Author Randy Alcorn in his book Money, Possessions, and Eternity. He writes:

"Too often, we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving."

I love that quote. It goes right along with what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:11:

"You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous in every
occasion, and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

Money has a way of tricking us into believing that we need more "stuff" to be happy, right? Cars, clothes, computers. The Bible teaches, however, that with every bonus, raise, or promotion, we should look for more ways to give to God and others. We should see the increase as an opportunity to be more generous.

Today, what's your primary objective? To have a high standard of living? Or a high standard of giving?

In 2 Corinthians 8:9, Paul discusses the effect the gospel should have on the way Christians understand wealth:

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich."

As we see Christ's sacrificial love for us, that he gave up everything so that we could inherit the riches of heaven, we develop a healthy attitude toward our material possessions and become joyful and generous people. As the Spirit helps us understand the wealth we have already received in Christ, we become liberated from excessive concern over our time, talents, and treasure. We're also motivated to invest all we have in the eternal kingdom of God. We are a people who can give with radical generosity because Christ has given us more than we deserve or could imagine.

May we be generous people, FBC!

-Pastor Wade

Today is "Maundy Thursday." What is Maundy Thursday? The Thursday before Easter, when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples. Most notably, that Passover meal was when Jesus washed His disciples' feet, displaying an excellent posture of humility. Jesus then commanded his disciples to do the same for each other. Christ's "mandate" is commemorated on Maundy Thursday – "maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command." It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said these words to His disciples:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34).

Tomorrow is "Good Friday." What is Good Friday? It's the day we remind ourselves of the great love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the people of God. Those who have trusted in Jesus have been reconciled to God by his death, cleansed by his blood, and given new hope and a new life (read Romans 5).

During the last quarter of the second century, one Christian wrote these famous words:

"[God] himself gave his own Son as a ransom for us—the Holy One for the godless, the Innocent One for the wicked, the Righteous One for the unrighteous, the Incorruptible for the corruptible, the Immortal for the mortal. For what else was able to cover our sins except his righteousness? In whom could we, who were lawless and godless, have been justified, but in the Son of God alone? O, the sweet exchange! O, the inscrutable work of God! O blessings beyond all expectation!—that the wickedness of many should be hidden in the one Righteous Man, and the righteousness of the One should justify the many wicked!" [Diognetus 9.2-5].

Saturday is "Holy Saturday." What is Holy Saturday? It's the day we think about Jesus lying dead in the tomb. His bruised and lacerated body, hastily wrapped, rests on a stone slab, cold and stiff in the darkness. Correspondingly, our hearts remain quiet. We remember Christ's redemptive power on this holy day, which had plumbed the darkest depths before ascending to the brightest heights. Holy Saturday recognizes this wondrous mystery and invites us quietly to enter it.

Yet, do our hearts long for the glorious day right around the corner? Can you sense it? Does it stir within you a longing, a hope? We know the Story and how the joy of the resurrection animates our hearts and heartens our lives.

Can I encourage you to take the time to do three things over the next few days?

First, remember! Remember the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the meaning of his death on the cross, and the greatness of God's love for you.

Second, reflect! Reflect on how severe our rebellion is against God so much that the only way to bring redemption and reconciliation for us was the death of his Son. And reflect on how great God's love is that he willingly gave his own Son to redeem his creation and his family from the tragic effect of sin (read Ephesians 2:1-10). Hallelujah!

Third, respond! Respond in worship, prayer, and praise. Sing to our Savior, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

Remembering, reflecting, and responding to the good news with you, church!

-Pastor Wade

If you’ve been a part of Faith Bible Church for any time, you’ve heard us teach that church isn’t an event or a building. You’ve heard us preach that the church is God’s people, saved by God’s power, for God’s purposes. We emphasize the importance of living everyday life with gospel intentionality—purposely living out the good news of Jesus in word and deed.
 
We encourage people to see life as countless opportunities for evangelism and discipleship, happening over coffee and meals, in the workplace, at the gym, and in our neighborhoods. We seek to live as servant ambassadors sent by Jesus to show the world what God is like, beautifully demonstrated in a Jesus-centered community.
 
So why is it vital for us to gather together every Sunday morning to sing and hear a sermon and partake in communion? If we teach that discipleship is life-on-life, in community, and on mission, doesn’t a Sunday gathering seem to conflict?
 
I want to share a few thoughts on why we believe it’s essential for the scattered church to gather regularly as a family of servant ambassadors.
 
1. We gather to remember the gospel story. The Church is a story-formed community rooted in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we gather together each week, we sit under the authority of God and hear him speak through his word, the Bible. The Bible narrates the world for the Church, and the gathering of the family of God is the primary place for this to happen. We hear God’s true story loud and clear as we remember his mighty deeds—past, present, and future—and find our place in his story. The organization of our gatherings, including the songs we sing, the liturgical rhythms of praise, confession, and assurance we recite together, and the other elements of worship point to who God is and what he has done in Jesus to rescue the world from the ravages of sin.
 
2. We gather to retell the gospel story. Each week we gather to hear God’s word preached. Preaching is a powerful means by which God’s people may be nurtured and empowered for God’s mission. Preaching helps us to see that the Bible is one unfolding story that is the true story of the world. Preaching helps us to see that the family of God must learn to live everyday life more and more in this story. Preaching brings listeners face-to-face with Jesus and his saving power to equip us to live all of life for his glory. We retell the good news of Jesus as we encourage one another through times of prayer, sharing of stories, and partaking in communion together.
 
3. We gather to respond to the gospel story. Our Sunday gatherings help nurture and form a family of servant ambassadors rooted in the gospel and come to know God’s saving power in worship, preaching, and prayer. But it doesn’t stop after the gathering is done. We gather to be equipped and encouraged to be sent out into our culture as a people living the new life of God’s kingdom. We respond to the gospel story as we live everyday life—Monday through Sunday—with gospel intentionality. Michael Goheen, in his book A Light to the Nations, points out that a people responding to the gospel story will be:
 
A community of justice in a world of injustice; a community of generosity and simplicity in a consumer world; a community of selfless giving in a world of selfishness and entitlement; a community of humble and bold witness to the truth of God in a world of uncertainty; a community of hope in a world of disillusionment and consumer satiation; a community of joy and thanksgiving in a hedonistic world that frantically pursues pleasure; a community that experiences God’s presence in a secular world (pp.209-210)
 
What other amazing things occur when we gather together? How is God glorified, Christ exalted, and FBC empowered for mission as we gather together each week? Share your thoughts!
 
Praying for you, FBC!
 
–Wade

Yesterday marked the beginning of Lent, the six-week season leading up to what is known as the Pascha (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday). Lent is traditionally a time for us to intentionally set aside the things in our everyday lives that separate us from God and to focus on living lives of holiness and obedience for the glory of God. Lent is a season marked by repentance and faith. Of course, this is an everyday posture of worship for us! Yet Lent serves to reorient us again in the reality that we are sinful people who a merciful Savior saves.

 
Lent prompts us to consider the greatness of a holy God and experience his presence in our lives, and as we do so, we become mindful of our sin and idolatry. God does not turn us away but invites us to confess our sins and be cleansed. Here we find a regular rhythm of worship, but we have a heightened sense of our need for forgiveness during Lent.
 
Lent also helps us to intentionally set aside time in the presence of God to take an honest look at ourselves. Like David, we call out from Psalm 139:23-24:

"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."
 
Lent moves us to think about our inner motivations, external behaviors, hearts, and habits. Standing before a holy God who knows everything about us takes courage and humility. And so, we humble ourselves before the eternal God who created us and who must, if we are to live, redeem us.

In Lent, we again turn away from our sins and temptations and toward God and his great mercy, otherwise known as repentance. In this posture of worship, we resolve to leave our sinful lifestyle and seek forgiveness for our sins. To repent is to turn sharply away from living in our ways, for our pleasure and our glory, and instead, we flee to Christ, resolving to live in his ways, for his pleasure and his glory.

At the heart of Lent are 'dust' and 'ashes.' These symbolize two themes we find in Lent: our creaturely mortality and our moral culpability. Dust speaks of our physical dependence on God, and ashes signify our spiritual repentance before God. We see in Scripture that ashes or dust symbolize mortality, mourning, judgment, and repentance. During a traditional Ash Wednesday service, ashes are applied on a worshiper's head in the shape of a cross to give a tangible reminder that we come from dust and are fragile, fallible, and fallen human beings. But the shape of the cross also serves as a tangible reminder of what Paul says in Romans 6:11: we are to consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We believe the Lent season is a powerful time for us as FBC to meditate on our need for a Savior, renew our commitment to daily repentance, and remember with confidence and gratitude that Jesus has conquered sin and death.
 
Over the next several weeks, we'll consider what it looks like to step into this season of Lent, trusting God to continually shape our hearts toward repentance, belief, and obedience to Jesus and his ways.

We pray with and for you, FBC, during this Lenten season.

-Pastor Wade

Today we finish our three-part series on the Sabbath. Read Part One and Part Two.

What response is the Christian to make regarding the Sabbath today? Is the observance of the Sabbath necessary, or has it been reinterpreted? We've already seen that this is precisely the point the writer to the Hebrews addresses in Hebrews 4:10. The Sabbath observance in which the New Testament people of God are to participate is to enter God's rest by faith and thereby cease from their works. Since "faith" in Hebrews refers not just to an initial commitment but is an attitude that requires perseverance and endurance (see 6:11, 12; 10:36ff.; 11), this cessation from dead works is not mere inactivity but an ongoing process of dying to self and putting to death of sinful deeds (see Romans 8:13).

The Sabbath applies to our every day and the whole of life. We find these roots in three places in the New Testament:

• The concept of cessation from evil works is found in Hebrews 4:10.
• Paul's view about treating all days alike is in Romans 14.
• The interpretation of Old Testament laws found in the Sermon on the Mount to the Old Testament Sabbath law.
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The old Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, gives this interpretation:

The new law requires you to keep perpetual Sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious ... The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances; if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true Sabbath of God.
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.200

In this interpretation, believers obey the fourth commandment by devoting all their time to God.

Our discussion has attempted to respect the discontinuity and continuity involved in fulfilling the Sabbath in Christ, how Christ transforms the Sabbath law and guards against a legalism about a particular day, and a lack of concern about our time and activities in connection with God.

 

The primary focus of the Sabbath was abstention from work, but the observance of the Lord's Day today centers on the worship of the risen Lord. The Old Testament Sabbath was the seventh day of the week; the New Testament Lord's Day was the first day. Although the Sabbath was considered a special holy day for the whole day, there is no evidence that the Lord's Day was regarded in this way; it was simply the appropriate day on which worship was to take place.

