Is Jesus on His way now?

November 9, 2025 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 Is Jesus on his way now? 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Year C Prelude Greetings Welcome to everyone joined us in the God moment. Welcome – this is a busy service, promise to keep it moving. Ending service early. Call to Worship (From Psalm 145) One: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised! Many: We’ve come together as God’s people, eager to offer our praise! One: God’s greatness is unsearchable. Many: With one voice, we declare God’s mighty acts: One: Justice, kindness, saving grace – these mark God’s every move. Many: Surrounded by this company of people who love God, let us worship the Lord our God! (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Invocation God of Love, Divine Traveler, We see only a fraction of your presence, God. We know you only in part, as we experience this world with our senses, our experiences, and what is tangibly in front of us. How does the sacredness of each earthly breath draw us closer to your presence on this side of Heaven? May we grasp the beauty of this world, even on the gloomy days. May we cherish our relationships here on earth even when times are challenging. May we know that God is forever present with us and will care for us as we arrive at our eternal home on the other side of Heaven. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Michelle Torigian) Song I Want Jesus to Walk with Me UMH 521 A Sermon for all Ages Can I borrow our young people for a minute. Tuesday is a special holiday. Does anyone know what it is? Can you tell me what a veteran is? Do any of you know any veterans? Do you have any veterans in your family? Well I have hear some special cards for you to make, you can color the picture and write a special note saying Happy Veteran’s Day. I made one for my son at the park district on Friday. You can make a card for someone that you know. Or if you want to make the card later in church you can give it to me, and I will make sure that our veterans get it. I am going to ask all of our veteran’s to stand. And I want our young people to give them a special blessing – Let us all say Thank you for your service! Children’s Sermon: “Jesus Is on the Way” Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2:1–17 Theme: Waiting faithfully for Jesus to come [Visual or Object] Bring a picture of the 3I/Atlas spaceship (or just say “a visitor from space”) and a small flashlight or star ornament. Story / Conversation Leader: Have you ever waited for someone special to come visit? Maybe a grandparent, or a friend from far away? How do you feel while you’re waiting? (Let the children answer — excited, impatient, happy.) Well, did you know that right now, something amazing is traveling through space? There’s a little visitor from far, far away called 3I/Atlas. It’s moving through our solar system — kind of like a tiny traveler in God’s great big universe. Even though we can’t see it with our eyes, scientists say it’s still on its way. That reminds me of Jesus. During Advent, we say “Jesus is coming.” We can’t see him flying through space like a spaceship, but we believe he’s on his way — coming to bring light, love, and peace. (Shine the flashlight or hold up the star.) Every time we show kindness, help someone, or pray, it’s like we’re turning on a light — getting ready for Jesus to come. Message Jesus doesn’t want us to just sit and wait. He wants us to get ready — by being loving, helpful, and kind right now. When we do those things, we’re showing that we believe Jesus is on the way, and we’re making room for him in our hearts and in our world. Prayer Let’s pray together: Dear God, Thank you for sending Jesus, the light of the world. Help us to wait for him with joy, to love others, and to shine your light every day. Amen. (Chat GPT 5) Modern Affirmation of Faith UMH 885 Service of Baptism and Reception into the Church UMH 33 The word sacrament means God moment – the moments when God’s is present in our life. In the Methodist church, there are 2 sacraments. Communion and baptism. As a congregation we just have communion. Today we get to witness God’s presence in baptism. We are blessed to witness God’s presence in the Rickmon family, as three members of their family will be baptized today. We can be grateful to God for having us present in this special moment. We pray that God will continue to unfold in your lives and in the lives of our congregation. Prayer of Illumination God of wisdom, open your word to your people today, and open the hearts of your people to your Word. Let us receive the truth that your Spirit is speaking to the church, trusting that it will nourish and strengthen us. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Haley Ballast) Scripture 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 Sermon Is Jesus on his way now? So have you heard about the mysterious object that has been flying through space for months. Supposedly it is getting faster and faster and is scheduled to reach earth by December 19th – Just in time for Christmas. Now in the milky way galaxy everything including comets and space objects revolve around the sun – this mysterious object seems to have a mind of it own. It is called 3I/Atlas. 3 means that is the 3rd such object ever discovered, I means that it is intergalactic- not from this galaxy and Atlas is the telescope that discovered this object which is the size of Manhattan Island. The internet has been chattering about his object since last summer. Some people say that is a strange comet, others say that there is life on board this strange ship, some say that it is accelerating as if it has a motor, some say that is seems to be surveying all of the planets and is now headed to earth. There is so much chatter about his object that I have lost track of what is real and what is not. As it heads to earth, we are not sure if we would go outside and witness this object or if we should run and hide. I guess that depends on whether the life on board is friend of foe. And if they know about the bibles story of end times. What if it is Jesus coming back to earth just in time for the second coming? What if this the Left Behind series in action. I mean we honestly don’t know what or who is on board. There have been rumors of Jesus return for centuries. All of the chatter has caused all kinds of hysteria. Paul addresses the hysteria of the second coming in our scripture in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The people are convinced that Jesus is coming back. Paul tells them to calm down and to keep the faith. Paul reminds all of us that in chaotic times it is our faith that sustains us. The Lectionary very heavily edited this text. Paul tells the Thessalonians that what they are experience in not the end of the world. Before the day of the Lord there has to be major protesting in the streets and the lawless one must be revealed for who he really is. Even Paul says this prophecy is not about current events – it is about cosmic events. This is the ultimate battle between good and evil. That is a battle that is fought everyday. We used to have a bishop who said that Jesus has come back to earth several times in several different forms. Actually even Paul says that we don’t have to worry about whether Jesus is on his way – Jesus is already here. The battle between good and evil is fought in our hearts. Everyday we have to choose how to live. We have to decide if we are going to serve Christ, or the lawless one – the anti Christ. 