalonians. He's addressing this issue. They had the same question that we have today. Let's put it back on the screen, read it, and you'll understand where we're going with this. Paul says, For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, like he promised, he'll come back. With a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Those who are died, but they were Jesus' followers, they're just resting right now. They're asleep. He uses that in ⁓ the book of Ephesians. For the Lord himself, or after that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with him in the clouds. Okay. So we're gonna go up here. Okay, let's talk about that. To meet the Lord in the air. And so. We will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage, key word, encourage, don't be afraid, don't be fearful. Encouraged one another with these words. The word rapture is not an English word first. It's a Greek word. And it's the word that Paul just used in the passage we read. We will be caught up. Other translations, we will be seized up. He will grab us and take us. Where? for a second Palm Sunday. When the trumpet sounds, that means the king is close, and those who've been waiting for the king to come will leave the city and wait to process it. What's scary about that? We have to be ready, but it's not scary. When the trumpet sounds, all the Jesus followers got a little cross here, got across here. We got someone on a little island in the ocean here, but they're following Jesus. All these Jesus followers around the world, when it's time, will be taken up when the clouds part, so that we can process back to earth. For Jesus say this is finally mine again, and it will be my home for ever. The devil, man, I'm telling ya. That's the rapture. That's nothing to be afraid of, is it? This is celebratory. This is exciting. That means in the meantime, what do we do? We live ordinary, good lives that bring people to Jesus. Jesus talks about this. He says, There will be two women needing out bread or kneading out wheat, or at one point I think they're sowing cloth. They're doing ordinary tasks. One is taken and one is left. Well, where are they taken? They're taken up here to begin the parade of Jesus' followers back down. But they're doing their ordinary life. They're living like Jesus followers in the world. In a world that seems intent on tearing itself apart in fear and anger. Live good, ordinary, Jesus-centered lives. It's preparation for the new kingdom. You're living peaceful because he is the king. Doesn't mean that we don't feel the effects of evil. Doesn't mean that the devil isn't still a liar. But we now have the greatest power in the world dwelling in us. And that should give you peace beyond understanding. So what do we do with this? What do we do with all this? Go into the darkness. Go into the darkness. Don't be afraid of it. It's afraid of you. Ever turn on the light in a dark room? And like one little patch of darkness in the middle just refused to go away? You ever experienced that? Me neither. Darkness has to flee when light goes into it. We go into dark places to proclaim the news. Hey, you don't have to live like this. That king has died. He's gone. He's been tied up. King Jesus now rules and reigns. I'd love to tell you about it. Go into the darkness. Go to the scary places. Go there. Now, don't expect it to be sunshine and rainbows. Don't expect it to be easy. Expect resistance, but also anticipate miracles. For the spirit goes before you. If you want to know where Jesus is, he's probably already there in the darkness, waiting for you to catch up. Go into the darkness. The strong man's been tied up, but his biggest weapon now is lies. How do you combat a liar? The truth. Get in the word. Get around other people who know the word, other people who know the truth. That when you're tempted to spiral from lies, people are there to catch you and say, Don't listen to that serpent anymore. Don't listen to that liar anymore. The other thing is, you won't be left behind. You won't be forgotten. Jesus hasn't left you. He's never forgotten one person. He's not starting with you. I have grown so, I think it's a righteous anger at pastors and ministers who take this beautiful promise of rapture, of joining the parade. Of heaven and earth coming together and they twist it to make it sound scary and evil. That angers me to my core. Because somehow you are trying to make the healer the bad guy. You're trying to make the redemption of the world a bad thing. As if we should be more comfortable here than when heaven and earth join together. That creates paranoia and fear. And division, and we're quicker to turn and destroy each other in that mindset than we are to go and love people who are different than us and tell them about Jesus and a kingdom that he is making of all people. Of course, the devil wants the rapture to sound scary. It's the most beautiful thing in the world. Of course, he wants you to think it's scary. It's not. He's a liar. Stop listening to that serpent. I'm expecting my mic to go out at any point at this time. But it's not gonna shut me up. What are we scared of? What are we scared of? What are we so anxious for? What has got us down? The king has won and calls you his own. What power in the world is greater than that? Go to the darkness, block out the liar, go and make disciples of all nations, teach them. What he's done for you. Teach them how to follow Jesus. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on the devil, not on darkness, not on the people different from you. Go into the ends of the world. Jesus is ruling and reigning and coming back again. And you and I will be a part of that beautiful day, parading him into the city. Let us pray. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we thank you for this truth. We pray against any confusion or lies or anything that the devil would love to trip us up with on a beautiful truth. Instead, we we focus on you, Jesus. That you came into the world. That's why we celebrate Christmas. That's a joyful day. That you rose from the grave, defeating death, Easter, a beautiful day. And even by comparison, The second coming will be even greater than that. May this be a day that we anticipate with joy. We wait with eager expectation. And in the meantime, we do all we can to practice for kingdom come by living Jesus-centered lies, forgiving our enemies as we've been forgiven. Giving generously to those that you died for. Helping to heal the world rather than causing division on minor details that matter, not one iota in your kingdom. Heal our hearts so we can be sent out to heal the world and push back the darkness. Lord, we love you and thank you. It's your name we pray. Amen. I now invite you to stand as you are able, as we'll be reciting the Apostles' Creed, to declare what we believe before we partake in communion. