The idea or concept of the Kingdom of God in the Bible originates in the heart of God. God has no beginning and has no end. He has always been: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. From the creation of the angels, who were the first subjects of His Kingdom, to the creation of heaven, earth and man, and ultimately the coming of the new heaven and earth, God’s Kingdom is one of the scarlet threads that run as a theme of the whole of history.

The word “kingdom” comes from the Hebrew ‘basileia’, a noun, denoting “sovereignty, royal power, dominion; the territory or people over whom a king rules. Thus the Kingdom of God is the sphere of God’s rule and sphere in which, at any given time, His rule is acknowledged.”

According to Conner in his classic work ‘Christian Doctrine’, there are five stages of Biblical thought and development:

1. The universal sovereignty of God. God is creator of all and sovereign to all. He is sovereign over creation and particularly mankind. There is only one true God and He is sovereign over the entire universe. He reigns supremely over all nations and all individuals and each is subject to Him and His judgment. There is nothing or no one that is exempt from His sovereign rule.

2. The theocratic Kingdom of Israel. God selected Abraham, entered into a covenant relationship with he and his descendants and promised to give them a land as well as make them a great nation which in turn would be a blessing to the whole world. God chose and had a purpose for the people of Israel to be His chosen, peculiar people.

3. The spiritual Kingdom founded by Jesus. God promised David that a descendant of his would reign on the throne forever. He fulfilled this promise in the person of Jesus Christ even though He was not recognized by his chosen people Israel. Jesus, in establishing His spiritual Kingdom, gave relevance and fulfillment to the theocracy of the Old Testament. Jesus came to earth as the “Savior-King”. He initiated the Kingdom of God on earth ushering in a reign of peace and righteousness not understood by the world. In His Kingdom, He saves men from sin and reconciles them to God as well as to one another.

4. His Kingdom as a progressive power in the world. The Kingdom has come in power with Jesus. However, as the mustard seed must develop so must the Kingdom of God in this world. This is accomplished primarily through the preaching and demonstration of the good news of the Kingdom.

5. The eternal Kingdom of God. The final stage of the Kingdom is the eternal Kingdom. It is to be finally established at the second coming of the King, Jesus Christ. It will consummate all of history and usher in God’s planned rule since the beginning of time.

So, our journey this coming year, walking through the Bible and looking at the theme of God’s Kingdom, will hopefully be a discovery of the foundational story of God’s Word: His Kingdom coming and His will being done.

Blessings….

Matthew 18:1-5
1 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”
2-5 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.  The Message

The Kingdom of God in inverted.  What the world values has no value to Jesus.  What Jesus values has no value to the world.  In sports, teams spend millions of dollars, changing out coaches and players in the hopes of a championship.  Musicians spend hours daily in practice to become the best. Olympian athletes prepare for years for a moment on the world stage and dreams of gold.  God celebrates excellence.  He welcomes the desire and drive to be our very best.  However, it is sin when pride taunts others while climbing over them.  “Jesus, which one of us will be the greatest?”

“Not a single one of you unless you understand the spiritual laws of my Father.  The attitude you just displayed will bar you from entrance.  In fact, you must start over again like a child, start at square one, to even catch a glimpse of the Kingdom.”  Some translations say, “convert,” others simply say “change” as the concept of starting over.  Humility is the doorway to intimacy with God.  Without it, you may never even catch a glimpse.  Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth.  He was a friend of God.  Don’t be surprised when God uses your weakness as His strength.  Chuck Colson continues to marvel how God did not use his time as an advisor to the President, but rather his time in prison to impact the lives of millions.  This does not mean we operate in ministry and life from our weaknesses.  God uses our strengths to glory Him.  The point of the illustration to the disciples – If you are full of yourself, there is no room for God.  Empty yourself that God may fill you with His Spirit.

Thought for the Day – If you want to be great in the Kingdom of God, you must start in true humility and simpleness.

