What do you think will happen in 2024? That’s kind of a scary question to ask. If you are a bit apprehensive or pessimistic going into the new year, you are not alone! 76% of Americans feel our country is headed in the wrong direction, according to an ABC poll last month. That’s an enormous amount of people who are pessimistic about our future. Less than a quarter of us feel like we are headed in a good direction as a nation. We’ve seen an escalation of wars around the globe, inflation is eroding our income and our savings, and it feels like our country is becoming more and more divided.
This translates to a foreboding picture individually for us in the New Year. Money will likely get tighter, there will be less security in our finances and less safety in our neighborhoods. We’re just not optimistic about our future these days. To top if all off, this is an election year, so we will have to brace for all the rhetoric and campaign ads, and tension with our friends and family over who is the least-worst-option leading our nation.
But I say to you, there is reason for optimism. The apocalypse could come next year! Jesus could call us home to be with Him and the events of Revelation chapter 6 could play out here on earth while we are safe with the LORD. Wouldn’t that be great!
Since we can’t count on that to happen, how can we make 2024 one of the best years of our lives? Do we believe that could happen? Or has this popularized pessimism so gripped our hearts that we’ve lost faith in our future? We don’t have to go along with the cynicism that is so trendy today. God can, and even wants to do incredible things in your life and mine in this next year. Do you believe that? We’d better believe that! As believers, we can state with certainty that the best is yet to come. Our best days are forever in front of us. Let’s approach this new trip around the sun with optimism and hope, knowing that greater is He who is in us than anything this world has to offer.
Whether or not Jesus returns in 2024, we have much to learn from what will happen, as presented in Revelation 6. We’ll look together at the opening of the first six seals: talking about the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the crying out of the martyrs, and massive desolation on the earth. You won’t want to miss this study together.
I invite you to join with us this weekend as we continue our study on our hope fulfilled in Revelation 6. Our socially distanced service is Saturday afternoon at 3:30, and our Sunday morning service is at 10:15, where you can join us online if you can’t make it in person. We also have excellent Sunday School classes at 9 for all ages.
Have a great weekend and I look forward to pursuing Christ, Community, and the Great Commission Together with you soon!
-Pastor Nathan Rice