Questions for Jesus: What Is the Kingdom of God Like?

Jesus started his ministry telling people to "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near." What he meant was that God's new life was invading this world enslaved to death, and we have a chance to turn aside, abandon our deadly ways, and receive God's abundant, benevolent provision.

That's a little hard to understand.

So the question came, "What is the Kingdom of God like?" Jesus gave his answer in various parables. Today we begin our "Questions for Jesus" series with this fundamental question of Christian life: "How does it work?" "What is it like?"

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How to Take the STEW Out of Stewardship

William Jaques from the Arkansas Baptist State Convention did a great job on January 13th teaching us about managing the resources God gives us: money, in particular, but also time, energy and everything else that we are.

The conference was given in three sessions.  Below are links to each of the sessions.  Click on the links to listen.  Bro. William showed a video in two of the sessions.  The video from session two is shown below as well.

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Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Let's Go "Up the Mountain" with Jesus this Year!

I've been on a spiritual retreat this week to try to apply this message. This was a special message for the beginning of this year for our church. My prayer for our church - and you as you listen - is that we together "wake up" and accept the invitation up the mountain to see and live in God's kingdom.

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Incarnation: Confronted by Christmas

The Incarnation - God becoming flesh in Jesus Christ, sent by God to us - has enormous implications for us, the church. We have been sent, just as the Father sent Jesus (John 20:21). We are called to minister in this world as the Word made flesh in our own context. And we are called to empty ourselves to serve and reach those whom God has called us to love. We are Christ's Body; the Incarnation continues in us. What are we going to do about it?

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Incarnation: Means of Redemption

When God took on flesh in the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, He, as one commentator put it, "forever hallowed the flesh."  Since God voluntarily joined Himself with His creation, we can celebrate in that the Kingdom of God has come and that all of creation will one day be redeemed through Jesus.  Jesus came into the world He created, but it did not receive Him.  But all that do receive Him receives the right and power to become a child of God, inheriting eternal life in the Kingdom.  Wherever you are in your relationship with Christ (whether lifelong believer or simply curious skeptic), listen to this week's message and open up your heart to receive Jesus more than ever this Christmas.

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God in Flesh, Dwelling With Us

When we look at peaceful nativity scenes and hear beautiful Christmas music, it's easy to forget that Jesus was not born into an idealic world. He was born into a world like ours, and he faced this world as we face it. He identified with us in our limitations and our suffering. And in doing so, he answered once and for all the question, "Does God really care?"

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Incarnation: God Revealed

God is beyond our understanding. He is God--completely limitless in all things. We are not God. We cannot hope to grasp the limitless. To make matters worse, although we are created in God's image and have knowledge of the soul within us that senses eternity, we have rebelled against our Creator. The result is darkness that we cannot escape, unless God takes mercy on us.

 

We needed God to stoop down while we were still sinners and rebels and shine light into our darkness. That's what Christmas really means. God could have left on our own to destroy ourselves and one another. But He came near us instead. As a result, now, through Jesus, we can know God and discover who we are created to be.

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