The sermon for this week is from Luke 17:31-37, which you can read here. This is a particularly difficult text to interpret as it concerns when the Son of Man will be revealed and the coming of his kingdom to earth. We do not know with any precision when this great day will arrive. At the heart of Jesus' message, rather, is that people should prepare for his coming: Luke 17:33—Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. This idea is akin to what Paul did for the churches in Acts 14; indeed, it is what all believers should do in a wicked age—churches should "strengthen" their "souls." We must continue in the faith, Paul asserts, for "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). So, we can begin by putting away our end-times graphs and charts. That's not how Jesus tells us to prepare. What he does say is that we should be faithful witnesses of him in our daily lives, and commit ourselves to ethical conduct befitting our repentance. God will ultimately bring vindication and judgment upon the wicked while giving redemption to those who are his offspring by faith. Songs we will sing this week include the following, provided in a playlist here. .