A.T. Lincoln puts it succinctly:

"As believers celebrate the salvation rest achieved for them through Christ's resurrection, they can give thanks that it is not their own achievements or productivity that gives them value in God's eyes. By the Resurrection they have been liberated and their failures, feeble undertakings and unfinished work need not bring them into bondage. If the Lord's Day involves joyful celebration of the rest Christ provides, if it involves mutual exhortation to enter into and live out that rest, then believers will not need to worship their work or work at their play, but there will be an inner liberation, a genuine leisure in the way in which they go about both the work and the play of the week to the glory of God...the Lord's Day may be seen as the day from which the Lord reigns over the rest of the week. When the significance of the Lord's Day is grasped, every day is transformed, so that in fact it can be said of each day, 'This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it' (Psalm 118:24).
A. T. Lincoln, From Sabbath to Lord's Day: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Investigation, 405.

So if our true Sabbath rest is found in Jesus, should we take deliberate Sabbath rest today? No doubt, if we don't take time without the responsibilities of work, activities, meetings, and chores, we'll burn out. Our busy, hectic lives often distract us from intentional time in which we watch God work, hear his voice, and remember his faithfulness. Since this is true, it is one practical reason why taking a day of Sabbath rest is strongly encouraged.

Sabbath can is described often as deliberate disengagement. We leave our everyday world to remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, work, and world. But a Sabbath is also deliberate engagement in the gifts and presence of God. During a Sabbath, we observe God's control, work, mystery, grace, and favor by taking time to see them apart from our control, work, and drive.

Here are some things to consider as you engage in Sabbath rest today:

Pursue Inactivity: Take time to be still and practice silence and solitude. Reflect on all God has done during the previous week and the burdens you carry. Inactivity means you avoid filling the day with kids' practices, errands, and household chores.

Engage in Prayer: Take time to read God's word, reflect on it, and pray. Plan prayer times and make prayer a constant priority throughout the day. Family Sabbaths can also be significant; share and pray about what you're thankful for at work, school, and home. Give thanks for who God is and what He has done.

Play, Create, Enjoy: Sabbath is a sweet gift from a God who loves you. Consider ways you can do enjoyable, enjoyable things. Go on a hike, swim, ski, paint, write, do woodworking, and eat good food, remembering that all these activities are ways to worship God. You may avoid watching television, surfing the Internet, or devouring social media.

Resting in Jesus with you, Church!

–Wade

Last week we began a short series to help us rediscover a rhythm of God's grace called the Sabbath. We first considered how the Sabbath was a command given to God's people in the Old Testament. This week we'll look at how the Sabbath was understood in the New Testament and early church.

Let's dig in by starting with Genesis 2:1-3:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

After God had created all things in six days, he ceased his creation work on the seventh day. He was pleased with what he had made and knit into creation space and time for holy and perfect blessedness. The end of God's creative work brought about a new type of time, blessed and set aside so that his creation could be perfectly present with God. The seventh day was a day for fruitfulness, dominion, and relationship.

But sin severed the perfect rest humanity was made to enjoy with God (see Genesis 3). And God, in his great love and grace, set out on a mission to rescue humanity and all creation from the tragic effects of sin and to renew his perfect shalom among all his creation. It was a mission of redemption — a rescue from sin into life.

Jump ahead to Exodus, where God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20:8-11 (and continued in Deuteronomy 5:12-15), we hear the fourth commandment, which helps to explain Genesis 2:1-3:

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Here in the fourth commandment, we see the comparison between the Israelite Sabbath to the seventh day of God's creation to show that God's action of blessing and holiness applies to both. In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Moses explains the Law to a new generation of Israel. This passage describes Exodus 20:8-11, which explains Genesis 2:1-3.

What can we learn from this? The Sabbath pointed to God's creative pattern and purposes and his redemptive activity in delivering Israel from Egypt.

God gave Israel the Sabbath, so they could refocus, rest & remember. God gave the Sabbath to his people as a constant, regular source of blessing for both spiritual and physical renewal; it was also to express social concern and compassion. The Sabbath was a reminder that God controlled man's time.

The Sabbath was a feature of God's Law for Israel throughout the Old Testament. Yet Israel as a whole was not faithful in keeping the Sabbath as God commanded, and this was one of the reasons that led to God sending Israel into exile (Ezekiel 20:10-26).

After the exile, Israel's leaders worked diligently to ensure that Israel kept the Sabbath commandment. Their zeal to keep the fourth commandment, and the ever-changing situations that confronted Israel among the nations, led to the development of the Halakah (Mishnah). The Halakah was Israel's guidelines for ethics — regulations, and rules on how to obey God's word. For example, we are told not to work on the Sabbath. But what, in this context, does "work" mean? The written Law gives us no help, but in the Halakah, an interpretation of the written Law, we learn what "work" means. The Jewish rabbis defined 39 major classes of "work" forbidden on the Sabbath! By the end of the 2nd century, the oral Law (Halakah) had become as authoritative as the written Torah.

So by the time of Jesus, the parts of the Mosaic Law that dealt with the Sabbath observance had become such a tightly drawn legal system that people were forgetting their purpose, which was to help them by giving them rest, not to add burdens to them. And Jesus had to break through all of that. However, nowhere does the New Testament deny the principle in Genesis 1: a day of rest once a week, corresponding to God's day of rest.

A few key passages from the New Testament can help us understand Jesus' view of Sabbath rest. We'll consider three from the gospels and then a few additional texts. Please read through each one, and I'll summarize the key components.

Luke 4:14-30

We see Jesus begin his ministry by going into the synagogue on the Sabbath and reading from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus reads from Isaiah 61, which speaks of the year of Jubilee; the 50th year, which came every seven Sabbath years when all citizens would be released from servitude and the restitution of property was to be given. Now in Luke, the salvation of the end time depicted in the year of Jubilee is seen to be inaugurated in the coming of Jesus: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (v.21). The great year of Jubilee is now a reality for all who come to find salvation in Jesus.

The passage Jesus quotes (Isaiah 61) is about the Messiah. Throughout Isaiah, there are pictures of an 'anointed' figure who will perform the Lord's will. But, though this text speaks of vengeance on evildoers, Jesus doesn't quote that bit. Instead, he has drawn on the larger picture in Isaiah and elsewhere, which speaks of Israel being called to be the light of the nations, a theme Luke has already highlighted in chapter 2. The servant- Messiah has not come to inflict punishment on the nations but to bring God's love and mercy to them. And that will fulfill a central theme in Israel's scriptures.

Mark 2:23-28

In this passage, Jesus is not suggesting that man can use or abuse the Sabbath as he sees fit, but that the Sabbath in the Old Testament was a gracious gift for man; to rest from his everyday work and to enjoy God and his creation. The fact that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath becomes significant, for the very concept of the Sabbath begins to transform. The fact that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath is not only a messianic claim but also raises the possibility of a future change/reinterpretation of the Sabbath.

Jesus' claim to authority is not only a claim to equal authority with the Law given by God but a claim of divinity itself! Jesus is claiming to be God! This passage is right on the heels of Jesus declaring to be able to forgive sins and to bring "new wine in fresh wineskins," bringing a complete renewal of Israel's dogmatic religious practices.

Matthew 11:28-30

This passage precedes the account of Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees for their condemnation of Jesus and his disciples plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath (alongside Mark 2). Jesus puts himself in place of the Law, which had become burdensome, and calls humanity to learn from him and to experience true gospel rest. Jesus is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament Sabbath was pointing to — eternal rest with God!

In his attitude to the Sabbath, especially in his rejection of the Halakah, Jesus is concerned with showing the day's true purpose. Jesus calls his hearers to interpret the Sabbath to his person and work.

Hebrews 3:12-4:11

In Hebrews, the concept of rest transforms, as seen in the light of Jesus' completed work at the cross and the resurrection. In chapter 3, the writer to the Hebrews explained that Psalm 95 (read this psalm!) was talking about the "rest" that the Israelites had been promised once they reached the Promised land (i.e., Joshua). Now it is linked with God's "rest" at the end of creation.
In Psalm 95, we read of God's word that says, "They shall never enter my rest." The phrase "My rest" is pregnant with more than one meaning, as Hebrews 3 and 4 make clear. The Exodus meant God's land to settle in and peace to enjoy (consider Genesis 49:15; Psalm 132:14; 1 Kings 8:56).

But Hebrews 4:1–13 argues that the psalm still offers us, by its emphatic "Today," a rest beyond anything that Joshua won, namely a share in God's Sabbath rest: the enjoyment of his finished work not merely of creation but of redemption.

What does God's redemption provide? Paul says it wonderfully in Romans 6:14:

14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the Law, but under grace.

Why is this true? Because "Christ is the end of the law" (Romans 10:4). Now, followers of Jesus walk by the Spirit, and though no longer under the Law, they find the requirements of the Law are fulfilled through the Spirit in their life — by loving God and loving others (see Romans 8:4). In light of this, Paul also makes it clear in both Romans 14:5 and Colossians 2:16–17 that the Sabbath has passed away now that Christ has come and fulfilled the Law.

The prophets of the Old Testament had stressed faithfulness as the heart of Sabbath observance, which was taken up in the New Testament, but there it was viewed in the light of what Jesus had done. Jesus lived the Sabbath day for God as God's perfect human, releasing his fellow humans from bondage, bringing them into blessing, and finally entering himself into God's rest.

As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus made it possible for others to follow him into that rest. This means that the Christian's task is no longer to keep the Sabbath (Jesus has done that already) but to believe in him. In its final setting, the fourth commandment is no longer a commandment for God's people, but its intent remains. The 'law of Christ' anticipates rest by prescribing belief, but rest has been realized.

So, how does one enter into God's rest today? God's rest has already become a reality for those who believe in Christ. The rest that Jesus gives is both now and not yet; we enter that rest now but still strive to enter it (see Philippians 1:6).

Next week we'll dig further into what the Sabbath means for us today and how we can live out the implications of the rest we find in Christ alone.

-Pastor Wade

*We will be taking a short break in our “Participating in the Missio Dei” series to look at the Sabbath and rest in the Bible.

Why are we hurried people? Why do we often feel distracted and busy and often over-committed and overworked?

The trouble is not that there is no respite from having to work, but what to do with the leisure time and how to prevent it from being filled up with the hectic round of activities that will show leisure itself is caught on the treadmill of working and consuming. Amid the mad rush of work and play, those who, through Christ, already enjoy a foretaste of the Sabbath rest to come should be able to go about both their work and play with an inner freedom that produces a more leisurely style.

We are people desperately in need of rest. God's wired his world to work in rhythms of work and rest, but do we live that way? In creation, God has stamped a seven-day pattern on history; six days of worship and work and a whole day of rest and worship. A unique day is set apart for enjoying creation, the Creator, and the kind of rest that heals hurried hearts. A day to be re-rooted in God's Story and reminded of our identity apart from work and rest from the hurry of the world.