2. Advent: Jesus Is On the Way As Advent approaches, we are reminded again that Jesus is on the way. Not just as a baby in a manger two thousand years ago, but as the living presence of God still breaking into our world. The Greek word parousia—often translated as “coming”—can also mean “presence.” That means Advent is not only about waiting for Jesus to arrive someday. It’s about recognizing where he is already showing up: • In a word of kindness, • In a shared meal, • In the work of justice, • In the quiet strength of prayer. The question isn’t just “When will he come?” but “Are we making room for him now?” 3. What Does It Mean to Be Faithful Today? Faithfulness today doesn’t always look like heroic acts. It looks like daily courage—showing up for others, telling the truth, doing what’s right even when no one notices. To be faithful is to keep our eyes on Christ rather than on fear. It’s to care for creation instead of consuming it. It’s to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, comfort the grieving. Faithfulness means refusing to let cynicism have the last word. In modern days—when our attention is pulled in a thousand digital directions—serving God might mean slowing down, praying deeply, listening carefully, and acting compassionately. 4. Holding Fast to Hope Paul ends this passage with a blessing: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father… comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.” Notice that—good work and good word. Faith is not passive waiting; it is active hope. While the universe spins and comets pass, we are called to serve, to build, to love, to stand firm. Maybe Jesus’ coming is not so much about escape from this world, but about renewal—God breaking in to heal and restore. And maybe our role, in this Advent season, is to help clear the path. Conclusion: On His Way Just as the 3I/Atlas moves steadily through space, unseen by most but real nonetheless, so Christ is already on his way. The question isn’t whether he’s coming—it’s whether we’re ready to meet him. So as Advent draws near, let’s be found faithful: • praying when the world panics, • serving when others withdraw, • giving when others hoard, • loving when it’s hardest to love. Because faithfulness—steady, quiet, courageous faithfulness—is the surest sign that we believe Christ is, indeed, on His way. (Second Half of the sermon is ChatGPT 5) Song Jesus Lover of my Soul UMH 479 Pastoral Prayer Lord’s Prayer Closing Prayer for Facebook As we abide together on this side of Heaven, May the Christ of Hope lead us to righteousness and justice, May the Spirit of Strength fill our hearts with courage, May God, our Joyful Creator, graciously settle our hearts with peace. May we find ourselves on journeys seeking glimmers of paradise and the presence of the Divine among us. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Michelle Torigian) Stewardship Moment We are truly grateful to our guest for joining us this Sunday. We are in the midst of our stewardship campaign. Membership asks that we support the church with our gifts, our time, our talents, our presence and our witness. This is a time for each of us to assess that means. We are about halfway done with stewardship season. So this week we are passing out the church budget. Our guest do not have to take one if you don’t want. We are passing the budget, or spending plan out this week, and invite everyone to take a look at it. The highlights of this year is an increase in salaries and also several technological upgrades. Passing the budget out this week. Encourage everyone to look at it. A member of finance will speak more about changes in the budget next week. I will also ask members of the finance committee to stand. You can ask them questions, or there is a box outside in eh narthex to write questions down. You will be receiving a pledge card in the mail next week. Asked to prayerfully consider you pledge to the work of the church and we will turn the pledges in on November 23rd. Just a week ago, many of us observed All Saints Sunday, remembering those whose lives came to an end in the last year and lifting up some of the saints of the church. As our lives continue, each one of us has the opportunity to decide how we share our time, our talent and our treasure for the things we most desire. If all people were to know about us was captured on our credit card bill or our check book record, what would they show? If all our time was divided into categories, what portion would our “giving to others” time slot show? And if the demonstration of our talent could be seen, would it show up in a list of faith-related activities? Truly, all of us are challenged to offer our lives as stewards of God’s many gifts. This is the time in our service for you to respond to this invitation: with your offering of treasure, of time, and of talent. What does your offering say about you? How might you change what you offer if you were to look at your gift as a distinctive demonstration of your identity as a follower of Jesus, the Christ? Prayer of Thanksgiving Living God, as we present these gifts to you, we say “thank you” for the ways Jesus modeled true stewardship, sharing all he had as he taught, healed and witnessed to your love. Now please accept our gifts as signs of our true identity as disciples/followers of Jesus. Help us translate this money into acts of compassion, justice and reconciliation. Open our eyes to see a glimpse of the way your will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Encourage you to look at announcements. There is a lot going on this time of the year. November 23rd is our church conference, annual meeting. Lunch will be served that day, it will be a celebration of the end of our pledge drive. Encourage everyone to come to fellowship, and then stay for church conference. Church conference is open to everyone. I know there has been some tension in the past, but remember Paul’s word to hold fast to our faith in tough times. We have done an tremendous amount of work this year, and God is still working with us. Let us stand strong together, and feel God’s presence and listen to God’s word. God hold our future. Community Time Joys and Concerns Benediction Hear again the promise God made to his people long ago: Do not be discouraged! Be strong and courageous. Keep working, for I am with you. My Spirit remains with you and is living among you. So do not be afraid! “Benediction,” re:Worship Additional Illustrations