Mosaic Tiles of His Return

In one paragraph

Brian walked the congregation through a mosaic of prophetic passages about the return of Jesus, using Habakkuk 3 as the main tile, and framed the whole conversation around the idea that God answers cries for help not by fixing present circumstances but by giving a picture of what is coming. Communion opened the morning as a remembrance that points both backward to the Passover and forward to the...

Read together

1. Philippians 3:7-8 read aloud during worship as a prayer that the congregation would count all things as loss compared to knowing Christ
2. James 4:8 referenced during communion prayer as the promise that if we draw close to God he will draw close to us
3. Revelation 19:6-8 read aloud to describe the coming wedding feast of the Lamb
4. Isaiah 35 read and discussed as a prophetic picture of Jesus returning through the wilderness to rescue Israel, with deserts blooming and the blind seeing
5. Luke 21 briefly referenced as Jesus warning that when you see the abomination of desolation in Jerusalem, flee to the wilderness
6. John 10 referenced twice, once for Jesus saying he is the good shepherd who leads his sheep, and once for the image of him knowing each sheep by name
7. Habakkuk 3:1-6 read aloud as the main text, a prophetic vision of God coming from Teman and Mount Paran with splendor filling the heavens
8. Zephaniah 3:17 read aloud as a companion tile to Habakkuk, describing God rejoicing over his people with singing and calming their fears
9. Hosea 2 quoted briefly as God saying he will lead Israel into the desert again and speak tenderly to her there
10. 1 Peter 1:6 read aloud as encouragement that trials test and purify faith and will bring praise and glory when Jesus is revealed
11. Romans 1:20 referenced in passing as the basis for seeing aspects of God's character revealed in creation
12. Proverbs briefly referenced with the idea that a wicked man falls into the pit he digs for someone else, applied to Pharaoh's decree against Israelite firstborns

What was said

• Speak hope out loud over someone this week, even in a whisper, rather than just thinking it silently.
• Set aside time in private to read Scripture or pray, especially on a day when you do not feel like it.
• When something disruptive happens in your life this week, pause and ask the Lord whether he is at work in it.
• If you are watching the Tuesday night service, sign up to drop off a meal for the young adults who gather there.
• Meditate on Philippians 3:7-8 and consider what you are treating as more important than knowing Jesus.

Talk about it

1. Lanisha described Habakkuk as a three-chapter picture of crying out, waiting, and watching it come to pass. Has there been a season in your life that followed that same arc? What was it like to wait for God's answer?
2. Brian said God answered Habakkuk not by fixing his circumstances but by giving him a prophetic picture of the future. When you have cried out to God for relief, how have you responded when his answer was hope for the future rather than a change in the present?
3. Several people shared what they pictured when they imagined those refugees seeing Jesus appear in the desert. What image came to your mind, and what does that picture stir up in you about who Jesus is?
4. The phrase 'redemptively disruptive' came up in the conversation. Where have you seen disruption in your own life that turned out to be God at work, and how did you recognize it as his hand rather than just a hard circumstance?
5. Lissa encouraged the group to spend time in the word and to worship especially when you do not feel like it, saying those might be the sweetest times. What has your experience been when you have pushed through and shown up to God in a dry or difficult moment?