Matthew 24

In Matthew 24 Jesus says a lot of things that we aren't excited to read. Jesus talks about the end of the world.

At least he is talking about the end of the world as the disciples and Jews knew it. In verse 2 he said "truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down."

Jesus is talking about the temple, which was destroyed 30 years after Jesus said this. Not only was the temple destroyed but Israel was wiped off the map by the Romans, the world that they knew had ended. Israel ceased to exist politically until the 1940's... it was gone.

The world ends all the time.

Life as we know it is radically different than it was 10, 2o, 50 years ago. It's not the world I grew up in and I'm sure it's not close to the world my parents grew up in.

I preached a funeral in November for a woman that lived 95 years. She grew up without electricity, her family didn't have a car. Imagine how much the world changed around her. The world she grew up in was gone, the world she raised her children in was gone, the world she raised her grandchildren in was gone. She saw more change than I could imagine... and understand this, change means something ended, something is gone, something is replaced.

Change is hard. No one is sure what the future holds, and as hard as it is to admit, we all fear what we don't know. What will happen to my family? What will happen to our church? What will happen to our country? Our economy?

The only reason I know that the future will be ok is becuase I know Jesus will be there, just like he was in the past and he is here now.

So let the world as I know it come to an end. As long as I have Jesus, I'll be fine.