Pondering Christ in 2 Thessalonians

Well, hello, welcome to Ponder by NorthernLife. We're having a conversation about the Word of the Lord as it was preached to us on Sunday, and as we encounter it in our everyday lives. My name is Stephanie Long, stepping in for the husband today.

I am joined by a wonderful group of people. It is quite the crowded table and it's really exciting. We've got Ben, we've got Jono, we've got Stephen, Virginia, and Tristan.

So full house. How are you guys going?

Good, thanks.

Never been done before.

Good, thank you.

Doing well.

Great.

Unreal.

How good.

Well, it's very exciting to be joined here at the table by literally the entire pastoral team. So hopefully we'll get some really great wisdom out of our conversation today looking at two Thessalonians, which was your message, Ben.

So as is tradition, do you want to give us a little bit of a summary of the message?

Yes. I must confess, coming up to Two Thessalonians, I was not excited. It's one of those books that's kind of filed in my mind as weird and a bunch of stuff that I just tend to avoid.

But I must say that studying for this message last week, I was really blessed and really moved by spending some time in Two Thessalonians.

It started with realizing the clear structure, three chapters, three topics, a prayer between each topic, and realizing that Paul begins with the end in mind, we started by talking about the number one best selling book in business of the 20th

century, which was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And it has that idea of begin with the end in mind. That's a deeply Christian idea.

And so throughout the message, we started with the end in mind, which is on the day, the day of the Lord, what's going to happen on the day.

And then before the day, and then until the day, what kind of lives should we be living in the present in light of God's great future for us?

Yeah, how good. I think probably, oh, I guess I'll put it to you, any big reflections on the sermon, just in general?

You had to be here to appreciate it, but it just led into wonderful worship. Ben had that transition at the end where he said, the best songs speak about the end.

And so here the worship leaders had picked a couple of songs that really just looked to the end and celebrated it. It was just epic. So uplifting.

Yeah.

I thought going in with that was your example of Mary and the alabaster perfume, and that that was so close to Jesus' end on earth. And just what that made it such a beautiful moment, too. That was really special.

I was thinking about the word vision, and yeah, having this vision of the day, and how much vision is important in the life of the church, that we have a vision of the future, and we have something to work towards.

So I really like how Ben unpacked it, you know, beginning with the end in mind, but then there's going to be things that happen before the day.

And what are we doing until the day, but keeping that vision in mind of Jesus' return, and other things that we're working towards in our community?

Yeah, for me, the biggest takeaway was two things, was verse 11 of chapter 1, where he talks about worthy of His calling, and just unpacking that in my mind was really helpful to really sit there for a second.

And probably the bigger one for me was the warning against idleness in chapter 3, just because I'm quite a busy body when it comes to like just getting either things done or just doing stuff.

And what that looks like as a vehicle for Christ is interesting to look at. So that was cool.

Yeah, I think that that leads pretty neatly into one of the questions that I had looking, I think more like just coming out of the text, being worthy of His calling.

I think often the Christian world view that is most proclaimed is that we are fundamentally unworthy, that we are not worthy of the grace that we've received. So, what would you say it means for us to be worthy of His calling as Paul prays?

I think it's helpful to start by saying that it's nothing that has to do with us in isolation by ourselves. Like even the wording in the text, it's that our God may make you worthy of His calling.

And I think that's an important prompt for us is that the calling to goodness, it all starts at Christ and it all starts through Him. We won't even make a dent in starting to do the goodness without Him in that driver seat.

So, I think it's important to start there by saying, it's not us. So, yeah, that's what I think.

It reminds me of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount when He says, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, what good is it?

It's kind of this idea of, you are something, but if you are that something, then be the fullest and best version of that something. Every Christian has been called by God. And so Paul is praying, may God make you worthy of your calling.

You are salt, so be salty. You are the light, so be the light. And the flip side is that idleness piece, which we'll probably talk about later, of not living up to the fullness of the calling God has given us.

Rashaad.

I think sometimes, well, often on a Sunday, when I'm coming to work or coming to church, I've had three days off and I'm often thinking, reflecting on the last three days, and it's easy to get caught up in what did I do? What have I done?

In brackets, for me, and I pull myself up and think, what has the last three days been about? Trying to reframe it, I suppose, not about me, but not meaning to sound that that's how it always looks at all. But what have I done in those three days?