 

One of the biggest hindrances to living on God's mission is our complete exhaustion born out of a belief that we can do life apart from God. We falsely believe we can do the things of God apart from God and His rest. We need to take our feet off the proverbial gas pedal of life because that's not the life Jesus invites us to experience.

When Jesus says, "come to me" and find rest in me (Matthew 11:28-30), he shows us how to walk in his unforced rhythms of grace. Jesus' ways are not oppressive, but they will be counter-cultural.

And so, for the next three weeks, we will rediscover a rhythm of God's grace called the Sabbath. We'll take the first week to look at how the Sabbath was a command given to God's people in the OT; the second week, we'll look at how the Sabbath was understood in the NT and early church; the third week, we'll work out the practical implications of how this Sabbath rhythm can be lived out in our lives.

We'll dig into this rhythm of grace by looking at God's true Story through six symbols: creation, rebellion, promise, redemption, church, and restoration (new creation).

Genesis 1:1— "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis 1:31—"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."
Genesis 2:1-3—"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation."

God rested: The Hebrew word for "rest" is Shabbat, where we get the word Sabbath. Now, this doesn't mean that God became tired and worn out from his creation work (Isaiah 40:28). It means that the all-powerful, eternal, infinite God ceased from his creation work, was pleased with what he had created, and knit into creation a space and time for holy rest; a day that God blessed, set apart for his glory and the flourishing of his creation.

And if you are tracking with the creation narrative, you'd notice that God blessed two things before this. The animals (1:22), which he said to be fruitful and multiply. The second was humans. God told them to make little image bearers who would fill the whole earth, bringing his glory wherever they go, leading to human flourishing in all creation.

But then God does something different in Genesis 2:1-3, and he blesses a day. I think God is saying that this day leads to the flourishing of humanity. It brings more life into the world as humans rest with God in his holy space and time, which he has set apart for his glory and the good of his creation. The idea here is that humanity would be perfectly resting in God; in their work, parenting, and cultivating life—God would be with man, and man would rest in God.
God [is] on a rescue mission to restore that ideal rest between him and his image-bearers.

But in Genesis 3, sin enters the world. Here is humanity's first effort to say, "God, I've heard enough of what you have to say about the way the world works and what our limitations are, but I think there's a better way to live—I want to walk in my ways, for my pleasure and my glory, not yours. There's a better life outside your reign, your care, and your word."

And so Adam and Eve chose to believe the lie of the serpent. And as a result, humanity ends up empty, lonely, broken, and severed from God's perfect rest. Man's relationship with God, others, creation, and himself is marred by sin.

Yet the Story doesn't end there. In Genesis 3:15, God speaks of what theologians call the protoevangelion—the first gospel. It proclaims that God's people will finally triumph over the serpent. The "seed of the woman" is a collective noun, indicating corporate victory. However, if left to ourselves, we cannot win this war. No, it took Jesus, Eve's seed par excellence, to deliver the crushing blow (Colossians 2:15), and if we are in him, we share in and extend His victory (Matthew 28:19; Revelation 20:4).

God promises to put to right all that sin has undone in his good creation. Although sin has severed man's perfect rest with God, God will be on a rescue mission to restore that ideal rest between him and his image-bearers.

Fast forwarding through Genesis, we see that wickedness had spread through humanity, yet one man, Noah, found favor with God. God saves Noah, his family, and every kind of animal from the flood. God blesses Noah, and then through his son Shem's lineage, we see Abram, whom God calls to himself in Genesis 12. God promises to bless Abram (Abraham) and tells him that all the families of the earth will be blessed because of him: they are blessed to be a blessing. God makes a covenant with Abraham, promising his offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and promising to give him land to possess.

Fast forward some more, and we see that God has kept his promise to bless Abraham's offspring through his son Isaac and through Isaac's son, Jacob (whom he blesses and names Israel)—through whom the twelve tribes of Israel would come. We see that Jacob and his offspring have come to dwell in the land of Egypt (through God's working in Joseph). And as the book of Genesis ends and Exodus begins, we see God keep his promise of blessing as stated in Exodus 1:7:

"But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them."

But sin has its evil effect, and we see at the beginning of Exodus that the Egyptian Pharaoh enslaves God's people. God hears his people's cries for help, and He rescues them with His mighty hand, using a man named Moses. This exodus from Egypt was the great act of God that Israel would always look back on to remember, "God is our Savior and will keep His covenant with us!"

After God rescues Israel from Egypt, he brings them to Mount Sinai in the wilderness and gives them his Ten Commandments. We first find these commandments in Exodus 20 and again in Deuteronomy 5, 40 years later, after Israel has wandered in the desert for a generation because of their disobedience. God gave his commandments to Israel so they could walk in God's ways and be a light to the nations surrounding them.

We find the Sabbath commandment in Exodus and Deuteronomy, the 4th commandment. The first three commandments tell Israel how to relate to God and the last commandments how we relate with others. The Sabbath commandment is a hinge between those two, which is crucial for Israel.

Here are a few thoughts to consider:

God gives us the Sabbath so that we can refocus.
God gives us the Sabbath so that we can rest.
God gives us the Sabbath so that we can remember.

Refocus: Take intentional time to "observe"— to refocus and reorient ourselves in God. Slow down and take time to be with God.
Rest: Take intentional time to rest — physically, spiritually, emotionally
Remember: Take intentional time to remember all God has done. Try journaling your thoughts or using a creative (such as art, poetry, or music) to remember.

-Pastor Wade

In part 8 of our series, we learned three significant ways in which Jesus was reshaping Israel to live up to her God-given mission of being a light of God's good rule and reign to the nations. Jesus was also doing this mighty work of forming Israel by declaring, demonstrating, and demanding that his followers display a distinctive way of life that would stand in stark contrast to the surrounding culture and make clear that God's kingdom had arrived and that they were God's faithful missional community.

What did Jesus declare, demonstrate, and demand from his followers? Or another way to put it: what were the essential marks of God's people that indicated they were a distinctive missional community? Here are four key characteristics:

The Life of God's People is a Life of Love

Jesus points to love as God's fundamental creational design and intent for human life. When the Jewish leaders ask Jesus which is the greatest commandment, he replies:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV)

The law has outlined a way of life for ancient Israel that shows what it means to love God and neighbor in their context. This provides an essential insight into what it means for Israel to live as a light to the nations. Jesus speaks clearly against the idols of the Jews and shows what a life of true love for God and others would entail. This is seen in Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7. Here, Jesus shows how his people are to be a community that embodies suffering love against the hatred and vengeance prevalent in the first century—and this is to extend even to their enemies:

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45 NIV)

27 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. (Luke 6:27-29 NIV)

Radical, sacrificial, God-centered love was a distinctive characteristic of God's missional people. They are to love Jesus as Jesus loves the Father, and this love will show itself in obedience to him. They are also to love one another (John 15:9-17). Jesus' love demonstrated reconciliation and forgiveness; therefore, God's people were to love through reconciliation and forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus' embodied peace and joy; therefore, God's people were to represent peace and joy (John 14:27; 15:11). Jesus' love championed justice; therefore, God's people were to be a people characterized by justice:

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

The word "righteousness" has often been understood merely as an individual's ethical obedience, but there's more to it. Justice involves setting things right in economic, political, and social relationships so there may be harmony. Justice is primarily concerned with protecting the rights of the poor, the weak, and the otherwise vulnerable in society in the face of unjust structures that favor the powerful (Luke 4:18–19). The community centered on Jesus is characterized by this serious concern for justice.

The Life of God's People is a Life of Suffering

Jesus and his disciples challenged the false gods of both Roman and Jewish cultures and thus earned a hostile response. Jesus forms a missional community whose very existence challenges both Rome's legitimacy and the "gods" that support the Roman ideal of culture. They can expect to suffer whenever God's people challenge the prevailing order. Jesus warns his disciples that if they remain faithful to him, they can expect to suffer:

18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:18-20 NIV)

The Life of God's People is a Life of Prayer

There is no way God's people could live a life of love and suffering without his power! As we mentioned in an earlier post, the gift of the Holy Spirit would be the power God's people need to be a distinct community among the culture. The kingdom of God is, first of all, God's power to restore and liberate human life from the power of sin. The Spirit has come and is at work renewing human hearts. But the power of the gospel, the work of the Spirit, and the renewal of the heart come only in God's answer to prayer and in our abiding in Christ.

As Jesus gathers his disciples and invites them to live the distinctive life of the kingdom of God, he also teaches them to pray (Matthew 6:5-13; Luke 11:2-4). Jesus teaches that the kingdom's coming is a matter of power – God's power by the Holy Spirit – to restore God's rule. It is a work of the Spirit in the community to form their life together, and through their words and deeds to make them "salt and light" of the coming kingdom (Matthew 5:13-16). Human beings do not build God's kingdom; it is the work of God. And it's prayer, calling on God to do his work among his people, which is essential to the missional community Jesus forms.

Yet before Jesus' community could fulfill their calling, the reign of evil and the power of sin had to end. Jesus' disciples would need the power of the age to come, to bring new life into them and equip them to take up their vocation. And all this was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus, which we'll look at in our next post.

-Pastor Wade

Last time (part 7), we saw how Jesus began to restore Israel to her calling of being a light to the nations by calling twelve disciples to learn from him, along with his call for people to repent of their sins, believe the gospel, and follow him. Jesus had ushered in God's kingdom and invited all who would enter the kingdom through repentance and faith. Additionally, we ended up asking, "how can Israel live up to its God-given mission when it has failed significantly in the past? "

The answer to the question is God's grace. Specifically, God's grace in gifting his people the righteousness required to be the missional people God called them to be. There are three primary ways we see this occur in the New Testament.

First, God restores his people to a relationship with him through Jesus. Jesus says this in John 17:3:

3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

The Old Testament prophets looked forward to the day when all people would come to know the Lord. We read this in Jeremiah 31:34 and Isaiah 11:9, respectively:

34 "No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

In the gospel of John (chapters 14-16), Jesus describes how his disciples are invited into an intimate relationship with him and God the Father. What uniquely sets Jesus apart from the Jewish teachers is that he calls God his Father, pointing to his intimacy with God, primarily as his very Son in the flesh. Jesus' Father becomes the Father of all who believe in Jesus and becomes a part of the family of God.

