Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Ready or Not …

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 30, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 2:1-5; Ps 122; Ro 13:11-14; Matt 24:36-44

I thank God I am a little older than I was years ago!: I’ve learned to slow down and not expect as much of myself or of others as I did when I was younger.: About this time of year, I would “get my panic on,” thinking of all the things I “had to do” to get ready for Christmas:

(1) It began with filling a Shoe-box or two, or 10, for Operation Christmas Child.

(2) Then there was the Thanksgiving feast to prepare and hold.

(3) Next I felt compelled to decorate my house, inside and out for Christmas.

(4) And don’t forget my need to survey the Black Friday sales for potential gifts for family and friends.: Be sure to locate and purchase them, then wrap them.

(5) I couldn’t neglect Christmas cards, especially for friends and family who live far away—you know, the ones you only communicate with once a year.

(6) Then I felt compelled to fit in a visit to Christmas on the Square and the Christmas parade here in Live Oak.

(7) I would attempt to find out what gifts my kids and grandchildren particularly wanted.

(8) Daily, I would hum Christmas carols wherever I went and even in the shower. 

(9) I would try to participate in decorating the Church—thanks to all of you who came out to help yesterday.: Isn’t it beautiful?

(10) And finally, I would also try to get my mind into the right head space, remembering that “Jesus is the reason for the season!”

Were you ever this obsessed? I hope not!: I would work for weeks like my hair was on fire!: If you were like me—as a younger person—you reached Christmas afternoon exhausted and on your last nerve.

Fortunately, now that we have more age and experience, we realize it’s not about doing all these things—and doing them perfectly or with panache—but it’s about being.: We can eliminate a lot of the hustle and hassle we used to enforce upon ourselves in this season, and focus on having the right heart attitude as we await the Advent arrival of King Jesus.  

We lit the candle of Hope on this first Sunday of Advent, 2025, because our hope is in our Lord.: Consider this anonymous poem:

Philosophy says:: Think your way out.”

Indulgence says:: “Drink [or eat] your way out.”

Politics [government] says: “Spend your way out.”

Science says:: “Invent your way out.”

Industry says:: “Work your way out.”

Communism says: “Strike your way out.”

Fascism says:: “Bluff [bully] your way out.”

Militarism says:: “Fight your way out.”

The Bible says: “Pray your way out, but…

Jesus Christ says:: “I am the way [out]….”

(J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Isaiah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.29.)

Our hope is in Jesus…Who He revealed Himself to be in His First Coming; and Who Scripture predicts Him to be in His Second.

Oddly enough on this first Sunday of Advent, our Scripture lessons today all focus on Jesus’ Second Coming:

A. Jesus Himself warns us to be ready for this great event in our Gospel, Matthew 24:36-44.: He says no one—not even He Himself—knows the hour or the day the Father has determined for His return to earth.

It could come as suddenly as the flood in Noah’s day.: People then were blithely unconcerned, oblivious about what was to happen.: They were just going about their lives as if God did not exist.: They were not ready when the flood waters came and swept them away.: I believe Jesus was thinking about the Rapture when He remarked that suddenly one person will disappear while another will be left behind.: Similarly, if burglars break into your home while you are away, you are shocked, stunned, and regret not having been better prepared.: I taught school years ago with a friend in Rhode Island who lived in Providence, on a corner, in a very nice neighborhood near Brown University.: Her family owned a summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, that she and her husband would visit frequently.: Three times while they were out of town their house was robbed.: It seems that burglars then believed houses on corners belonged to wealthier persons (as they are taxed more), so that they expected the loot they would pilfer would be of a higher quality.: She bemoaned the fact that the thieves never took her grandmother’s china, an expensive but unattractive pattern, but stole much of her other valuable stuff.: Three robberies undermined her sense of safety and security in her home and she and her husband ended up moving.: The point Jesus is making, though, is that no one knows the hour or the day of His return, so we need to get ready and live ready.

B. Paul picks up the same theme in Romans 13:11-14.: He sees our need to be ready as crucial (v.11, NLT): This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is:: time is running out.: Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.: He urges us to get ready and stay ready to meet our Lord in person.: He writes, (v.12): So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.: He wants us to behave ourselves, to not give into our carnal natures (v.13): Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in: sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.: He insists we can best be ready for Jesus’ 2nd coming by clothing ourselves with Christ—i.e., act like Jesus.

