THAT GOOD BOOK WE ALL LOVE SO MUCH

•    creeping Black Friday sales
•    Biblical truth competes with catalogue temptations

COMING UP: THE HORROR – AND THE GLORY

•    distress of end-time “birth pangs”: persecution, betrayal, hatred
•    precursors of Antichrist’s ultimate desecration
•    heavenly powers shaken: stars fall, elements destroyed
•    creation / judgment (not secularism) imbue our actions with meaning
•    Son of Man coming on clouds - with authority
•    angels gather the elect: hope based in God’s sovereign choice

UPSHOT: 1) DON’T IDOLIZE THE EPHEMERAL

•    this world and its attractions have an expiry date
•    tourist about furniture: “I’m only passing through”

UPSHOT: 2) PRIORITIZE HIM WHO IS CENTRAL

•    Jesus’ words will never pass away - watch for Him

UPSHOT: 3) HARMONIZE YOUR ACTIONS WITH HIS INSTRUCTIONS

•    servants assigned tasks until master returns: not caught sleeping
•    church “asleep” or alert about fate of unevangelized?