Advent, is the season, leading up to Christmas, during which we should look forward and prepare, not just for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but also his return at the end of this present age in glory to judge the world and to bring in the age to come. There will always be scoffers who question the return of Christ -”where is this coming he promised?” (2 Peter 3:9) The fact that our world continues to experience the cycle of years and seasons may lead some to indifferences and even scepticism.

Jesus reminded his own disciples when they asked about the timing of his return that his coming would be sudden and unexpected. Yet there are signs which surround us. “You will hear of wars and rumours of wars … nation will rise against nation … there will be famines and earthquakes in various places … these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8).

When we look at the problems such as global warming which the earth is facing we tend to think that convincing everyone to do their bit – conserve water, reduce the use of fossil fuels – will be the means of saving humanity from global catastrophe. That is not enough. If we leave God out of the picture, we will never eliminate the problem of human selfishness and greed which lie at the heart of all of our troubles.

What must we do? We must stand firm in our faith, knowing that it is only our Lord Jesus who will ultimately save us from whatever calamity threatens to destroy us. We must continue to proclaim the gospel of Christ’s kingly rule to the whole world. “Then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

Rev Graham Fairbairn

Posted on August 10th, 2007 by Shayne
Filed under: Preaching and Teaching