According to doomsayer Harold Camping, the rapture was supposed to have happened a few weeks ago. But for the second time this year, one of Camping’s end-times predictions failed to come true. This week is the first Sunday in Advent, a season when we not only prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth two thousand years ago but also when we look forward to Christ’s promised return. We'll discuss prophecy; we’ll look at ways that we can respond to prophecy; and we’ll examine how Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy. As Christ’s followers we should not fear the future. Instead we should face the future with hope. Key Scriptures: Micah 5:1-9; Luke 2:25-35; 21:25-28. Earlier this month the Pennsylvania attorney general indicted Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach with the Penn State football program, on forty counts of sex crimes against minors. A week later the Penn State board of trustees fired head football coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham Spanier, saying that both had missed opportunities to stop Sandusky. Because it involves a high-profile university with a nationally ranked football team, this scandal has drawn attention to the millions of people affected by child abuse. Next week we’ll discuss how abuse damages the body of Christ, and we’ll look at how we can prevent, identify, and respond to abuse.