The second thing we notice about God's gift to Israel is that Jesus proclaims the forgiveness of sins. Jesus liberates his people from guilt, shame, and the power of sin. The gift was also a promise of the Old Testament prophets. Jeremiah, for example, in the passage above, speaks of God's forgiveness. Ezekiel speaks of the same in 36:25 and 33. If God's people were to take up the call to be faithful witnesses of his reign and rule amid a broken and sinful people, they would need to experience the powerful forgiveness of God himself.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is the third evidence of God's grace. Again, the Old Testament prophets pointed to a future blessing of God's Spirit poured out on people. We read this in Ezekiel:

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV)

Joel also proclaims:

28 "Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike." (Joel 2: 28-29 NLT)

Jesus tells his followers that it is now possible to receive the Holy Spirit from God the Father because he has ushered in God's kingdom:

13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13 NIV)

Jesus offered Israel a new heart that would set them apart as the restored people of God. In this way, Israel could begin anew to be the missionary people God had set them apart to be. All three of the gifts from God above would help root God's people in their missionary calling.
The fullness of these gifts would be experienced after Jesus' death and resurrection and as he pours out his Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2). Jesus' life and ministry demonstrate the power of the kingdom of God, which will likewise empower this gospel-centered community to be a light to the nations.

But what does Jesus expressly declare, demonstrate, and demand from his followers that show the world the light of God's kingdom? We'll tackle that question in part 9 next week.

-Pastor Wade

*This week’s blog post comes from Lindsay Tice. Lindsay is a wife, mother, and member of Faith Bible Church. She and Michael have attended FBC for over 18 years. Most importantly, Lindsay is a follower of Jesus Christ. Lindsay finds joy in leading our congregation in worship, in cooking and baking with her children, and in encouraging other women to find and follow Jesus.  

Happy New Year. This is such a special time of the year for us as believers as we are able to reflect on the faithfulness of God in our lives as well as in the lives of our church family. We also look forward to the hope that we have for the future in Him. Just as Advent was a time of preparation, we are now still in a time of celebration that traditionally lasts 12 days. So we continue to celebrate God’s best gift of all in Jesus.

Looking back on this last year, we studied our way through the book of Acts. Throughout the year, we studied in depth how the church is a missional community shaped by Jesus’ power, purpose, and plan. Jesus, through the power of His Spirit, is shaping His people to be servant ambassadors (the purpose) to bring the Gospel to all nations (the plan).

In the 1955 preface to his first edition of Acts, British Bible translator J. B. Phillips wrote:

“It is impossible to spend several months in close study of the remarkable short book … without being profoundly stirred and, to be honest, disturbed. The reader is stirred because he is seeing Christianity, the real thing, in action for the first time in human history. The newborn Church, as vulnerable as any human child, having neither money, influence nor power in the ordinary sense, is setting forth joyfully and courageously to win the pagan world for God through Christ…. Yet we cannot help feeling disturbed as well as moved, for this surely is the Church as it was meant to be…. These men did not make ‘acts of faith,’ they believed; they did not ‘say their prayers’ they really prayed…. But if they were uncomplicated and naive by modern standards, we have ruefully to admit that they were open on the God-ward side in a way that is almost unknown today.”

Just as New Year’s is a time to look back and reflect on the previous year and all that God has done, it is also a time in which we are able to also look forward in anticipation of how God might move in us and through our missional community of believers in the coming year. It’s a time when we consider how we have opportunities to be engaged in God’s work in our lives. A time for us to consider how we have the opportunity to step into something new in our relationship with God in this next year.

Take a moment as you are thinking about this coming year and ask yourself, “How am I going to continue growing in my life with Jesus this year which is different from last year?” Perhaps you will consider a recommitment to God, to being intentional in your prayer life, or to be dependent on God even more… consider what this looks like in Scripture.

In Genesis 4, after the story of Cain and Abel, we read that Adam and Eve had another son and named him Seth. Genesis 4:26: When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to call on the name of the Lord.

Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, wrote the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God’s Spirit Invades the Heart of His People. This book shows that God desires to answer the fervent prayers of His church, He desires to work powerfully and visibly in the lives of His people and shows what the Holy Spirit can do when believers get serious about prayer and the gospel. He made this observation of the Genesis 4 passage:

“Men and women distinguished themselves from their ungodly neighbors by calling on the name of the Lord. These people affirmed their dependence on God by calling out to him. A God-placed human instinct came alive.”

We, too, have this God-placed human instinct in us to call on the name of the Lord. We as believers still need to distinguish ourselves from the ungodly world around us and affirm our dependence on God. In Romans 12, we are encouraged to “not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.”

In 2 Chronicles 7, just after Solomon completed the Temple of the Lord, the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

God refers to his Temple as a “house of prayer for all the nations” in Isaiah 56:7. Jesus refers to this passage in the New Testament gospels as he has just cleared the Temple of those who were buying and selling there, turning over the tables of the money changers. In Matthew 21:13, Jesus says, “My house will be a house of prayer,” referring back to this Isaiah passage. What does that mean?

Prayer is to be such an obvious part of our lives as Christians that when we gather together in worship, people will call these gatherings “a house of prayer.” It is so important for all of us to not only praise and worship God individually but corporately as we do on Sunday mornings. The same goes for prayer. Our church holds monthly prayer meetings on the last Sunday of each month from 6:30-7:30 pm. These prayer gatherings are an essential time for us to gather once again under a unified purpose of praying for our church body, for God’s mission through us to our community, and for our spiritual growth and development in Christ through discipleship.

Jim Cymbala puts it this way:

“The Bible teaches that we are always either drawing nearer to God or falling away. There is no holding pattern…. The more we pray, the more we sense our need to pray. And the more we sense a need to pray, the more we want to pray…. Only turning God’s house into a house of fervent prayer will reverse the power of evil so evident in the world today.”

“The Bible teaches that we are always either drawing nearer to God or falling away. There is no holding pattern…. The more we pray, the more we sense our need to pray. And the more we sense a need to pray, the more we want to pray…. Only turning God’s house into a house of fervent prayer will reverse the power of evil so evident in the world today.”

Let us join our hearts together in prayer:  Father, We come to you in Jesus’ name, asking that You draw us into a closer, more personal relationship with You. Cleanse us of our sins and prepare our hearts to pray in a way that pleases You. May prayer become as natural as breathing, and may You work through our prayers to help bring about Your kingdom and Your will in our hearts, our homes, our workplaces, and our communities. Forgive us for relying on our wisdom, strength, energy, and ideas rather than abiding in You and seeking You first. Use all of the circumstances of our lives to depend on You more and make each of us more like Jesus. Teach us how to pray according to Your will and Your Word. Make our church a true house of prayer and help us walk by Your strength and bring You great glory. Amen.

Let’s consider this in our hearts as our focus for this new year. In chapter 29 of Jeremiah, God is directly speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the exiles. Many of us are familiar with verse 11 which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” These words are just as relevant and true for us today. But consider verses 12 and 13, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

Will you decide to draw near to God, to call on Him, to pray to Him, and seek Him with all of your heart in this new year?

In part 6 of our series, we began looking at what Jesus was doing in his mission of restoring and renewing Israel. Jesus's purpose was to gather Israel and restore her to fulfill its unique role in history: to bring salvation to the nations. The way Jesus begins to do this is to first choose twelve disciples as a prophetic action of this mission. The twelve disciples will be Jesus' pupils but will also represent the twelve restored tribes of Israel. This symbolism signifies that God's gathering of Israel for the sake of the nations has begun.

Jesus intentionally shows the twelve disciples their role (and the role of Israel!) in terms of Old Testament images that bring to mind Israel's original mission. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, where he refers to the promise that the nations would flock to Jerusalem, he says:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14–16).

Jesus clearly aims to bring Israel to its original calling: to be a light to the nations. For Jesus to restore his people to this calling, he announces God's coming kingdom and urges women and men everywhere to repent of their sins, believe in him, and follow his ways. Those who respond to Jesus become a part of God's new community called to live in the grace and obedience that marks God's kingdom people.

Jesus' call to his listeners to "repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15) is essential to highlight. The Old Testament shapes this call to repent. Again and again, we see Israel called to return to God (see Deuteronomy 30:2; Hosea 14:1-2; Zechariah 1:3). Jesus takes this call and urges Israel to turn from their idolatrous ways and return to the Lord with all their hearts, committing to following all of his ways. Part of this repentance for Israel is to forsake their bent toward nationalism and to take up their role as a light to the nations, a missionary people. But the most memorable part of Jesus' call to repentance is that he calls Israel to return to God by committing themselves with allegiance and loyalty to Jesus himself! The call was repentance accompanied by faith, believing Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God.

Jesus' announcement of the kingdom was thus a clarion call for the radical reorientation of one's life to Jesus. To enter the kingdom of God was to give up all other worldly responsibilities (Luke 9:57-62), love Jesus more than others (Matthew 10:34-39), and consider Jesus and his kingdom as the greatest treasure one could have (Matthew 13:44-46). Jesus gets to the heart of what allegiance to him requires when he tells his disciples:

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:23-26).

For Israel to take up its call to be a light to the nations, it must repent, believe the gospel, and follow Jesus. Yet, how can Israel live up to its God-given mission when it has failed significantly in the past? To that question, we'll turn next time.

–Wade

 Last week we looked at four essential questions that can help us learn how to know the gospel, apply the gospel, and speak the gospel. The four questions again:

Who is God?
What has he done?
Who are we?
What do we do?

When applied to our study of scripture and our lives, these four questions help shape us to become gospel-fluent people who think, feel, and respond to everything in life in light of what has been accomplished in the person and work of Jesus.

I want to consider those four questions and why they benefit us as we study scripture and apply gospel truths to our lives. I've been using these four questions in my study of God's word for several years, and I've found that they help me to understand God's good word and help me think through what it means to live out the truth of scripture with my head, heart, and hands. Or in other words, these questions help me grow in knowledge, belief, and obedience—head, heart, and hands!

How do I study the Bible by asking these four questions? Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

First, we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak through his word. His job is to guide us into all truth and glorify Jesus. We won't understand God's word without God's help. I love what Jesus says about the Spirit in John 16:13-14:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

Secondly, depending on the passage, a study Bible can help provide background information on your reading. We always need to read the "text in context"—meaning, we want to read the passage in light of the language of that day, the history, culture, and literary structure of the passage we are reading.

Think of it this way: listening to what the Spirit was saying to the church long ago before we think of what the Spirit is saying to the church here and now is essential. Both are super important for us as we seek the Spirit's help in understanding the Bible. We must be good listeners of God's word as we read God's word. So, we need the Spirit's help. Commentaries can also be helpful, but most provide too much information and could be distracting.

Let's see how these four questions can help us study scripture by looking at 1 Corinthians 1:1-10.

(NOTE: this blog post is a bit long because I want you to see how all four questions are applied. Take some time with it over the next several days).

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Let's ask our first question and work it out in this passage. Who is God? Here we want to think through this passage and look for what it says about the character and nature of God.

