Day 16. The Return (Matthew 24:15-35)

15 "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.23 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 "So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29 "Immediately after the distress of those days
"'the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

30 "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

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Eventually the Son of Man will return. No one knows when this will actually happen, but Jesus gave us signs to watch out for to determine his coming and when the end is at hand.

He gave us many signs like "For as lighting flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes." These are signs that we have to watch for. Jesus said "A person on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person in the field must return even to get a coat." I think Jesus wanted us to go immediately to the hills where there will be few people and dangers during the wars and great anguish he warned us about. We must move quickly or we would be persecuted and killed. 

Jesus also told us about false prophets and Messiahs that have come to charm the believers. He told us that many believers will turn away from God and that sin would be everywhere. We must be strong in the these times of despair. God will send the Son of Man down and shorten the time of anguish, saving the faithful people that he has chosen. I think that many people will be converted from Christianity and many will be killed. 

Nobody is sure what all of these things mean and no one knows when they'll happen exactly, many will say they know or tell people false things. In Japan and New Zealand disasters have happened. In Egypt, France and many other countries there are many angry people fighting against each other. There may be a massive War soon, the time may be near. I don't know if these are the beginnings of the signs Jesus told us about. They sound a bit like it but do not come to conclusions because Jesus told us not to panic or worry about these things.

Pray for the people in these countries to be strong and to come to know the LORD and to keep them safe. Pray, that when these signs are fulfilled, that we as Christians will stay faithful and do the right thing, and let us not be deceived by false prophets and sinful people.


(By Tom)

Day 15. Stand Firm (Mark 13:1-13)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"

2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately,4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"

5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you.6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.


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Strange how this passage seems to speak so clearly to the situation we are seeing on the news at the moment.  Wars? Check. Rumours of wars? Check. Nation rising against nation? Check. Earthquakes? Check.  Famines? Jesus doesn't actually allow himself to be drawn on the 'when' of 'the end', but what he does say is that all these disasters will happen.  His message though is to 'be on guard'.  Not 'be on guard' for the end times, but 'be on guard' because you will suffer on account of me.  But this is only for the disciples right?

Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated in Pakistan in February 2011.  For me, as someone who has a bit of a tendency to want to be liked by everyone, Shahbaz Bhatti is an inspiration.  He says in the video, "I know what is the meaning of [the] cross." Yes. He does.


Holy Spirit, continue to strengthen our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East and all around the world who are being persecuted because they follow you.  Strengthen them and their families.  May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Thankyou that death does not have the final word!

Day 14. Giving (Mark 12:41-44)

The Widow's Offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

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Sometimes poor people are far more generous than wealthy people - many of the wealthy people in this story and in our day care more about the reputation than what they are giving.  The widow in this story gives all and Jesus honours her.  We should be able to give everything when people need it (Matt 19:24).


The amount is not as important as the heart you give it in.  Maybe God doesn't care about what you give, or maybe he wants you to give everything.   That is, maybe this story could be a metaphor for following God: he wants you to give your whole life to him.  Also, don't compare what you give to what others give.  Don't feel bad if what you give is not as big as what others give. 

(By the youth church)

Day 13. Hypocrisy (Matt 23:1-39)

A Warning Against Hypocrisy

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 "Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others.

8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.11 The greatest among you will be your servant.12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.14 

15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.'17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.'19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.30 And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

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God has given us a sound mind with a good understand that  can plainly understand the difference between living in our pride and living in a humble and right serving manner.  In this situation the people in question have chosen to live in pride serving themselves first and big noting themselves as a way of putting themselves in a higher place, and in turn making their own rules.  Jesus responds to this and tells them that they have it wrong and in fact are living a life that is not one of a Christian even though from the outside they are dressed as one.

If we are to truly to come to know and follow God we must humble ourselves first and seek him not in our own ways but in the ways he teaches us, and without our own rules that still fail to justify our mistakes.

(By Cam)