GLIMPSES OF THE KIN-DOM:
A series on what it means to be the people of God through whom the activity and influence of God is made present in the world.
We are in Ordinary Time (green) — we are outside of the main seasons: Advent, Lent, and Easter.
A time to deepen in our understanding of a life in the Kin-dom.
We strive to make the our mission an ordinary part of our lives.
— Being a missionary: going to a different place
— Being a missionary: going to a place different
The Kin-dom is a new reality into which we live and grow through the Holy Spirit.
The Kin-dom is our most natural and foundational home: we have a Parent in God, a brother in Christ, and siblings in each other — all connected not by blood or flesh, but by the Spirit.
We remembered our baptism last week — when we are born of the Spirit.
Once we are born in the Spirit (and having committed ourselves to the body of Christ, the church) we then are raised in the home of our church.
So think of church like the home you grew up in.
Hopefully, that was a healthy and nurturing experience, for you.
(if it wasn’t, then there has been or made need to be some healing for you—I am grateful you are here surrounded by this particular Kin-dom family because there is an incredible amount of healthy nurturing here.
— this church family knows what it means to stand by one another and offer
support and love. They have walked with each other through some of the
most incredible circumstances: wonderful and tragic.
No matter what your past may contain regarding your early home-life:
If we can understand the Kin-dom to be like our home, we can begin to understand what the Kin-dom and church are all about.
We are surrounded by people who love us and will be there for us in our need.
We may not always get along in every waking moment… WHAT FAMILY DOES?
But when it comes to whom we belong as the foundational part of our identity, it’s our Kin-dom family.
One of the most important things a family can do is spend time together…
Sit around the table together…
Do activities together…
Listen to one another…
get to know one another…
We’re going to read the opening verses to Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth today and next week.
Paul addresses a great deal of issues and struggles this Kin-dom family is having.
He is responding to a report about a great many problems…
some serious situations…
Let’s hear from the passage and understand how Paul sets the stage for this beautiful letter to the church long ago…so that we can understand how it continues to speak to us today.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul sets the stage by reminding the people of his calling as well as their now. The church family in Corinth was called to be saints (set apart…claimed by God to be a part of the Kin-dom work on earth…in their hometown wholly different) alongside of EVERY person who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ…
EVERY person who embraces the Kin-dom through baptism…
EVERY person growing up in faith as a part of a Kin-dom family. (even here!)
This is the opening greeting Paul gives.
A reminder of the simple truth.
It’s our connection to God through Jesus Christ.
God is our parent…
Jesus is our Lord — the one who directs our lives in every way.
Not how we dress…
or what songs we sing…
or our age…
or our status…
or our opinion…
or our stances…
or ANYTHING else.
Our connection to God and one another comes through WHOM we serve as Lord.
Our connection comes through WHOM we commit ourselves in every waking moment.
It’s amazing how often we can forget this simple truth, amen?
Paul goes on to talk about the grace of God given to them.
Grace is the undeserved, unmerited, and unearned gift of Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to be what God’s people could not be…
to do what God’s people could not do…
to bring all things together in Him and back to God.
To free us from the power of sin and death over our lives.
To allow us to no longer be in bondage to anything else…so that our lives ca