The Bible is God's story—Father, Son, Spirit—so we begin by asking how God's character and nature are revealed in our reading. The story is about him! Look for specific references to his attributes: holiness, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, unchanging, compassionate, gracious, patient, loving, kind, good, gentle, etc. In narrative passages of scripture, look for implied references to his attributes. What does the story reveal about God's character and nature as Father, Son, and Spirit?

Back to the 1 Corinthians passage. Who is God? What does this passage reveal about God's character and nature as Father, Son, and Spirit? Here are a few things I noticed:

v.1 – Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
Who is God? He is the one who calls people for his purpose and glory. God calls Paul to do his work. He's called or commissioned to be an apostle and a missionary.

v.3 – Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is God? He is our peace-giver and grace-giver. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

v. 9 – God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Who is God? He is faithful! He is the One who calls people into fellowship with Christ.

Ok, see where this is going? You could find more in this 1 Corinthians passage, but I want you to get the idea.

Let's ask the second question: What has God done? What does the text say about the work of God? God's work throughout human history is diverse and magnificent, right? All of it is worth proclaiming. However, the person and work of Jesus are revealed on every page of the Bible. Remember that passage in Luke 24:27 where Jesus walks with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus? Luke tells us:

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Jesus is the hero and the main character. The Spirit does not want us to miss Jesus!

As we ask this question, we're looking for references to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, either through foreshadowing (saving Noah in the flood, redeeming Israel from slavery in Egypt, King David as a man after God's own heart), through prophecy (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53), or through the New Testament story of Jesus' earthly life and the establishment of his church.

Back to our 1 Corinthians passage. What has God done?

v.4 – I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
What has God done? God has given his people grace in Christ Jesus.

v. 8 – He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What has God done? Our salvation is sure because of what God has done in Christ to bring us to Himself. Because of this, he will sustain us to the end! We will stand guiltless on the day of Christ's return. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Jude 24).

What has God done? You can also reframe this to say, what is God now doing because of Christ? He's keeping us in Christ and firm in our discipleship journey as we walk in faith and obedience.

v. 9 – God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
What has God done? He has called us into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Got it? Again, you could find more verses in this 1 Corinthians passage that can answer that second question. Take time with these verses and see if you find what God has explicitly done in and through Jesus.

Here's our third question: Who are we? When we ask this question, we want to know what the text says about our true identity. God has always been working to save "a people for his own possession." (1 Peter 2:9). As you read through the Bible, note the things that are true of God's people, the things that are true of you because you believe and follow Jesus.

Let's ask this question in light of our 1 Corinthians passage. Who are we in light of what God has done? What is true of us?

v.2 – To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

Who are we? We are sanctified (made holy/set apart). We are saints, God's holy people, with all those who believe in Christ as Lord. We are family!

v.5 – For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge.

Who are we? God enriches us in all speech and all knowledge. It's his gift to us. We have an abundance of God's spiritual gifts as we learn to speak the gospel and grow in God's grace and knowledge of the gospel.

Our last question: What do we do? In light of all of this, how does it change how we live? When reading the Bible, we almost always ask, "How does this apply to my life?" But rightly motivated, gospel-centered action flows out of an understanding of who God is, what he's done, and who we are in light of God's character and work. Rather than starting with this question, end with it. And then, take action!

So, through that lens, let's look again at 1 Corinthians and ask: What do we do?

v. 7 – Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

In eager anticipation for Christ's return, we are to use our spiritual gifts now to edify and build up the body as we wait for Jesus to return. God's given us all we need to live on his mission of helping people find and follow him.

v.8 – He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ok, this may initially seem tricky in asking what we do. But think this through. If God keeps us firm until the end, so we will be blameless on the day of Jesus, how should we live? In freedom, joy, and thankfulness, because we know that we will stand guiltless before the Lord because of Jesus!

v. 10 – I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

What do we do? We seek to be united in the same mind and judgment as other followers of Jesus. That doesn't mean we'll all agree on every issue, right? But we see here that we are to seek unity among the body of Christ, striving in God's power to see that the gospel guides us in our thinking, speaking, and unity.

Paul scratches the surface here of what he'll unfold in the following verses and chapters of 1 Corinthians of why living this way is so important. You should keep going in this chapter!
Alright, so there you go. Four essential questions can help us study God's word, can help ground us in the gospel, and can allow us to apply gospel truths to our lives—head, heart, and hands. Try this method of study for several weeks and see how it goes. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

-Wade

This past Sunday, we considered what it means to put our hope in God, trusting him with every situation and circumstance. We often find it hard to trust God in the waiting: when we wait to hear if we've received the new job, when we wait for the results from a lab test when we wait to hear if our loved one is going to come out of surgery. Waiting is often difficult, and it's in the waiting--where so much is unknown--that we might be tempted to take our eyes off God and fail to believe that he is working his power, purpose, and plan in our lives. In doing so, we can experience anxiety, fear, disappointment, anger, or despair.

So what can we do when we fail to believe the good news of God's promises for us when everything seems bleak? How can we build up our hope muscles in the gym of life?

I want to suggest learning four essential questions that we can use to preach the good news of God into our lives and the lives of others so that we can become "gospel fluent" people, meaning people who know the gospel, apply the gospel, and speak the gospel. We'll take a few weeks to look at these questions, how we can apply them to our study of God's Word, and then some specific examples of how we can speak them in everyday life.

Who is God? In other words, what is God like? What are his character qualities and attributes? Who does God say he is?

Where do we go to find this? We go to Scripture, where God has revealed to us what he is like and who he is.

What has God done? What has God done to show and prove his character and his attributes? In other words, how does God show that he truly is all he says he is? Again, he gives us his Word to show all he has done. And most supremely, he shows us who he is and what he has done in and through Jesus, who died on the cross and defeated death through his resurrection. He's also allowed us to experience what he has done in our lives, as he works in and through us for good purposes.

Who are we now? We might also ask it another way: What is now true of us because of what God has done? This question connects to what the Bible teaches is true of our identity rooted in Jesus. We understand that our identity is not based on what we do but on who we are because of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

This truth is one of our core affirmations under the "D" in our DNA — "I am new in Christ." And if you're not aware, DNA is the acrostic we use to help our people understand the characteristics of a disciple: Dwelling in Christ, Nurturing Relationships, and Advancing the Gospel.

What do we do? Another way to say it: how do we respond in every situation BECAUSE of all that is true of the previous three questions? What will your actions or emotions be in light of who God is, what he has done, and what is true of you? How will you now live and act in this situation or this very moment?

Next week, we'll look at these four questions and how we can use them to study Scripture deeply. But for now, rehearse these questions to yourself and get to know them. See if you can take a passage of Scripture and apply these four questions (HINT: next time, we'll look at 1 Corinthians 1:1-10).

And if you want to go a bit further, when you find yourself anxious, fearful, angry, or discouraged, try to work through these questions. Ask the Spirit to give you help in doing so! We can only become gospel-fluent people through God's grace and power!

I love you CHURCH!

–Wade

P.S. We’re taking a brief break from our Participating in the Missio Dei series to highlight the four questions. But don’t worry, we’ll continue it in a few weeks!

Last time we left the hanging question, "Why does God delay bringing his kingdom into fullness now?" We spoke of how Jesus ushered in God's kingdom in part five. We said that it is an "already-not yet" reality in which the blessings of God's kingdom are already present here and now, but the fullness of God's kingdom is still in the future, coming to completion when Jesus returns to make all things new. So to answer the question above, we must first understand Jesus' mission.

When asked why Jesus came to earth, many people will respond with something like, "To save us from our sins." The statement is accurate but incomplete. The reason is that this "already-not yet" time is for gathering the Jews first and then the Gentiles into God's kingdom. The complete revelation of the kingdom is held back to allow Jesus' renewed people to bear witness to the arrival of God's saving work of salvation to all people. Jesus' ministry on earth was a time of gathering for this mission.

The Old Testament prophets made it clear that the Gentiles would also be gathered into the people of God with the coming of God's kingdom. All nations would experience God's renewing power and salvation (see Isaiah 2:2–3; Zechariah 2:10–11). Jesus affirms this prophetic vision throughout his ministry:

"I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 8:11).

Still, while Jesus affirmed this gathering of the nations, he limited his and his disciples' mission to the Jews: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" (see Matthew 15:24; also Matthew 10:5–6). We might have the question: why does Jesus talk about salvation for all peoples but only focus on Israel?

Jesus limited his ministry to Israel in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. In other words, God will make sure to carry out his plan! If you recall, God had chosen Israel to be a light to the nations, and Israel was judged for her failure. God's plan for the last days was to gather and restore Israel and draw the Gentiles into his covenant family. If Israel was to be a light to the nations, then two things had to occur. First, Israel was to be gathered into a community; second, they had to be renewed to obey God's word. The prophet Ezekiel describes these two stages in Ezekiel 36:24–36 and 37:15–28. Jesus seeks to fulfill the prophetic promise that begins with the gathering and conversion of the Jews. Jesus begins the work of gathering Israel by inviting them to turn from its failure, to turn to God, and take up her missional calling to the nations.

As we read in the Gospels, many within Israel believe Jesus and his message of the good news. Many more, however, reject Jesus in unbelief. Simeon's prophecy about the infant Jesus in Luke 24 connects here: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel."

Indeed, many do "fall" as they reject the message of Jesus and the kingdom. The Gospel accounts speak of Jesus' words and parables warning the people of Israel about the judgment that will come upon them if they continue their unbelief (for example, see Matthew 21:33–44).
As we move on in our series, it is crucial to understand what God is doing here in history. First, the church is not displacing Israel. Jesus is not launching a brand-new community. Instead, God is purifying and reconstructing Israel. Historian N. T. Wright observes that:

"Jesus did not intend to found a church because there already was one, namely the people of Israel itself. Jesus' intention was, therefore, to reform Israel, not to found a different community altogether."
–N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, p.275

It is after the death and resurrection of Jesus that we see the Gentiles being included in the history and life of Israel and becoming the new covenant community! But before that, Jesus appointed twelve disciples as a prophetic action of a beginning and renewed Israel (see Mark 3:13-19). Next time, we'll look at how Jesus shapes a new community with these disciples and calls man, woman, and child to repent, believe and follow him.

-Wade

Part 4 of our series left us asking, "Would God be faithful to his promise to gather and renew Israel? Would the promised Messiah finally fulfill God's mission that Israel failed to live out? How does God's Story continue?

