This was a great summer for our high school ministry. We did an evangelism event with the In-N-Out truck and our largest gathering of high school students yet. We did a Missions Trip with 45 highly committed students to our Spanish church in San Juan. And we did our biggest event ever: Revival 08!
Yet, out of all the memories made this summer, one word stands out to me the most: Maranatha! On the last night of camp I had the privilege of preaching from
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (ESV)
on our citizenship in heaven. This can be a difficult subject for students. They have so much to look forward to in this life it can be hard for them to consider the next. Are high school students really going to be interested in being with Christ compared to the upcoming prospects of college, career and marriage?
The answer on this night was a resounding yes! The students wanted Jesus more! There was a great sense of excitement as we looked at what maranatha meant. It is an Aramaic word transliterated into the Greek and it only appears once in the New Testament. Here it is:
22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! (ESV) -
At the end of his long letter to the Corinthian church, Paul lets out this exclamation of his heart! He wants to see Jesus! He wants it now! He wants it more than everything else this world has to offer! It was so exciting for us to get a sense of this under the tent on the last night of Revival 08. It was a night I will not forget.
In fact, I was reminded of it yesterday as our high school ministry read the last chapter of the Bible together on our Scripture of the Day.
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (ESV) -
In this verse Jesus himself tells us that he is coming. And when does he say that he is coming? Soon! As I was scrolling through the comments on
The River of Life
22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Jesus Is Coming
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. (ESV)
yesterday, it was encouraging to see so many students saying “Maranatha!” They too had not forgotten. As Christians, we always need to keep our desire to depart and be with Christ in the forefront of our thinking. This will give us motivation to live each day for him as we “eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ (
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (ESV)
)!”
If you are committed to praying maranatha every day please leave a comment below and I will get you a free copy of the cd of “The Maranatha Sermon” from the last night of Revival 08.
Come, O Lord!
Great blog, Bobby! What an encouragement to not lose focus of the Goal and to run every day with the end in mind. Maranatha!
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!! I love how you put it, “we always need to keep our desire to depart and be with Christ in the forefront of our thinking”!!!! That was such a great message that really convicted me to thinking more in that mindset! Maranatha!
Thanks for the post Bobby! A reminder to be ready and to be looking today for the return of Christ! To not just get caught up in todays events but to wait and look with expectation for Christ. To live everyday with this mentality changes a lot of things about where our priorities are. Maranatha!!
Bobby, if there is one thing I want to happen, it is for Christ to come now! Even as I am qriting this comment we need to eagerly await for Him! We as CHristians need to have that desire just like you said Bobby, let us go home!! Maranatha!
MMHHMM! Great Blog, Bobby!!! Its such a great reminder to be thinking and praying Maranatha everyday! We should always be ready for Christ’s return because we (as we read today in Acts 1) don’t know the hour or day of His coming. Lets make sure we are ready by taking it to the next level and evangelizing consistently to speed His return!!
Yeah, that was a good blog Bobby! We should fully commit ourselves to the Lord because He will come like a theif in the night! That day is going to be so great, the coming of the Lord and New Jerusalem! So let’s strive toward the ultimate goal of God calling us heavenward! MARANTHA!!!
Great blog Pastor Bobby! I remember that last night of Revival! We should be thinking and praying Maranatha daily!
I never knew the meaning of the word “maranatha” before revival and now that I do I love to use that word!! I cannot wait for the Lord’s return!!!!! But in the meantime it is comforting to know that we are citizens of heaven and this life is only temporary. But on that note-we’d better get busy–busy sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone!!
MARANATHA BABY!!!!
My prayer is for the next generation to be strengthened in the knowledge of Christ with all wisdom and power, to do His will, walk in His way and to boldly speak for Him. Hold close the precious Word of the Lord and remember that is strength for every generation.Persevere in faith and stay the course, dont turn to the left or the right….fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. My prayer is the same for the young people as it is for myself. May they stand up in this generation for Christ!
Yeah, at Revival and still today it stuck out to me that our reward in Heaven, when our sinful bodies will be transformed so that they are like his is worth a thousand times more than anything on earth. Great blog.
I am so excited for the day of my Lord’s return. The day I leave this world and fellowship with my Savior is going to be the best day of my life. MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!
MMMM!!! MARANATHA indeed! I remember this night clearly from, both, the high school week and junior high week. The reaction from the students was amazing to hear that a majority of them wanted to see Jesus more. Ever since that night, I have been praying that the students attending Revival would really desire to see Jesus on the day of His returning! I know when I meet Him in the air, I will rejoice and it will be THE best day of my entire life! So let us keep praying consistantly for the hell-bound that they would desire to see Jesus.
Kingdom eyes,
John
Maranatha! Mmmmm. Just stumbled across this and can’t help but remember how awesome Revival 08 was! Bobby, I would totally love a copy of the Maranatha sermon especially since I wasn’t able to the one you gave to the high schoolers. I’m praying for you! Keep up the great work at Compass!