We live in a babylon compromising world that would rather promote Santa over Jesus, government over God, porn over marriage, alcoholism over church, Lil Wayne over Lecrae, and Usher over Mali Music… they like Drake’s penis rap but hate on Jesus rap!

BUT If God Be for us, WHO can be against us? One thing they can’t stop is God’s Fire, and the power of God’s People when we are on fire with His message! Acts 1:8: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

So Spread these links Like Wildfire!

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Get your ticket in advance: New Year’s AfterService (7 years strong) w/ Shana Wilson

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We are believing for the Uplifting of Jesus, a move of God’s Spirit, and that God would send laborers into His Harvest!

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G.rowth in the Kingdom of Jesus

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M.usic to fill your Soul with the Word and Spirit of God

Tell a friend! Thank you for your continued support of friendship productions!

SoS

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Everyone loves heroes; and I’m no different.  But my heroes don’t dribble basketballs, swing baseball bats or act in movies.  Mine are those who actually do something that makes differences in other people’s lives.

Mark and Christine Pedder are two such heroes for me. These Aussies live and work in BASECO, a 60-acre slum located in Manilla, Philippines. One look at the above picture will tell you it’s not prime real estate.

If you want more information on the couple’s ministry, check out Mark’s blog; and be sure to look at the pictures. They will grab your heart.

Now, the purpose of this article is to ask you to pray for Christine. She is facing major surgery in January.

So, don’t just sit there. Pray for a miracle healing for Christine.

Chaos does not facilitate effective identity development in children.

My young life was marred with a significant amount of chaos from circumstances beyond my control. We moved a lot as a family in my first five years of life. Because I am naturally wired to need “rootedness” to my environment and stability in my time and space continuum, moving was very disruptive to my development. Somewhere along the way mom tuned into this so in my older years all subsequent family moves were scheduled when I was away at school.

As a child I would characterize myself as “fussy” – psychology would classify me as vacillating between “secure attachment” and “anxious/ambivalent attachment.” I had a tendancy towards “push/pull” patterns – sometimes I wanted people around, sometimes I did not, but when you were not around, I screamed, and then if you came near me, I’d scream louder.

The divorce of my parents at a young age and the subsequent move my father made to the east coast jarred my sense of permanence in relationships and hindered my ability to attach securely to my caregivers. Additionally, abuse from a neighborhood boy at an early age significantly impacted my ability to trust.

My illusions of a fairy-tale world were shattered pretty early in life.

Being naturally introverted and an only child created a great deal of social awkwardness and anxiety until I reached high-school. I had a very myopic view of the world and an extremely difficult time for years understanding anyone outside of my own family.

My mom is what I call a “butterfly’er.” This is my definition of her natural tendancy towards extroversion. When mom enters a room – you know she is there and people naturally gravitate towards her presence. As a young child I saw this as normal so I spent a lot of time trying to model this extroverted behavior.

Inheriting a genetic disposition towards anxiety and depression from both sides of my family decreased my ability to process and effectively assimilate new information.  

Whereas many people could sail through these events with relative ease I was more profoundly impacted.

Instead of accomodating to these events, assimilating what was useful, and discarding what would not facilitate my identity development, each of these factors scattered my senses and left me looking to external sources to help me understand who I was becoming.

I grasped on to my environment for an answer to the question, “who am I?” which gave people, events, and outside definitions of “self” a great deal of power over my identity development.

Thousands of dollars of therapy later, a great deal of support in healing from my parents – without which I would probably not be able to write about this, and most importantly – a large dose of healing from my Creator, I can look back on my past and be thankful for the myriad of experiences that formed my “me” because they have contributed to the woman I have become.

Each of these environmental influences, however, had a large impact on my ability to answer the question “who am I?”

Psychology discusses my stage difficulties as follows.

Stage 5: (12 – 18 years) Identity vs. Role Confusion.

Up to this stage, according to Erikson, development mostly depends upon what is done to us. From here on out, development depends primarily upon what we do. And while adolescence is a stage at which we are neither a child nor an adult, life is definitely getting more complex as we attempt to find our own identity, struggle with social interactions, and grapple with moral issues.

