Growing Deeper

There is a question buried in the Gospel of Luke that does not get nearly enough attention. Jesus, after telling a parable about persistent prayer, closes with this haunting line found in Luke 18:8 — a question about whether, when the Son of Man returns, he will find faith on the earth. It is not a rhetorical flourish. It is a serious, searching question directed at every person who claims to follow him. And the more you sit with it, the more it demands an honest answer from each of us.
That question frames everything worth thinking about when it comes to how Christians are supposed to live right now, in this moment, in this world.
The Danger of Passive Faith
There is a version of the Christian life that looks something like this: a person hears the gospel, accepts Christ, receives the assurance of salvation, and then settles in. They go to church when it is convenient. They pray occasionally. They think about heaven in a distant, comfortable sort of way. And they wait.
The problem is that Scripture does not describe that kind of faith as sufficient. In Matthew 24, Jesus paints a vivid picture of what the days leading up to his return will look like. People will be eating, drinking, marrying — going about the ordinary rhythms of life with no sense of urgency, no watchfulness, no readiness. And when the moment comes, it will be too late to scramble for what they should have been cultivating all along.
Jesus does not leave us without instruction. He says plainly — keep watch. Be ready. The servant who is found doing what the master asked when the master returns is the one who is rewarded. The servant who says to himself that the master is a long time coming and begins to live carelessly is the one who is caught completely off guard.
This is not a message about earning salvation. It is a message about what genuine, living faith actually looks like in practice.
What Gets in the Way
In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the most consequential night in human history, Jesus asked his closest disciples to do two things: stay and keep watch. These were men who had walked with him, heard his teaching, witnessed his miracles. And yet when he returned from prayer, he found them asleep. His response is instructive. He did not question whether they were truly his followers. He asked them why they could not watch for even one hour, and then he gave them the remedy: watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation.
Temptation is the thing that pulls us away from watchfulness. The book of James, in the first chapter, gives us a clear and uncomfortable picture of how this process works. It begins with our own desires — the parts of us that are still bent toward self, toward offense, toward bitterness, toward comfort. Those desires do not drag us into sin all at once. First, we are drawn away. Then we are enticed. And if we are not watching and praying, what was only an enticement becomes something we have embraced, and sin is the result.
The language James uses is striking. Desire, when it has been conceived, gives birth to sin. There is a difference between being near the world — which we must be, because that is where the people God loves actually live — and being in bed with it. One is the posture of a missionary. The other is the posture of someone who has stopped watching.
The Gift That Makes Watching Possible
Here is where the message turns from sobering to genuinely hopeful. Jesus told his disciples, in John 16, that it was actually better for them that He go away. That is an extraordinary claim. Better than having Jesus physically present, walking beside you, speaking directly to you? Better than that?
Yes. Because what He sent in His place — the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth — would guide them into all truth, would speak what He hears from the Father, and would tell them what is yet to come. The Holy Spirit is not a consolation prize for people who missed out on the first century. He is the presence of God living within every believer, convicting, guiding, revealing, and equipping.
That means the watching and praying Jesus commanded is not something we have to do in our own strength. The very Spirit of God is available to us, ready to keep us alert and ready if we will simply remain attentive to Him.
A Warning to the Comfortable
The book of Revelation contains letters to seven churches, and one of them — the church in Sardis — carries a warning that is difficult to read and impossible to dismiss. Jesus says to them, through the words recorded in Revelation 3, that they have a reputation for being alive but are in fact dead. He tells them to wake up. To strengthen what remains. To remember what they have received and to repent.
This was a church. These were people with a reputation for faith. And yet Jesus looked past the reputation and saw something else entirely.
It is worth asking whether any of us might be in a similar position. Not as a reason for despair, but as an invitation to honesty. There is nothing in Scripture that forbids a believer from going before God and asking whether their faith is genuine, whether they are truly watching, whether the Holy Spirit is truly at work within them. In fact, the consistent witness of Scripture is that God answers that kind of humble, sincere asking.
The Invitation
When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth? The question is not meant to frighten. It is meant to awaken. It is meant to stir something in us that looks up from the ordinary rhythms of life and remembers that there is something far greater on the horizon.
Watch. Pray. Be ready. Not because your salvation depends on your performance, but because a living faith cannot help but be oriented toward the one it belongs to. The servants who were found doing what the master asked were not straining and striving out of fear. They were simply faithful. Present. Awake.
That is the invitation extended to every one of us today.