C. The prophet Isaiah (2:1-5) shares a vision he had of Jesus in His Millennial reign.: King Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, from the old Temple Mount (Mt. Zion), after He has defeated the forces of evil at the Battle of Armageddon.: The word mountain in the Hebrew means a kingdom, an authority, or a rule.: Jesus’ kingdom, authority, or rule will be based in Jerusalem.: It is from there that He will reign over all the earth.

Jerusalem will then have become the most significant place on earth. People from all over the world will journey there to worship the Lord and to learn from Him. They will recognize and acknowledge His transformational and sovereign power.: Additionally, King Jesus will mediate any and all disputes.Weapons of war will be melted down to become farming implements. There will be no more war between nations.

At that time, we will all walk in the Lord’s light. In other words, our God is the only light that overcomes the darkness of sin and evil. We are currently living in what is known as “The Church Age,” beginning at Pentecost and extending until the Rapture.: At the end of the seven years of the Great Tribulation, Jesus will return to earth to establish His earthly rule, and the Church Age will be replaced by “The Kingdom Age.”: We want to be ready to be inhabitants of that new reality.

 (J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Matthew, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.149.)

D.: Psalm 122 was written by King David and in it he prophesies about Christ’s Millennial Reign in Jerusalem.: Pilgrims traveling to the city for any one of the three great feasts would have sung this psalm after David composed it.: Verses 3-5 form an ode or a majestic poem in praise of the city.: And in verses 6-9, David urges us all to pray for Jerusalem.

The prophet Hosea latter penned these words (Hosea 3:5): …Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!: But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their King.: In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of His goodness.: The first part of this prophesy has come true—no king, prince, or Temple worship being practiced currently in Jerusalem.: The second part—the Jews will return to the city and worship the Messiah—awaits Jesus’ Second Coming.

Our Scripture passages all warn us that Jesus is coming again and we need to be prepared.: The Advent season reminds us to ready ourselves.: Consider this reworking of the Night Before Christmas story:

“Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house

Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.

Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care

In hopes that Jesus would not come in there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,

Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head, 

And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap

Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter, 

I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

And what to my wondering eyes should appear

But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.

With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray

I knew in a moment that this must be THE DAY!

The light of His face made me cover my head.

It was Jesus!: Returning just like He had said.

And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,

I cried when I saw Him in spirt of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand

Was written the name of every saved [woman and] man.

He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;

When He said, “It’s not here,” my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love

He gathered to take to His Father above.

With those who were ready He rose without sound

While all of the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late;

I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.

I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight.

Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear:

The coming of Jesus is soon drawing near.

There’s only one life and when comes the last call—

We’ll find that the Bible was true after all.

(Chuck Swindoll, The tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, pp.86-87.)

Ready or not, here He comes!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Wise Up!

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 12, 2023

Scriptures: Amos 5:18-24; Ps 78:1-7; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Matt 25:1-13

Someone on the Internet has come up with a list of 263 ways to say a person is not too bright. We probably all know, “The light’s on but no one’s home,” or “dumb as a box of rocks,” but have you heard the following:

1. A few screws short of a hardware store.

2. A few fries short of a Happy Meal.

3. The gates are down and the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.

4. The elevator goes all the way to the top floor, but the doors don’t open.

5. Would lose a debate with a doorknob.

6. If this person had another brain, it would be lonely.

7. If you gave them a penny for their thoughts, you’d get change.

8. Has a mind like a steel trap: rusty and illegal in 37 states.

9. If their nose was on upside down they’d drown in the rain.

10. Their dog teaches them new tricks.

(Borrowed from https://dan.hersam.com/lists/not_bright.html)

My adult son offered a new one as we watched our favorite football team compete yesterday. They were playing at their opponents’ stadium and we noticed a big “3” painted on their field. The TV announcers never explained what the number three meant. My son suggested it stood for the number of their football players whose IQ was greater than that of Forrest Gump’s.

Both the list and my son’s comment may all be pretty funny, but none is kind. I don’t advise applying them to someone—remember, Jesus said not to call anyone “an idiot” (Matthew 5:22). However, in today’s Gospel, He does encourage us all to be wise instead of foolish.

I’ve titled today’s sermon, “Wise Up!” because our scripture readings point to the difference between wise and foolish behavior; i.e., we don’t want to be “eating soup with a fork.”

A. In Amos 5:18-24, our Old Testament reading, the prophet Amos is certainly telling the folks in the Northern Kingdom of Israel to wise up! We might say they go through the motions of attending church—they act like they love God—but their behaviors the rest of the week reveal their hypocrisy. Even worse, they actually worship idols, false gods. They have turned their backs on our One True Lord. They have broken the 10 Commandments; they are behaving immorally; they have corrupted justice; they have trampled on the poor; they have oppressed the righteous; they have taken bribes. Doesn’t this sound a lot like our culture today?

