Ten days till Christmas. This is when we crank it up – the stress, the travel, the cooking, the shopping. It’s go time. But here at The Heights we’re already thinking after Christmas. There are wonderful, important, passages included in the Christmas passages, Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2 that are after Christmas, and too often put away in the attic without much attention. So we are looking after Christmas before Christmas. Last week we saw how we follow God’s will. Our after Christmas story today is the furthest removed from Christmas. Like 12 years removed. It is the singular story about Jesus in the Bible prior to the age of 30, and even at 12 we see in Him how we are to live. Let’s read Luke 2:41-51.

There is an after Christmas story, stories we tend to box up and put in the attic too quick. That after Christmas in the Bible has much for our after Christmas. After Christmas is a hard time. Bills. Taking decorations down. The emotional letdown of 2 months of emotional build up. Family, friends moving on. We may have used the two months of buildup to escape life. One day later, life is back in our face, and these stories that follow Christmas have some good direction for us. Our first message today takes us to the harsh and difficult. Can that happen when we are following the Lord? Look with me at Matthew 2:13-18.

There is an after Christmas story, stories we tend to box up and put in the attic too quick. That after Christmas in the Bible has much for our after Christmas. After Christmas is a hard time. Bills. Taking decorations down. The emotional letdown of 2 months of emotional build up. Family, friends moving on. We may have used the two months of buildup to escape life. One day later, life is back in our face, and these stories that follow Christmas have some good direction for us. Our first message today takes us to the harsh and difficult. Can that happen when we are following the Lord? Look with me at Matthew 2:13-18.

I can’t think of a better Sunday to celebrate the Lord’s Supper than a Sunday of Thanksgiving. In all circumstances give thanks. I would guess in this room, watching online, we cover a lot of circumstances from things we are very grateful for to things we are not at all grateful for. But we learned that God is not calling us to be thankful for those circumstances, but in them. That is a big difference. In all circumstances we give thanks that God is good, and in control. In all circumstances, God is working for my good. And God HAS DONE a work in our lives that no circumstance can change or undo.

I can’t think of a better Sunday to celebrate the Lord’s Supper than a Sunday of Thanksgiving. In all circumstances give thanks. I would guess in this room, watching online, we cover a lot of circumstances from things we are very grateful for to things we are not at all grateful for. But we learned that God is not calling us to be thankful for those circumstances, but in them. That is a big difference. In all circumstances we give thanks that God is good, and in control. In all circumstances, God is working for my good. And God HAS DONE a work in our lives that no circumstance can change or undo.

Our theme in Thessalonians is stay the course, the end is great. And that is an answer to our theme for the year of finding clarity in the chaos: constant political tension, rejection of any kind of biblical worldview, redefining marriage, redefining sex and sexuality, fear of being canceled, waning religious freedom; what are we to do? How do we stay on track? I think Paul gives us some checkpoints, things to make sure we are doing in an overwhelming moment. There are so many things overwhelming, and I say that as we come into the overwhelming season of shopping, cooking, traveling, gathering. Here is what to do in the overwhelmed moments. From politics, to holidays, to culture war, here is a battle plan to stay the course, to find clarity. Let’s read 2 Thessalonians 3.

Our theme in Thessalonians is stay the course, the end is great. And that is an answer to our theme for the year of finding clarity in the chaos: constant political tension, rejection of any kind of biblical worldview, redefining marriage, redefining sex and sexuality, fear of being canceled, waning religious freedom; what are we to do? How do we stay on track? I think Paul gives us some checkpoints, things to make sure we are doing in an overwhelming moment. There are so many things overwhelming, and I say that as we come into the overwhelming season of shopping, cooking, traveling, gathering. Here is what to do in the overwhelmed moments. From politics, to holidays, to culture war, here is a battle plan to stay the course, to find clarity. Let’s read 2 Thessalonians 3.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 believers were told to be encouraged, to encourage each other with the hope of the rapture. One day we are going to rise to meet the Lord in the air, along with our loved ones who passed away in Christ, and together we will be with Jesus forever. That is our hope. That’s what gets us through days of suffering, pain, death in this world. That is what we hang onto when we are overwhelmed by the evil in the world. Now can you imagine believing that, trusting that; and then you hear you’ve missed it. You missed the rapture, the Lord’s return for you. That’s what the Thessalonians had been told and what Paul is now going to deal with in 2 Thessalonians 2.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 believers were told to be encouraged, to encourage each other with the hope of the rapture. One day we are going to rise to meet the Lord in the air, along with our loved ones who passed away in Christ, and together we will be with Jesus forever. That is our hope. That’s what gets us through days of suffering, pain, death in this world. That is what we hang onto when we are overwhelmed by the evil in the world. Now can you imagine believing that, trusting that; and then you hear you’ve missed it. You missed the rapture, the Lord’s return for you. That’s what the Thessalonians had been told and what Paul is now going to deal with in 2 Thessalonians 2.

'Is this the end', was the question the Thessalonians were asking. Whenever Christians are suffering, confused or frustrated with the state of things, we tend to wonder, 'Is this the end'? Most generations have had their issues that led to that question. Our generation: wars, concerns of bigger wars, pandemics, immorality. Is this the end? As we start into the second letter, remember the background. Acts 17:1-10.