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Encounter with God





 

 

 

 

 

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"How Can I Describe the Kingdom of God"

 "The kingdom of God lies at the heart of what Jesus had to say, so it is important to grasp what it means.  As we have seen, many different groups in Palestine were looking for the kingdom of God.  Of course, they interpreted it in many different ways.  But they were all waiting for it -- apart, perhaps, from the Sadducees, who were moderately content with the political and religious compromises that kept them in power.  But everyone else was eagerly longing for the day when God would step in for His beleaguered people, defeat the hated Romans, and bring His rule to bear.  So 'kingdom of God' was a phrase packed with power.  And here was this carpenter claiming that with His arrival it was already at hand.

If you study the phrase 'kingdom of God' in the Gospels, you will find that the primary meaning is God's sovereign rule.  The trouble is that most people are rebels against God's way of doing things and want to paddle their own canoe.  They are still within the realm of God's sovereign rule, of course, but are rebel subjects.  And so the phrase 'kingdom of God' comes to have a secondary meaning: the people who willingly accept God's rule in their lives, seek to live by it and extend it.

Imagine, therefore, the excitement when Jesus followed John's call to radical change by this proclamation that the long-awaited kingdom of God was at hand.  He was proclaiming it.  He was bringing it in.  No wonder crowds materialized from nowhere and gathered around Him.  Surely this would be the time for the decisive defeat of the Romans!  But Jesus had a great surprise for them."
Who is this Jesus, Michael Green, pages 29,30.
     

For more click on this week's sermon.

 

Was Jesus God?

"So, when somebody asks me, 'Was Jesus God?'  I usually turn the question around. 'Is it true that the living God was uniquely and personally present in Jesus?'  

But the answer can't remain simply an abstract theory, a detached doctrine.  If you say 'no' to it, you are saying that Jesus was deluded; at best a tragic and noble figure, at worst a great charlatan and deceiver.  You aren't staying neutral; you're looking at Jesus of Nazareth, and saying he was deeply mistaken.

But if you say 'yes' to it, you're committing yourself to a journey: a journey of exploration into God through Jesus -- his life, his teaching, his death and his resurrection.

And that journey can neither be private nor self-centered.  You see, if we start by recognizing the rich, forgiving, healing love of the true God in the face of Jesus Christ, then to continue the journey means to join in with God's work of healing and love in the world.  If, as the apostle Paul says, 'In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself', then those who find themselves drawn into the love of this God must themselves join in God's work of reconciliation."

N. T. Wright, The Original Jesus, pages 85-87.
                  

 

The R.E.L.I.C.S. are assisting this young woman from Uganda in her education. 

 

Please pray that Sara would grow deeper in her walk with Jesus this year, and that her whole family would attend church.  Please also pray she would be a light in her school and family.  Thank you for your interest in supporting Sara you play an important role in her development as a disciple of Christ.

 

 


Saint Hugh Church
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Elgin, Illinois 60123

e-mail: tatamian@juno.com

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