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An 11-week podcast designed as a companion resource to the Core Series at Chapel Pointe Church. Through deep theological conversations with pastors from our church, our goal is to help you build a deeper understanding of the core truths of Christianity and apply them to your life. From the Bible and Jesus to salvation and the church, our prayer is that you don't just grow in knowledge but that you gain a deeper appreciation for the love, grace, and movement of God in your life. For more resources, visit chapel-pointe.org/core-series.
Well, hey. Welcome to the last episode of the Core Podcast, and I hope you are able to use these moments and these conversations as we talk and process what what we believe as a church and the questions and the processing that goes in around this to stir your affections for Jesus. That has been our prayer all along is that we would grow more in love with who our God is, how he's revealed himself, understanding more of who we are so that we can live fully present, fully alive, running hard after things Jesus has called us to do. And that's what we believe as a church because we are here to multiply, transform followers of Jesus. And so as we wrap up this conversation, it's gonna be a lot of fun.
Luke Bilberry:We're gonna, you know, ask some questions. We're gonna go some different places because, hopefully, you listened to this, week sermon where I got to unpack a little bit of these ideas, but we are definitely in a place where, there is a core reality about the end times and, the prophecy that God how he has spoken and how things are gonna roll out in the future. There are some core pieces of it, but there is a whole lot that puts us into distinctive doctrines where conversations can be had. And, again, just kind of framing it, I believe it's attributed to Augustine, but I think all of the other history says he never actually wrote it. But it's in in core doctrines, hold tightly.
Luke Bilberry:In non core doctrines, you hold that there's liberty, there's grace, there's conversations like we had, but in all things charity, goodwill, but we should not be a people because oh, what's the passage you just left me? In John when Jesus says, man, you will be the evidence the way you love one another and how you have these conversations that may be difficult, where there are questions in and around the scriptures, how you love one another is proof and evidence, man, that I'm alive and that the church is alive. And so that's where we just wanna kinda dive into this conversation today. So we get to sit with our Granville campus pastor, Andrew Honeycutt. He's about to have another baby here, basically.
Luke Bilberry:So exciting just excited for your family. And our can Grainville campus worship leader, miss Ramsey Smith. And we're excited. Cyrus is back here, running all the all the tech on the side. And Sydney, our social media director, is here.
Luke Bilberry:And so we're grateful that you've joined us, and we just get to have a conversation. And so let's jump in.
Andrew Honeycutt:Let's do it. Let's start talking about prophecy. Because, like, you talked about that at the very beginning of the message yesterday, talking about the difference between foretelling and foretelling. Do you wanna go into that a little bit?
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. So whenever we're looking at it, and I love how the words break down. So in the Greek and the Hebrew, so both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we see this word prophecy. And maybe one way to think about it is that prophecy and or prophets, are the mouthpiece of God. They are repeating what they have been told to say.
Luke Bilberry:They're not saying something that is of their own volition. They are literally just repeating as a messenger would. And so we even see angels used to bring prophecy, prophetic words to people. We also see that in how I mean, that's the majority of the Old Testament, right, is is prophets. God has spoken to Amos, to Joel.
Luke Bilberry:You know? I got mocked because I can't say well apparently. So Jonah and the well well, however you're supposed to say that. You can start with Jonah and the big fish. Big fish.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. And so when we think about the the word of prophecy, it's someone has given a word by God to relate to to people in hopes that they would encounter God and his redemptive work in and through their lives. And so that that breaks out into these two ideas that is foretelling and forthtelling. F o r t h. Just wanna make sure I'm saying things correctly.
Luke Bilberry:People aren't self foretelling.
Andrew Honeycutt:An accent. Yeah. Mhmm. Strong.
Luke Bilberry:It's strong. It'll mess with it. I apologize, friends. But foretelling is God speaking through a prophet to tell about things that are to come. So when you think about whenever there's gonna be a judgment on a people group Mhmm.