 

 

Stage 6: (Young adulthood – 20-30 years of age) Intimacy vs. Isolation.

Individuals begin to form intimate relationships with others. Erikson explains intimacy as “finding oneself yet losing oneself to another”. (Life-Span Development by John W. Santrock) If intimacy is not achieved at this time the individual will feel isolated. Fear of sharing oneself with another and fear of not achieving intimacy are common fears in this stage. An individual may battle with intimacy issues their entire lives.    

Our task is to discover who we are as individuals separate from our family of origin and as members of a wider society… if we are unsuccessful in navigating this stage, we will experience role confusion and upheaval. A significant task for us is to establish a philosophy of life and in this process we tend to think in terms of ideals, which are conflict free, rather than reality, which is not.

 

Then God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. God had a job for Moses. But Moses asked God, “God who am I?” God and Moses chatted, but God did not answer Moses’ question.  A little later Moses asked, “God, who are You?”  (Exodus 3 – extremely paraphrased)

 

 These two questions would become Moses’ life journey… as they have been mine.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Below is the introduction to the sermon I’ll be preaching this Sunday morning, the 1st Sunday after Christmas, at our church.  May these thoughts inspire you and challenge you on this day before the Feast of our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Did you know…

• Advent means “coming” and is a 4-week period of waiting and preparing for the coming of the Messiah.  We reflect on the hope and longing Israel had for God’s Messiah to deliver them.  We prepare our own hearts for God’s coming into our lives personally and for the 2^nd coming of Jesus.  During Advent we realize our world is broken, we are broken, and we long for God’s making things right. One author said, “Of all types of waiting, the waiting of pregnancy is most like the waiting that we do during Advent.  The waiting of pregnancy is like the waiting we do for God.” (Living the Chrisian Year, Bobby Gross p. 37)
• The 1^st Sunday of Advent is the Christian’s New Years Day.  It begins the Church Calendar and carries us through a year of storying the life of Christ.
• Christmas is NOT a one-day, single event?  It is a 12-day long season of celebration of wonder and joy.  Our wait is over.  God has made His home with us!  The Word has become flesh. God is not some distant and passive deity. He is an active participant in the world.  He has entered into it as a baby.  The Creator has become part of His creation. The Author has become a Character in the Story He is writing.
• 12 Days of Christmas begins the day after Christmas and goes through January 6^th, which is called Epiphany.  On Epiphany we focus on the Magi coming to Jesus, representing His being revealed to all the world.  These 12 days are meant to be celebrated with feasting, prayer, reflection, and service.  There are feast days in it that focus on Stephen, the 1^st Martyr, John the Revelator, Herod’s murder of the innocent babies of Bethlehem, and the day Jesus was presented in the Temple to be circumcised and named.

 So, why have we lost these parts of our Christian heritage and tradition?  They’re like long-lost family heirlooms.  Christmas has been hijacked by Wall Street, Madison Square, and Hollywood.  Christmas has been secularized.

And it’s not writting out“Xmas” or saying “Happy Holidays” that has done the damage.  Christmas has become the season of selfishness—it’s all about materialism, getting the latest stuff, being entertained, watching parades and Christmas Specials.  Even in church we can be guilty of secularizing worship.  We approach the Baby Jesus in the manger like Santa Claus…what can He do for me?  What can I get out of church.  We bring the same consumerist, “entertain me” mentality.

 Our obstacles to a truly meaningful Christmas are three: (taken from Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross, pp. 64-65)

• Over familiarity—We’ve seen the Drive-through Nativity a dozen times, sung the same old carols, heard a hundred Choir specials, and hung the green year-after-year.
• Sentimentality—family traditions, Hallmark-like Christmas wishes, nostalgic music, the food and festivities, the presents, and the memories of Christmases gone by.  These things aren’t bad.  But the danger is allowing them to water-down the real meaning and message of Christmas to a good feeling of family, friends, and festive get-togethers.
• The commercial eclipse of Advent compounded by our reducing Christmas to a single day—albeit, a joyful and satisfying day.  One writer put it like this, “We take our Christmas with lots of sugar. And we take it in a day.”  Most people think the 12 Days of Christmas are the last 12 shopping days BEFORE Christmas.  People start taking down the lights and tree on December 26^th, and it’s back to business as usual…and playing with the latest gadgets and toys we got.

