Modeling the Kingdom
I would have loved to witness the ministry of Jesus in person. Crowds of blind, crippled, and seriously ill people pressing around him, experiencing profound life transformation as he opens their eyes and heals their diseases. Demonized (I like this term better than “demon-possessed”) men, women, and children experience freedom as their tormentors flee from the power of the King. The hungry receive food. The reviled feel love. The downtrodden find hope. What a joy it would be to experience that ministry firsthand!
And the good news is—we will! When Christ returns and we enter into the fullness of the kingdom of God, we will see the redemptive power of Jesus restore everything that’s broken. Injuries and illnesses? Gone. Demonization and spiritual warfare? A relic of the past. Hunger, loneliness, and hopelessness? Solved. As we look forward to that day, we can’t help but say with thousands of Christians before us, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
But in the meantime, we can also see glimpses of this coming kingdom through the church. We are people who have already been redeemed—people who have already become part of God’s kingdom. We know the forgiveness, hope, peace, joy, and love that he offers. And when we gather as a group of redeemed people, the result should be a church that looks a lot like the kingdom of God.
Then, after we gather together, we scatter to various parts of the community to model the kingdom there. We showcase the lack of poverty in the kingdom by meeting other people’s needs. We display the love of the kingdom by becoming genuinely invested in the lives of the people around us. With our words and behaviors, we paint a picture of the coming kingdom of God to the people we interact with every week. And then, when we present the gospel, we invite those around us to join that coming kingdom.
While we have the opportunity to model the kingdom of God to our community every day, we are setting aside extra time, energy, and resources to model the kingdom to our community on Saturday, September 13th. Will you join us as we take time to serve our community? Whatever your age and abilities, we will find opportunities for you to model the kingdom to people in our community. We hope to see you there!
In Christ,
Pastor Britton