Luke Bilberry:I'm going to do these things. God is foretelling of circumstances, but what we see throughout the scriptures, it's all still trying to move people towards the redemptive work of God. That from the very beginning, God has dwelt with people, desires to dwell with his people, with his creation, and one day he will dwell with his people and his creation. And So that's the idea of foretelling. And this is where I think we see sometimes it can be confusing in certain circles of the church and around the conversations is people will say, I believe God is going to do this.
Luke Bilberry:That's where it begins to, even the scriptures talk about if a prophet says this is gonna happen, you test them by whether if it happens or not. Totally. And maybe you'd have to research those verses, Sidney or Ramsey, y'all can look those up. But there's even like a layer of saying, hey, if someone says they're a prophet and they're speaking on behalf of God and it doesn't come to pass, then it's they're not actually a prophet. God didn't speak to them.
Luke Bilberry:They're just thinking. They're making you know, they're trying to make reason and they're trying to deduce things based on the circumstances going around in the world. Fourth telling, however, is this idea of bringing God's word to the circumstances of life. And so you're looking at them and you're bringing God's word in and through the situations and the circumstances. So they sound very similar, but there is a distinction between the two.
Luke Bilberry:And so it would be in this vein of saying, a prophet could say, if you disobey, there's going to be a consequence, a
Andrew Honeycutt:There's judgment.
Luke Bilberry:There's judgment that comes from that. And so it's speaking into the cultural moments. It's speaking into, the everyday circumstances. So it's not speaking something that, is far out ahead into the future, but it's helping you discern what is happening here and now, and we see that God, uses that. Jesus uses that.
Luke Bilberry:I think whenever he's talking to disciples, there's moments where he is telling them this is going to happen, and then there is moments where he's using the cultural norms, and he's talking to Pharisees, and and he's trying to help them see, woah, are you Pharisees because this is who you are. And he's forth telling these things, in order to help people encounter redemption, hope, and the life they're made to in Jesus. At least that's that's been my understanding as I've read the scriptures and I've done some other research, as well as those are two distinct ideas. So, hopefully that's helpful.
Andrew Honeycutt:Yeah. And I think when I'm looking back at the prophets in the Old Testament, there were serious issues that were going on internally and externally. So like internally, like in house in Israel and externally with the nations. And they were constantly calling out what was going on, the sin in the different places. So constantly pointing back to like what you kept saying, I love that the redemptive work of God and that being the emphasis and that being the point.
Andrew Honeycutt:Right.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. Because otherwise, the idea of doom and gloom and like future casting, I mean, that's really scary things. We think about, how we talk about prophecy, if what is it doing to God's people? It should motivate us to a deeper relationship with him. And I and I I think that's what God has been doing from the very beginning.
Andrew Honeycutt:Mhmm.
Luke Bilberry:You know, when we think about, you know, the protoevangelion from Genesis three, you know, that that one day there's going to come someone who's gonna crush the head of the snake, And then we see that played out that there is the one who destroys the dragon, these symbols of of the evil one, that those things, it should all point us back to this redemptive work. God is in the business of redeeming and restoring his people all along. Everything's an invitation. Even if it comes down even if it feels hard and like a rebuke, God is still trying to use that because God disciplines those whom he loves. Yeah.
Luke Bilberry:Right?
Ramsay Smith:Yeah. I think books like Revelation, we can often read them through a lens of fear and they weren't written to make us fearful. They were written for our encouragement. Like all of these promises will come to pass and that's what we can put our hope in.
Andrew Honeycutt:Yeah, it's an encouragement to stay strong. Like in keep the midst of all of the hard, like they can stay strong in the midst of persecution knowing that there's a future hope. Right?
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. So exactly what I even like, just kind of to further emphasize this idea of like like foretelling and foretelling. That's what we're seeing, like, when he writes in Revelation three to the churches, the word of God, Jesus speaking, is our understanding that through this revelation that John is seeing, Jesus is speaking to the church and he's foretelling, I see in you this, but I also see in you this. And the hope is an invitation to change how they're operating because of their greater understanding of who Jesus is. So it's this call to respond to the cultural moment.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. But it gets back to that. It's the redemptive work of God from the very beginning. Mhmm. Yeah.
Luke Bilberry:Hopefully, that's helpful. I don't know.
