October Meditation on the Kingdom of God

Transcription

1 The Mustard Seed Meditation on the Kingdom of God October 2012 Jesus' proclamation, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1: 15), assumes a basic understanding on the part of His audience. The background of the Gospels is the theme of God's Kingship over the Earth and, in particular, Israel. His rule over all is indicated by the Exodus (Exodus 15: 18). God, having brought Israel out of bondage, would begin again as He had begun again with Abraham, Noah, and initially with Adam. His act of redeeming Israel and establishing Israel as His peculiar people was a creative act. His Kingship meant that His power was to be exercised through Israel for the benefit of the World (Exodus 19: 4 6 Israel's vocation). Israel was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation thus all alliances were regarded as apostasy, a rejection of the Divine King (Hosea 7: 10 16). All Israelites were to be vassals and members of the kingdom of priests therefore no one Israelite was to be set over another as king. This was demonstrated at Sinai when the Decalogue was given. All of Israel heard the voice of God as the Decalogue was given (Exodus 19: 1 20: 26). The people could not (would not [?]) bear the voice of God so they spoke to Moses saying "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." The Lord made provision for a king in Israel with these stipulations from Deuteronomy 17: 14 20; "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. " Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, "that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. (It should be noted that Solomon, the wisest man, violated all). When the end of Samuel's tenure as Judge was nearing the nation asked for a king like other nations. They were rejecting the kingship of God (I Samuel 8: 5 8). But, through chapters 8 12 of I Samuel, kingship was grafted into the existing covenant arrangement. (Samuel gathered Israel at Gilgal for Covenant renewal - I Samuel 11: 14 12: 25). The Davidic Covenant formalized Kingship within the Mosaic Covenant (II Samuel 7:12-16). The term Messiah is used to designate the King of Israel and the Messianic Hope is generated by various Old Testament passages (Psalm 89: 20 37; 132: 11-18; Amos 9: 11-12; Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:1-10; Micah 5: 2 4 to name a few). The promise to David was an eternal dynasty (II Samuel 7: 14). Thus the exile and the end of the Davidic line, or so it seemed, produced a Messianic Hope that was manifested during the time of Jesus. His contemporaries wanted and expected the Messiah to revive the Davidic Kingdom by throwing off the yoke of Rome. In broad terms, the Kingdom of God means God's rule over creation through His designated representatives, Adam then Israel. Jesus (Mark 1: 15 ) and John (Matthew 3: 2) saying that the Kingdom was at hand meant that God was now fulfilling His ancient promises. Following the Exile, the Jews hoped Continued on Pg. 4

2 PAGE 2 THE MUSTARD SEED Emergency Notice from Stewardship & the Treasurer Because of the deficit budgets approved over the past few years and the declining income, we are so far in the red that the treasurer is having trouble paying bills and payroll. Sharon has had to cash in some of our CD s and by the end of the year we may not have any reserve funds left. We must curtail all unnecessary spending even thought the budget says there is money in your account. The treasurer will have a current status of our funds at the next church council meeting. Your Stewardship Committee Pot Luck Luncheon Diaconate invites you to join together on the 3rd Sunday of the month for a meal & time of fellowship together as a church family. Next potluck is Sunday, October 21st. Bring a dish to share for our gathering. Thanks! Red Cross Community Blood Drive Friday, October 12, 2012, 2:00 - Blood Donors needed, walk-ins welcome or to call and make an appointment, REDCROSS. We also need volunteers to assist with set-up/break-down, handing out forms, snacks, water & juice. If you are able to volunteer, please talk to Peter James. Our theme this year Sacrifice of Praise based on Hebrews 13:15, 16 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased

3 Growing In Our Faith In Jesus Christ & Sharing It With Others Greetings from the Diaconate PAGE 3 Reaffirmation Service on Sunday, October 21st. As a Church body we would like to reaffirm our covenant to the church, to one another and to God. We encourage you to attend service every Sunday, but especially this service. It will continue to be a time of encouragement and fellowship together at the potluck luncheon following service. As you know the Diaconate developed a questionnaire to gather information in order to know the thoughts of the church membership on the Church Leadership structure. These recommendations for our future structure will assist us in preparing for the Annual Meeting in January If you have not turned one in, it is not too late. We thank all who have already turned in a questionnaire. We will be discussing this topic at Church Council on Monday, October 22nd (please note it is not on a Tuesday). On September 22nd we participated in the Community Fair sponsored by the Wilmington Memorial Library. This is our second year of participation. It is an opportunity to converse and share information about our church. Do you know what to do with the prayer concerns on the back of the bulletin? We thought we would remind you of this important task God gives us: to pray for one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says we are to pray without ceasing. Prayer is the highest honor we can do as believers. The first section of names are those who are homebound or living in nursing homes. Often we forget people who we do not see regularly or perhaps you do not know them at all, yet we can pray for them. We can pray for their comfort and hope in Christ. The next section may be for a group or event upcoming. It is important to pray for leadership. Pray for the Diaconate and Stewardship committees to seek God s will for our church, for them not to be weary in their tasks, to rejoice with one another. The next section are for those with recent or ongoing health concerns. We can pray for their healing and trust in God s care for them. The next section is our church family & friends. Each week five names/families are listed. We don t know what their need is, but everyone has a concern, a praise or perhaps a difficulty in their lives. Again, we do not have to know specifics to pray for them. We could pray simply saying Lord you know what they need at this time, I pray for their joy, sorrow, or difficulty at this time. Plus, we can always pray for them to seek God first in all things. Lastly, a section to pray for those serving here and around the world in the military. They sacrifice much to protect us and should be acknowledged. Periodically, there may be a name of a soldier who is associated with our church body. As a final thought on prayer even though it is not specifically listed in the bulletin, we are to pray for those in authority over us. We are also to pray for our Pastor. The Apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5:25 pleads pray for us. Our spiritual leaders need our prayers before the throne of grace. In an excerpt from A Plea to Pray for Pastors by Gardiner Spring (written nearly 200 years ago) Nothing gives a people so much interest in their minister, and interest of the best kind, as to pray for him. They will love him more, respect him more, attend more cheerfully and gain more profit from his ministry, the more they commend him to God in their prayers. They feel a deeper interest in his work the more they pray for him; and their children feel a deeper interest in him and in his preaching, when they regularly listen to supplication that affectionately commend him to the throne of the heavenly grace. This is so true for our Pastor and the church body. We will become more interested in all on the prayer concern list as we pray for them. Thank you for praying for the immediate and long term concerns of our church body.

