End Times: Doom and Gloom?

Getting started

• When you hear the words 'end times', what comes to mind first: films, charts, fear or hope?
• Someone once told Peter, "Peter, you're a grumpy old man." When you watch the news, are you more glass-half-empty or glass-half-full?

Read Matthew 24:1–14

Heather read this on Sunday. Read it together, slowly. Then, before any of the questions below: what do you notice about the disciples' question? About what Jesus warns them of? About what he promises?

1 'The end must be nigh'

• Read verses 1–3. In AD 70 the Romans destroyed the temple. Peter said, "I can't exaggerate how mortal a blow that was for Jew and Christian alike." What would feel like that kind of blow to you, or to the church today?
• When everything people rely on falls apart, why do you think they so often conclude that the end must be near?
• Matthew gathered what Jesus had said about the end for a scattered, shaken church. What do you think those first readers most needed to hear?
• Just you and GodHas something you relied on been shaken recently? Tell God about it, and ask him to hold you steady.

2 Tick, tick, tick

• Read verses 6–8. Peter ticked them off: wars, nation against nation, famines, earthquakes. Yet Jesus says, "see to it that you are not alarmed." How easy do you find that?
• Peter added his own: El Niño, pandemic, AI, the misuse of the web. Which weighs on you most, and why?
• Read verses 10–13. Peter brought it close to home: false prophets, and "Christian against Christian." Jesus promises, "the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." What helps you stand firm?
• Peter was honest about the decline of churches in Britain, yet he called Vale "this super little faithful fellowship." What would it look like for us to keep being faithful together?
• Read verse 14. Alongside the 'doom and gloom', Jesus promises the gospel will be preached to all nations. Where do you see that happening?

3 Seven statements to ponder

• "We are now in the end times, because we always have been, ever since the day of Pentecost." How does that change the way you think about the 'end times'?
• Peter pointed to the songs we'd sung, like 'As we are gathered, Jesus is here'. Read Matthew 28:20. What difference does it make to your week that Jesus is with us now, by his Spirit?
• Read 2 Peter 3:8. On heaven's reckoning, Peter said, we've had only a couple of days since Jesus came the first time. Does God ever feel slow to you? How does this verse help?
• Read Revelation 7:9–12. The Father is drawing a family of the redeemed, "and it will be huge." Who would you love to see in that crowd?
• Just you and God"Don't know how. Don't know when. But this I know." What do you know about Jesus for certain today? Tell him.

Keep watch

• Read Matthew 24:36–42. No one knows the day or hour, so Jesus says, "keep watch." KidZone made binoculars on Sunday. What does keeping watch look like in an ordinary week, if it isn't predicting dates?
• Try it together: read Peter's seven statements aloud, a different voice for each, with a pause between. Then read Revelation 7:10 together, and close with Peter's words: "Don't know how. Don't know when. But this I know."

Praying together

• Pray for the church in Britain: for Baptist churches and chapels under pressure, for those training for ministry, and for Vale to keep being faithful.
• Pray for peace in Tirana amid the protests, and for the Tek Ura team. Give thanks for everyone who ran the Tek Ura 10K.
• Close together with the great multitude: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."