That is that in brackets that God's called me to.

Yeah, I think it is, for me, allowing God to do a work of sanctification. Look, in 1 Thessalonians 5, as Ben said, it's probably been written, the second letter, pretty close to the first. So they're connected.

Chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians says, may God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ on that day.

So the prep for the day is God sanctifying us, us allowing him to do that by not quenching the spirit. And then it has that beautiful verse, the one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

So there's a lot about the God's work in our heart, I think, is this idea of being worthy.

I kind of like where Paul goes to in the sort of next sentence of that prayer where he's saying that he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness.

I kind of like that picture of the good I want to do, that I struggle to do in this body and in this life, that God helps me to do, that he allows me to do, that he empowers me to do.

My little desire for goodness, he will develop to fruition, which is quite nice. Well, just having a look at the structure of the sermon that you walked us through, Ben, and I guess that two Thessalonians very neatly fits into.

Looking at on the day, first of all, the day of the Lord, the day that Jesus will return to us. In the passage that you read and that you were looking at, there's a lot of future tense that you mentioned. You will, He will.

Something that jumped out at me as I was re-reading it is looking at verse eight. He will punish those who do not know God. Back to verse six, He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.

I think perhaps for a reader at that time, it would have been maybe comforting to know that in their trials and sufferings, that God saw their suffering and would sort of pay back those who persecuted them.

But as a modern reader, it's quite uncomfortable. So, what would you say to someone who's reading that and is struggling to deal with the idea of the fact that on the day, there will be this judgment and payback, I suppose?

I think you're right to put it in that context, because Paul is talking to people who are experiencing persecutions and trials.

He writes, as you said, to comfort them in the midst of the persecution, that those who are persecuting them will receive justice.

And so, that's a comfort for the people of God, and yet, as you said, 2000 years later, we kind of feel it as, oh, that's a bit much, like, don't we all get to heaven in the end?

And Paul is just drawing a very clear line, that on the day of the Lord, there's only two options.

And I think the pokiness of this verse, at least what I was trying to do in preaching the message, was poke people to get them on the side with Jesus, because the other side is not good. It's destruction, everlasting destruction, as he says.

So it is pokey, and yet the pokiness leads us to the grace of God on the other side of that, the one who saves us despite our sin and who gives us the eternal life as a gift.

Verse 8 is talking about the big separation, isn't it? It's not just the people there that will be punished. It says, He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's talking about the great divide, as Ben just said, and it's one of the really in-your-face parts of the Bible. Hebrews 10 and 6 does it. But if you want to go somewhere that's pretty challenging, 2 Thessalonians is a spot to go.

And even on verse 8, like, yes, it's a very warning type of passage or piece of scripture, but at the same time, I think if a believer is reading that, you really, you can't go far by having this desire to, oh, we need to like, do the Matthew 28

here, and actually go forth and make disciples. Like, that should be a rally cry, in my view. That should be a rally cry for evangelism, because there's a whole lost generation, and we have the truth in our hands, on our phones.

It's so accessible, and just make that known. That's a big thing.

It's nice going from 1 Thessalonians to the 2nd book, and that they're so closely written together, and the Day of the Lord is mentioned at the end of 1 Thessalonians.

And us being children of light, and wanting to bring other people into the light, you know, they're kind of in the dark. Like what Tristan was saying, this should be us wanting to shed the light.

Be the salt, be the light of the world, like Jesus was, and He came so that we wouldn't suffer the wrath of God, but that we would receive salvation. And so, that's kind of how Paul ends the last letter.

And so, continuing on from that thought, I'm hoping that those people he was writing to held that in mind, holding on to that hope for salvation, and that they can share that with others. But it is difficult for us to read in this modern context.

In Australia in particular, we don't suffer great persecution for believing in our faith. So, it can be a bit contrasting to what they experienced.

So, just moving on to the next segment, I guess, in the sermon, before the day. This section of scripture is really interesting, this man of lawlessness, and you touched on the kind of conspiracy theory aspect of it.

I think it is a very present challenge to take seriously the fact that Jesus could come back at any day without sounding like a doomsdayer. What do you reckon about that?