Andrew Honeycutt:Yeah. I love those as like evaluations too, when I'm actually thinking, even going through the seven churches and thinking through that, like they're helpful evaluations to say, oh man, do you see these things going on in your own life? And those are things that you need to call out that you might need to change, and really need to apply to your own life in light of what God's called you to.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah, that's good. So when you guys are thinking about this and thinking about the people that we get to serve, like what are some of the questions that you think that they have in and around prophecy, eschatology, the study of last things? Because I love what you guys said, man. It should give us confidence and it should give us a hope, but what are some of the things that are wrestling with that maybe detract from having confidence, or how can we help provide clarity? What are some of those those areas that you guys are thinking through?
Andrew Honeycutt:I think people have a lot of questions. I think people have a lot of questions, but, also, like, there's a lot of fear just around it. Like I loved your illustration of just sharing of like, man, when I was a little boy, I was so scared of like what the end would look like. And I totally, I feel that too. Like when I was a kid, had the same thing.
Andrew Honeycutt:And so like helping people to provide clarity around what we believe to know the future hope that we have is so important so that they don't especially like when we're little kids and stuff like that. But especially like when we go to funerals, like I've gone to so many funerals over even just the last couple of weeks. And man, the last couple that I went to has just been such a celebration because they firmly know the hope that they have in Jesus Christ, that this is not the end. And so that they have a future resurrection that they get to look forward to.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah, that's powerful. What questions do you kind of see people wrestling with in and around these I
Ramsay Smith:think to your point, just the ambiguity of it all, it makes people fearful. They want to know. We're such black and white thinkers. We want to know all of the things. But I think I have a lot of questions that I could say but is that the point?
Ramsay Smith:Like what's the point of reading through the end times? What is Jesus's point when he's teaching his disciples in Matthew twenty four and twenty five? It's to be ready ultimately. And how are we preparing ourselves for that end? We don't know the time or the hour when Jesus will come again, but we know he will.
Ramsay Smith:That's what revelation is telling us. That's what Jesus is telling us. So how do we live in light of that? And how do we live and operate not fear based but in, okay, I have full assurance to run after the things that God is calling me to run after.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. And it kind of reminds me too, kind of coming back to how we started the sermon yesterday was not actually even around the conversation of prophecy and things, but understanding what is core doctrine, what is distinctive and what are preferences? And maybe preferences in this conversation could be, what are questions that it'd be really fun to answer, but if we don't have them answered, it's okay. It's okay. If God works that out, we can have a high faith and a trust in a God who has been faithful, will be faithful.
Luke Bilberry:And and that's where man, I've just I would recommend anyone, if you're looking, you can see the book. It's called eight great debates of Bible prophecy by Ron Rhodes. It's been a helpful, tool for us as as a team and a staff, to highlight some different conversation. And I think he approaches it. He obviously tells you where he believes and why, but it highlights the different conversations and the different ideas in and around around these these ideas of prophecy and what is it.
Luke Bilberry:And so he highlights these debates, gives some conversations around them, but he talks about, Israel and the church because those are those are big questions that people have around, what happens to, to Israel. I know that's taken recent, shape in our current culture, and and there's reason for that. And what we know is there are people who claim Jesus as Lord and are good brothers and sisters that may have a different view than our our distinctive here as a local church is Chapel Point. And that is, you know, okay. We can hold those in in intention and say, long as we're continuing to advance the kingdom to follow the great commission to make disciples, you know, conversations around pre tribulation, mid tribulation, post tribulation.
Luke Bilberry:For some people listening, this may be the first time you've ever heard those words. Or for some people, I mean, you just want us to nail down on the wall. Like, we need you to spell out explicitly what is that and what you believe. So so I
Andrew Honeycutt:think So that's been actually helpful. So just clearly, even just before, like we were just talking about before the podcast, like for clarity for the people out there listening, what's our stance? Like when you talk about those options, if it's the first time that they've ever heard that before, could you clarify for them what we believe and then why that matters?
