This guest blog post draws directly from Craig Groeschel's sermon “Showcase — 3 Ways to Prepare for Jesus’ Return” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
Are You Ready? How to Live with Purpose and Urgency in the Last Days
Meta Description: Pastor [Name] opened 1 Thessalonians to show us how believers are called to live in the last days — with urgency, purpose, and hope. URL Slug: living-in-the-last-days-turn-serve-wait Featured Image: A wide-angle shot of an open Bible with soft natural light streaming across the pages, or a sunrise/horizon image evoking expectation and readiness
Have you ever looked at the state of the world — the wars, the division, the rapid rise of technology — and quietly wondered, Are we nearing the end? If so, you're not alone. And as Pastor [Name] reminded us this Sunday, you're not even close to the first to ask that question.
Two thousand years ago, a group of brand-new Christians in Thessalonica were asking the very same thing. And this week, Pastor [Name] launched a new series called Living in the Last Days — an overview of the book of First Thessalonians — with a message that was equal parts sobering and deeply encouraging.
Yes, We Really Are Living in the Last Days
Pastor [Name] started with a question that got everyone's attention: Do you think we're living in the last days?
His answer was direct and grounded in scripture: yes — and the last days actually began about 2,000 years ago, when Jesus ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. From that moment forward, every generation of believers has been living in the final chapter of God's redemptive plan.
That means the urgency isn't new. But it is real.
As he walked us through the opening verses of 1 Thessalonians, he painted a vivid picture of the original audience — a small, persecuted group of new believers in a major port city of over 200,000 people. Paul had preached there for only a few weeks before being run out of town. These were baby Christians, scared and confused, left without their teacher. So Paul wrote them a letter — not to frighten them, but to steady their faith.
And the letter begins with a reminder that never gets old: "Brothers and sisters, loved by God."
The Gospel Is More Than Words — It Comes with Power
Before diving into his three main points, Pastor [Name] paused on something Paul emphasized early in his letter — something that stopped many of us in our tracks.
Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 1:5: "Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction."
Pastor [Name] pressed on this with unmistakable passion. Many of us have embraced the love of God — and that's beautiful. But he challenged us to consider whether we're actually living in the power of God. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in every follower of Jesus. That's not a metaphor. That's a promise with real implications for how we face temptation, hardship, and the brokenness of this world.
Three Ways Believers Live Ready: Turn, Serve, Wait
The heart of the message centered on three simple but weighty words drawn from 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10:
"They tell us how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
Turn. Pastor [Name] was refreshingly honest here. While most of us don't bow to statues of Zeus or Caesar, he made clear that idolatry is alive and well in modern life. We idolize success, comfort, relationships, the opinions of others, and even our own children. He quoted 2 Timothy 3:1-5, where Paul warns that in the last days people will be "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." The call is to repent — to consciously turn away from the lower things of this world and turn toward God.
Serve. Turning toward God isn't a one-time transaction that we file away. Salvation happens once, but serving God happens daily. Pastor [Name] unpacked the Greek word doulos — meaning to serve with complete loyalty, placing the will of another above your own. He put it plainly: it's not "God, bless my agenda." It's "God, I surrender my agenda to yours."
Wait. This one surprised some of us. Waiting, in the biblical sense, is anything but passive. The Greek word used here carries the meaning of remaining, abiding, and expecting — actively and faithfully, with great anticipation. As Pastor [Name] described it, we should wake up each day thinking: Today could be the day. I'd better be loving people. I'd better be found serving Jesus.
Four Questions Worth Sitting With
As he moved toward his conclusion, Pastor [Name] shared that he'd spent about six weeks in this material — and that it had genuinely worked on him. He offered four questions he'd been wrestling with personally, and encouraged us to bring them into our Life Groups this week to work through together:
Have I forgiven those who hurt me? Referencing Matthew 6:14-15, he reminded us that Jesus tied our own forgiveness to our willingness to extend it to others — a sobering reality we can't afford to gloss over.
Have I shared my faith with those who need Jesus? Not the whole world, but the people in our actual lives — family, coworkers, friends — who may not yet know him.
Am I more focused on this world than on eternity? He was disarmingly honest here, admitting how easily the daily demands of life can crowd out a kingdom perspective.
Am I trusting in God's grace alone to save me? Drawing from Ephesians 2:8-9 — "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith... it is the gift of God, not by works" — he confessed that this one still trips him up. When he imagines Jesus returning next Wednesday, his instinct is to scramble and earn it. But grace doesn't work that way. And that's precisely the good news.
The King Is Coming — Are You Ready?
Pastor [Name] closed with a pastoral urgency that felt genuine and tender. He's not trying to scare anyone. He's trying to prepare the people he loves.
We don't know the day or the hour — Jesus was clear about that. But we do know we're living in the last days. And that means every day is an opportunity to turn, to serve, and to wait with expectation.
If this message stirred something in you, don't sit with it alone. Get into a Life Group this week and work through those four questions together. There's something powerful about processing eternal things in community — and as Pastor [Name] reminded us, we were never meant to do life alone.
And if you missed the service, the full message is available to watch online. Share it with someone who needs to hear it this week.
"We turn, we serve, and we wait."
That's not a passive posture. That's a life fully awake to what God is doing — and fully ready for what's coming.
Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): Are we living in the last days? According to Scripture — yes. And this Sunday, Pastor [Name] showed us from 1 Thessalonians exactly what that means for how we live right now. Three words to hold onto this week: turn, serve, wait. Read the full recap and share it with someone who needs it. 🙌
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