How do we balance the truth that Jesus could come back anytime without being obsessed with the end or, you know, crying on the street corners? The end is nigh. How do we do that?

I would say there's a fine balance of approaching it with love and then approaching it with, like, just full on doomsday level type of thing.

I remember Shaeb, he probably didn't mean it in the most harsh way, but my old mentor in a youth script, bear in mind, like this, I'm 14 years old and he's like, we're sitting there, youth Friday night, and he's like, so if you leave and you get in a

car crash before you get home, where are you going? And we're just sitting there like, just like quaking and just shivering.

And looking back on that, it was a valid question, but I think there's a real fine line where you need to approach it with the love of God first by saying like just shouting and like just putting everyone in an apocalypse situation is not good.

In Australian culture, I think even us as Christians, it's easy to do the lay back. That's all abstract. And that's not a good place to be either because you can't live in half the message.

You have to live in the wholeness of it. So, but I think culturally, we do sort of sit that end rather than the other. And that's probably, I think that is problematic.

It's really the question of our two-year vision, always ready, which from where we're sitting, it's on the wall behind me.

We're on a project to answer that question of what it means to be a faithful church today in 2026 and 2027. In view of the fact that Jesus might return tomorrow or in 20,000 years, and we don't know that. We're called to be faithful.

So I'm not answering the question apart from saying great question, important question.

Yeah, I kind of take your point, Gin, about I think we have a temptation to be too laid back.

And probably I think our dislike of the doomsdayer is probably a little bit from looking at American Christianity a lot and having that be very prevalent on social media and things and having that affect our view of our own nation's Christianity.

Perhaps it is an important course correction at times in order to find balance, to have their fear, to kind of shake at the idea that while the Lord could return at any time, He would have a better shape up, but also recall that it's in the Father's

Yeah, and verse four is very clear that it's theological.

He will oppose and will exalt himself, this is the man of lawlessness, impose, exalt himself over God's temple. So in my understanding of that and Revelation, that's saying there will be an apostasy, there will be a deception of the church.

I don't see that as a new temple in Jerusalem. So really, it's 2 Thessalonians is saying, keep your eye on the truth. Don't fall prey to deception because deception has been there for the last 2000 years.

And I think Paul is being led by the Spirit to say, it's going to be there at the end. Even the church, the elect, will be deceived. So stay true to the calling you have, holiness based in Jesus' righteousness.

Yeah, the gospel. I think it's pretty clear, really. You don't have to get caught up in where a man of lawlessness is.

It's just, he will come. There will be a charismatic figure that will rise up like one of the beasts in Revelation. And it tends to happen cyclically.

It's going to happen again and again. The pressure to be deceived in the church.

And that's why Paul prays at the end of chapter 2, stand firm and hold fast, because the opposite, he's talking about what the opposite could be, to leave the faith in apostasy.

Yeah, and this is probably too simplistic a question, but in terms of standing firm and discerning good teaching amongst many voices, what are your words of insight or wisdom to people who, yeah, they've got a world full of books and podcasts and

YouTube videos and sermons. And yeah, what would you say to help people stand firm and cling to the truth that Paul talks about here?

Verse 8, Chapter 2 is cool. The lawless one will be revealed, but how he will be defeated is the Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the breath of his mouth. To me, that says the Word of God that we know.

So, we're the body of Christ. So, it doesn't have to be him coming and speaking in a chariot from heaven. I think in the end, the defeat will be the church speaks the truth, the gospel goes through.

And yeah, that's cool, isn't it? The breath of his mouth coming from the church.

But you're also right in saying, like amongst the clutter of content that we're living in at the moment, my simple tip for the very short life that I've lived so far is really search the spirit when it comes to deciphering scripture and what that

means to you, because you will always get a faithful answer. When you are faithfully searching scripture in your heart, for yourself, like there's a reason why it's an opinion from someone else. It's their opinion.

You're not meant to take it all the time. It's advice. So, looking at scripture for yourself, testing and proofing for yourself is really powerful.

And that's why for the last six weeks or so, we've been harping on practical ways of doing devotion daily, because it's that important.

So, yeah, I think amongst the clutter, really searching the Spirit and putting personal time into it is so important.

It is hard, because we're all, apart from Catholics who add a few extra books, we're all reading the same Bible. And we come to different opinions. And so part of me wants to say, hold loosely the opinions you make from the Bible.