5-Day Bible Reading Plan and Devotional Guide

Themes: Watchfulness, Readiness, Faith, Temptation, and the Holy Spirit
Day 1: Stay Ready, Stay Watching
Reading: Matthew 24:36-44
Devotional: Jesus warns that no one knows the hour of His return -- not the angels, not even the Son in His earthly ministry. Yet He does not leave us without instruction. He says to keep watch. Readiness is not passive waiting; it is active, faithful living. As Rusty reminded the congregation, God calls us to be ready in season. Ask yourself today: Am I living in a way that reflects genuine expectation of Christ's return, or have I grown comfortable assuming there is more time? Readiness begins now.
Reflection Question: What areas of your life need to be brought into alignment with the expectation of Christ's return?
Practical Application: Identify one habit or attitude today that reflects spiritual laziness, and replace it with one act of intentional, faithful obedience.
Day 2: Watch and Pray Against Temptation
Reading: Mark 14:32-38
Devotional: In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His closest disciples to do two things: stay and keep watch. They fell asleep. In that moment of great spiritual weight, the flesh overpowered the spirit. Jesus did not condemn them with anger but with a sobering question—could you not watch for one hour? The remedy He gave was simple and direct: watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. Temptation does not announce itself. It finds us in our unguarded, prayerless moments. The discipline of prayer is not optional; it is protective armor for the soul.
Reflection Question: When temptation finds you, is it typically during seasons of consistent prayer or seasons of prayerlessness?
Practical Application: Set aside one specific hour today dedicated entirely to prayer and Scripture. Guard it as you would any important appointment.
Day 3: Understanding How Temptation Works
Reading: James 1:13-15
Devotional: James lays out the anatomy of temptation with striking clarity. It begins with our own desires—the internal pull of the flesh. From there, we are drawn away and enticed. If left unchecked, desire conceives and gives birth to sin. As Rusty described it, there is a profound difference between being bedside the world -- present in it with purpose and mercy -- and getting into bed with it entirely. The line between the two is crossed slowly, often without notice, through unchecked desire and prayerlessness. Knowing how temptation works is the first step toward resisting it faithfully.
Reflection Question: What personal desire, left unexamined, has the potential to draw you away from God's purposes for your life?
Practical Application: Write down one recurring temptation you face. Trace it back to its root desire, and bring that specific desire before God in honest prayer today.
Day 4: Persistent Faith and the Question Christ Will Ask
Reading: Luke 18:1-8
Devotional: Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow not simply to encourage boldness in prayer but to reveal what genuine faith looks like over time. The widow did not give up. She kept returning. She kept asking. At the close of the parable, Jesus asks a question that should stop every believer cold: when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? It is not a rhetorical question meant to comfort us. It is a searching question meant to examine us. The faith he is looking for is the kind that keeps seeking, keeps knocking, and never stops watching for his return.
Reflection Question: If Christ returned today, would the evidence of your daily life testify to an active, seeking faith?
Practical Application: Commit to one week of consistent, daily prayer -- not lengthy or complicated, but persistent and honest. Let the widow's example be your model.
Day 5: The Holy Spirit Guides Those Who Listen
Reading: John 16:12-15
Devotional: Before his departure, Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of truth -- would guide them into all truth, speak what he hears from the Father, and reveal what is yet to come. Jesus even said it was better for Him to return to the Father so that the Counselor could come. That is an extraordinary statement. The same Spirit who hovered over creation, who raised Christ from the dead, now dwells within every believer. He convicts, guides, and illuminates. But He speaks to those who are watching and listening. As Rusty said, you cannot receive what God has for you when offenses, bitterness, or distraction are filling the space where the Spirit wants to move.
Reflection Question: Is there anything in your heart right now -- an offense, a fear, a distraction -- that is competing with the voice of the Holy Spirit?
Practical Application: Spend time in silence today. No music, no noise. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in your heart that is blocking his work, and surrender it before you leave that quiet place.

Discussion Questions

Be Ready (Matthew 24:36-51)

1. Many believers treat salvation as a deposit that requires nothing further of them. Have you ever found yourself in that mindset? What does that look like practically in everyday life?
2. Jesus uses the image of a faithful servant who is found doing the master's work when he returns, versus a wicked servant who assumes the master is away for a long time and begins to act accordingly. Which of these two postures best describes your current spiritual life? Be honest with yourself and with the group.
3. What would it look like in your daily routine to genuinely "keep watch" as Jesus instructs?

