Last week my friend Scott Evans came to me with an idea that has changed my Easter plans.
As President of Outreach, Inc., Scott keeps his hand on the pulse of our society better than anyone I know. He asked me a simple question over lunch: “Hal, Outreach is thinking about creating an invitation card to an “End Times” series for churches after Easter. Do you think this would be useful to New Song?”
As we talked about the earthquakes in Japan and revolutions in the Middle East, it occurred to me that we’ve been selling an increased number of Future History books lately. (Future History is my book on Daniel and End Times Prophecy.) I should have spotted the trend myself: people are thinking about the end times!
Easter is the biggest event on our church calendar. Tons of guests visit us, and we try to encourage them to return by launching a need-oriented sermon series the following week. Up to the minute Scott mentioned end times, we’d been planning a marriage series. With his one question, he changed our direction.
Now I’ll be preaching how “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4) and ending with a forecast that, once the time had fully come, the time of the Gentiles had begun. Romans 11:25 speaks of a transition that will take place, when “the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” What will that time look like? A lot like the time we’re in! Before I close, I’ll invite our guests back to find out more about the end times.
I believe we are in one of those “chiros moments” when people will listen to God’s Word to find out their immediate and future destiny. So we’ll be changing our series. The day after Easter, we’ll mail an invitation to our neighborhoods, inviting them to come find out about the end times. Pray with me that many eternities are changed as a result of our change in plans.
Comments