But that's the opposite of what Paul says. He says, hold fast to what is plain in scripture. And so I think holding those two ideas together, maybe we differentiate between the essentials and the non-essentials.

The essentials are that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, truly human, truly God, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later. You can't deny, you can't mess with that truth and still be called a Christian.

So you hold fast to that teaching, to the apostolic witness, to that truth. But then the nature of death after death and destruction and these, I mean, maybe that's a bad example, maybe that is really important.

But these extra kind of contentious issues, maybe we hold them loosely while holding fast to the core of the gospel. Because the fact is people, good people, faithful, loving, godly people, read the Bible differently.

I remember dad saying, I think, wisdom that his mentor gave to him many years ago is you've got to find your people and run with them. Find a crowd that you love to serve and live with in community and do life with them.

I like how Ben spoke about the lawlessness in Thessalonians that is already present. And it has been recurring and happening since that day.

And so they'd actually thought, oh, maybe the day of the Lord has already come because there's all these things that have happened. It's like, no, there's more things that are going to happen before the Lord returns.

But you're asking, how can we stand firm? Paul talks a lot about standing firm. And my mind went to Ephesians 6, which talks about the armor of God.

And Paul talks about the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. And he also mentions them in 1 Thessalonians.

In 1 Thessalonians, he says, right at near close to the end, but since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith as love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

So I like that this helmet of protection, protecting our mind, which is so important, and thinking about the belt of truth as well. Where do we find all these things? We find them in the Bible, these truths that we can hold on to.

And it is like spiritual armor, that we need to be ready to be able to stand firm against what comes. And I'm someone who's passionate about sharing the gospel. Good shoes will help you get there.

So wear the right shoes so that you can be ready to share this hope that we have, not just fighting against attacks that come your way, but ready to share the hope that we have.

Well, our final big section was about until the day. And a little bit more practical, perhaps, what it looks like for us, what we are called to do until the day.

Something I was reflecting on with the warning against idleness that's so prevalent in this last section, is if you ask the average person in Sydney, how they're going, they'll say, oh, yeah, good, busy.

So most people would self-identify as being busy. What does it mean to be idle in our metropolitan busy world?

I mean, surely immediately when you say that, I think of social media scrolling. I think we're really good at being idle. We're experts.

When you get the little reading of how many hours you've been on social media for the last week, it's a rude awakening.

And going on with that, probably, vegging out. There's nothing wrong with having some time out and watching something, but it's in proportion. It's what's the purpose, all those sorts of things too.

We can veg rather than be more purposeful, I suppose.

It's not to say that we are supposed to always work all the time. Like God, from creation, instituted rhythms of work and rest, the Sabbath, one day every week. But I think idleness is kind of neither work nor rest.

It's not productively doing anything, but it's also not building up your soul in rest, the way that God designed it to be. It's the doom scrolling, just vegging out, numbing yourself from the events of your day, which is neither work or rest.

And that probably is quite a big challenge for us in this generation.

It's aptly called brain rot.

Yes, yeah, yeah. The Oxford Word of the Year, last year, I believe.

Yep.

And in an interesting way, verse 11 of chapter three, we hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy, they are busy bodies. I mean, what a classic description of a social media.

Just interesting. And what's going on in people's lives.

I've had this passage come up when, like think about the context of where I come from. It's very like traditional and kids will serve in these things if you grow up in the church.

And this passage always came up as a hooker, just trying to get you in there. And I always came up with two different things. It was like, you're either willing or you're unable.

Those two different things. Like, you're either willing to work because you have the means to do so. It's very different to being unable to do it.

Yeah, it's good. Like, yeah, the busy bodies are, you still have the ability to do so. It's just you're doing it incorrectly.

That's not being unable to work. So sometimes it's used as a cop out for, oh, I can't do this. No, you have the skills to do so.

You're just not harnessing it correctly. So yeah, I think willing and unable are two very different things you need to establish when it comes to idleness and the warning.

Yeah, that's verse 10. The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat. Was it Margaret Thatcher?

The British Prime Minister used that. She loved that line. But there is a difference between being unwilling and unable.

And Paul's talking to those who are otherwise able to work, but are not willing to work because they have messed up ideas about the relationship of the end to the present. Yeah.