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. Totally. So so we here at Chapel Point as a local church, you know, one small church in in the grand scheme of of the capital c Universal Church, we read the Bible from a literal historical grammatical lens. And what that means is we believe that God worked in and through a people specifically and that every word that God has put together in the Bible is there for a reason, and it's not meant to be read from an allegorical or a purely symbolic place. We don't approach the scriptures as a self help book.
Luke Bilberry:We don't approach the scriptures as a place that has good ideas and can help us be better people, but it is authoritative and it shows how God has worked in the past and it gives us confidence of how He's gonna work in our day now and in the days to come. And so I'd say that's one
Andrew Honeycutt:of the
Luke Bilberry:foundational pieces for us to move into, how we understand these things. So what we believe because of our reading of the scripture from Genesis to Revelation, that God indicates that there's something called a rapture, that at some point Jesus ascended into heaven after his, death, burial, and resurrection. In the book of acts, it tells us he stood in front of the disciples and just ascended into heaven. So somehow he was physically here and now he's no longer physically here. But what Jesus even tells us is that he is going to prepare a place, I believe it's Matthew 24.
Luke Bilberry:He's going to prepare a place, I. This future reality, a new heaven, a new earth. He's going to prepare a place place, and he's going to come back. So that tells us that a physical Jesus ascended. That means a physical Jesus is going to return.
Luke Bilberry:And in that moment, the first part of that is a rapture, and we get first Thessalonians, talks about this. Other other places in the scriptures give us this idea. In other words, rapture is not in the Bible, be very clear, but the concept that he's going to take away his church, the people who profess Jesus as Lord and have faithfully followed him and the fruit of the this fruit of the spirit is seen in their life, God is going to take them with him. We believe that even here and now, those who have passed away are now present Mhmm. With God.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. They're the you know, to be absent in the bodies, to be present with the Lord is what the scripture would say. I can't remember the number off off the address of that one off top of my head. But so right now, there is a group of people, those who have faith, the redeemed people of God are in the presence of, of God, and one day he's gonna do that with those who are still remaining. And that would begin a season that is known as the tribulation.
Luke Bilberry:There are these different understandings that God is going to have this rapture before the tribulation. Some believe
Andrew Honeycutt:That would be pre Pre
Luke Bilberry:tribulation. Yep. So pre tribulation, it would be when the rapture happens when God it's it's almost kinda like the first domino that begins this series of events. And the reason why we, Chapel Point, believe that is because we're reading it from this literal historical that God is still writing a story, the author and perfecter of our faith is still writing a story and working things out for His glory, for the church's good, for the believer's good. There are some who believe that that will happen at some point in the middle, so mid tribulation, so there's some level of judgment being poured out on God's people, and then He'll return.
Luke Bilberry:And then there's one that's post tribulation after this seven and a half year, this time period where God's wrath and punishment is being poured out that they will then that Jesus will come and take his church with them, you know? And and so that's those are the definitions of those words, and I know there's there's way smarter scholars to talk about it. There's a ton that is underneath all of those conversations, but we believe that because we're reading this through from a literal historical sense and not just some place of allegory. But I'd say why is this happening is the question that I'm kind of thinking through for our people. Why are we walking through these hard moments?
Luke Bilberry:It's still leaning people to encounter Jesus. Mhmm. Because the reality is is Philippians tells us, and then in Revelation twenty one twenty two, one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And so I look at the cross of scriptures, and I say, God is working a plan to make that happen. Right?
Luke Bilberry:That one day every new will bow and every tongue will confess. So that's one part. I don't know if there's any questions there because I just talked for a minute, and then we can walk through a few of the other maybe keywords that for us to study and be mindful of. My
Ramsay Smith:first thought as you were talking through that, second Peter three:nine says, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. And I look at the end times and I see that. Like even while God is pouring out his wrath, there are still times he's still allowing for people to turn to him up until that very end. So all of these things are ways of God trying to get people's attention. Like, hey, wake up.
