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When the heavens shake, the seas roar, and nations panic in terror, what should followers of Jesus do? Lift up your heads—your redemption is drawing near. Dr. John examines Luke 21:25-33, exploring the true signs of Christ's return and clearing up popular misconceptions about fig trees and generations. While the world faints with fear at the end of the age, believers are called to confidence, knowing that when creation unravels, our great deliverer is finally coming in power and glory.

The End of the Age: Our desire to see into the future is more than curiosity. We want to know what will happen so we can be prepared. If we know what the weather will be, what the stock market will do or how our job interview will turn out, we can adjust accordingly. In this 10-message series, Dr. John Neufeld teaches on Jesus' words and actions from Luke 21-22. Jesus points to the end of the age and describes what will be. While He doesn't answer our question of "When?", Jesus tells believers how to be ready. If we live as prepared people, the timing of Jesus' return will not catch us off guard.

Old habits are hard to break. Sometimes we do what is wrong inadvertently, but sometimes we know we’ve done wrong but because we’ve done it so long we don’t stop—even though we hurt ourselves and sometimes others.

In this message, Pastor Chuck Swindoll teaches the role of government in God’s plan and explores subjects such as paying taxes, capital punishment, and when civil disobedience might be appropriate.

From the Series: Romans: The Christian’s Constitution

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Using his trademark humor, Dan Seaborn challenges couples to assess the “friendship level” of their marriage and encourages them to go deeper. He explains how to overcome petty arguments by not trying to "fix" our spouse. Dan also touches on the value of taking good care of our bodies and cultivating emotional oneness by treasuring our spouse’s extended family.

Full disclosure here. I'm not the guy you want to call when you need a guy to do a job with a hammer. But look, I do know the fundamentals. A hammer can be used to build something, right? Or to tear it down. Either way, what a hammer hits is not going to stay the same. Life's hammers are like that: Losing your job, your health, the one you love most. Those are hammers! And maybe one of those has hit you recently. Or it maybe hit a long time ago but its effects are still there today. And whatever the hammer hits can't possibly stay the same. The only question is whether the blows will build you or tear you down. But the hammer doesn't decide that. We do.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Hit With Life's Hammer."

Each summer, I travel with a team of young Native Americans who've been hammered all their lives by family violence, sexual violence, addiction, and depression. Most have been to a dozen or more funerals by the time they're 16.

But when they talk about their lives with reservation young people like them, they don't sound like victims. Oh, they acknowledge the damage the blows have done. But what they talk about most is hope! Because they made choices that have made them stronger, more compassionate, people of great faith, and they hand out hope wherever they go.

We don't get to choose if and when life's hammers hit, but we totally choose what kind of person it's going to make us. Will I let this tenderize my heart or turn it hard? Will I let pain open up my heart or close my heart in fear that I'll get hurt again? Will I let it go, by forgiving and be free, or will I let it grow into a cancer in my soul? Will I let the blows equip me to be a wounded healer for other bleeding people, or is it going to make me one of those hurt people who hurt people?

The hole left by my Karen's absence is unfillable. But God has used it to open my heart to Him and to other wounded people as never before. I'm living with His promise, and it's our word for today from the Word of God: "He comforts us in all our troubles so we can comfort others" and "give them the same comfort God has given us" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

When we've been hurt, we can choose to let the hammer turn us inward, putting up walls that say, "Leave me alone." People get that vibe and they oblige, and we end up self-isolated at the very time when we need people the most. On the other hand, if we choose to reach out, we can experience the very flood of love and support that we're going to need to heal.

Maybe the worst choice we can make when the hammer hits is to turn our back on God. We go, "why?", and the heavens seem silent. But when we turn our back on God at the very point where we need Him the most, we're turning our back on the only One who can make any sense out of what's happened. Who can bring meaning out of our pain. Who has the hope and the supernatural strength we need to go on. As the Bible promises, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). Even through the most leveling blow of my life.

My Jesus gets it. No one took the blows He did. Literally loving me enough to take the hellish punishment for my sin so I wouldn't have to. And anyone who loved me enough to die for me will never do me wrong. So, yes, I can trust Him. Even when I can't understand Him.

I would encourage you, if you've never reached out to Him and begun your relationship with Him, tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." And let me urge you to go to our website and there get all the information you'll need to get this relationship started. It's ANewStory.com.

When my son was three years old, we visited the U.S. Capitol. You can imagine how those long, steep stairs looked with little legs. Impossible.

God desires that we would know Him, love Him, and worship Him for who He is.

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“No matter where you are, what you’re going through; use what you have and make the most of it,” said the young woman in a TV interview. Her words prompted me to listen carefully to the full story. I learned that she was one of six sisters working toward nursing degrees. They were once homeless and struggling. Yet they worked together to reach their common goal. And at the time the story aired, all six sisters were completing the nursing program at a local university.

Numbers 27 tells the story of another group of sisters who worked together and supported each other. The five daughters of Zelophehad challenged a law about inheritance. They gathered together and stood before Moses to plead their case, saying, “Our father died . . . for his own sin and left no sons. . . . Give us property among our father’s relatives” (vv. 3-4). God answered with this revolutionary statement: “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance” (v. 7).

The five sisters came together and sought God’s mercy as they stood before Moses. And God provided what they needed as they banded together before Him.

Working together isn’t always easy as believers in Jesus. But as we seek God’s wisdom and direction with humility, we’ll find He can help us serve well together in Christ.

The best gift you can give yourself this season might not come wrapped in paper or tied with a bow. The holiday season can be exciting and joyful, but it can also be stressful, especially when money is tight. What if you could celebrate the season without the regret that debt brings? Hear more on the next Faith & Finance Live with Rob West. Then, it’s your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live, where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances. That’s weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

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Segment 1

• Today’s question: which story makes your eyes roll hardest… and your heart ache most?

• A university in the UK slaps a “sexual violence” warning on the Bible.

• George Clooney’s new movie romanticizes assisted suicide — culture calling evil “good.” The painful stories continue…

Segment 2

• King Charles dedicates a UK memorial to the LGBT movement.

• Parents in Britain are taking self-defense classes to defend against their own children.

• A Pennsylvania pastor points a gun at his congregation as a sermon illustration.

Segment 3

• Sebastian Gorka calls Trump’s shooting a “Christ-like moment.”

• Todd and Josh Williamson warn: when politics becomes religion, biblical theology withers.

• Comparing any political leader to Christ cheapens the cross and confuses the gospel.

Segment 4

• Jesus volunteered His life like no one else or could.

• Politicians invoking the cross for clout rob Jesus of His glory.

• The takeaway: when the world mocks truth, Christians must guard the gospel’s weight and clarity.

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