Birth of the church
Jesus walking
into the Jordon River announcing that the kingdom of God is among us. Isn’t that what the church is supposed to be?
The kingdom of God among us? Do you know there are people who would disagree
with that, and say that the church is where I meet my friends, where I learn
the bible, where I give to missions, where I have potlucks, where I meet with
God. The church is one thing: The kingdom of God among us. People in Jesus’ day
didn’t get that and here is the result: Matt 12:22-28
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man
who was blind and mute, (demons come
indifferent forms – this one is exact opposite of last week’s Legion of demons) and Jesus healed him, so that he could
both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" (the
kingdom of God among us) 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they
said, "It is only by
Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every
kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household
divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided
against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by
Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your
judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When
I was 15 years old, on a Monday night in November in Zanesville Ohio, about an
hour East of Columbus, the kingdom of God came near to me and I met the King
and told him that I wanted to be in His kingdom, and in that moment, the King
of the kingdom of God welcomed me in as a citizen of his kingdom.
Someone
might say, well then if you are in the kingdom of God/or the kingdom of heaven,
how can you still be here on earth?
Great question. Let me try and
answer it.
JESUS ANNOUNCED TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL – THE CHURCH / Baptism
John
1:26-31
"I baptize with
water," John replied, "but among
you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of
whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." This all happened at
Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward
him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man
who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did
not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be
revealed to Israel."
ONLY THE KING CAN LET YOU IN TO HIS KINGDOM / Confirmation
Matthew 16:13-20
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people
say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,
Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But
what about you?" he asked. "Who do you
say I am?" 16 Simon
Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God." 17
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of
Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
PILATE SAW JESUS AS KING OF THE JEWS
John 18:31-19:22 (Narrate the story between Pilate and Jesus)
19:19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened
to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of
the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the
city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests
of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write
'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have
written."
BEYOND HIS EARTHLY LIFE JESUS REVEALS THE CHURCH/KINGDOM ON EARTH
Revelation 1:10-20
On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and
I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven
churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and
Laodicea."
I turned around to see the voice that was
speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the
lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching
down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair
were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the
sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his
mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all
its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as
though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living
One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys
of death and Hades.
Write, therefore,
what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of
the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden
lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and
the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
PARABLES ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH
Matthew 13:31-33 (Church GROWTH)
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it
is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." He
told them still another parable: "The kingdom of
heaven is like yeast that a woman took and
mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked
all through the dough."
Matthew 21:43-44 (Bear Fruit or die)
"Therefore I
tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken
away from you and given to a people who will
produce its fruit.”
John 18:36 (Not OF this world-but FROM another
place)
Jesus said, "My
kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my
servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
THE LORD OF LIFE by
Ann Weems
O Lord, we’re playing Pharisee
again, more interested in the Sunday morning count
Than in the feeding of your sheep, more interested in stars for our crowns
Than in that cup of cold water, more interested in tradition and appearance
Than in the following of our Lord.
Than in the feeding of your sheep, more interested in stars for our crowns
Than in that cup of cold water, more interested in tradition and appearance
Than in the following of our Lord.
O Jesus, you were real and we made
you saccharine and hung you on the church school wall and told all the little
children you wanted them to sit still.
O Jesus, you were here and now and we made you something in the sweet by and by and told all the people in need to see you in heaven.
O Jesus, you were here and now and we made you something in the sweet by and by and told all the people in need to see you in heaven.
O Jesus, you walked in our shoes in
our marketplace and we told you to stay in your sandals, in a faraway place, in
a long ago time, stay back in the Bible.
O Jesus, we made you a baby that didn’t cry, we made you a boy with good manners, we made you a man, sweet and gentle.
O Jesus, we made you a baby that didn’t cry, we made you a boy with good manners, we made you a man, sweet and gentle.
We tossed you pennies, then told
you how to spend them. We built you temples, then told you who could enter them. We made you wood and plastic and concrete and
locked you in the church. We made you a goody-goody god and stood before the
world with joyless faces and pointing fingers and tsk-tsk-tsk cold voices, declaring
thou-shalt-nots.
O Lord! We paid no attention to Who
You Are: the Lord of Life! The head of
the Church! The King of the Kingdom!
Jesus was into life in such a way that
you either had to follow him or resent his attempt to bring you change. That’s
still who he is: Someone who’s going to make you see yourself if you have ears
to hear.
O Lord, we’re playing Pharisee
again, Playing at church and making excuses about the real thing: Not me, Not
now, Not with my income, Not with all I have to do…
Or making after-all speeches: After
all, I give more than others I could name; After all, I do have five children; After
all, I haven’t been feeling well…
Or putting God off: As soon as we
get the house paid for, as soon as we get the kids through college, as soon as
we get this painting finished….
Christ was crucified for saying,
Follow me now. He was crucified for saying: You’re storing up treasures! Feed
my sheep! You’re blasphemers! Love God with everything you’ve got! And don’t
forget that cup of cold water.
Sweet and gentle? Meek and mind? Christ
came treading into our marketplaces, our temples, our homes – even into our
private person – Teaching in the temple - Preaching by the sea - Questioning
religious customs - Breaking the ceremonial law - Righting injustices - Healing
the sick - Being joyful in the company of friends - Calling the children - Chiding
good church members - Caring for unimportant people - Seeking out the sinners.
Christ came humbling himself, came
loving the poor, the hungry, the lonely. Christ came loving –This Lord of Life,
this living, loving Lord.
O Lord, open our eyes to see the
Pharisee within us. Open our ears that we might hear the prophecy of the
possibility of change. Open the church doors that we might follow our living,
loving Lord and king out into the marketplace and invite everyone we see into
the kingdom of God on earth and to the kingdom of God eternal!
Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be
thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
VIDEO – The Mission of the Church Matters
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