The Kingdom of Heaven

In Matthew 4 we learned that Jesus began his brief preaching career with the basic message of  repentance and the nearness of the kingdom of heaven (4:17). The "gospel of the kingdom" was the basic content of his teaching ministry from the very beginning (4:23).

So when we come to chapter 5 and 6 (today's reading), it should be no surprise that the topic of the kingdom of heaven is front and center! But what is this kingdom of heaven?

A somewhat well known movie from a few years ago is replaying occasionally on cable channels these day by the name "the Kingdom of Heaven". The story is about a troubled young man (played by Orlando Bloom, who is probably a nice guy in general, but definitely no Mel Gibson when it comes to the art of wartime speech making, a.k.a. William Wallace) who finds a kind of inner redemption by defending "the kingdom of heaven", or Jerusalem during the time of the crusades. So is Jerusalem then the kingdom of heaven that Jesus refers to in Matthew 5&6?

I think not. In Matthew 4 we learn from Jesus that the kingdom of heaven is something that is "at hand" or near.  Now John the Baptist had already been proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of heaven (3:2), which was a definite hot topic among the Jews of that day. Jesus takes up John's basic message because Jesus was actually the one who was ushering the kingdom in! Though Jesus the kingdom had officially dawned, "...on them a light has dawned" (4:16).

So, in chapters 5 and 6 we discover that the kingdom of heaven is really important because it's a place where blessing or happiness happen (5:3,10),  a place where entry is apparently very desirable (5:20), a place where reward and blessing can be stored up (6:20) and the place where God is in some special way (5:16, 48; 6:1,9,32).

With all this in mind, how does the dawning of the kingdom of heaven both then and now in Jesus Christ effect all the challenges and troubles we face during this earthly life? The answer according to Jesus: we don't need to worry but to trust our heavenly Father (25-32) and we do need to focus all our energies in the kingdom direction (6:19-21, 33).

That's enough biblical meat to chew today! But do chew on...

New Testament- The 90 Day Challenge!

From the Heart of Your Pastor:

90 Days in the New Testament!

Here we go! I want to encourage every one of you to pick up your Bible today and jump into a 90 day journey through the New Testament with us. If you want to mature in your spiritual life, and if you desire to spread a passion for the glory of Christ in your family, neighborhood, school, workplace, community and beyond...then you must fill your heart and mind with the transforming Word of God!

I assure you, at the end of 90 days you will not regret your devotion to God's Word if you take this journey with us. But I'm guessing you will miss out on huge blessing if you don't join us in the journey!

Today in Matthew 1-4 I was personally struck by the house life of Jesus...four homes that Christ moved to and how they all fulfilled prophesies hundreds of years old. Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth and then the Zebulun/Naphtali region.

If you have recently moved or have moved from one community to another a good bit in your life, then you might find this intriguing as well...New friends to make, new grocery stores or middle eastern markets to navigate through, new community cultures to understand and adapt to, a new church or synagogue to take part in...Jesus experienced similar moving woes that many of us have...One big difference however, when Jesus moved into a new town all of heaven took note and prophecies of old come crashing into clarity! The one who just moved into town was the savior of the world...even if he was just helping his parents with the moving boxes.

When Jesus moved into his last place of residence the prophet Isaiah likened it to a light dawning in a place of darkness (Matthew 4:12-16). How awesome is that?!

May the light of Christ shine on us and out of us today...now that he has taken up his residence in us by the Holy Spirit!

May you have strength and desire to fill your heart up with TRUTH....for 90 days and beyond!

Side by Side,

Pastor Steven

A new song that gets kids asking the right questions!

 My kids love it when I get new music, because that usually means they get new music. So when I downloaded Matt Papa's new cd entitled "This Changes Everything" I was actually purchasing new music for the whole family!

We've all been listening to this great gospel-centered music a good bit over the past week, and let me say this: I highly recommend this cd! I believe it has already made it on my personal  "Best Albums of All Time List." What makes it so special is its musical creativity, gospel clarity, Keith-Green-like passion, and Christ- centered Crescendos! Also, my kids love it! What a blessing: It's about Jesus, it has delightful gospel depth and my kids love it. That makes it worth its weight in Wii.

Yesterday we were driving around town doing some shopping, so, of course, we were listening to our new cd. A powerful song called "Stay Away From Jesus" had just ended and my wife and I were discussing the peculiar potent message of this song when my six year old son asked the right question.

Let me give you a sample of the song...here's verse 1:

   You won't every hear this song on Christian Radio
   Cause the Jesus that I serve is not safe
   He'll say take your cross and die
   So if you want a comfy life
   Then stay away from Jesus
 

"Daddy, why is he telling us to stay away from Jesus?" Hudson asked.

That was the right question. But how would you explain the fact that following Jesus is costly to a six year old who has grown up in the rather comfy confines of American safety and prosperity (which, by the way, I am extremely grateful for!)? Or maybe you just wouldn't mention that particular facet of the gospel message.(?) Maybe we should just stick with the popular "If you want to go to heaven when you die, then raise your hand and come to Jesus..." approach, and not mention the parts about the way being narrow that leads to life, or the whole picking up your cross and obeying him stuff...Maybe we should just leave all that hard stuff out and give a more Veggie-Tale-ized explanation.

Of course, a gospel message with no mention Christ's right to reign over your entire life and mine is not actually the bible's gospel message. Leave out sin, the cross, repentance, the resurrection and the universal reign of Christ in this world and you've made up your own gospel.

My reply was something to the effect of, "Some people like Jesus but they don't want to obey Him. You can't have Jesus if you don't want him to be in charge of your life." So there it is.

I think our whole family has been able to process different aspects of the biblical gospel message afresh and anew as we have been worshiping along with Matt Papa in the car and in our home. I believe even my six year old has been struck by the weight of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a new way. Thank you Matt. Thank you Lord!!

Here's the song that got my six year old thinking deep, potent gospel thoughts!