This question made me think of another question, maybe like an icebreaker question. What would you do if this was your last 24 hours on earth? We're talking about Jesus returning.

So it's like, it's immanent. It's possible any day. And we should live with that possibility that Christ could return today or tomorrow.

But if you ask someone that question, what would you do if this is your last 24 hours on earth? Some people would respond with, oh, I'd have to tell my neighbors about Jesus, or I have to see my family.

And other people would say, I'd do all this horrible stuff, you know, all this, I guess, fleshly type worldly stuff that I could get away with because I don't care.

Or, you know, people when they think the world is ending, they go and rob stores or do all kinds of evil. But our hope is in the Lord and we want to be worthy of His calling.

So as that day approaches, we want to be doing good things and not be idle sitting on our hands or doing things that are even evil, but we want to be doing good.

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree.

And I love that that's where this passage gets to in terms of that we would never tire of doing what is good, that you would do that on your last 24 hours on Earth and then wake up tomorrow and realize you've got another 24 hours and then do it again

and do it again and do it again. But I'm sure that there's someone listening who is tired, who is tired. What would you say to them?

Maybe a pastoral word of care to someone who is feeling tired, who's maybe feeling like it's all a bit sisyphusian, just pulling, pushing this boulder up a hill and it's not making life any better.

You're so Jack's wife, such a good reference. Jack would be proud.

Good, good. I like to make him proud. But yeah, I guess what would you say to someone who maybe is feeling tired of doing good?

How can they be encouraged to never tire?

I like Paul's prayer in verse 16. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times. That's a great gift.

The peace and rest that comes from knowing God. I guess Paul's prayer is our prayer for that person who is tired and burnt out that God would give them peace.

And of course, we often mention about Matthew 11. Jesus has words for those people. Are you weary and burdened?

Well, come to me, I will give you rest. I'm gentle and humble in heart, and you'll find rest for yourselves. So he wants to give rest.

Rhythms are just important.

Like both sides of the rhythms, we can get caught up with the work rhythm, but the rest rhythm, resting and then working is the example that we're given. So it's important to, it's there for a reason to look after us.

Yeah.

For me, what came to mind is not being too much of a Martha of like doing, doing, doing, doing, doing, but to have, I guess, the balance between Martha and Mary to make sure that you sit at the feet of God and to feel His smile, because He does smile

upon the work that you're doing when you're doing it for His glory. But you've just got to take the time to sit at His feet, be in His presence, and actually feel the smile that is there without being too much of the Martha kind of running around

I like references to bread in the Bible, something I've gotten into recently.

As Jesus says, come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. He is giving people rest.

He had compassion on people who had followed Him for a long period of time and didn't have plans for dinner, and He's like, He's going to feed them. And so how is Jesus feeding you?

Maybe reflecting on how you're being fed in Christian community, those who represent Jesus, making sure you're not living on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.

That's what Jesus said when He was tempted in the wilderness, when He was fasting. So our bread is from heaven. Jesus provided physical bread for those who are in need.

So there is a physical necessity to rest and receive and be fed, but then feeding on the word of God. And in doing that in your own time, but doing that in community and being encouraged by others as well.

I think that's a good word, Stephen. It reminds me of when Jesus teaches us the Lord's prayer. He teaches us to pray for daily bread, not tomorrow's bread, today's bread.

I reckon a lot of the tiredness that we feel in this generation comes from carrying things that we're not supposed to carry. And so there in Matthew 11, Jesus says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

In the Sermon on the Mount, he says, don't worry about tomorrow. That's a burden that we carry that we shouldn't carry. Tomorrow has enough worries of its own.

So worrying about today, today's bread, God provides peace for today, not peace for tomorrow. He'll give you peace tomorrow, but let tomorrow bring its peace from God. Worry about today instead, because you'll only ever find God today in the present.

Come on.

Just thinking about, yeah, I guess that perspective on sort of looping right back to what you were saying and how you started the sermon about beginning with the end in mind, maybe just a bit of reflection or thoughts from each of you about what

would having the end in mind change about our approach to our family, our work, planning ahead? What are your thoughts or encouragements for people in different phases of life for what it would mean to begin with the end in mind with those aspects of

I found it different times in my life.

