After Resurrection Sunday, before returning to Colossians, Pastor Josh posed a simple but profound question: Christ rose from the dead — now what?
He walked us to Acts chapter 1, where the disciples ask Jesus the same thing: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus’s answer shifts everything:
“It’s not for you to know the times or seasons… But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
— Acts 1:7-8
They didn’t stand around staring at clouds. They got to work. And here’s the question that frames this entire message: What do we do while we’re waiting for Christ to return?
The Airport Terminal Analogy
Pastor Josh used a picture that many of us can relate to — waiting in an airport terminal. You’ve bought your ticket, checked in, made it through security. Now you’re just… waiting at the gate.
What do most people do? They scroll on their phone. They veg out. And here’s the thing — that’s not necessarily wrong. But what should characterize a follower of Christ while we’re in this waiting period?
Grace Trains Us to Say No
Paul writes to Titus:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”
— Titus 2:11-12
The word for “training” is paideuo — it has a discipline element to it. Grace doesn’t just dump information into your head. It actively, uncomfortably shapes you. And the first thing it trains us to do is say no — to ungodliness, to worldly passions, to the very things Christ died to save us from.
Pastor Josh gave a personal example: his HOA wouldn’t approve his house paint color in time for his painters to come. He felt that familiar rise of frustration — the urge to fire off a sharp email. But he caught it. Grace helped him talk himself off the cliff. It’s just paint. It’s going to be fine. That’s grace at work — training you to say no when your old self would have said yes.
Grace Trains Us to Say Yes
But it’s not just saying no — it’s saying yes. Grace trains us in three specific areas:
- Self-controlled — our relationship with ourselves
- Upright — our relationship with the world
- Godly — our relationship with God
These aren’t suggestions. They’re the natural fruit of grace working in your life. When was the last time you actually exercised self-control in an area where your old self would have given in? That’s grace training you.
Grace Makes Us Zealous for Good Works
Look at verse 14:
“[Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works.”
— Titus 2:14
This is the third thing grace produces — not just personal holiness, but active zeal for good works. We’re not just saved from something; we’re saved for something. God’s passion becomes our passion.
Here’s a question worth sitting with: Are you as zealous for God’s glory as God is zealous for His own glory?
“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.”
— Exodus 20:5
God is passionate. And when grace redeems us, it doesn’t leave us passionless — it makes us a people zealous for good works.
So What Do We Do?
Back to the airport terminal. You know you’re getting on the plane. You know where you’re going. But right now — in this in-between time — you wait. And what you do in that waiting matters.
Grace doesn’t just save you and leave you to figure it out. It immediately begins its work of training you — saying no to ungodliness, saying yes to godliness, and filling you with zeal for the things God is passionate about.
The resurrection of Jesus guarantees your eternal inheritance and your future resurrection. That means the question isn’t whether you’re going to be with God — it’s what you’re doing while you wait.
Until Christ returns, we are Airport Christians — people who know where we’re going, who’ve already secured our ticket, and who are actively, purposefully living in a way that honors the one who saved us.
Let’s not waste the waiting.
Scripture References
- Acts 1 — The Apostles’ Commission
- Titus 2:11-14 — God’s Grace Trains Us
- Exodus 20:5 — God Is a Jealous God