Ramsay Smith:I am real and you need to put your faith in me. So that's initially what I was thinking.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. And it seems that God is using these moments to trigger, you know, trigger different aspects of that. And so, again, why do we we believe as as a local church, again, there's place, there's there's charity and space for this conversation to happen. But but we as a church, we believe that there God is still working a plan through a people called Israel and through this redeemed church, these Gentiles, us, that are grafted in. And we believe He's working all things out because we're looking across the promises from Genesis.
Luke Bilberry:We're seeing other writings, how Jesus speaks about it. Oh, Jerusalem, how I longed for you. Like, that's God's heart that he would long for this people that he made a promise through that would be a blessing to all nations. And again, we can have conversations around that, but we're just reading that and we're just giving you guys a baseline of why we believe that cause we're reading that and that gives this moment tells me then if I'm reading from a literal historical sense that God is still doing a work to redeem and restore, to to do what you're talking about, Ramsay, to fulfill his promise, to get as much space for his children, his creation to come back to him to be redeemed and restored. That's why those things are playing out.
Andrew Honeycutt:So how does that impact, like, my daily life? Like, so now when you think about the direction, the hope that we have in the future of like, the end times of what we're talking about, why does that impact me today and how does that impact me today?
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. I mean, I think this is, I mean, I feel like it's part of my story kind of answering that. Why does it matter at all? I would hold there's a core belief to be a Christian believes that one day Jesus Christ will return. Mhmm.
Luke Bilberry:Right? And he will establish his kingdom and it will be as it should be. That that is a core belief. Right? That that goes all the way back to the Apostles' Creed to the early church fathers, to the processing that they would have had together.
Luke Bilberry:And so holding that core belief, but what I what I realized in that moment, I told our churches, I had to repent of it. I had to repent of just stopping there because I was afraid of all the other conversations or it felt too hard to even think about or to think that judgment we poured out on the world, like you're having to wrestle through some really big thoughts and feelings and ideas. But what it means for us and how does it impact our day to day lives is I hope it actually draws us into deeper abiding worship. And what I mean by that is as we studied, it means exactly that verse you just read, Ramzi, why don't you read it again because it's so powerful.
Ramsay Smith:The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. So if I'm studying this and I'm thinking about it, I'm at least thinking through that God is moving in seasons similar to like in the book of Judges, these cycles, if you will, of God redeeming and restoring and working and people walking away, still God is slow to anger, abounding and steadfast love to fulfill His promise. It means I want to have an awareness of that so I can live fully present here and now to be on mission with Jesus. Because you're invited into that to be ministers of reconciliation. I love that beautiful idea that the way God fulfills his promise in some ways is through us.
Andrew Honeycutt:Yeah, he uses us. Like the great commission, that's what I was thinking about when I was like asking that question. Is, man, that makes the great commission just so much more like palpable for us, like every single day that needs to, like we say through this idea multiplying transformed followers of Jesus, like that's our call is multiply transformed followers of Jesus. We need to go make disciples of all nations. And God uses us to be able to do that.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah, and what's the verse? I think another way to remind ourselves, why should we study it? It because it goes back to Revelation one, three. It says, blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it for the time is near. And so it tells me that as this revelation was given to John of who Jesus is and what the things that are to come, it is to help us as Christians, followers of Jesus, to live fully present here and now.
Luke Bilberry:And there's a blessing that comes from that, but it also helps us to not be caught off guard. The verse where Paul writes, like, don't want you to be, you know, thrown around by the mess and the conversation because I feel like that's happening right now. Like there's so many YouTube conversations and podcast conversations where people are, you know, they're beginning to ask questions that arose our confidence in the scriptures or it erodes our understanding of the faithfulness of God. And I'm hoping they're from well intentioned places, but I also know they're not from well intentioned places, but we have to stand firm in our faith and our beliefs and our understanding. So we also should dive deeper into it and not just, stay at an infant style understanding that God is going to return.
Luke Bilberry:Now we never move beyond that because that's the great hope. We never move beyond that deep foundation, but there's more like we can grow in our maturity, in our unity of faith, and we can grow in our conversations and how to have it because we don't want other people to be, you know, taken aback by this conversations that feel so daunting. So how do we communicate? Hey, I understand that viewpoint. I understand where they're coming from.