It's really good to just remind myself, I'm going to live forever. And we've just talked about peace and being a bit tired of doing good and getting a bit worn out maybe.

It's just really impacting to go, oh, no matter what's going on, I'm going to live forever. Gee, that's good news. I'm going to live forever.

And I just find that that does something to me. It just immediately lets me to breathe and just go, I think I'm going to get through this. It's going to be okay.

I'm living forever.

I think like looking at the youth ministry and even being a young adult myself, there's a real rush in this part of life where it's like yet walls are in trials at the moment. So they're busy.

And then young adults are trying to get their life started through studies and through many different things. And one thing I've struggled with and slowly getting better at is trying to be present every day.

It's a daily thing, like trying to have that moment of pause each day to just reset amongst the chaos that life brings sometimes. And I found that really helpful.

And that's not even being overly Christian about it, like reading a book or sitting in meditation. It's just sitting still. Like that's just so helpful.

And then going for little walks in the morning or just putting yourself out there to just let your heart and mind just sync up for a second is really helpful.

I liked what you said about living, I think, what did you say, consecrating our moments as holy and just remembering that it's that idea of living in the present.

I think Tristan, what you're saying, like being conscious, being intentional, and living with the end in mind is thinking what does this I'm doing at the moment mean for that?

And just thinking that they are moments that are holy or these, I think you talked about the beauty of the moments.

It's just helpful if you're in a hard or a monotonous sort of time that you talked about young moms and families, just think it's good to remember that these are all precious moments that have meaning to the Lord.

Like in our lives, it's what we can give Him and what He gives us.

We've had some discussions or comments recently on running or walking. And going back to Ben's comment on the Sermon of the Mount where Jesus is teaching about not worrying, he talks about pagans running after such things, about what will they eat?

What will they drink? What will they wear? They're running after things.

And it seems to me that it's indicating that they're not really thinking about it. They're just rushing for the next meal, the next clothing, the next thing. And what you mentioned, family and career, I don't think of them as things.

I think of the career that you're in, it's a mission. God's given you passions and gifts, something to invest in, your family, it's people that you love, children of God. Again, people in your life to invest in.

So I think beginning with the end in mind is not to worry about the things of life, but help us lift our eyes up to kingdomly things, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

And so we keep looking up to the kingdom, and then we will invest daily and walk alongside the people we care about.

Did you just invent a new word? Kingdomly. That's good.

I love it.

A kingdomly vision.

I love that.

Very nice.

How good is that?

I think that is a really great time to come to our palate cleanser question. I want some music homework for the listeners. What is your favourite end in mind worship song?

I have two.

Give it to us.

So the first one, not many people will know, it's a Wesleyan hymn.

It's, Low He Comes, Clouds Descending. It's a real like choir voices, no instruments type of song.

How good.

But that's like the hidden one. But my favourite one is Behold Our God, like the classic.

Keith Green, there is Redeemer. When I stand in glory, I will see his face. And then I'll serve my king forever in that holy place, I think it is.

I'm gonna go for the classic Amazing Grace.

And I think it's great. We sang the OG, the original version on Sunday. Often we sing Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone.

But the buildup and the story of each verse as it kind of, what Christ has done in my life. And I look forward to his return. And when we've been there, 10,000 years.

So it's just this, it's this beautiful journey, but Amazing Grace starts raw. You know, I'm my wretched life. God, you've redeemed me, you've saved me from sin, but it ends in glory.

You still mine.

I was going to say that too. Amazing Grace. Yeah.

Nice.

I love the Andrew Peterson song, Is He Worthy? And just, you know, they're asking the question and then just, he is, it's just such a great worship song.

One of mine's gotta be Come Jesus Come. And if I had to pick a version that you should listen to, it would be Cece Winans. And you should listen to everything she's ever done.

Right back to the 1980s albums, what she was doing with her brother, BB. BB and Cece.

Anyway, it's a wonderful song that speaks not only to sometimes the burden of how we feel waiting for Jesus to come back, but also the beauty and joy of what it will be like when He finally does. I think that is our time together this week.

Thank you so much to the wonderful people around this table for your wisdom and insight. It's been a joy to join you.

For those listening, we pray that the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way, and the Lord be with all of you.

Amen. Amen. Amen.