Hello friends.  It has been a tough week for many of us, but we choose to put our trust in God.  Priscilla got her surgery a day early and is on her way back home as I write this.  Cindy is seeking urgent care for pain in her left leg that has become unbearable.  Ruth’s results came back and she does not have cancer in her brain but her frontal lobe is severely atrophied.  I don’t think Don will have his test results back yet but I have not checked with him.  The young man I asked prayer for on Sunday did get into a rehab program.

This is one of those times when we can take comfort in the knowledge that this earthly life is not the sum of our existence.  We are citizens of an eternal kingdom, and our king is all powerful and the very definition of good.  The New Testament is full of references to the kingdom of God.  WE use the words, but do we know what they mean?

Our culture doesn’t care much for kings.  We do fawn over British royalty, which doesn’t make much since to me since we fought a war to get away from them, but they are more like movie stars to us.  We have an entirely different opinion of anyone who actually tries to tell us what to do.  So I wonder if our terminology sounds particularly strange to someone unfamiliar with the Christian subculture.  Then it really gets weird when we start talking about reigning with him.

The Jews of Jesus’ day would have had a different response.  They were looking for a messiah.  They were looking for a new king who would come in and bring them deliverance from their roman oppressors.  When John the baptist and then Jesus Himself began to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, they didn’t hear the things they might have expected.  Jesus seemed to turn the whole concept of a kingdom upside down.  His message was one of hope, but also one that demanded a response.  He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

As Jesus began His ministry with this message, so we will begin our study of the kingdom of Heaven.  He is my king, and i am attempting to follow His lead.  If I have heard Him correctly, we will spend several weeks exploring Jesus’ references to the kingdom of Heaven and possibly beyond to the writings of the apostles.  His kingdom operates differently than anything we know from this world.  He has set the example.  Our king gave His life for us.

When I think about what that means, I get excited.  If we really get an understanding on the laws that govern God’s kingdom, we will find a whole new way to live.  I hope you’ll join us as we worship King Jesus and learn about His kingdom together.

Love y’all!

Larry