And the Lord has about had it with them. God cannot be fooled. We might try to hide things from Him, but He knows everything! He knows they have betrayed and abandoned their faith in Him (and for our nation, our faith in Christ Jesus). God, through Amos, gives them one last chance to repent, to change their ways. He warns them that terrible punishment is coming to them. Amos calls it the Day of the Lord and it will indeed be horrifying for those who have rejected God. He uses two arresting metaphors: (1) They might run to escape a lion or cougar, but will then encounter a bear. (2) They might think they have reached the safety of their home, only to be bitten there by a poisonous snake. In other words, there will be no escape for evil-doers, no matter how fast or how far they run.

In God’s mercy, they could have averted this terrible punishment if they had (v.24)—> …let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! But, they were unwilling to change, so their end came shortly after Amos’ prophesies. In 722BC, God used the dreaded, blood-thirsty, Hamas-like Assyrians to overrun them, defeat them, and carry any survivors off to Ninevah (Iraq) as slaves. They were stubborn. They didn’t wise up. God, after dozens and dozens of warnings, finally let them have it.

This is why we pray for our nation weekly. America is now a post-Christian nation. We were founded as a Christian society and meant to be an example for the world. Now, we too have rejected and rebelled against God. We too have had dozens of chances. We hope that the Lord will help our nation return to Him, rather than bring on an Assyrian-like punishment.

B. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Paul is warning Christians there (and us now) to be prepared for the end of time. He states in v.2 that—> …you know very well that the day of the Lord [same expression used by Amos] will come like a thief in the night. “The day of the Lord” is a synonym for God’s judgment. It will come when folks least expect it. Nevertheless, true believers need not be afraid of it. Paul equates nonbelievers with those living in nighttime darkness. But we who believe in Jesus Christ are all…sons [and daughters] of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep but let us be alert and self-controlled (vv.5-6). We who love Jesus have nothing to fear because we will have been raptured up to heaven before the Great Tribulation takes place. God’s judgment will fall on nonbelievers and evil-doers. Meanwhile, the dead who waited on Christ, or who believed in Christ, will rise first. Then those of us believers who are still living will be lifted up/beamed up (raptured) to meet Christ in the air.

Now I used to wonder if the rapture came before, during, or after the Great Tribulation. However, Paul makes it clear in verse 9—> For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is pretty clear, isn’t it? The Church of true believers will not suffer on the day of the Lord. We will be removed from the earth before the time of terrible trial begins.

While we wait on this time of judgment or the rapture, however, Paul urges us to…(v.8)—> be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. He wants us to demonstrate faith, love, and hope to others and especially as a witness to unbelievers. He also wants us to encourage and build one another up (v.11).

C. Finally, we have Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. The bride (who is not mentioned) is the Church; the bridegroom is Jesus. But who are the 10 wise and foolish bridesmaids?

Interestingly, all ten fall asleep while waiting on the bridegroom whose arrival is delayed. The story then asks us to consider which we would rather be, prepared or unprepared, for when Jesus returns. The prepared ones go in with and enjoy the wedding supper of Jesus, the Messiah. Those unprepared ones, however, miss out. We might say they…”Couldn’t hit the floor if they fell on it,” or that “Wisdom is chasing them but they’re always faster.” They are Christ-followers who are not ready to meet Jesus. In fact, Jesus says to these unprepared ones (at His 2nd Coming), I tell you the truth, I don’t know you. How are they unprepared? They have never cultivated a personal relationship with Jesus.

His final advice to us all is to Be Wise! Be ready! When we Floridians know a hurricane is coming we stock up, don’t we? We make sure we have stock-piled clean water in jugs. We have candles and matches, as well as a battery operated radio, in case we lose electricity. We gather food we can eat without cooking, etc. What would we need to have on hand if we are to be wise about Jesus’ return?

(1) We should intensify our relationship with the Lord;

(2) We might read and meditate more on Scripture;

(3) We could ask for forgiveness of our sins, keeping short accounts with the Lord. Back when I provided mental health in nursing homes (prior to going to seminary in the mid-1990’s), I noticed folks in the final stage of Alzheimers, comatose and vegetative, being fed with a tube in their stomach and hydrated through an IV. Sometimes their relatives asked me why the Lord was keeping their loved one alive in this helpless state. I told them I didn’t really know but I advised them to pray for this person—to pray specifically that God would forgive them for any unconfessed sin.