Luke Bilberry:I understand, the thoughtfulness because there's a lot of man authors and biblical scholars and pastors that, and after reading and studying this, I don't agree with them. However, I still value their input, but I can still be able to navigate, okay, I see why they got there and I can have a gracious conversation to help maybe lead someone into, more present, more on mission, deeper awe and wonder of who God is. And so those are those are things like that that I'm just like, okay, it helps me understand what's going on in the Bible, how to study it, how to interpret it, how to navigate conversations with the people and the culture around us, so that the enemy doesn't distract and the enemy doesn't, catch someone off guard, and we just get to be tellers and bear the witness of who Jesus is and what is to come. Yeah.
Ramsay Smith:So as somebody kind of thinking through the end times, what are some of those promises that are guaranteed? As you're as you're looking through some of these prophecies, what are some things that Travel Point people, our people need to hear that they can put their hope in? What are the what are those promises that they can look forward to?
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. I mean, the obviously, the promise is from Revelation 21, one day I will make all things new. Right? And so that kind of leads up to one of the conversations in and around prophecy and end times is this idea of a millennial reign. We believe in a in a literal millennial reign where Jesus comes, returns, and things are as it should be.
Luke Bilberry:But then there's even one more step after that. There's Revelation 21, when a new heaven and a new earth comes and God's kingdom is fully established and the presence of sin is no more. The enemy has been fully defeated and it is as it should be. So that is a, a hope. And I know our statement of faith, like, it kinda sounds funny because it's language that we wouldn't use in every day, but it but it says, man, we believe in the blessed hope, the personal return of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Luke Bilberry:Like, we wouldn't necessarily walk around. We believed in the blessed hope, that's what it is. It is the great blessing. Right? There is this the promise, the marriage supper of the lamb.
Luke Bilberry:Right? That that all these things, Jesus and his bride, the church, and the redeemed Israel is all brought back together, it's as it should be. And there's this celebration. We get the the promise that God says, I will dwell with them and they will dwell with me. Yeah.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. That's going all the way back to to Genesis one as it should be. So there's that that promise of Shalom. Yeah. The wholeness, the completeness.
Luke Bilberry:I think that and that just stirs so much awe and wonder. And do I know how it all plays out fully? But no, those are the promises I'm clinging to. Because if not, ma'am, you look around the world today, which is why, again, some of the views that people believe were in the millennial reign. Well, I'm looking around and I'm like, it doesn't feel like as it should be.
Andrew Honeycutt:Yeah. And that's why, like, our prayer life needs to be so vital, right? Because it's God's intervention. That's the only thing that will fix everything. And so like, that's how we can pray the Lord's prayer or even Maranatha, right?
Andrew Honeycutt:Like what Paul prays, come Lord Jesus. Because he has to work, he has to intervene. And that's why I think this stuff is so important.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah, and I know probably some of you are listening to this podcast and you're like, Would you guys just spell it out even more? Give me all the research and give me all the data points around it. Well, what we know, and we've talked about this before in the podcast, God has given us the three resources that are needed to live out the Christian life. He has given us his word. He's literally given us his word.
Luke Bilberry:Right? I'm holding my Bible right here, but he's also given us what we believe is the word, the Logos. Right? God in flesh, the image of the invisible God. He's given us Jesus, and he's given us the the example, and he's also given us the way, the truth, and life, the doorway to walk in relationship with him.
Luke Bilberry:So he's given us his word. He's given us his spirit. Right? Jesus tells the disciples, it's better that I go so that the Holy Spirit takes up a residence with you. He's given us the community of faith, and I believe that's where these conversations are really helpful Mhmm.
Luke Bilberry:To have a conversation. Because I know, Hanukkah, you are processing things, and you're trying to think thoughtfully and honestly, and you're wrestling these things through. And what it does with me is it sharpens me to go, okay. Am I being dogmatic? Am I holding on to something that maybe I shouldn't hold on to?