In the time between the Old and New Testaments, Israel was still under God's judgment, and the Romans occupied their land. Israel is awaiting God's coming kingdom, a time in which God will gather his people and empower them to fulfill their missional calling to the nations. And God does bring his promise! But the promise of the kingdom isn't what Israel expects; God brings the kingdom to Israel in the person of Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptizer announces that God's long-awaited kingdom is about to come (Matthew 3:11). Next, Jesus enters the scene (read Matthew chapters 1-3 of his birth) and proclaims that God's kingdom has arrived:

15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! (Mark 1:15)

Jesus doesn't describe what he means by "kingdom," but his audience would have understood that God's kingdom is the restoration of his rule over the whole world. Still, questions would have abounded. The only way to understand what Jesus means is to listen closely to his words and see him in action.

In the Gospels, we see Jesus explain the kingdom in a few ways. First, as the in-breaking of God's power and presence to defeat his enemies. Second, the arrival of salvation is an "already—not yet" reality, meaning people can both enter into it in the future and yet receive it now as a gift. Thus, the kingdom Jesus describes is present and future: already begun here, not yet in fullness.

In Jesus' words and works, the rescuing and restoring power of God becomes present by the Holy Spirit. Jesus described it this way in Matthew 12:28:

28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The work of God's Spirit present in Jesus to restore and save from demonic power makes it clear that God's kingdom has arrived. In and through Jesus' ministry, the kingdom is a matter of God's power to overturn the reign of evil in all the world. God's kingdom and dominion arrive in the work of Jesus as he overcomes the power of evil.



 The coming of the kingdom of God means a cosmic battle between God and Satan for all creation and human life. Jesus brings this power to liberate the world from the power of sin, death, idolatry, and Satan himself. Jesus invites women and men to enter this battle and align themselves with God and his kingdom. This salvation that Jesus announces is depicted metaphorically as a realm that human beings are invited to join and as a gift that people are invited to receive. To enter or receive the kingdom is to experience God's power to renew, heal, and liberate human life from sin and its power in the present. The future will see the completion of this work as God's saving power ultimately and finally triumphs over evil, death, and the devil.

The question we may ask is: why does God delay bringing his kingdom into fullness now? To that question, we'll turn next time.

-Wade

In part 3 of our series, we learned that God had granted Israel an earthly king whose role in leading the people would help nourish Israel's missional identity and function as a blessing to all nations. God had promised this earthly king, King David, that another King from David's line would someday come and rule over a universal and everlasting kingdom. This promise anticipated God's ongoing mission through Israel—that all nations would be blessed through them and called into covenant with God.

As the earthly king ruled over God's people, he was to lead the people in God's power in defeating idolatrous nations, encouraging righteous conformity to God's law among Israel. Additionally, the king was to promote temple life in Israel. God had established the temple as a symbol of his presence among his people. The temple was to help nourish Israel's missional identity and role in spreading God's holy presence among the nations (see 1 Kings 8:27-43).
We see in 1 Kings 8 and Isaiah 56 that the temple was also to be a place of worship and sacrifice. Both would be essential for Israel's missional identity and role. God had initiated the sacrificial system to restore a relationship between God and Israel when they broke God's covenant. We see a beautiful picture of this in Leviticus 9 as Aaron, the high priest, offers multiple offerings unto God: the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering (Leviticus 9:15-17, 22).

The sin offering was a sacrifice that secured forgiveness when sin was transferred to an animal as the priest placed his hands on it and killed it in place of the sinful individual. The burnt offering was a sacrifice to be completely burned and dedicated to the Lord. This sacrifice was a picture of the total consecration and dedication following forgiveness. The fellowship offering was a sacrifice that celebrated the restored communion between God and the sinful individual. The emphasis on sacrifice was an essential act of worship for Israel, for it was God's way of making the unholy pure again and restoring fellowship in the presence of God. If Israel were to be a missional people in the sight of the nations, she would need to know and experience God's forgiveness, a renewed commitment to God, and fellowship with God.

 

The temple also nourished Israel's missional identity and role by pointing Israel to the goal of God's redemption: to fill the whole earth with God's glorious presence (see Habakkuk 2:14). The temple was a place of sacrifice that provided a way of restoration for the people when they failed to keep God's covenant, thus setting them on the right road of holiness. The temple was a place of worship that nourished Israel's faith in God as the one, true Lord over all creation. The temple would encourage Israel to embrace God's universal mission to restore humanity and all creation from the ravages of sin.

God also used his prophets to help nourish Israel in her missional identity and role. The prophets in the Old Testament challenged Israel when they forgot their missional calling and failed to keep their covenant with God. We see Israel time and again engulfed by idolatry's darkness and fail to be the holy nation God had called them to be. Israel's earthly kings fail in their calling to lead Israel (read 1 and 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles!) Over and over, the prophets would call Israel to remember their true identity and purpose for existence. As Israel continued to rebel against God's rule over their lives, they experienced judgment and banishment from the promised land. The prophets proclaimed that Israel was being judged for their sin against God.

The Old Testament story ends with both failure and hope. Israel fails to be a light to the nations God had called them to be as they succumb to the darkness of idolatry. God judges his people and sends them into exile. But in God's mercy, he sends his prophets to encourage the people that all is not lost. The prophets tell of a time when Israel's sin would be paid for (Isaiah 40:1-2), and Israel would be gathered and renewed to fulfill their missional calling (Ezekiel 36:22-32). This would happen as the climax of God's Story when his kingdom is finally restored through an anointed king in David's line and by the power of the Spirit (Joel 2).

For centuries Israel continues to live in the fervent hope that God would keep his promise to gather and renew Israel and establish a worldwide kingdom. Israel longs for God to send his Messiah and Spirit to rescue them from bondage and sin. Israel had a sick and wicked heart (Jeremiah 17:9) and needed a new heart—a new spirit. Israel needed God's law written on their very being to live out her missional identity and role.

Would God be faithful to his promise to gather and renew Israel? Would the promised Messiah finally fulfill God's mission that Israel failed to live out? How does the Story continue?

-Wade

Last time we learned that God gave Israel his law so that Israel could learn to walk in God's ways for God's glory in the sight of the nations around them—this was Israel's missional calling. The law was the means for Israel to live in a way that challenged the idolatry of the culture surrounding them. Israel was also to take seriously the task of instructing the next generation to know God and to walk in his ways (see Deuteronomy 4). Idolatry would not be the only threat to Israel's faithfulness— the danger of forgetting God's mighty acts and his way of life was also a threat, especially the risk of failing to teach the Torah to their children and their children after them (Deut.4:9-10). It was essential for Israel to train the next generation to walk in the Lord's way and live in holiness—different and distinct—in their everyday lives. Thus, God's law was good news for Israel—and, ultimately, good news for the nations as they observed Israel's obedience to God and heard the invitation to join the covenant community.

However, Israel struggled to fulfill their missionary role of being a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6). Instead of pointing the nations to God, Israel became engulfed by idolatry and chose to follow the nations around them. The book of Judges tells the tragic story of Israel's cycle of idolatry (see Judges 3-16). We read that Israel sins, God brings his judgment, Israel cries out to God, God sends a deliverer (Judge), and the land has peace. Over and over again, God demonstrated his mercy, love, and judgment on Israel to restore them to their missional calling. Yet, Israel disobeyed God's law and chose to walk in the darkness of idolatry (see Judges 17-21). The refrain that ends the book of Judges demonstrates how far Israel had succumbed to darkness. However, it also suggests what God will do in the future to enable Israel to be a faithful missional people: "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit" (Judges 21:25). The book ends with the cry for a king.

But would a king enable Israel to fulfill its missionary role? God answers the people's cry for a king in the story of Samuel, but there seems to be little hope that an earthy king will solve Israel's problem. Israel's desire for a king was motivated by their desire to be like the nations surrounding them:

 (1 Samuel 8:19-20).

Israel desired to be just like the pagan nations around them—this was not God's purpose for Israel!

 

God continues to show faithful love to Israel and provides them with a king who would be a man after God's heart—King David (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). God is Israel's true King; David would be the earthly king who would mediate God's rule over Israel. David was called to mediate God's blessing and rule over the people and to encourage Israel in her missional identity and calling as a light to the nations. God allowed this monarchy for Israel so that they would become a people reflecting God's social order among the nations, living all of life under God's Torah. As David committed to living under God's rule and covenant, Israel would be formed into a missional community that reflected God's will for every area of their lives: social, political, economic, legal, and religious. King David would also have the task of defeating idolatrous nations that threatened Israel, encouraging the people to live in holy conformity to God's law.

In 2 Samuel 7:11-17, God makes a covenant with David, promising that one day a king would arise from David's line who would rule over a universal and everlasting kingdom. This promise anticipated God's ongoing mission through Israel—that all nations would be blessed through them and called into covenant with God. Israel's earthly king would play a vital role in nourishing Israel's missional identity and function.

Next time we'll look at how God used the temple and his prophets to shape and form Israel into his missional community. We'll also look at how well Israel's earthly king—and the kings after him—did in their missional task of fostering Israel's missional identity and role.

–Wade

In part one of our short series, we saw how God had called Israel to be his missional people, living in the sight of the nations as a priestly kingdom and holy nation. Israel was to be a community on display—a missional community that would live in God's ways for God's glory and the world's blessing. God gave Israel his law, which would form and shape them to be his missional people who would reject the destruction of idolatry and walk in the paths of righteousness. As Israel lived this way, they would be an attractive community of God's love and blessing, drawing others to God.

To understand the missional calling of Israel—and the church—we need to recognize the connection between the law and creation. Since Genesis 3, God's mission has been to restore humanity and all creation from the ravages of sin. God made this promise to Adam and began his rescue mission of redemption. Traveling through Exodus, we see God redeem Israel from slavery to Egypt and begin to form his people to be the conduit of his missional promise. Israel is to embody God's promise to renew the whole world. The life of Israel was to point back to God's original intent for creation and human life. Their life is also to point forward, looking to God's promise to restore creation.

 

When God gives the law to Israel, he intends that the law's instruction would govern all of Israel's life. Israel now serves and worships God in a covenant relationship. This relationship involves Israel submitting every area of their lives to God. God's law would remind Israel that there is no area of human life outside of his rule, for Israel must consecrate their social, personal, financial, familial, and cultural lives to him. Thus the law is intended to shape the lives of God's people so that their lives will reflect his character. Only as God's law shapes their whole lives will they fulfill his calling to be missional people who mediate his blessing to the world.
God's law is good news! The law tells Israel how to live in God's ways for God's glory and their good! The law also calls Israel to live in a way that challenges the idolatry of the culture surrounding them. As we've mentioned already, Israel is to look backward and forward as a contrast community; but they are also to look outward against the idolatry that hijacks and pollutes human life. Because of this, we see the law expanded in the book of Deuteronomy to address the dangers Israel will encounter as they journey to the promised land. God desires that Israel will conform to his law so that they will live in a radically transformed way in the sight of the nations around them. As they walk in God's law, nations will see that God is the true King of all creation.

