It’s clear from Scripture that Christians are meant to anticipate with eagerness the return of Jesus. But then there are cautions that we are given to help us be on guard against any kind of false appearance that people will be tempted to fixate on. In the end though, just as the disciples would know the voice of their Master, so they would recognize the authentic second coming of Jesus. Pastor Daniel encourages his listeners to consider that, “forsaking life now is essential preparation for future kingdom life.” Presenting five key words for us to hang our thoughts on as we think about the coming of the kingdom, he challenges us to consider 1) the future, 2) the visible nature of Christ’s return, 3) the rejection that Jesus endures first, 4) the suddenness of His coming, and 5) the destructive nature of His arrival. We are to consider these things and then prepare for the coming kingdom through clinging to Christ and dying to self.

Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff

Two men tell two very different stories in this account. One man, the Pharisee, looks heavenward in prayer while basing his standard of righteousness on horizontal comparisons. The second man, a tax collector, turned his eyes down in prayer but sent his heart heavenward in a plea for mercy from the true Judge. The latter was the only one found acceptable in God’s sight. Daniel helps us to think through this parable from Jesus by challenging us to, “decide whether your relationship with God will depend upon your works or His mercy.” Are our works self-righteous in nature or is our life characterized by God-exalting humility?

Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff

Nobody could expose an idolatrous heart as quickly as Jesus could. Here was a man who seemed to be asking a lot of the right questions. He wasn’t trying to avoid God or live his life in as pagan a way as he could get by with. He didn’t come to Jesus with a request for power, prestige, or three magical wishes. His request was for the path to eternal life. But the ultimate answer he received was the one answer that he couldn’t bear to hear; it was the one answer that ultimately sent him packing with a dejected look on his face. Jesus had hit on this man’s idol, and He knows today what our hearts most long for as well. Pastor Daniel calls people to follow Jesus with their whole hearts by stating, “the shocking truth of the gospel is that we must treasure Jesus Christ in order to be saved.”

Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff

Some of Jesus’s most engaging parables are the ones that end up taking twists we simply wouldn’t have anticipated. As a matter of fact, in the text at hand, even the people in the parable are astounded over the way events play out! Jesus used an occasion of a journey to Jerusalem (his final journey there) to tell a story that would later help his followers better understand the nature of God’s kingdom—a story that called them to be faithful stewards of what He had entrusted to them. Pastor Daniel emphasizes the central point when looking at the this text, stating, “as we wait for our Master’s return, our love for Him is revealed by our obedience to His commandments.” He defines a faithful servant as one who joyfully does the work the Master has given to him and a wicked servant as the person who finds excuses to justify his disobedience to the Master. But concerning the final group of people in the story, the enemies, he maintains that we are much the same as them if we openly oppose the Master’s rule.

Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff