TMG
Tom’s Midweek Greeting
Crossroads Community Church
Nevada MO
February 13, 2020
Hello!
I’m looking forward to worshiping with you this coming Sunday morning at the Y at 10:00. I’m excited about the worship, about the fellowship, and about our sermon which will be the fourth in our series, “You Asked For It!”
The sermon which one of you picked is a look at Matthew 24-25, one of the most well-known of Jesus’ sermons to His disciples. It’s sometimes called the “Olivet Discourse” because He spoke it while on the Mount of Olives (Mt. Olivet) overlooking Jerusalem and the Temple. He was arrested two days later. In Matthew 24-25, the Lord gives a riveting preview of the events of the end of the world and of His own return to it. His message to His disciples – and to us – is “Watch!”
Are you watching? Are you ready? And what are we to be watching for? Those are some of the things we’ll talk about this Sunday! I hope you’ll be there! The coming of the Lord is a cause for excitement and a reason for serving with enthusiasm. None of the founders of the other major religions made a prediction that they would return to the earth. Jesus gave us cause to believe He will return one day, not only because He said so (as did many of the Jewish prophets), but because He left behind an empty tomb!
Crossroads News
Our hearts go out to Heather Hall and to her family at the passing yesterday of Heather’s brother Jon. Let’s be sure to keep the entire Hall family – Linda, Warren, Sarah, Kim, and Heather – in our prayers as they process the events of the past several days and months.
Missions Point Person
ReachGlobal, the international missions arm of the Evangelical Free Church of America, is looking for a person in each local church willing to serve as a “missions point person.” This person would help Crossroads stay connected with the missionaries and ministries that are part of ReachGlobal. ReachGlobal’s contact person is Stewart Humphry, a ReachGlobal missionary and friend of mine. If you might be interested in serving in this role and helping Crossroads’ missions focus expand, please let me know. Thank you!
Baby Bottles Due back February 23. Thank you to those who are participating in the Baby Bottle Boomerang for Nevada Birthright. The baby bottles are due back at church on Sunday, February 23. Thank you!
Nevada High School FFA Coming to Crossroads February 23. On Sunday, the 23rd, members of Nevada High School FFA will be joining us for worship. Let’s be sure to welcome them warmly to Crossroads!
Next Home Group, Feb. 26 The next Home Group will be at Cris and Donna Rodriguez’s home on Wednesday, February 26, 6:30 – 8:00 pm.
Crossroads Connection, March 1. A taco bar lunch and time of fellowship is planned for Sunday, March 1, immediately following the worship service. There will be time for ministry teams to meet that need to.
What did Jesus not know?
One of the parts of the Olivet Discourse which sometimes seems difficult to understand (but which we won’t spend time on this Sunday) is the Lord’s statement that no one knows the day or hour of His coming, not even the Son, but the Father alone
(Matthew 24:36).
Some have said that this statement is similar to the statement Paul makes when he writes to the Corinthians and says, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Clearly, Paul knew more than the basic Gospel message of Christ crucified; but what he chose to make known to the Corinthians was that particular element of his message. Similarly, for Jesus, the naming of the date of His return was not part of His mission or teaching. If it had been, all that follows in Matthew 24-25 concerning our need for watchfulness would be lost. He wants us to be watching and actively readying ourselves for His return.
It doesn’t seem that Jesus’ powers were somehow limited during his ministry on earth. He demonstrates that He knows people’s character in great detail; He also frequently demonstrates His power over time and distance, illness, and spiritual forces of evil.
He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Yet, at other times He also said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) ; and, “I only do what I see the Father doing” (John 5:19) ; and, still again, “I do not speak on My own initiative, but I only speak what the Father has given Me” (John 12:49). The Son is not inferior to the Father. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit don’t do anything independently of one another. (In a similar way, Jesus said the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak on His own initiative – John 16:13). There is one God, a God who knows the future. Jesus, the Son, yields to the Father in the choosing and making known of the date of His return.
Interestingly, the idea of not knowing the day nor the hour is mentioned four times in Matthew 24-25, and most often it has to do with the fact that you and I don’t know the day nor the hour of His return!
- “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Matthew 24:36
- “Therefore be on the alert, for youdo not know which day your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24:42
- “The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know.” Matthew 24:50
- “Be on the alert then, for youdo not know the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13
Instead of giving the date, He leaves us with an obvious truth: When you see the branch of a tree become tender and start to put forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
“So, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:32-33).
It does seem that the branch is tender these days, doesn’t it? … and beginning to put forth some buds! Winter may be coming to an end, and the Lord’s return may be very near! Let’s talk more about this on Sunday! See you then!
–Tom
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