"Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. 

You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 

And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.

And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.

Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come."

Matthew 24:9-14 NLT

Jesus disciples were wanting to know what will happen next, how it all ends.

And it doesn't start well.

If you're a disciple following your Rabbi and get told the next thing is you'll be hated on and killed and it will seem that the Kingdom dream is dead. 

But there's a Bigger Story at work here, a Story where Jesus wants everyone to be embraced in God's Kingdom, that even when the Good News seems to be lost, buried, overcome, it is not, it remains alive and active. Maybe that means for us alive and active in the small acts of love, of care, of forgiveness, of giving, of holding one another up, the small everyday choices to be kind, to listen, and to be God's hands and feet in a world needs to know what Love is.

Jesus says to his team, "trust the Bigger Story that you're in".

#wordsofJesus 

#redletterBible 

#lovewins