While We Wait

Well, good morning church. How are you? It is so good to see you all this morning. You guys having a good Sunday so far? Hey, my name is Dan. and I get to be one of the pastors here on the campus. if I've never met you before and we have been in a series looking at there's core beliefs in and the Christian faith and we've been looking at these core beliefs these past few weeks and it's been really great because when you have such understanding and the foundation of the core beliefs the things that build on top of it are just so much more stronger and and we've been looking at a few things.

Pastor James has been looking at the Bible. Why we believe the Bible and the truth in the Bible and the the Trinity, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and the three in one. And today we're going to look at something that's really great to that I am excited about doing. Pastor James actually was allowed me to go ahead and do this. Him and his family are out of state right now. There's their their family is dealing with something. So keep them in prayer right now.

I know our prayer team has been praying over them and the situation that's going on. so as a church, just lifting them up during this time that they're going through, but we are going to be looking at something. If you guys want to turn to John 14, we're going to be looking at a passage here, 14 1-3. And before we jump into there, when you have family coming over and let's say that maybe it's family, you know, during the holiday season, they're coming over. or even if it's for like a birthday, or we have family and friends coming over, maybe you're doing a dinner time.

Isn't it interesting like how different we like live when we know that someone's coming over, like we start straightening things out in our house, right? Like we have family coming over for like birthdays. We have we start putting things away and cleaning things. Who has like a junk room, right? And you start picking up things and you're looking, you're like, I don't even know what this is. That's going to go in that room, right? And you start putting things away. You start cleaning things.

You're like, man, I don't know where that dust just came from. Like, I didn't see that dust yesterday. And you start looking at dust on like your vents and you start cleaning the vents off. And so we start checking things and putting things away because we're we're expecting someone to come. So we we start looking at the clock like if it's getting close to the time we start looking at the clock and my daughter when she loves her birthdays and celebrations so she's always like looking out the windows like where they at.

And two minutes later like where they at? And I love I love her doing that. But we start looking and getting ready and preparing things. And why? Because someone's coming, right? And so their like future arrival changes like what we're presently doing, doesn't it? There's something about knowing that someone is coming that changes like how we're living while we're waiting for them. And so we're going to look at this passage in John 14 because it talks about Jesus. It's actually Jesus talking about him and his return.

And and in 14, Jesus says something that we should that we should have exa the exact same effect on us every day when we're ready and preparing for someone to come. Because in John 14, he says, "I'm coming back." And so the question this morning isn't simply is Jesus coming back. Is do we believe Jesus? The bigger question is, are we living like we're believing he's coming back? Because if we truly believe that Jesus is coming back, then his future return ought to affect how we live today.

And so, let's take a look at that in John 14. And so, we're at John 14:1. And he says, and he's talking to the disciples here. And he's reassuring the disciples about something because what he's about to go, he's about to go to the cross, honestly. And so he's talking to the disciples and he says, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." You know, those are some powerful words that Jesus is talking and it's he's introducing himself not as a puzzle of when he's coming back for us to solve. He's actually and he's not even introducing like end times when we're supposed to figure out. He introduces his return to comfort people and a group who hearts are troubled.

Think about the disciples or what they're just about to experience. They're about to experience a loss and confusion and fear and betrayal and denial. And what will appear to them like and what will appear to them just collapses everything they thought Jesus was about to come and do and accomplish. Jesus knows what's coming. You know, Jesus knows that Judas is about to betray him. He knows that Peter is about to deny him. Jesus knows he's about to be arrested and about to go to the cross, be crucified.

And in all that uncertainty, Jesus gives his disciples three anchors. And we see this in John and he talks about trust me, guys. He says, I'm preparing something for you and I'm coming back for you. And in those those three truths are honestly what we're going to hold on to today as we look through this because as we see here the first thing that Jesus says is trust me while you're waiting. And so he says in John 14:1 don't let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God believe also in me. Notice where Jesus begins here. that little one does. He doesn't begin with prophecy like he doesn't begin with signs. He doesn't begin with dates. He doesn't begin with speculations of when end times is. He begins with a troubled heart. And that matters because of what's happening around this whole passage. And that matters because because of us when we have troubled times. Jesus told his disciples he's leaving. Judas will betray him. Peter will deny him.

The disciples are about to watch Jesus be arrested and crucify him. Their world around them was just about to come apart. And knowing everything that they're about to face, Jesus looks right at them and says to them, "Don't let your hearts be troubled." And now now Jesus isn't saying that no bad things are going to happen in our troubled times. Jesus isn't looking at us and saying these things aren't problems aren't going to come. Our our lives are not going to feel like everything's always okay.

Sometimes trouble is going to happen. What Jesus is saying is what happens next does not change who I am. And you know what? Honestly, that's that's Christian hope right there. Our confidence isn't everything that this world has to offer. Our confidence isn't anything the world will always things circumstances in our lives will always change. But Jesus does not. Our confidence is that Jesus can be trusted no matter what happens in this world. There are times when we simply can't see what God is honestly doing.

