• Jesus is coming again!  He promised His disciples that He would. (John 14:3)

• The second coming of Christ comes in two parts.  Part one is the rapture.  The rapture is the next major event on God's prophetic calendar.  At the rapture, Jesus descends into the atmosphere calling the saved, living and dead, to meet Him in the air, and then brings them to heaven. (I Thess. 4:13-18)  This is called the Christian's blessed hope. (Titus 2:13)

• Part two of the second coming of Christ is the revelation, also called the second advent.  This event is described in Rev. 1:7, Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.   This is when Jesus comes for the battle of Armageddon, overthrows the antichrist, takes over the earth, and sets up His millennial kingdom.  The second advent takes place at the end of the tribulation.  (II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 1:14-15; Rev. 19:11-16)

The Tribulation

• After the saints are taken to heaven in the rapture, the world goes through a seven year period of tribulation on this earth.  This will be the worst time the world has ever seen or ever will see, according to Jesus. (Matt. 24:21) 

• The events of the tribulation are described in a number of places, both in the Old and New Testaments.  Much information is given about this time in the book of Revelation chapters 6-18.  In these chapters you will find numerous plagues and judgments leveled on the earth.

• It is during this tribulation that the antichrist (also known as the beast), takes over the earth and imposes his ways, ultimately exalting himself to godhood. (II Thess. 2:3-4; I John 2:18) 

• It is during this tribulation period that the antichrist imposes the mark of the beast and his number, 666 upon the world, not allowing them to buy or sell without it. (Rev. 13:16-18)

• The tribulation will end with the second advent of Jesus Christ, at which time He will overthrow the antichrist, and set up His righteous, peaceful, millennial kingdom upon the earth. (Rev. 19:19-21; 20:1-6; Isaiah 11:4-9)

The Judgment

• There are two main judgments that people face after death.  Which one you face depends on whether you are saved or lost. But whatever the case, "every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:12; Heb. 9:27) 

• Neither of these judgments determines the eternal destination of the one who is judged.  Your eternal destination is determined while you are alive on earth, based on whether or not you receive Jesus as your Saviour. (II Cor. 6:2) 

• The lost (those who did not get saved during their lives on earth), will be judged at the great white throne judgment, before being cast into the lake of fire.  At this judgment they will give account of everything they have done.  All their secrets will be brought out into the open. (Rev. 20:11-15; Eccl. 12:14; Lk. 12:2) 

• The saved will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ to receive any rewards they might have earned in their service for the Lord, or to see if they miss out on these rewards because they have frittered their lives away after the flesh.  It will be a sobering time. (II Cor. 5:10-11; I Cor. 3:8-15; Rom. 14:10-12)

The Church

• There is, in the Bible, both local churches as well as the church, the body of Christ, which embodies all believers.

• In Paul's epistles, you will find the local “churches” of Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, & Judea. (I Cor. 16:1, 19; II Cor. 8:1; Gal. 1:22)

• You will also find at least one local church in each of the following places:  Galilee, Samaria, Corinth, Thessalonica, and Babylon.  (Acts 9:31; I Cor. 1:2; I Thess. 1:1; I Pet. 5:13)

• Jesus has John write to seven different local churches in the book of Revelation. (Rev. chapters 2-3)

• There are undoubtedly local churches in the Bible.  They were instituted by the Lord as a place where believers could gather, grow spiritually, worship, and serve the Lord.

• The purpose of the local church can be summed up as follows: 

           To Evangelize the Sinner

           To Edify the Saint

           To Exalt the Saviour

• The Bible also refers to the church which is the body of Christ. Eph. 1:22-23 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, {23} Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.  Col. 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  

• This is the church into which believers are spiritually baptized in I Cor. 12:13, as mentioned earlier under the section on Baptism.  Paul was not a member of the Church at Corinth, but he says that he was baptized into one body as they were.  I Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles...  There are many local churches, but there is one body of Christ.  Paul was not baptized into the church at Corinth, he was baptized into the body of Christ, as are all believers.

• Christ is the head of the church, and we who are saved, are all members of His body, though we do not all have the same office.  A local church may be a picture of this body, but it cannot be the "one body" of I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 2:16; Eph. 4:4; etc., since there are many local churches.  

Missions

• In Mark 16:15, Jesus said to His disciples "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."  It is the job of every Christian to help with this task.  Being a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ is part of the Christian's armour (see Eph. 6:15).  Therefore, missions begins wherever you are at, since that is part of the world.  Look for opportunities to pass out gospel tracts, sow the seed of the word of God, and witness to others about how they can be saved.

• Just before His ascension to heaven Jesus gave His disciples the following charge, Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  The disciples were to begin witnessing right where they were and then to branch out to get the gospel to the whole world.  So in addition to helping to get the gospel out in the area in which we live, we should have a vision to get the gospel out to all the world and participate in the efforts to do so.

• You can participate in missions in a number of ways.  Some people are called to be missionaries to a foreign field.  Over the years it has been our privilege to see a number of people go out from our church and live and serve on the mission field.  Whether or not you are called to the mission field, you can take a missions' trip.  If you have the opportunity to do so, it will likely change your life, as it has with many others that have gone on a missions' trip.

• Two other important ways to participate in missions is through prayer & giving.  We believe in doing both.  We regularly pray for and support missionaries.  Each Wed. night we pray for the missionaries that we support, along with many other missionaries that we do not financially support.  We know missionaries who are gems & jewels as Christians as well as in their labors to get out the gospel.  It is our privilege to partner with them in prayer and giving.
  

• Because of the sensitive nature and situations of the missionaries on the foreign field we are not able to get into specifics here about the missionaries we support or recommend.  Many of them specifically request that we do not put their information online.  Missions, nevertheless, is a big part of our ministry here.  It is something that we believe in strongly and participate in regularly.