One family told me they were sure their dear mother had no unconfessed sins. I then told them I was sure their mother was a lovely person, but I wondered how any of us could ever be sure she didn’t have some hidden, long ago sin. I recalled that both of my dying, comatose parents each slipped away about a half hour after I prayed that Jesus would forgive them their sins. This family later reported to me that their mother died during the night after they had prayed this way for her.

(4) Obviously, it is wise to be prayed up, in frequent communication with the Lord. You might ask, “How do I know I am hearing from the Lord?” I recommend you ask the Holy Spirit to guard your prayers from any interference from Satan or his minions, and then pay attention to the thoughts that drop immediately into your head. If they do not contradict the Bible, you can be assured you are hearing from the Lord. Often I find the Lord does not speak to me as I am used to hearing others speak. He uses vocabulary or expressions that differ a bit from what I am used to hearing or saying. This helps me recognize His “voice.”

I believe our lessons today are telling us to pray for our nation to wise up! According to news sources, 76% of Americans today believe our country is clearly moving in the wrong/the unwise direction.

I believe we should also pray that each of us will have the faith to trust that God will protect us as things worsen toward the end. We cannot trust in our own goodness or our intelligence to save us. Those who do will be left behind to suffer God’s wrath. We must, instead, live out a life that tells others we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Finally, I believe we must pray that we will each be prepared– like the 5 wise bridesmaids–at any moment to meet the Lord. None of us knows how long he or she has to live. And none of us knows when the day of the Lord will occur. Let’s all wise up and be ready!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman · 1 Comment

God’s Faithfulness

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 8, 2020.

Scriptures: Jos 24:1-25; Ps 78:1-7; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Matt 25:1-13

Oscar Wilde once said: God likes to forgive, I like to sin; it’s a nice arrangement.   His statement was meant to be funny, but like a lot of folks, he’s kind of missed the point, hasn’t he?  We don’t just stand on our trust in God’s mercy—though He is wondrously merciful.  As Paul writes in Romans 6:1-2…shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or as Peterson paraphrases it in The Message, So what do we do?  Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving?  I should hope not!  If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there?  No, our response to God’s mercy and generosity towards us—His faithfulness to us—should be generosity and mercy we express toward others, and faithfulness we practice toward Him.

Our lessons today all revolve around the theme of God’s Faithfulness:

Our OT lesson is from Joshua 24:1-25.  In this Joshua challenges the people—3 times—to remain faithful to God.  He wants them to renew their covenant agreement with Godat Shechem, before he dies.  He especially wants them to be mindful of avoiding idolatry.  They did not kill all the tribal peoples living in Canaan, as they had been directed to do by the Lord.  (Remember, God had given them the 400 years–while the Israelites were slaves in Egypt–to come to Him but they resisted.)  So both God and Joshua realized they would either intermarry and adopt the idolatrous practices of their spouses; or they would be so intrigued with the sensual and often sexual religious practices of their pagan neighbors, that they would fall away from worshipping God.

In V.15, Joshua challenges them:  Choose this day Whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  In V.24, the people, united, say:  We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him.  However, over time, they prove faithless.  They promise fidelity to God, but they fall into idolatry. Just as we promise fidelity in our marriage vows—agreeing to forsake all others—they were promising to forsake all other gods.

Psalm 78:1-7 is the introductory portion of an extended history of the people of Israel, from Moses to King David, from Exodus to 2 Samuel. The people repeatedly fail in their promise of fidelity, faithfulness to God; but God remains steadfastly faithful to them!  Amazing!  How many of us would remain faithful to a spouse who repeatedly cheated on us?

Our New Testament lesson is from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Paul, the consummate church planter, is instructing essentially baby Christians on the Rapture!  Paul was in Thessalonika less than a month. He left there, on his 2nd missionary journey, for Berea; then he journeyed to Athens; and then to Corinth.  At Corinth, Timothy and Silas, who had remained behind in Thessalonika, rejoined him and brought him theological questions from that newly formed church.  Since Jesus 2nd Coming had not yet occurred, they were worried that their friends who had died in the faith might have missed the rapture.

Paul had apparently already taught them that Jesus was coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead.  They had learned from him that those alive were to be raptured.  The word in the Greek is harpazoà it means the following:

[1] to catch up or grasp hastily;

[2] to snatch up;

[3] to lift;

[4] to transport;

[5] to rapture.

