Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.
Joshua Fuentes: Redemption is Near (Luke 21:25-37)
Joshua Fuentes, senior pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in San Antonio, described fig trees as easy, low maintenance fruit trees to grow. Fig trees also figure prominently in Jesus’ teaching.
“Jesus is coming,” Fuentes emphasized, noting that statement as the central truth of his sermon. At the same time, he acknowledged Jesus hasn’t returned yet. He exhorted his hearers to learn how to deal with the tension between Jesus’ promise to return and the fact he hasn’t returned yet.
The parable of the fig tree helps Christians deal with that tension, Fuentes asserted. The key is in knowing fig trees produce two crops a year. Fuentes went on to interpret what each crop signifies in Jesus’ parable.
Knowing Jesus will return is a source of hope and security, Fuentes encouraged. This hope enables us to pray in hope for strength. He exhorted his hearers to double down on their commitment to prayer.
This sermon was delivered Sept. 4, 2022, for the morning worship service of Crestview Baptist Church in San Antonio. It is part of a series, started in January 2021, on the Gospel of Luke titled “Jesus is King.”
A sermon transcript is available here.
Audio Player
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