The church, from the very beginning, was designed to be a community of "Unlikes," a community of "Differents." There is a palpable tension in the New Testament around the inclusion of the Gentiles in the early church. Christianity was born out of the Jewish faith, and there came points along the way where there was pressure to let Gentiles be part of it. But God's plan—from the very beginning—was for Jewish and Gentile Christians to worship together, and do life together, and sort out the tensions and disagreements together, in the shadow of the cross and in the shadow of an abundant communion table.
Now, the dislike and hatred between these two groups cannot be overstated. Let me put it this way: If the Jew-Gentile tension was a great Dane, the Democrat-Republican tension is a toy poodle. It doesn't compare. God's plan was to pull them together as one people united under King Jesus to witness to a chaotic world how powerful and good He is.
The church is supposed to be a society of different people who are seeking first the Kingdom of God, and navigating everything—including political chaos—in a way that is in sharp contrast to how it's done everywhere else. So we're talking about politics because we, Oak Hills Church, have a marvelous opportunity to demonstrate who Jesus really is, and sort out the political tensions and disagreements in the shadow of the cross and in the shadow of an abundant communion table.
Paul says it clearly: Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked in this world or in any world, and God placed all things under his feet. In short, Jesus is King.
If all things are under his feet, then no thing is more powerful than him, no thing compares to him. All this means is that even in the chaos, uncertainty, fear, worry, anxiety, tension, of our world, our nation, or maybe of our lives, all of it is under his feet.
But in the metrics of the Kingdom, this means we might not thrive, we might not win, we might not succeed, we might not survive. Because thrive, win, succeed, survive, are metrics of the kingdom of humans, not necessarily metrics of the Kingdom of God. So the invitation to you and me is to open our hands and surrender. Open our hands and trust.
Our church's mission statement is written in fancy metal letters—on the wall, in the lobby, over the water fountain, next to the coffee bar. It reads, "To invite people to experience the reality of life in the Kingdom of God."
What we're talking about the next two weeks—God the King and His Kingdom—is foundational and essential to the Christian faith. It is foundational and essential to the whole Christian story. In fact, a strong case can be made that the Kingdom of God is the Bible's favorite subject and primary theme. And in profound and incredibly practical ways, what we're talking about over the next two weeks can actually be a game changer in how we view God, how we live out our faith, how we discern the purpose for our lives, how we navigate through the various struggles in life, how we endure the brokenness and chaos of this world, how we endure the upcoming Presidential election, how we face our own death, and how we think about eternity. It's that important.
We bring the whole of who we are into parenting, and all will sometimes sin. Sometimes get it wrong. The sooner we understand that the more we let go of the drive to be the perfect parent, the more we lean into the perfect parent—God.
"The beyond-our-comprehension reality at the heart of the universe is that God in Christ on the cross has forgiven all our sins, set us right with Him, and gathered us into His righteousness. We cannot comprehend it, but we can most certainly live it—a way of life in which everything about us is and continues to be formed in the likeness of Christ."
There is our hope. Part of my continual frustration and shame came from trying to be perfect, to be "God." To somehow control each situation and raise the perfect children and create the perfect memories. And though God desperately wanted to work in me and through me, he never meant for me to do the job that was His.
It doesn't take too long before the question arises: Why? Like, why does God need me to pray for Him to act? Like if—as it says in Matthew 6:8, God already knows what we need before we ask Him—why does He need me to ask? And why sometimes when I do ask for something I think I need, I don't end up getting it? And then, why do I sometimes miraculously get things I didn't even pray for? Like if God always wants what is good and best for us—and He always does what is good and best for us (regardless of what we think is good and best)—then what does my prayer have to do in anything?
I know, for me personally, any talk of a Reboot in my own prayer life—the first hurdle I have to get over is this question. Why?
"God's plan is really simple. God's plan is to form a people, a community. And through that community's transformation, through that community's life together, through that community's Christlikeness (both at an individual level and at the communal level)—God's Plan A is to use that community to show other people who God is and what life can be like in His Kingdom with Him. That's the plan."
Rather than share a message on the topic of Mission, Pastor Mike Lueken interviews four sets of people who are living out mission in their lives:
• Caryn & Shawn Young (Mission in the neighborhood)
• Selina Zavala (Mission in the workplace)
• Cas Mastropaolo, Caelin Linden, and Greg Roeszler of The Playmakers (Mission with our Ministry Partners)
• Neena Conrad, Oak Hills Missions Coordinator (Mission as a community)
"A healthy marriage is the foundation of a healthy family, and a healthy family is foundational to a healthy society. A healthy marriage can create ripple effects through many generations, while a broken marriage, whether it's officially broken (meaning papers have been filed and spouses live apart) or unofficially broken (meaning papers haven't been filed but spouses live a part), often does the opposite through many generations, has the opposite ripple effect.
"Marriage is intended to be good. Marriage is intended to be fun. Marriage is intended to be appropriately fulfilling. It is intended to be a life-long relationship of mutual love and submission between a man and a woman where intimacy increases through the years. That's the intention. So marriage is worth the effort and worth the struggle and it's worth the pain."
"I like this time of year, I really do. It's a chance to look back, a chance to let go, a chance to celebrate, and a chance to look ahead. I just find it invigorating—as corny as it may be—to think about the close of one year and the prospect of beginning a new year. Henri Nouwen, in a book called Here and Now, said it this way: "We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes each minute, as a new beginning. As a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises. Imagine that we could walk through the new year always listening to the voice saying to us, 'I have a gift for you and can't wait for you to see it.' Imagine.""
"The Christmas story is a pivotal chapter in this big and beautiful story that God is writing and slowly unfolding because in Luke's gospel, when the angel announced, 'Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord,' he was announcing the arrival of the Prince of Peace. He was announcing the partial fulfillment of Isaiah's 700 year old prophecy.
"Now, just so we're clear, and we keep these people in these story being human, I don't believe any character in the Christmas story comprehended the full gravity of what was happening. Their reactions—the prime characters in the Christmas story—were all over the map, just like our reactions are all over the map. Doubt, disbelief, fear, astonishment, joy, hope, worship, disturbed, confused. The array of their reactions suggests at least they realized something profound was happening. And it seems to me we sit on the opposite side. We run the risk of tempering and taming the Christmas story so it fits nicely under a snow globe."
"In the Jewish community at that time, "Father" was a powerful idea that carried meaning for every aspect of your life. It was a term that referred to more than just your biological birth father. It was a term that you would refer to your ancesters. It was also a term that could refer to a ruler or a king or a governor of a city, that their role of governing the city or to of the community was similar to the role of a father over his household. And so it carried great significance.
"To refer to the Messiah as "Everlasting Father" —not as a reference that Jesus was "The Father" like in reference to His role in the Holy Trinity—but as a reference to His role in the lives of His people. One of the main roles ascribed to someone with the title "Father" was this idea of identity and belonging."