In this message we look at John’s warning that, before the final Antichrist appears, the spirit of antichrist is already at work in the world. Scripture teaches that Christians already face tribulation, deception, and lawlessness, even as it also points forward to a final intensification before Christ returns. We will consider how the spirit of antichrist denies and redefines Jesus, produces many antichrists and counterfeit saviours, and pressures Christians to compromise. Yet John’s central encouragement is not fear, but confidence: “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Christians overcome by confessing the true Christ, abiding in Him, testing the spirits, loving one another, and remaining faithful even under pressure.

1 John 2:18–27 & 1 John 4:1–6

In Matthew 24:9–14, Jesus gives a sober but hopeful picture of the age before his return: his followers will face opposition, deception, betrayal, lawlessness, and the danger of love growing cold, yet the gospel of the kingdom will still be preached to all nations before the end comes. This message explores how God’s apparent delay is not forgetfulness or failure, but patience and mercy for the sake of repentance and mission. The church is therefore called not to speculate about dates, grow cynical, or become cold under pressure, but to stay faithful, proclaim Christ, and burn brighter with holy, courageous love until the Great Commission is fulfilled and the King returns.

Matthew 24:9-14

Why Preach the End Times? Why Some Churches Avoid It — and Why We Still Need It Bible passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

This opening message begins a winter series on the End Times by asking why many churches avoid teaching on the return of Christ, especially when it can become divisive, speculative, and difficult to teach well. Looking at Scripture through the lens of the early church, the message argues that these dangers are real but do not outweigh the biblical reasons for teaching on Christ’s return. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11, Paul shows that end-times teaching is not given to satisfy curiosity or fuel arguments, but to keep Christians spiritually awake, give hope and endurance in suffering, and call believers to holy living as children of the light while we wait for Christ.

In this message on Luke 5:12–16, we see Jesus meet a man with leprosy who was not only physically diseased but also socially excluded, ritually unclean, and burdened with shame. The message explores the compassion and power of Christ, who is willing not only to heal but to make clean, restoring the outcast to community and fellowship. Drawing on the wider biblical theme of the great exchange, it shows how Jesus begins to take the place of the excluded so that the excluded can be brought in, pointing ultimately to the cross where Christ bears our sin, shame, and uncleanness in full. The call of the message is to come to Jesus in faith, to find in him cleansing and welcome, and to rest our identity not in our shame or isolation but in Christ, who makes the unclean clean.

Luke 5:12-16