 So how do we break free from a secularized approach to Christmas?  How can it be more than just a day or season of TV specials, concerts, parties, and gifts?  How can we overcome the sentimentality and the sense of “here we go again…another, Christmas fill in the blank”?  How can we stop viewing church and worship from a “What can it do for me?” and “Entertain/bless/inspire me” attitude?

 I think the answer is quiet simple…and I’m only recently learning what this means:  Stop watching the parade!

Either come to church Sunday morning for the rest…or stay tuned.  I’ll either post the rest of the sermon’s text, or a link to the audio message on our church’s website.

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

[As stated in my About, I want to tell the world about the Orthodox faith. Up to this point, my blogs have somewhat unorganized to do that. Now God has given me a more coorinated way to do that.  I will be sharing articles from the Orthodox Faith.  

This will be a long series, but I trust it will be profitable to you in learning about the Orthodox faith. From time to time, I will also provide addition blogs of interest.  - Herman Art]

Bendiction and Dismissal

After giving thanks to God for his gift of Holy Communion, the people are commanded by the celebrant of the liturgy to depart in peace. They respond to this command with the words: In the Name of the Lord.

A final prayer is read in the center of the Church, or at the icon of Christ, called the ambo prayer, in which the priest asks God’s blessing and peace upon all of his people, the Church and the world. In this prayer the believers also affirm with the Apostle James that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights” (Jas 1:1 7). Following this prayer which gives God “glory, thanksgiving, and worship,” the people sing three times: Blessed be the Name of the Lord henceforth and forevermore.

At this point the pastor of the community normally makes his announcements, greets his people and gives them his own personal blessing. The final benediction of the Divine Liturgy is then pronounced following the exclamation of glory to Christ as “our God and our Hope.”

The final liturgical blessing is the blessing of Christ. It always begins on the Lord’s Day with reference to his resurrection from the dead. On other days other references may be made to some saving aspect of the Lord’s person and work. In this final benediction the mercy and salvation of Christ, the Lover of Men, is called down upon his people through the intercessions of the Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary, and by the prayers of the saints of the day, the saint whose liturgy is served, the saints of the particular church, as well as all other saints especially venerated by the local community, such, for example, as St. Herman of Alaska in the American Church.

After the final benediction, the people venerate the Cross held by the celebrant, and receive pieces of the bread from which the eucharistic offering was taken at the beginning of the liturgy. This bread is called the antidoron which means literally “in place of the gifts”, since it used to be given only to those who did not actually receive Holy Communion at the liturgy. Today usually all of the people take pieces of this bread for themselves, as well as for others absent from church.

The act of dismissal in the Divine Liturgy is as much a liturgical and sacramental action as was the original act of gathering. It is the final critical step of the entire movement of the liturgy. In their dismissal from the liturgical gathering, the People of God are commanded to go forth in peace into the world to bear witness to the Kingdom of God of which they were partakers in the Liturgy of the Church. They are commanded to take everything that they have seen and heard and experienced within the Church and to make it alive in their own persons within the life of this world. Only in this way can the presence and power of the Kingdom of God which is “not of this world” extend out of the Church and into the lives of men.

Those who have seen the True Light, who have received the Heavenly Spirit, who have found the True Faith at the liturgy of the Church; those who have partaken of the holy, divine, immortal and life-creating mysteries of Christ, become competent to make the very same proclamation and testimony that was made by the apostles and by all true Christians in every age and generation. It is for this reason that the Church of God and its Divine Liturgy exist.

http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=107