Watch and Pray (Mark 14:32-38)

4. Jesus asked His closest disciples to do two things in the garden: stay and keep watch. They fell asleep. Why do you think it is so difficult to remain spiritually alert even when we genuinely want to?
5. The speaker pointed out that the disciples were not unbelievers. They were committed followers of Jesus who still fell into temptation because they were not watching and praying. What does this tell us about the relationship between our spiritual disciplines and our vulnerability to temptation?
6. Is there an area of your life right now where you sense you have fallen asleep spiritually? What would it take to wake up in that area?

 How Temptation Works (James 1:13-15)

7. The speaker described the progression of temptation as being dragged away, then enticed, then conceiving sin. Can you identify a time in your life when you recognized one of those early stages? What happened when you did or did not act on that recognition?
8. The speaker drew a distinction between being "bedside" with the world, which is necessary for ministry and relationship, and getting "into bed" with the world. How do you personally navigate that line? Where do you find it most difficult?
9. The speaker mentioned that he came to the pulpit that morning with unresolved offenses in his heart and said he could not bring God's word until he laid those down. Are there offenses you are currently carrying that may be blocking your ability to hear from God or receive his word?

Persistent Faith (Luke 18:1-8)

10. Jesus closes the parable of the persistent widow by asking whether the Son of Man will find faith on the earth when he returns. What kind of faith do you think he is looking for? How does the widow in the parable model that faith?
11. The speaker said that if people do not see us fervently seeking God, it becomes very difficult for them to believe our message about heaven. How does your prayer life and spiritual attentiveness either support or undermine your witness to those around you?

The Holy Spirit and the Warning to Sardis (John 16:12-15, Revelation 3:1-3)

12. Jesus told his disciples it was better for them to have the Holy Spirit than to walk beside him physically. Do you live as though that is true? What would it look like to rely more fully on the Holy Spirit's guidance in your daily decisions?
13. The church of Sardis had a reputation for being alive, but God told them they were dead. How does a church or an individual get to that place? What are the warning signs that someone might be living on reputation rather than reality?
14. The speaker asked a question worth sitting with as a group: "Have I been wearing a mask, or is my faith 100 percent authentic and real?" How do you answer that question for yourself right now?

Key Takeaways
1. Readiness is not passive. Jesus repeatedly instructed his followers to watch and pray. Being saved is not a signal to sit back and wait. It calls us to live actively and faithfully in anticipation of his return.
2. Temptation follows a predictable pattern. James 1 outlines how temptation works: a desire arises, we are drawn away, we are enticed, and if we are not watchful, sin is conceived. Recognizing this pattern early is essential to resisting it.
3. Watching and praying protect us from temptation. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to watch and pray so that they would not fall into temptation. Their failure to do so left them vulnerable. The same principle applies to believers today.
4. The Holy Spirit guides those who are listening. John 16 describes the Holy Spirit as one who will guide believers into all truth and reveal what is yet to come. This gift is only accessible to those who are attentive and seeking.
5. A reputation for faith is not the same as living faith. Revelation 3 contains a sobering warning to the church of Sardis: they had a reputation for being alive, but God said they were dead. The question is not what others see in us, but what God sees.


Practical Applications
This week, choose at least one of the following to put into practice:

1. Daily Watch and Pray: Set a specific time each day, even five to ten minutes, to stop, be still, and ask God to show you where you are spiritually alert and where you are not. Journal what you hear.
2. Identify and Lay Down Offenses: The speaker was direct that unresolved offenses block our ability to give and receive God's word. This week, ask God to reveal any offenses you are holding. Take a concrete step toward releasing them, whether that means a conversation, a written prayer, or simply surrendering them before God.
3. Examine Your Reputation vs. Your Reality. Spend time in honest prayer asking God the question the speaker raised: Is my faith real and active, or am I living on a reputation? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the answer and to show you what needs to change.
4. Practice Recognizing Temptation Early: Using the pattern from James 1, begin paying attention this week to the earliest stages of temptation in your life. When you notice a desire pulling you away from God, name it, pray about it, and do not let it progress.
5. Pursue the Holy Spirit: Read John 14 through 16 this week as a group reading assignment. Pay attention to every promise Jesus makes about the Holy Spirit. Come to the next group meeting ready to share one promise that stood out to you and why.