There is much more to be said regarding Israel's conformity to God's law and their carrying out of God's missional purpose. The remainder of the Old Testament is a commentary on how well Israel lives out their God-given role. Israel is called to be a light to the nations; however, instead of living over and against the idolatry of the pagan nations, Israel succumbs to the darkness of idolatry. Yet, God acts in mercy and judgment to restore them to their missional calling. God gives Israel everything they need to carry out their vocation: the law, the sacrificial system, priests, a temple, kings, and prophets. But Israel continues to walk in rebellion against God. Because of their sin, Israel is judged and banished from God's promised land.

Is there any hope left for Israel? Can they ever hope to live out their missional calling to be a blessing to the nations? Next time we'll look at how God begins to answer these questions.

–Wade

The Bible tells the true story of God’s mission to rescue and restore the whole world. The missio Dei (Latin for “mission of God” or “sending of God”) involves God setting out on a long journey to restore his good creation from the ravages of humanity’s sin. In love, God promised to make a new world and to gather a people who would embody his work of healing amid human history. This story is nothing less than the true story of the whole world. It begins with the origin of all things and moves toward the goal of all history. It is a story of God’s active mission to heal and liberate His creation, bringing restoration to all of human life and all of the non-human creation.

 

In Genesis 1-2, we see God’s original design for creation. Genesis 3-11 tells the devastating story of man’s rebellion against God and the tragic effect man’s sin has on all creation. Amid this darkness, God chooses Abraham to be a light to the nations around him. God promises Abraham that He will make him into a great nation and restore the blessing of God’s good creation to them. He also promises to bless that nation so that they would be a blessing to the world around them (Genesis 12:2-3).

From the beginning, God’s mission is carried out through His chosen community—a people called to show the world what God is like, giving the world a foretaste of what God had originally intended for His creation and what He will ultimately bring about at the end of history. In the book of Exodus, we see that the people of Israel were called to be this community. God delivers and redeems Israel from slavery and idolatry in Egypt and brings them to Mount Sinai in the wilderness. At Mount Sinai, God calls them to be a holy nation and a priestly kingdom (Exodus 19:3-6). This call upon Israel to be a priestly kingdom will involve a life of mediating God’s blessing to the nations around them. They will be a people on display, proclaiming and demonstrating what God is like and what it means to live in God’s ways.

 

Exodus 20-23 tells of God giving Israel His decrees and laws—the Torah—intended to lead Israel to the abundant life God intended for all humanity in creation. God’s law governs all Israel’s life as they learn to live as a holy nation. Israel’s life was to face in three directions: backward, embodying God’s original design and intention for human life; forward, as a sign and preview of God’s final purpose for history; and outward, confronting the idolatry of the nations they were to encounter. God’s law would direct Israel in this orientation of life, forming them to be his missional people who would reject the destruction of idolatry and walk in the paths of righteousness. As Israel lived this way, they would be an attractive community of God’s love and blessing, drawing others to God.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll examine how well Israel carries out the missio Dei. We’ll dig into the story of God a bit more and see why Jesus needed to step onto the stage of history. We’ll also see how the church in the New Testament—as well as today!—is to be a preview and sign of the coming kingdom of God, participating in the missio Dei for the sake of the world.

–Wade

Today's blog post concludes our series on the Lord's Prayer. We've been saying that the Lord's Prayer is a prayer Jesus gave his disciples that reflected his own heart and priorities. As we learn to breathe in this prayer and live it out daily, our hearts become aligned with God's. We find that the things God cares about become the things we care about. We genuinely become transformed people inside and out.

 

The last portion of the Lord's Prayer that we're looking at is the phrase, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen." What does it mean to pray this? It means that we recognize that God's kingdom, power, and glory are what it's all about.

Now, before we dig in a bit deeper here, I want to point out two things about this last prayer portion. One, it's a doxology. A doxology is a short expression of praise to God. We often find them throughout the Bible. A good example is 1 Chronicles 29:11, where King David is praying before God's people. Here's his doxology:

"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all."

That sounds similar to what we see here in the Lord's Prayer, right? And here's the second point I want to make: many of our bible translations have a note at the end of verse 13 that tells us this doxology of the Lord's Prayer is not found in the best and earliest manuscripts of the gospel of Matthew. This doxology was most likely added to the Lord's Prayer a century after Jesus lived. It seems to have been formed based on the doxology we just read in 1 Chronicles 29 and used for public prayer. And even though these words were not on Jesus' lips, they indeed were on his mind.

Think back to the beginning, where Jesus teaches us to pray for God's "kingdom to come." If you recall, we said God is the King over all things. His kingdom is a heavenly kingdom where he reigns perfectly and is in complete control. That kingdom will come in its fullness someday when Jesus returns to put all things right. It is a future reality.

But the kingdom is also a current reality. God's kingdom is a kingdom of the heart. God reigns in the hearts of those who trust in Jesus alone. To pray "your kingdom come and your will be done" is to pray that God invades our life so that his desires become our desires, and his life becomes our life. We are no longer the king of our lives; God is King over us.

And God's kingdom is a kingdom of the here and now. Every time we as the people of God live out the good news of Jesus in our words and deeds—by bringing justice and peace, the message and ministry of reconciliation—we see God bringing his kingdom bit-by-bit.

The doxology of the Lord's Prayer recognizes that God is the true King over all and that he has power over all—"Yours is the kingdom and the power…." God has ultimate power. He has power over creation and power over the hearts of his people. The apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:3:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Think about that! God's divine power is working in us! God has given us all we need to follow him and flourish in this life. And if that isn't enough, listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 3:14-19:

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

And Paul finishes with a doxology:

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

We not only pray and recognize that the true kingdom and ultimate power belong to God but realize that all the glory also belongs to God. What does the word "glory" mean? It can be a tricky word to describe, right? Years ago, I heard the pastor and author John Piper give a helpful definition of glory. He began first by providing a solid definition of God's holiness. He said God's holiness is the "infinite value of God, the infinite worth of God." His holiness is his very being, nature, and presence. I've come to understand that another way to say that God is holy is to say that God is good, right, and perfect.

And when God's holiness is displayed for the world to see, that's called "glory."

The prophet Isaiah helps us to see this in Isaiah 6:3:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

The French Reformer John Calvin wrote that the world is a "theater of God's glory." God's glory is on display for the whole world to see!"

Yet, we are not mere spectators in this "theater of God's glory." God invites us into his divine drama! God has created us to shine his glory to the world. Jesus told his disciples:

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16)

Lastly, God's kingdom, power, and glory are forever. Daniel 6:26 says this:

"For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end."

And what prayer doesn't end without an amen? What does "amen" mean? It means "let it be." "Make it so." Or even more emphatically, "it is sure."

This doxology points us back to where we began several weeks ago—that prayer starts and ends with God. God's kingdom, God's power, and God's glory are what it's all about. As we continue to pray this prayer and live out this prayer, we find that God gets the praise, and we get the blessing. We find that God begins to align our hearts with his. And through his power working in us, we find that we become more devoted followers of Jesus, who is himself "the radiance of God's glory" (Hebrews 1:3).

–Wade

In the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 (and Luke 11), we see Jesus giving his disciples words to pray that, in reality, is introducing them to a whole new way of living. Jesus says this:

9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

As we've seen over the last several weeks, each part of the Lord's Prayer introduces us to a tremendous spiritual theme and a whole way of life. Today we'll look at verse 13 of the prayer:

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

It is interesting to see the progression of the Lord's Prayer. It begins focused on God, moving next to His kingdom. It then moves to our material needs – bread. Then it moves to the area of relationships. Last, it cuts to the core – to all going on inside our hearts: temptation and the inclination to sin.

Before we dig in, we must point out what James says in James 1:13:

13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

Jesus teaches us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation…." and we might be tempted (no pun intended!) to infer or imply that somehow God (since that's who the prayer is directed toward) is the one who introduces temptation into our lives. But James tells us clearly that God does not tempt anyone. So, what do we do here?

First, to pray, "Lead us not into temptation..." is not to imply "don't tempt us, God!" because God has promised not to do that (see above). What the Aramaic language rather implies (the language Jesus spoke here) may best be taken to mean "Father, don't let us succumb to temptation" or "don't abandon us to temptation." It is evident from Scripture that all of us will be tempted (see 1 Corinthians 10:13), and when we give in, it's our fault, not God's. The issue is not whether testing will come but whether we will be prepared for it. This is a prayer that God brings us safely through testing in our lives.

And here we come to the second clause of this petition: "...but deliver us from the evil one." Much of Jesus' public career was a battle with the powers of darkness. We are also caught up in that battle when we pray this prayer. The apostle Paul tells us so:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

But we don't face this battle alone. In this prayer, we claim Jesus' victory, rescue, and deliverance. When we pray, "deliver us from the evil one," we're asking God the Father to empower us to keep fighting the battle against Satan and the forces of evil. Theologian N.T. Wright put it this way:

"To pray 'deliver us from evil' or 'from the evil one' is to inhale the victory of the cross, and thereby to hold the line for another moment, another hour, another day, against the forces of destruction within ourselves and the world."
N.T. Wright, The Lord and His Prayer, p.53

We will continually be tempted to turn from Jesus toward sin. Let this prayer reorient us in holiness and empower us to live in the ways of God. Praying this for all of us FBC family:
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV)

–Wade

Last week we began to look at the petition in the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6:12, which says: "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." We briefly looked at the first section of that verse and considered what it means that forgiven people are forgiving people. When we understand that we are forgiven in Jesus—that we are forgiven ones—then we have a right view of God, a right view of ourselves, and a right view of sin. When we understand the power of God's forgiveness for us, we can pray the next part of verse 12:

"as we also have forgiven our debtors."

What is Jesus teaching us here? Is he saying I have to forgive so God will forgive me? First, it doesn't mean that our salvation depends upon our ability and willingness to forgive others. God's word tells us in Ephesians 2 that God's grace saves us through faith and not by our works. So that's not what Jesus means. I think some light is shed for us in another parable Jesus teaches in Matthew 18:23-35:

23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[a] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.26 "At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.' 30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Verse 35 here seems to be saying something very similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15:

14 "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

There is a link between our forgiving others and God's forgiving of us. To be clear: Jesus is not telling us that forgiving someone else is a way to pay for forgiveness from God. And Jesus is not teaching us that our salvation is based on forgiving others. Remember, the Lord's Prayer is for those who know God is their Father—for the follower of Jesus who knows they've been forgiven by him and now are citizens of God's kingdom. We recognize that this isn't a salvation prayer but a prayer for the one who knows they are saved.

There's a link between our forgiving others and God's forgiving us.

