Dear Editor,
With all the hoopla about the 5125 year Mayan calendar cycle coming to the end, and all the people predicting the potential end of the world coming on December 21st, I feel compelled to speak out.
I don’t know the days and hours and am not going to make some crazy speculation, but, I do want you to know what you need to know in case the end is upon us.
Now, when I say the end, I’m not speaking of just the end of all things. We are all destined to die and then we will face the Lord our God for an eternal judgment. With this in mind we all need to know the following Scripture passages so we can be prepared for the day of our departure.  
Hebrews 9:22a, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 14:6, “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’” Luke 22:20, “After supper he took another cup of wine and said, ‘This wine is the token of God’s new covenant to save you—an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.’” Hebrews 10:19, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.”
I hope you can see clearly that the blood of Jesus is your only hope of salvation. God has provided for us, in Jesus sacrificial offering, that which we cannot attain on our own. The Scriptures are clear. If you have not accepted by faith what Jesus has done for you, you are not prepared for the end of your time or the end of all time.
I would like to thank God for sending His Son into our world for this purpose. It is the greatest Christmas gift ever given.
Pastor Thomas R. Swain
First Church of God
Great Bend