Like there's been so many times in my life I'm like I don't know how this is going to work out in play. God, I have no idea what you're going to do here. How many of you guys can agree with me and been there before? And it's like this. It's like a little child like your son and daughter. They're holding your hand and you're taking them. They have no idea where we're going, what place you're taking them. the directions you're turning. my littlest one, Grace.

A lot of times I pick her up from school here and we're walking over to the office and she'll be like, "Dad, I'm going close my eyes and you tell me which way to go, left or right or straight." And I'm like, "Okay, we're going to have fun with this then." No, but she does. She trusts me and she closes her eyes and I tell her left and right. She doesn't know what route she's taking or where she's going. But what she does know is the person that's directing her and leading her.

And sometimes faith is like that. Faith isn't always saying, "I understand what God is doing." Sometimes faith is simply saying, "I know the one I'm trusting." And so, let me ask you, what is troubling your hearts today? Maybe it's finances, maybe it's your family, maybe it's your health, maybe it's your children or your grandchildren. Maybe it's what's happening in the country right now or what's happening in the world right now. Maybe it's something happening privately that there's no one in here that knows about and and maybe you think doesn't understand about.

Jesus doesn't say you have to understand everything. He says trust me. And sometimes faith sounds like Jesus, I don't know what's happening and what's going to happen, but I know who you are. Church, the world may be uncertain. Our circumstances may change. The things we thought that were secure might change and not be secure. But you know what? Our hope was never supposed to rest in our circumstances. Our hope rests in Jesus.

And Jesus has made us a promise. And his promise is he's coming again. So he says, "Trust me. Trust him while you wait." Jesus is coming again. But you know what? As Jesus was telling the disciples, this is trust me in troubled times. He also gives them a reason, a hope behind this as well. Because as we further read in in this passage here in 14:2, Jesus says, "Remember what I'm preparing for you here." He says, "My father's house has many rooms.

And if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?" You know, listen to how personal Jesus is. He makes this. He's like, "My father's house." And then he says, "A place for you." And Jesus isn't primarily giving his disciples this like archa ar architectural design of what heaven's going to be like with you know mansions. He's given them a picture of belonging. He says there's room in my father's house for you.

He says that to us. There's room for you. And can you just imagine what the disciples as they're hearing this as they're going through this tragedy and what's going on what that might have like meant for them? They're about to feel like everything in their life has just been lost. Have we been there before? We feel like the world has just been crashing down around us. And Jesus is essentially saying, "You haven't lost your future. I'm preparing it for you." Because we do, we spend a lot of time preparing places for ourselves.

We buy homes and we rent apartments and we decorate them, right? We get them ready. We buy we move in and we buy our furniture and then like the seasons come we decorate them. We decor them for Christmas time. Put Christmas trees and then Christmas lights and then Easter comes and we leave the Christmas lights up. Right. Am I the only one that does that? No, I take them down. But for Easter time, we get ready. So, we get our our houses ready, prepare them, we clean them and we and we worry about paying for them.

We repair them. We remodel them. We spend years making our houses feel like home. But at some point eventually the places that we live in, someone else is going to be in it. And Jesus says, "I'm preparing a place for you." And you know that changes how us Christians look at this life. The world is very important. What we do here really does matter. The people that we're around really do does matter. Our families matter. Our jobs matter. It matters a lot.

Being around people, love them. Those are gifts and those are blessings that God has given us. Serving God matters. But this world isn't everything. Maybe your kids are coming home for Christmas time and maybe maybe your family's coming over. And what do we do? We prepare for them, right? We put fresh sheets on the beds and maybe we make the favorite their favorite foods as they're coming over. We want to make sure everything is ready for them. Why? Because somebody you love is coming.

All that preparation says something. It communicates something without even saying a word. It says that you belong here. We're expecting you. You've been expected. Jesus says, "I prepared a place for you." And some of us put incredible pressure on our lives to be something that life can't give us. That we really want like the perfect house and the perfect job and maybe the perfect retirement, perfect family and perfect experience. We just want the perfect life. We try to work towards something like that.

And then when life doesn't deliver that something like we hoped it would be, we come really discouraged, right? But Christians can hold earthly things with open hands because our best life isn't behind us. Our ultimate home is still ahead of us. So, but really honestly enjoy God's gifts that he's given us. Love people. Love your work. Love building things. love serving people. Make it making memories, going places and travel, you know, do those things. But don't confuse that journey here. Don't confuse it with our destination.

There's something more ahead for us. Our father's house. There's a place being prepared for us. And what's even better than that, the place isn't ultimately the point because Jesus promises doesn't end with a place. It ends with a person. And we see that as we continue to look in John here because he talks to the disciples and he says, "Live ready for my return. Live ready for me." It says in in verse three, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." Man, those are like the most important words out of this passage.