Luke Bilberry:Ramsay, you're asking questions from a place of of just genuine desire to learn and to grow. And in doing so, when we had these conversations, you know, off mic before we started recording, it's sharpening. It's refining me. But if we're saying just things on the Internet to have the right answers, to make up the answers and have all these things spelled out, it feels like we're missing some of the things. So the reality is these conversations around distinctive doctrines and around prophecy and end times, there's something that should be wrestled with in community.
Luke Bilberry:There's just something that should be talked through with people in relationships, opening the Word of God and walking through them. How does God speak through the book of Revelation? How does Revelation and Daniel and Ezekiel and these other prophetic works that paint the end times? You honestly you have to just go get in the word. I can tell you what to think.
Luke Bilberry:I can tell you what I think, but at the end of the day, I want us to know what God says. Mhmm. And so so and I know you even and maybe maybe this is probably a place to kinda wrap up. As you were saying something before, Honeycutt, that I think is powerful about having all the answers. And I I don't know if you wanna kinda process there, we kinda begin to wrap up this conversation.
Luke Bilberry:But the invitation would be for for our church family is, one, I think we're gonna be studying the book of Revelation, walking through it word by word, which will be really fun in the coming seasons through our Bible studies. We're gonna do Acts and a couple other things, but eventually we're gonna do Genesis and Revelation because it's so fascinating how much the big first book and the last book work together to tell this grand narrative of who God is. But you just sound pretty profound, and then I wanna go back to that.
Andrew Honeycutt:Yeah. I just think that, like, man, going through seminary, going through, like, all my studies, there's just so much out there. Man, I've always felt this, I want to get it right. I wanna make sure that I get it right. Because I even struggle with the fact that we were talking even before we got honest, man, the scribes and the Pharisees when Jesus came on the scene got it wrong.
Andrew Honeycutt:And those are the people that Jesus is the most frustrated about because of the implications of that and when they got it wrong, what they did in light of that. And so I think for me, I'm always just like, man, I want to say the right thing. I always wanna do the right thing. And, sometimes there can become like almost like an insecurity around that. And really instead of just stepping out in faith and saying, no, this is what we're called to, this is what we read.
Andrew Honeycutt:And in the end, you know what, like he will win. And that's the hope that we get to rest in. Like this, like Revelation, like this is written to a people that's being persecuted. And so it's this encouragement that even in the midst of that, this isn't the end. There is a future.
Andrew Honeycutt:There is a hope in Jesus Christ.
Luke Bilberry:Yeah. Yeah. That's so true, man. And I just I love that you brought that up because I think it's powerful for us to think about when we have all the answers and we could spell out the end and we can spell it all out, we may still miss the reality if we're not looking to Jesus and we're not living out a faith that is deeply abiding in Him. And I think that's just a great reminder for us.
Luke Bilberry:Are there things that we believe? Yeah. And it all to me boils down in how we read and understand the scriptures. And I think those are worthwhile conversations because they define us as a local church and gives propels us forward in our mission. And so we wanna have that conversation.
Luke Bilberry:If you wanna have those conversations with us, set up time with our pastor. That's why that's why we have campus pastors is for you to have those conversations. That's why we have an awesome team. It's also why we do small groups is to process this stuff together, but to not miss what it's all about. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Luke Bilberry:And to that end, we strive. We we run hard after Jesus and we wanna make him known. We wanna multiply transomorphology, Jesus, and we don't wanna get lost in conversations that, while beneficial, we should know, we should be able to give us an account of, we should wrestle these things through. We're gonna make sure we keep focused on the thing that matters most, and that is seeing, knowing, and running after Jesus. And so we hope these conversations have been helpful for you, and we are grateful that you've joined us on this journey through the Core Podcast.
Luke Bilberry:Hopefully, it's been a good sermon series for you. Hopefully, these resources have come along, and helped you. If you could do me a favor, as if you're listening to this, if there's any thoughts, feedback, if it's been helpful, you could email us at info@chapel-point.org, and we'd love to just hear how God is, using this conversation, how God has used this bible study. And, honestly, if there's any way that we could come alongside you, feel free to email us there, and we look forward to coming alongside you and serving you. So grateful for you.
Luke Bilberry:Have a wonderful week, and we'll see you guys soon.