The Coming of the Son of Man
“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
A prayer
O Lord our God, make us watchful and keep us faithful
as we await the coming of your Son our Lord;
that when he shall appear,
he may not find us sleeping
but active in his service
and joyful in his praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Some thoughts
Advent is a season of urgency, not because we can’t get to the shops for those Christmas presents, nor because no one is sure about getting the right size of turkey.
In the words of Jesus, we are told to be alert, to watch out. Why? Because he is talking about the end times, the coming of the Kingdom of God. There will be a time, no one can predict when, that the world will move on. A time when God is evident to all, a time when the promises made throughout the bible will come to reality. Some people think that it will be after we die, others think that there will be some kind of great clash of the heavens, some people think that it will be a kind of worldwide disaster. I certainly don’t know, but be alert, don’t forget about you responsibilities.
Love God, love your neighbour, love one another.
Hopefully, we will be back in church from the 6th of December. There will be Christmas services, but no Christingle