I will come back. And you know what? He doesn't say I might or if the circumstances are right or perhaps I'll come back for you. Man, he's it's a promise. I will come back. And our confidence in that promise rests in the character of who God says he is of the one who made that promise. Jesus kept his promise about the cross. And he's kept his promise about the resurrection. And he will keep his promise about his returning. He says, "I am coming back." He is coming again.

But notice why he says he's coming. He says, "I'm coming that you also may be here with me. Be where I am." Isn't that beautiful? Ultimate hope isn't in the streets of gold or the the mansions. It's simply and and not to escape troubles. The greatest promise of eternity is we will be with Jesus. The one who loves us. The one who has died for us. The one who arose again. The one who has saved us. The one that has walked with us through the troubles and guided us.

The one who has promised one day we will be together. And if we really believe he's coming, that should affect how we're living right now. Because his second coming isn't supposed to make us Christians look to the sky and stare at the sky wondering when he's coming back. It's supposed to change the way we live on the earth right now. Let's go back to the beginning. Remember when we're we're talking about getting our house ready and prepared? What happens when someone's coming to our house?

We get ready and we prepare them because their future arrival honestly affects our present behavior, right? And make it as real personal if Jesus really is coming. What should we change in our lives before he gets here? If Jesus is coming, who do we need to forgive? Who do we need to love? Who do we need to make things right with? What sin in my life do I have to change? What obedience have I really delayed? What relationship honestly needs maybe my reconciliation?

And perhaps the biggest question is who in my life needs to know who Jesus is? Because living ready doesn't mean hiding in the world waiting for Jesus to come to rescue us. Living ready means faithfully following Jesus and the world until he comes. So that means we keep loving, we keep serving, we keep giving, we keep sharing the gospel, we keep making disciples, we keep being faithful, we keep pointing people to Jesus. Why? Because someone's coming. Jesus is coming again. When we know someone we love is coming, something changes.

You watch, you prepare, you anticipate. You live differently because someone's coming, church. And not just someone, it's Jesus. He says, "I will come back and take you to be with me." Grace loves playing hide-and-seek. And so, a lot of times when we're home, she'll come up and she's like, "Can we play hide-and-seek?" And I'm like, "Yeah, absolutely. Let's play hide-and-seek." And usually it's always me counting first and she goes and hides. And I feel like there's always only two spots that she usually hides in.

But I ask, you know, what do you want me to count to? And she was just like, "Whatever number you want, count to." And so I'm like, "Yeah, I'm counting to like maybe 15." And so I'm like 13, 14, 15. And then you know what do you say? Ready or not, here I come. Right? And there's going to be a time when God finishes counting and he tells Jesus to go and Jesus will say, "Ready or not, here I come." We don't know the day or the hour, but we know the one who made that promise.

And that's enough. And so until he comes, we trust him with our hearts that are troubled. Until he comes, we remember there's more ahead of us than we can see right now. And until he comes, we live ready because someday faith will become sight. Someday waiting will be over. Someday every prayer that we have prayed in faith will give way to seeing him face to face. Someday the king will return. And the question is, are we living like we believe he is?

Jesus is coming. And so before we live today, leave today, I just have one question for us. Not like 10 things, but I have one question. If we really believe Jesus could come at any time, what is one thing that I could do differently? And I don't want you thinking for someone else or wish I wish someone else was here. They could hear this. Ask the Holy Spirit for you. What needs to change in me? Maybe there's someone that you need to forgive.

Maybe there's someone you you need to call, someone you need to ask forgiveness for. Maybe there's something you need to surrender to God or you have to stop doing something God has already told you to do. Maybe, or maybe there's someone in your life who needs to hear about Jesus, who he is, and what he's done in your life. Whatever God brings to your mind, do it. Don't put it off.

Because the promise Jesus gives his disciples is still the promise we hold on to today. I will come back. And so when our hearts are troubled, trust him. When this world feels like everything is is lost, remember what he's preparing for us. And while we're waiting, we live ready because Jesus is coming for us. And you know what, church? I really would love just to pray that over us as a church and as our families and maybe you've never even known Jesus before or what he's done and love to give that opportunity too.

So as we close church, let me pray this over us. Lord, we love you. and we thank you for who you are, that we can trust you, that we can follow you, and you've shown us why we can trust you and bring us to those areas in our lives that hold us from that. that we could start living now and changing things in our lives now to live like you are coming and that you will be here because we don't know when to love people to share who you are what you have done that we can give everything to you our shame and our guilt and that you have hope for us we have hope in you and you want to build into our lives and build our relationships and reconcile our families.

Lord, we thank you for that. And maybe you don't know who Jesus is. And this is an opportunity to know him. And all you have to do is say, "Jesus, I want you in my life. I want you to take the hurt and the burdens and you carry them. I want a life that I can follow you and trust you and have an eternity with you. And all you have to do is I accept you, Jesus, that you went to that cross and that you died on that cross for me and my sins.

You've taken on the sins. You've taken on the guilt and the shame, Lord. And that you rose again. And if you do that and accept that, you will then live in life eternally with them and you live a life differently. We thank you for who you are, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.