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you. Gave it to his disciples and said, Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Heavenly Father, pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine, make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. Amen. I invite the communion service to come forward and at this time we'll recite the Lord's Prayer. During this time of communion, let's remember everything God has done for us and continues to do for us. For He is the Lord God Almighty. He is holy and he is worthy. Let's praise the King of Kings. So Yeah. Yeah. Hey, is the We were waiting without hope or without love. Senior To the Virgin Course. To crave So So Stream Chasty forever to the king. Too Jesus for sake you died ⁓ Stone must move forward. Virtues and the angels This house of who thought Don't worry in the churches. Jesus said two things. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And the one the sun sets free is free indeed. Keep this in mind as you have a seat. I want to talk to you about the prayer request this morning. Friends, the main and only weapon the devil has at you now is lies. If there are lies that you have been battling for years, or in your family tree that have been battling for years, do you know you have permission to tell the devil to shut up and go back to hell? It's not even blasphemous, folks. That's biblical. Jesus did the same. Depart from me. Where Does your heart need prayer to unravel lies? Where does truth and light and freedom need to break that stronghold? Because you have been set free. Take a moment and fill out that prayer card with that in mind, with that on your heart. Jesus, I need truth and freedom here in my life. Or there is someone in my life battling those lies, thinking they're too far gone, thinking that darkness is one. Be an intercessory for those people. While you're filling that out, we also take up an offering each and every Sunday. Part of it is to combat the lie that devil. Tells us that everything that we have is ours. That's a lie. It's not. Everything in the earth and under the earth and above it is the Lord's. We steward what He has given us. This is why we take up an offering. It's a stopgap. It's a reminder. What we have isn't ours, and we use what we've been given. To benefit others. This past week I just want to highlight that you all were able to not only spend time at Chevy Chase, but provided meals and entertainment in the summer camp for those who maybe otherwise would not have had one. That was part of what your offering went to just this past week. We were able to go into that place and just love on the kids. And money wasn't an option to provide lunch for whoever showed up. What parents came forward? And that was right after we were part of collecting school supplies and back-to-school clothes, and every one of those children was sent back with everything they needed. That's what the offering goes towards. These are the missions that Jesus placed us to. We go where he sends us. If you would like to give in that spirit, you can do so by going online at the point nine three seven.org slash give. You can set up a recurring payment that way, reoccurring generosity as we like to say. Or you can drop it off in the lockbox, cash or check on your way out. All of it again is an act of worship. This is already yours. I'm just giving it back. One more thing I want talk to you about before we're sent out. We have a graphic for this called circles. See if it worked. Yay. Woo-hoo! So circles is what we are naming small groups for this fall. We are making a push like we've never made before in the history of the point church. So about four years now. This will be our biggest push this fall to get as many people as possible into community. Jesus said, where two or more are gathered in my name, I will be there. Among them. So if you are looking for community, you are looking for friendship, you are looking for people to remind you who you are and to help you fix your eyes on Jesus, circles are for you. This will be a space that we go deep into the word, that we go out as friends to serve the community and just do life together. How do you sign up for a circle? Well, you can do it on your app. Under ⁓ Connect on the app, there is a space where you can click circles, and there's a form right there. You can say, What kind of circle are you looking for? I'm looking for a men's, a women's, couples, young adult. What are you looking for? We want to get you plugged in. We cannot do this life alone. We want as many people plugged in to community as we can. We'll also be honestly approaching some of you who maybe if you don't fill out a form. I'm just gonna say it. I'm pushing my chips in on this. One, I think you'd really enjoy this. I know you didn't quite think that you had the time, but I think this could be transformative. I'd love to have you be a part of this. I don't want us, hear me, friends. I don't want anyone to think it's because I wasn't invited, is why I wasn't in a circle. I'll be pushy if I have to. I'll be bold if I have to. You can be mad at me all you want, but I truly believe this is where transformation can happen. This is how we expand the kingdom. And you are invited to be a part of that, of shaping someone else's story as well. So sign up for a circle. They start the week of September 20th, but don't delay. Let's get scheduled, let's get organized, and let's push back that darkness, shall we? Please stand as we close in a blessing this morning. The spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells inside of you. Take that truth, that capital T truth with you into the world to combat any lies, any darkness, any whispers of the enemy. That you do not have everything you already need in Christ Jesus. Go as the church, go into a dark world and shine the light of Jesus. Grace, peace. We'll see you next week.

Matthew 12:22 John 12 · chapter mention Matthew 21:4–8 Colossians 2:15 Hebrews 2:14 1 Peter 3:18