People In Search Of A Kingdom – Mercy & Justice

As people of God's Kingdom, how should we interact with the world around us? the Bible says two almost paradoxical things; 1. This world will pass away, 2. This world is being redeemed. Living with this tension allows us to be both hopeful about and engaged in the world (God’s kingdom is here to redeem it), as well as not controlled by or conformed to it (God’s kingdom will eventually supersede this world). The presence of the kingdom now means not only can we experience God's justice and mercy for ourselves, but we can bring them to a world in need. The kingdom is for everyone, but it is always particularly powerfully present for those most in need - where Jesus is king there is justice for the downtrodden, mercy for those who have not experience mercy, healing for the hurting, abundance for those in poverty, deliverance for the oppressed, and loved for the unloved and unloveable. Lastly, hear from Raul (bread’s community engagement pastor) about the ways you can get involved in bringing mercy and justice in the community.

People In Search Of A Kingdom – Everyone Gets To Play

The kingdom Jesus establishes is one of transformative power - power from God that is given to each and everyone of us. Embracing who we are as inhertors of the kingdom means embracing that we have dynamic culture-transforming roles to play. The kingdom is also one of diversity. No two kingdom people are the same - we are individually gifted - and part of maturing as Christians is identifying and expressing our individual gifts for the good of God’s kingdom.

People In Search Of A Kingdom – Lifestyle Of The Future

What does it mean to live the kingdom lifestyle? The Sermon on the mount is the closest thing we have to the manifesto, but if we were to make that the moral standard, no one could ever hope to enter the kingdom of God. The good news is that’s not how it works. Jesus is not describing a new set of rules, he’s describing what happens to us when we pass out of the present age, enter his kingdom, and start to live as people of the age to come. This is what heaven looks like. And heavenly people, sons and daughters of the kingdom, which is already here in part, have undergone a revolution of their whole way of being.

People In Search Of A Kingdom – The Methods Of The Messengers

The good news of the kingdom was always, in every instruction Jesus gave, supposed to be accompanied by the signs of the kingdom. This is the way we were always called to announce it. Which means, for us, exactly the same thing it meant for his disciples and the early church... healing the sick, casting out demons, and showing in all the ways that Jesus did, what it looks like in his kingdom: creation restored, division destroyed, racism refused, broken bodies put back together, and all the powers of death destroyed. There are valid reasons to explain why we may not have seen it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have every reason to get our beliefs about them in check, and start, together to have faith for more.

People In Search Of A Kingdom – Confronted With Grace

The parables of Jesus are more than just nice stories, they’re announcements of God’s kingdom being inaugurated on earth. If we’re to understand these parables, we’ve gotta ask ‘what is Jesus announcing about the kingdom?’ This is the guiding question in reading the parable of the Lost Sons from Luke 15. What we find in the story is grace confronts the lost sons, it’s how they can enter the father’s house. Like them, we enter the kingdom by grace – it breaks through to people who do not deserve it. In the kingdom, identities are returned, pain is taken away, joy is restored and we have communion with the King. The lost are found and the dead are made alive again – it all results in joy and celebration. The question we’re left is, what will we do with this kind of scandelous grace?

People In Search Of A Kingdom – The End Has Begun

Jesus is the king that we’ve all been waiting for and his kingdom has come. It’s implications can be felt in every nook and cranny of our lives: when he is king he liberates those who have been held back from all religious, societal, political and familial oppression. His inauguration of the kingdom is an end of world event. It causes us to rejoice for the future is definitively settled. This means we don’t need to be anxious. But instead we can be filled with joy.

People In Search Of A Kingdom - Living In The Interim

Jesus began his ministry and immediately demonstrated - with miraculous signs (over nature and sickness and death and evil) and very clear statements - that he was the one they were waiting for. It didn’t happen like anyone was expecting, however. This is one of the most mind-bending aspects of our faith; that we live in the in-between time, where Jesus life, death and resurrection ushered in a new era, before another has fully ended, and it might not seem like the most theologically relevant point you’ve ever heard a talk on, but actually an accurate understanding of the age we live in impacts everything - from what god is like, to what’s the point in prayer, to what he really thinks about purpose.

People In Search Of A Kingdom – Old Testament Picture of the Kingdom

The kingdom of God is at the heart of the biblical story and the Christian life. Without a full immersion in the theology and experience of the kingdom, our Christian lives will always feel deficient. This is a series challenging us to embrace the kingdom, so we might live life to its fullness. As we begin, we consider the picture of kingdom life from Old Testament. Solomon’s early reign saw a golden age of kingdom living: there is peace and prosperity; worship, celebration, art, science and abundance. It provides a taste of the kingdom to come. The challenge for us is to allow Jesus to be the King in all aspects of our lives. When he is, the kingdom necessarily breaks forth.