The other day I was driving past Texas Stadium and thought back to when it was built in 1971 with the hole in the roof "so God could watch his team play." It's hard to believe that in four years the stadium will be replaced.

Our family was living in Atlanta when the Braves' baseball stadium was imploded so the new Olympic field could be built. The boys and I watched the explosion, as what took years to build took about 10 minutes to demolish. The stadium where Hank Aaron became baseball's all-time leading home run hitter is no more.

Builders have broken ground on the new Yankee Stadium, scheduled for completion in three years. It's hard to imagine that the "house Ruth built" won't be used much longer.

Not much about the future is certain in the present, is it?

Through our study of the Seven Churches of Revelation, we've learned about the present-tense issues of God's people in the first century. Since human nature doesn't change, their temptations and problems are still ours. These letters are preserved in Holy Scripture because they are still relevant to us.

• We learned from the Ephesian church to make Jesus our first love, or we're not really a church.
• From Smyrna, to trust God with our sufferings, knowing that he will redeem them for his glory and our Good.
• From Pergamum, to serve no one ahead of Jesus, no matter their significance in our lives or world.
• From Thyatira, to put God before material success and social popularity.
• From Sardis, to combat complacency every day.
• From Philadelphia, to trust that God's holiness requires him to redeem all that he permits or causes.
• From Laodicea, to seek God with passion and personal intimacy, opening the door to his Spirit every morning.

Now Revelation turns from the present to the future: to "what must take place after this."

As we are three weeks away from some significant new opportunities as a congregation, it seems appropriate for our congregation to discuss the future. Our nation is moving closer to mid-term elections and possible major shifts in political leadership. Most relevant of all, you and I are facing fears about the future this morning, and need to know how to trust them to our Father.

What about tomorrow most worries you today? Your job? Your health? Your marriage? Your children? Where you'll go to college? What you'll do when you graduate from college? If you could ask God to take care of one part of the future, what would it be?

Let's learn precisely that kind of faith this morning.