But we realize in this prayer that our forgiving others is not the basis of our salvation but the evidence of it. And when we recognize the incredible power of God's forgiveness for us in Jesus, we become a changed person. Forgiveness is not just God's gift but a heart that he changes. His forgiveness transforms us inside and out. That's the purpose of this entire prayer—to shape our lives to look more like Jesus.

But there's another part of forgiveness we need to understand. If we refuse to forgive others, the weight of that pain and hurt will crush us. It will rot us from the inside out. And if you refuse in your heart to forgive someone, you are paying for that debt every day. And it weighs you down and sucks the life right out of you. You are not meant to pay that debt. But Jesus did at the cross. And to forgive someone is to release that pain and hurt to the only One who has paid the ransom at the cross and has raised from the grave to give new life to your soul so that you can say, "Father, this person has hurt me. It's so hard. It's so painful. So I turn to you and ask that you help me forgive. I know that Jesus alone has paid the price for my sin. I didn't deserve his forgiveness. Yet you forgive me."

And when you understand the grace of God for you and his forgiveness for you in Christ, you can't help but change. It's not salvation by works, but a salvation that works.

What a great, forgiving God we serve! What a great, gracious God who has saved us! Knowing this reality sets us free to be people who forgive because Christ has forgiven us. Rejoice in this!

–Wade

 We've been looking at the Lord's Prayer, a prayer Jesus has given the family of God. Today we look at the petition in Matthew 6:12: "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors." Everyone, everywhere, cannot escape the brutal honesty of this petition. The need for forgiveness is universal. Why? Because everyone, everywhere, experiences conflict and pain in relationships. Everyone everywhere has, at some point in their lives, done something to someone for which they need forgiveness. And everyone everywhere has had something done to them in which forgiveness must be offered. All of us need forgiveness, and all of us need to forgive.

Think about your own life. What keeps you from thriving and flourishing? I'm willing to bet that often it's because you are experiencing hurt from a relationship that you haven't dealt with or because you have hurt someone else and don't want to face it. And Jesus knows this. He knows that we need forgiveness and that we need to forgive. That's why Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, "forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." And this is so important for Jesus that he goes on to explain this further in verses 14-15 and says:

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Let me ask: Do you struggle to ask for forgiveness? If you do, why do you struggle to do so? And do you struggle to forgive others? If you do, why do you struggle to forgive others? How you answer the first question provides a clue to how you answer the second.

And Jesus knows this, and that's why he connects the two in this prayer: "forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors." He knows that our willingness to forgive others is directly connected with how we see our need for forgiveness. And this is what Jesus is getting at in this part of the Lord's prayer: Forgiven people are forgiving people.

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus refers to our sins as unpaid debts: "forgive us our debts." Our modern understanding of "debt" might dull this word's edge for Jesus's original hearers. In Jewish thought, every sin created a deposit of debt before God, creating a wall of separation between humans and God. And that's what sin does: it creates a barrier between God and us. And Jesus used this common concept to explain that we can ask the Father to wipe our debts! We can ask the Father to forgive our debt for falling short of his glory in our lives!

And this is such good news because we know that our sin debt is bigger than we can pay. Paul says in Romans 6:23:

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we pray, "Father, forgive us our debts," we realize that death is the penalty for our sins and debt. And that is a present reality, not just a future one. All you have to do is look around our world and see the brokenness and death-causing destruction of sin: coronavirus, racism; hunger; domestic violence; homelessness; divorce. And then you think about our pride, anger, and lust—all the things going on in us and the world. You see the wages of sin every day. And those debts are too big for us to pay.

But Jesus tells us that we can ask the Father to forgive us of it all—not because we can pay the debts of our sin—but because Jesus himself paid the debt for us. Mark 10:45 tells us:

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

When we understand that we have forgiveness in Jesus—that we are forgiven ones—we have a correct view of God, an accurate view of ourselves, and a proper view of sin. We get what it means to say: Forgiven people are forgiving people. When we understand the power of God's forgiveness for us, we can pray the next part of verse 12:

"as we have forgiven our debtors."

We'll tackle the second part of this petition next week, so hang tight until then. In the meantime, as you pray this petition, ask yourself the following:

Do I struggle to ask for forgiveness?
Do I struggle to forgive others?

Ask God to give you a fantastic view of his forgiveness for you in Jesus, and ask him to help you forgive others. Forgiveness is the mark of a disciple.

I am praying that we will be a forgiving people, FBC! You are deeply loved!

–Wade

We've been looking at how Jesus taught his followers how to pray, specifically looking at what has become known as the "Lord's Prayer." When Jesus gave his followers this prayer, he was giving them a part of himself; for this was his prayer. This prayer summed up how Jesus understood his Father's purposes and the way he understood his mission here on earth.
Jesus invites us to share in his Father's kingdom and to play our role in God's unfolding mission to redeem, reconcile, and restore all that is broken in this world. This prayer helps shape our priorities and goals, hopes, and passions to do just that.

Last week we talked about the second line of the prayer (or second petition) that says, "Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is in heaven." When we pray, "Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we must realize that his kingdom is coming whether we pray for it or not. His will is done on earth with or without us.

The second petition is designed to open us up to His kingdom agenda – in our hearts, the here and now, and in the future. We are saying in effect, "Lord, I want to serve your kingdom purposes. I want to be part of your plan and serve you with all the energy, enthusiasm, and excellence of the angels themselves." Again, we aren't asking God to give us anything at all. Instead, we are offering God something. We are offering our lives. That's how Jesus taught us to pray – to start with offering our praise in worship and our lives in service. And then we are to add:

11 Give us today our daily bread.

This request has much to teach us. First, notice that Jesus didn't teach us to pray that God would sell us our daily bread or render it to us in exchange for our service; instead, in it, we ask God to give.

James' words in 1:17 remind me of this:

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

The Bible teaches that God is the giver of every good thing, whether food, clothing, career, or intelligence. God is the gift-giver who provides for the needs of his people.

Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said this about prayer:

9 "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11)

How amazing that we can come to our heavenly Father and ask him to give us what we need! Children do it when they love and trust the one they call 'Father.' We are utterly dependent on God's good gifts; in this prayer, we depend on God to give us what we need to survive. "Give us this day our daily bread."

Second, notice that when we ask God to give us our bread, we are not to request that he provide it weekly or monthly, but daily.

The word translated as 'daily' occurs very rarely in Greek. It seems to be an adjective meaning "of the day that is coming." If we ask for our food in the morning for the coming day, we mean today's food. The point here seems to get lost in our modern western society. In Jesus' day, workers were commonly paid for the work they had completed that day; the pay was frequently so low that it was almost impossible to save any of it. Therefore, the day's pay purchased the day's food. So, to pray "give us this day our daily bread" wasn't empty rhetoric for these workers. It was a prayer for God to provide what was needed at the right time.

To pray 'Give us this day our daily bread' was a prayer for God to provide what was needed at the right time.

To pray this petition is to acknowledge our dependence on God every day. Jesus was saying that we should live in daily dependence on the provision that God gives and that we are to trust God to provide as needs arise, and not necessarily in advance. To pray for God's glory to be made known, for his kingdom to come, and for his will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven is not simply to pray for food for ourselves. We must pray for the needs of the whole world, where millions go hungry, and many starve. To pray the Lord's Prayer, as part of the Christian family and human family, is to stand alongside the hungry and to pray on their behalf.

This week, remember that your Creator sustains you, and be thankful for what you have to eat and your ability to secure it. As we come to the Lord's Table as a church family, be grateful for the bread of life that sustains you eternally. Jesus teaches us that hearing God's Word and doing God's will becomes food for us. Even more, he feeds us with himself: his flesh is true food, and his blood is true drink. Indeed, each time we partake of the bread and cup, we mysteriously "feed on him in our hearts by faith, with thanksgiving," according to the Book of Common Prayer.

Jesus, feed us with yourself today so that we may abide in you and you in us, for your flesh is true food, and your blood is true drink. Amen.

–Wade

 For the past few weeks, we've been looking at the Lord's Prayer, or "Disciples' Prayer," found in Matthew 6. Today we dig into the second part of the prayer in verse 10, where Jesus says:

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

What are we praying for when we pray for God's kingdom to come and his will to be done?
Let's start with Revelation 22, the very last chapter of the book. We read:

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

It sounds like God's kingdom is coming. It sounds like his will is going to be done, right? So, if God's kingdom is coming and his will is going to get done, why does Jesus teach his disciples to pray this prayer?

Here are three thoughts to consider about praying this prayer:

First, God's Kingdom is the Kingdom of Heaven. Think of the vision at the end of Revelation chapter 21. John sees a vision of a new heaven and new earth coming and replacing our current reality. When Jesus was interrogated before Pilate, Jesus told Pilate that he was a king, but his kingdom was not of this world. A heavenly kingdom is coming, and this world and way of life will pass away when it comes. When we pray, "your kingdom come," we are praying for that reality to come.

Second, God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of the Heart. God's kingdom not only points to a future reality but also points to current reality. God reigns in human hearts. "The kingdom of God is within you" or "among you," Jesus says to his disciples. When we pray that God's kingdom comes, we ask that his influence becomes more remarkable in our individual lives.

Third, God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of the Here and Now. Jesus talked about the kingdom using parables, and some of the parables speak of a gradual growing kingdom. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed," and "the kingdom of heaven is like yeast," Jesus said in Matthew 13. There is this sense in which, as we live as servant missionaries in the world, exercising influence as the Church and bringing justice, peace, and reconciliation to the world, we are bringing in God's kingdom bit-by-bit. Jesus will return to fully and finally consummate the work he began and continues today through his people.

Let me add one additional thought. Every kingdom has a king, right? Too often, we are tempted to think we are the king of our lives. We rule. We run the show. Everything revolves around me. That's a kingdom that will inevitably topple.

But God's Kingdom is the Kingdom where He alone is King. He rules and reigns. his will is done. And when we pray "your kingdom come," we confess that we are not the king of the world; God is. We pray, "Father, your kingdom is more important than mine. You are the real king. I exist to serve and love you. I want to do your will in all things."

When we pray "your kingdom come," we confess that we are not the king of the world; God is.

Jesus also tells his disciples to pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

How do you think God's will is done in heaven, where God is? Think about the angels – do you believe they question what God's will is? No way! Angels respond to the voice of God immediately. God's will is done thoroughly, perfectly, and joyfully in heaven.

When we pray for God's kingdom to come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying that God would give us the joy and obedience to do his will without complaining or hesitating. We pray that we would accept his invitation to live as a family of servant missionaries in this world, laying down our rights, agendas, and prideful kingdom. To pray this prayer is to declare that it's all about God and his kingdom.

–Wade