First Christian Church of Hartford KS

09/07/2026

Hope for Everyone Who Believes
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16–18)

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

With no desire to play on your emotions or manipulate some response from you, I must communicate the truth for all who read this. There are two very important facts that everyone must face.

The first: The only time to prepare for then is NOW. The second: There is no chance of change after death.

I’ve not been writing of some playful, imaginary, and entertaining scenes. I’ve been dealing with truth and reality, painful to read and, I can assure you, unpleasant to write. I do not care what you were told as you were being raised, or what you have been taught later on by whomever. According to an intelligent and careful study of the Scripture, I can assure you on the authority of the Word of God, this is the truth. You must prepare for it now since there is no chance of changing things after you die.

What is the issue? I turn to the letter of 1 John to answer that question. John explains the issue in simple terms. It is relatively simple to read and easy to grasp, but the question is: Will you believe it?

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11–13)

Don’t misunderstand. Everybody has eternal life because everyone has an eternal soul. The issue is not “Do I have eternal life?” It is, rather, “Where will I spend my eternal life?”

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

Ready for Christ’s Return
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. (John 14:1–3)

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Now, the most important thing for you to understand is that He is coming again. And, secondly, that it is a comfort to you because you have believed in Him.

Be sure that the one you believe in has conquered death, otherwise he won’t get you into heaven. The only way to get beyond the grave and into the Lord’s presence is to place your trust in One who has gone before you and has paved the way.

I think there are at least three ways we reveal our readiness for Christ’s return.

First, we continue to walk by faith. Rather than walking by sight and shaping our lives based on the visible, we walk by faith.

Second, we continue to live in peace. We view the present and our future not with panic but with peace. We don’t live worried, hassled lives.

And third, we rely on hope. The hope that gets me through the tests on this earth is the same hope that will get me through the grave at death, because the One in whom I have believed has gone before me. He is preparing a place for me. He is the embodiment of my hope. Because He lives, we shall live also. The secret of escape from the prison of this body and the pain of this planet is knowing the One who can guarantee our getting beyond the grave.

09/05/2026

At Any Moment
And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(Matthew 24:30)

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Nothing stands in the way of Christ’s return. That is why I have repeatedly used the term imminent . . . Jesus’ coming could occur at any moment. In other words, there is no future event in God’s timetable that must take place before Christ comes in the clouds for His own. Nothing! Candidly, I find that rather exciting. Since we know for sure He’s coming, yet we don’t know for sure when . . . any day or any hour could be the one!

H.L. Turner was right, over a hundred years ago, when he wrote:

It may at morn, when the day is awaking,
When sunlight thru darkness and shadow is breaking,
That Jesus will come in the fullness of glory,
To receive from the world his own.

O joy! O delight! should we go without dying,
No sickness, no sadness, no dread and no crying,
Caught up thru the clouds with our Lord into glory,
When Jesus receives His own.1

My maternal grandfather, L. O. Lundy, whom I loved dearly, used to say that he looked forward to dying because he wanted to go through the whole process as a Christian. Rather than bypassing death, he wanted to go through it. He wanted to know in a conscious manner, the joy of life beyond the grave. He wanted to experience his body’s bursting out of the ground, glorified and fitted for eternity, brought immediately into the Lord’s presence.

As I recall, he used to say that those who were going to be taken up while they are alive are only getting part of the blessing. But those who go through the whole death process “are going to get their money’s worth!” In fact, they get preferential treatment. We will not “precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15 NASB). They will be raised first, and then we will be brought up with them, glorified, “to meet the Lord in the air” (4:17).

Well, L. O. Lundy got his wish. He has died and his body awaits the Savior’s arrival. Any day now, he’s going to get his “money’s worth.”

09/04/2026

In the small, sun-drenched coastal town of St. Augustine, Florida, seventy-nine-year-old Arthur lived in Room 104 of the Palms Senior Living Center. Arthur had lost his wife, Eleanor, three years prior. In the final months of her life, Eleanor had made Arthur promise one thing: that he would never stop planting her favorite yellow marigolds in the community garden bed outside their room window every spring.
However, a severe stroke in the autumn of that year had left Arthur paralyzed on his right side and confined to a wheelchair, stripping him of the physical ability to dig, kneel, or garden.
As April arrived, Arthur would sit for hours by his window, staring out at the barren, weed-choked soil of the garden plot, weeping silently over his inability to keep his final promise to the love of his life.
Living across the street from the facility was sixteen-year-old Brandon, a high school student known around the neighborhood as quiet and aloof. Brandon walked past the senior center’s fence every day after school with his skateboard tucked under his arm.
He noticed the elderly man sitting by the window every afternoon, watching the empty dirt with immense grief in his eyes.
Instead of walking past, Brandon did some quiet research. He spoke with the center’s receptionist and learned about Eleanor, the yellow marigolds, and Arthur’s broken promise.
The next Saturday at 7:00 AM, while Arthur was still asleep, Brandon arrived at the senior center carrying two heavy bags of potting soil, garden spades, and six flats of blooming bright yellow marigolds that he had bought using money saved from his weekend lawnmowing jobs.
For four hours under the hot Florida sun, the teenager dug out the weeds, turned the rich dark earth, and planted over sixty vibrant marigolds in neat, beautiful rows right outside Arthur’s window, arranging them in the shape of a heart.
When Arthur woke up and his nurse rolled his wheelchair to the window at 11:00 AM, the old man gasped in absolute shock.
The barren dirt had been transformed into a stunning, golden sea of blooming flowers, their sweet scent drifting through the open window breeze.
Brandon was standing by the fence, wiping the sweat and dirt from his forehead with his sleeve.
Arthur pressed his trembling left hand against the window glass, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks, mouthing the words: "Thank you, son."
Brandon smiled, tapped his hand over his heart, and gave a respectful nod before picking up his skateboard and heading home.
For the next three years until Arthur passed away peacefully, Brandon returned every single spring to tend the marigolds, ensuring the promise made to Eleanor remained in full, vibrant bloom...

09/04/2026

Until He Comes
“You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” (Luke 12:40)

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

In all my years of attending church services and hearing the Bible taught, I cannot remember hearing much said about the importance of worship as we await Christ’s coming. But it is clearly an emphasis in Scripture, just as important as occupying, purifying, and watching.

The biblical basis for my comments on worship is found in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (NASB 1995)

How long are Christians to participate in worship? How long are we to gather around the Lord’s table and hold in our hands the elements that symbolize our Savior’s body and blood? He tells us in the last three words: “until He comes.” Every time we worship around the Lord’s table, it is another reminder that He’s coming. One of these times will be our last time to observe it on earth. It’s kind of exciting, isn’t it? It will be our last spiritual meal on earth together. But until then, we are to worship the Lord Christ. Every meal at His table is another reminder that His coming is nearer. We worship Him with great anticipation.