Paul apparently underestimated the length of time of the Church Age (what we are living in now, the time from Pentecost until now), and taught that the Rapture would be the next great event on God’s agenda for humankind.  These sincere Christians were worried that their believing friends and neighbors who had already died were out of luck.  “No,” Paul says!

In fact, dead Christ-followers will rise first!  They will rise up out of their graves.  They will be supernaturally pulled up to meet Jesus in the sky. Then, those of us still alive will meet Jesus in the air as well.  It will be a fantastic and joyful “family reunion.”

 The Left Behind series came out when I was in seminary.  A number of my professors dismissed it, implying it was unscriptural.  I read all the volumes and could see for myself that it was scripturally faithful and presented a plausible explanation of what might happen with the rapture.  The protagonist is an airline captain flying a cross-Atlantic trip, and considering an affair with one of his stewardesses, when some passengers on his plane disappear.  Crew members say purses and glasses and jackets were left behind on seats, but could neither explain nor account for what had happened to them.  After all, they are in the air and no doors have been opened.  When the pilot arrives home, he discovers his believer wife and son had disappeared as well.  He is joined by his non-believing daughter and the two of them make their way to his wife’s pastor—funny that a pastor would not be raptured along with his flock!  But I guess someone needs to be available to teach those others who missed being beamed up to heaven.  As he searches the Bible and puts together what has happened, the pastor’s faith becomes solid.  He is able to lead the airline captain and his daughter to belief in Jesus as well, but they all have to contend with the persecution of the Great Tribulation because they had essentially discounted Jesus.

According to Scripture, when we die, our body goes to sleep until the resurrection.  In a sense, we lie down in death and stand back up, like Lazarus, when we are resurrected.  Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:8 To be absent from the body [our Christian community and/or our flesh] is to be present with God.  To truly understand the faithfulness and great mercy of God, we need to remember the cultural beliefs of the day:

  • A Roman inscription found in Thessalonika read, “After death no reviving, after the grave no meeting again.”
  • The Greek poet, Theocritus, wrote “Hopes are among the living; the dead are without hope!”
  • The Persians taught that the dead become gray “shades” who sit about languishing, doing nothing, having no hope.

But, because of Jesus, we believers have hope!  Paul writes in v.14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep [died] in Him.

If I may offer an additional point, it appears that the Archangel Gabriel will not be blowing a horn.  I could be wrong, but as I read Paul and John, it is not an angel who will announce Jesus’ 2nd Coming, nor a trumpet.  Instead, it will be the commanding voice of our Lord Himself, loud as a trumpet.  The Gospel of John tells us He spoke creation into existence and, in Revelation 1:10, St John writes, I was praying in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.  When he turned, he saw the glorified Jesus.  We also know that when He meets the forces of evil at Armageddon, He will speak a word or words, and they will be destroyed.

Because of God’s faithfulness throughout the ages, we can accept that this will happen as prophesized, as written.  Since some 300 prophesies about Jesus have been fulfilled by Him, we can safely assume these end time prophesies will be as well.  They also tell us what to expect.

Our Gospel Lesson, Matthew 25:1-13, contains yet another warning, this time from Jesus Himself.  He tells the story of the wise and the foolish bridesmaids.  The 5 wise ones come to the bridal procession with their own supply of oil.  The lamps Jesus was referring to were like current day “tiki torches” with cloth wicks.  They tended to burn out of oil in about 15 minutes.  Oil, in this parable, is synonymous with the Holy Spirit.

So these wise bridesmaids were filled with the Holy Spirit and had a personal, heart relationship with Jesus Christ.  The 5 foolish ones, on the other hand, act like they are with the program, but they lack the Holy Spirit.

They ask the wise maids to share, but it’s too late.  They are not prepared for Jesus—the Bridegroom’s—arrival.  Jesus says they will be left behind.

But don’t feel too bad for them.  There will be time for them to come to accept Jesus in their hearts during the 7 years of the Great Tribulation.

These will be very difficult times, but they will also provide an opportunity for those who simply went through the motions of faith to truly come to Christ.  The point of the parable is that we can be asleep (dead) or awake (alive), but either way, we need to be prepared for Jesus’ 2nd Coming.

Our God is faithful.  Each of us needs to Choose this day Whom you will serve.  Choose Him again each day!  He said He is returning to earth again and we can believe it! Our preparation for His return is to remain faithful to the One who is faithful to us.

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams