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The Return of Christ
“Until He Comes”
Pastor Carl Nichols

Acts 1:6-18 (ESV)

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

If Jesus hasn’t returned yet, it’s because the mission isn’t finished yet.

1. JERUSALEM…START WHERE YOU ARE.

The hardest place to be a witness is often the place you’re most known.


If your faith only works in church, it doesn’t work.

We start where we are, but we refuse to stay there.

2. JUDEA…REACH PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

The gospel didn’t come to you to stop with you.


3. SAMARIA…CROSS THE LINE.

Comfort is the enemy of calling.


The mission moves at the speed of obedience.


4. ENDS OF THE EARTH…THINK BIGGER THAN YOU.

Don’t let your world become your limit.

Because the mission of Jesus is global.

Jesus didn’t save you to sit; he saved you to send you.


The promise of Jesus' return is tied to the progress of his mission.

We don’t sit, speculate and scroll headlines trying to decode everything; we GO.

Where are you stuck?

  • Are you avoiding your Jerusalem?

  • Have you settled in Judea?

  • Are you resisting your Samaria?

  • Have you forgotten the ends of the earth?

You don’t drift into mission, you step into it.

When Jesus returns, it won’t matter how much you knew about the end times. What will matter is what you did with the time you were given.


So we will:

  • Reach our Jerusalem

  • Expand into Judea

  • Cross into Samaria

  • Invest in the ends of the earth

We are not just waiting on the return of Christ, we are working until the return of Christ.

And until that day, we will be his witnesses.