4 PAGE 4 THE MUSTARD SEED Continued from Pg. 1 that the Messiah would liberate the nation from oppression, restore the land, and rebuild the Temple. The Jews, under Gentile rule, understood that they were under God's discipline. In the age to come the Jews would keep the Torah from the heart and the nations would flock to Zion or be destroyed (Isaiah 2: 2-4 ; Psalm 2 : 12). Quite naturally the appearance of the kingdom in the ministry of Jesus is the leading theme of the Gospel. Jesus' ministry represents the manifestation of God's ruling power to put things as they ought to be and to bring in the eschatological salvation. God, in Jesus, was intervening in history to remove the curse ushering in the New Heavens and New Earth. John and Jesus both proclaimed the arrival of the Kingdom. Both understood the Kingdom in terms of non- nationalistic, fulfilling spiritual, covenant and eternal goals. John thundered and emphasized repentance, his baptism being a baptism of repentance (Mark 1: 4; Luke 3: 3). John also emphasized the wrath to come (Matthew 3: 7; Luke 3: 7). Jesus announced the Kingdom as God's final move to Israel. Israel would not bring in the Kingdom. God would give Israel the Kingdom. Humanity does not control, achieve, or dispose of the reign. God gives it.. Humanity accepts, takes, or inherits it. In other words, men enter into gratuitous possession of the Kingdom. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom in terms of gratuity and present realization (Matthew 12: 28). Therefore the Gospel is good news for the Kingdom of God is a gift. Accepting the gift means that all self claims are renounced and the Kingship of God is acknowledged through obedience. We, the Church, have the vocation that had been Israel's: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (I Peter 2: 9, 10). The Church is to obey her king, Jesus the Christ. Submission to Jesus is also the expression of Love that He demands for He said If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15 note the whole discussion John 14: 15 24). But Jesus was only reiterating what Israel had been told in the second commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20: 6). Individual and corporate obedience to the Savior is the clearest expression / demonstration that we are members of the Body of Christ and citizens of the New Heaven and New Earth. Obedience also enables us to fulfill the exhortation from Colossians 3 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. My hope and prayer for the congregation of the Congregational Church in Wilmington is that each congregant and the corporate body would seek first the Kingdom of God. Pastor Russell Peggy Grinder would like to thank everyone for continued support It is greatly appreciated.

5 7 Communion Sunday OCTOBER Men s Breakfast CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN WILMINGTON Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30 pm-light Youth Group 21 Reaffirmation Sunday 28 5:30 pm-light Youth Group 6:00 pm - Cub Scout Comm. Mtg. 8 Columbus Day Office Closed 6:00 pm - Boy Scout Committee Mtg. 15 -Stewardship 22 Church Council Cub Scouts -Cub Scouts -Cub Scouts 6:030 pm -Choir -Cub Scouts80 -Cub Scouts 1:00 pm-missions :00- Red Cross Blood Drive Phone: office@wilcong.org Website: Give thanks to the Lord! & Study 8:00 am

6 Congregational Church in Wilmington (EFCA) 220 Middlesex Avenue Wilmington, MA Moving? Please notify the church office of any address change. Please help us keep our mailing list up-to-date. Thank you! Pastor: Russell Kent Secretary: Heidi Kumm Office Hours Mon.-Thurs. - 9:00-3:00 pm Phone: office@wilcong.org November Newsletter Deadline October 24, 2012 The Mustard Seed-A publication of the Congregational Church in Wilmington, 220 Middlesex Avenue, Wilmington, MA Editor: Heidi Kumm. The Mustard Seed is published monthly, excluding the month of August, to keep members and friends informed of programs of the church and to report news about the congregation. Deadline for copy: Third Wednesday of the month.