Jesus said that the Kingdom was "near." God's Kingdom is coming and already here. The Kingdom is God's future arriving in our present. We long for people to experience the reality of God's Kingdom in their lives. The Gospel is literally the "good news." It is the good news about the kingdom of God. What sounds like good news to the people in our neighbourhoods? in our town? in our country? in our world? What would it look like if the Kingdom of God arrived in their lives?
Why do we exist as a church? What is at the heart and soul of our lives individually and as a community? Our (draft) vision statement is to "realize God's Future arriving in our Present." Our (draft) mission statement is to "invite families to experience the reality of God's Kingdom in their lives." Our prayer is "Your Kingdom Come!" Does a WHY pop out yet?
Add to these the power of living out of the reality and strength of having been loved and forgiven by our gracious God and King. Gratitude!
This concept make perfect sense for the church. Our Why is the central theme of our lives. My Why Christ - Why now - for today (as I suspect it morphs as time goes on) is that I belong to a community of believers to add my skills and support and to receive Gods blessings and support from other believers. Why be a Christian is because my life makes no sense without Christ at the core.
ReplyDeletePeggy, I agree with this.. Someone asked me that question this morning, and now I know why.....hmmm..
ReplyDeleteSo Why do I do this. I work with the children in this community because I know that the majority of those I come into contact with have not heard about the Love Jesus has, and especially the Love he has for children. So I do this. I plan events, and opportunities for God to show up in their lives, and for them to connect it. The Kingdom comes. Does that make sense?
perfect sense!!
ReplyDeleteWhy . . . because this ain't the Garden of Eden but it could approximate what God had intended ie by: prayerfully walking with Him as if in the Garden, seeing through His eyes,being the hands, feet and heart of answered prayers offerd up in desperation and last resort, standing in the gap as intercessors linking desperate human need to the unlimited resources of our merciful God, feeding the hungry,providing retreat/sanctuary for wounded pastors and their families . . . short term crisis housing . . . drug rehab . . missionary shelter . . . .sanctuary . . . whoa there is no end in sight there just needs to be a start . . . on our knees
ReplyDeleteNovember 5, 2012 11:29 AM
Good points Gord. The fact is God is present and I believe the "WHY" of our community is to help people realize and experience the fullness of His loving presence and, in some small but impactful way, the nearness of His Kingdom. The HOW is accomplished by the way in which we live our lives, prayerfully and with humility, in all ways reflecting that which we believe to be true, and thereby facilitating an awakening of souls, whose paths we cross, to God's presence. It seems to me that we are blessed with many in our midst that do this well (most often quietly) and perhaps we need to talk it up some more so that it becomes contagious!
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