Jesus announced - and demonstrated - that the Kingdom of God had come. And yet, on the night before his death, Jesus prepared his disciples for a reality they had not expected: the Kingdom had come, but it had not yet come in its fullness. It is a tension we still live in 2000 years later.
At bread, we want to live faithfully in the overlap: praying boldly and expecting the supernatural power of the Kingdom to break into the present, while refusing to deny the very real suffering, disappointment and loss of the world we still inhabit.
So, how do we live with expectation and disappointment, miracles and unanswered prayers, joy and grief? The heart of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse in John “Remain in me.” Correct theology matters, but theology alone cannot hold us. We make our home in Jesus, as he makes his home in us — and from that abiding place come the love, joy, peace and power we need to live as people of the Now and the Not Yet.
NB - serendipitously, the Lectio 365 app is working through the Remain in me verses in John 15 this week. Follow along there too!
By Hannah Flint
From the beginning, Jesus' Church has been rooted in the Scriptures. This is seen no more clearly than in Stephen's biblical defense of the fledging Christian community in Acts 7.
At bread, we aspire to be a Biblical church. This means, amongst other things, never reducing God to a particular geographical place; never reducing him to a man-made cause; never shirking the reality of our human sin and weakness; and always having our eyes fixed on Jesus. To be a Biblical church is not just about teaching and interpreting the Bible well, it's about having it written on our hearts - so that we, like Stephen, might look just like the Jesus whom the Scriptures reveal.
By Ed Flint
This prophetic Psalm is one of the richest, Messianic Psalms written, giving us an understanding of the absolute authority of Israel’s coming Messiah. Psalm 2 points us to the future of the Messiah’s Kingship and Kingdom, and the ultimate subjugation of Christ’s enemies and the kings of this world, where the final reality is laid out: all will either submit to Christ the King’s eternal reign, or be destroyed.
The timeline presented in Psalm 2 not only points us to partial fulfillment in Acts 4, but also contains within it a key verse, that presents a powerful foundational truth, positioning and enabling His church to have the correct heart posture and spiritual response in this current era of the Holy Spirit; both toward those who would oppose Christ’s authority, and to those who are lost and need to know Him.
By Dianne Manusama
Psalm 51 gives us incredible insight into how David viewed God even when he had gravely sinned. It’s a study in the nature of our Heavenly Father. David didn’t allow shame to make him cower before God. He didn’t see Him as a hard taskmaster to be feared, but rather as his safe place to run ‘to; not run ‘from.’
David learned throughout his life that being in God’s presence was the most precious thing he could ever experience. So, this Psalm isn’t self abasement from David, but instead, intense liberating repentance based on his absolute knowledge that just like us in our New Covenant reality, in times of greatest sin, we can come fearlessly, boldly, and confidently, before the throne of grace and receive God’s unfathomable mercy and forgiveness.
By Dianne Manusama
Psalm 46 reminds us that God is not only supreme and powerful, but also eternally merciful.
By painting the picture of a God who rules over all creation, as well as the warring nations, the Psalmist reminds us of His love and mercy towards His people. That even in the midst of total chaos, our God invites us to be still and know that He is God.
By Bram Manusama
To be human is to be made for intimacy - with other people vitally, but also with God primarily. In Psalm 139 we see how nothing is hidden from God. He knows us intimately.
This can lead us to do two things - run away from Him; or run towards Him. We run away because we're afraid - usually of rejection, abandonment, or humiliation. But David understands that that is not what awaits us, nor is running away anything but futile. No one can get away from God's presence.
Instead, He runs towards God's love - His love is intimately concerned with us, it is fiercely passionate for us, and it leads us into life in all its fullness. We can stop hiding.
By Ed Flint
More than any other, Psalm 110 reveals the identity of the Messiah.
Jesus is the fulfillment of David’s prophecy in this psalm: Jesus has completed the work God assigned him setting us right with God, Jesus is Lord over all that we ever face, Jesus is our eternal priest caring and interceding for us, and Jesus is extending His kingdom over evil with us as His willing army in the fight.
By Ed Flint
Psalm 19 (NIV); Psalm 19 (Message)
The Psalms don't just tell us about God—they teach us how to speak to him. Psalm 19 invites us into an ancient prayer of orientation, that begins with the skies, delights in instruction, and ends with a simple prayer of surrender.
But to hear it well, we have to step outside our modern assumptions about science, faith, and religious rules—and learn to see the world a little more like ancient Israel did. It's an invitation to slow down, recover wonder, and allow the Holy Spirit to write God's ways on our hearts.
By Hannah Flint
God of Humanity
The Bible answers the fundamental question of what it means to be human, by saying: it means to be in relationship with God.
It's less about who we are and more about whose we are. When we start with God, we experience life as it’s supposed to be lived: we see that God is enormous and powerful; we are small; our worship shuts the mouth of all that comes against us; God cares about the smallest details of our lives; and in our weakness he makes us strong. We come to God as we are, and he meets us there.
By Ed Flint
At bread, we value the manifest presence of God above all else. Worship is essential for that.
Since the beginning God's people have sung songs of worship. We are commanded to do so; it's who we were created to be; and He alone is worthy of it. Worship will always be the ultimate goal for humanity. So we're learning that as we bring our full selves- body, mind and spirit- to worship, trusting in the cross of Christ, we draw close to God, and He to us. Our worship welcomes in the King of the Kingdom. And wherever He is, his Kingdom comes.
By Ed Flint
Matthew 25:14-30; Genesis 2:15
Returning to Jesus' parable of the talents, we consider how this story relates to all areas of our lives other than money.
We have all been variously gifted by God - not just in respect of our abilities or talents, but also with regards to our history, our personality, our relationships, our experiences, all of what makes us, us. As co-collaborators with God in building his kingdom, we're called not to sit on all that we've been given, but to invest it. We're called to use it for the good of people, and the glory of God. If we don't, we're in danger of losing it.
But if we do, God promises to give us even more. And when we do, we get to delight in all the ways our investments make our world an even more wonderful place.
By Ed Flint
The Parable of the Great Banquet is Jesus opening the doors to everyone. After being invited to dinner by a group of Pharisees, Jesus answers their question on who’s in and who’s out in his new kingdom. Drawing from Isaiah’s messianic banquet prophecy 700 years earlier, Jesus redeclares God’s desire for everyone to be included. That means you too!
By Tom Powell
The parable of the talents is primarily about money. Jesus encourages his followers to be responsible with the money they have been given. All of it is a gift from God, because God owns all the money in the world.
We don't need to worry too much about where we are in the pecking order in terms of how much or how little we've been given. Rather we’re to be responsible with all that we've got, holding it with open hands, ready to use it to invest in God’s kingdom wherever we can.
By doing so we reflect God’s generosity to us, and we rob money of the power it can have over us- freeing ourselves from fear or worship of it.