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Jesus Preaches

This fall we are studying the key themes of Jesus’ preaching during his adult ministry in Israel. As the long-awaited Messiah, you would think people would be eager to hear his sermons, right? Many times Jesus is met with reluctance, confusion, or skepticism from the majority of religious leaders and onlookers. However, for those who meet Jesus and believe, their lives are transformed. Let’s explore the themes, many of which connect us to those of the Old Testament, which are woven into Jesus’ preaching as he ushers in the Kingdom of Heaven to a world so desperately needing it. These stories and lessons bring a new hope and perspective that ground our hope in Jesus.

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Week 1 - September 30, 2023

Kingdom of God is at Hand

Before Jesus himself ever preaches this message of the “kingdom of God”, we find in the gospel that someone else first preaches it: the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist, brings news of this ‘kingdom of heaven’ as an itinerant preacher preparing the way for the Christ. If it feels overwhelming to comprehend now (which it does), just imagine how it felt for those original hearers!  

One of the most important themes in the gospel narratives of Jesus’ preaching and teaching is that of the “kingdom of God”. What exactly does this mean? Put simply, the “kingdom of God” is the reigning authority of God in which the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and promises are now set in motion! In Jesus, something new is happening not just for the followers of YHWH (God), but in fact for the whole world. Our faithful, loyal, omniscient God has ignited a new part of the grand rescue mission, which means that he has sent the Son (Jesus – who is both fully God and fully man) to earth in order to reconcile all of humanity back to God. There is an important part of theology that is intricately connected to this topic – that is what we call “eschatology”, meaning the study of last things. In order to describe where we are in this story, the “present age”, we must know where we came from and where we are going. In the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, a new age arrived. Jesus launched the reign of God’s kingdom on earth, which set in motion the “already” of the Kingdom of God, which is now present for us, because of Jesus. Yet, we know there is still more coming. We can see and feel there is still strife, struggle, and brokenness very present in this world and we await the day in which all of that will be restored completely. The present age and the age to come overlap and this is where we live… expecting and awaiting the return of Jesus (parousia) at his second coming. For now, the kingdom of God is already, and not yet.  

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Week 2 - October 8, 2023

Who is your family?

Family is a unique experience for every person. When Jesus preaches throughout his ministry, he includes many familial references, metaphors, parables, and teachings. However, as in most of Jesus’ teachings, he flips the worldly definition and perception of recognizable terms on their head. Jesus preaches a new understanding of what it means to be family as the element that binds members together, in God’s realm, is not merely blood lineage, but rather faith. From Jesus, we learn that our faith or relationship with God is what has the power to transform us, and our identity… including our role as “family”. Sprinkled throughout the gospels, are moments when the crowds or disciples pester Jesus in the middle of his teachings about his nearby relatives. Using that moment as a timely example of reorienting what it truly means to be “relatives” he preaches the importance of being focused on God and God’s will, stepping out in faith, which is what binds us together in this new “family”. As Christians, our faith forms a new bond between us. What once seemed to be limited to direct lineage or blood relative status, is now overcome by the powerful reality of pursuing God together in faith as brothers and sisters in Christ.  

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Week 3 - October 15, 2023

Who is your neighbor?

One of the most striking themes of Jesus’ teachings in the original context is that of loving one’s neighbor so thoroughly, honestly, and genuinely – which is how we are prone to love ourselves. Especially when Jesus preaches the expansion of his ministry will be for the gentiles, the non-Jewish people, as well. Let’s try to imagine how radical this message was for the first hearers. Not only did Jesus preach the need to love one’s neighbor, but that it was right up there with the first commandment of loving God. The Jewish believers of this time would have known the command from Deuteronomy 6, to love the Lord their God with everything in them. That is not a new message for them. However, to hear the story of the Good Samaritan, or the command to love one’s neighbor… must have brought a convicting sting, for many of them (and us) struggle to do so. Through the connecting of dots between Old Testament laws and New Testament sermons, Jesus exemplifies the defining attribute of God: love. Now, it is up to us to strive to embrace and practice this command ourselves.  

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Week 4 - October 22, 2023

The Narrow Path

This week our scriptures include excerpts of Jesus’ preaching that are less than clear. Have you ever wondered why many of these Biblical teachings include everyday objects, settings, or items? In Jesus’ day, a speaker needed to have oratory skills in conveying a message with enough interest and relatability that it can be remembered, so to then be passed down orally to the next person. When Jesus is on the mount, preaching his famous sermon documented in Matthew 5-7, he speaks about ordinary settings and items, like a gate on a road. There are times in scripture when it is when it is important for us to take the bible seriously, but not literally. This is one of them. Jesus’ preaching of the narrow gate and the road to leads to life, is attractive. The phrase of “life” in this sense, is to highlight the abundant life (John 10:10) that Jesus. This is referring to the flourishing, sustaining, growing, and nourishing life that is found when we have faith in Christ. The narrow gate addresses the reality that we have a choice to make when living day to day… we can choose to follow Jesus or not. It is not a promise that the decision will always be easy, but for those who do choose God, it will always be worth it.  

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Week 5 - October 29, 2023

The Cost of Discipleship

One of the greatest signals to Jesus’ human relatability is his willingness to “be real” with his disciples in the ministry to which he called them. There are moments in his preaching when Jesus lays out what the hard reality of life following him looks like… and it isn’t always pretty. But there are plenty of worthwhile things in our own life that aren’t always pretty – right? For Christians, “ministry” isn’t limited to being ordained… but rather, it is for each one of us. This is why Jesus prepares his followers, through his preaching, that there will be moments of difficulty. There is a cost that comes with discipleship. There is no sugar-coating way around it. We follow Jesus and practice being truth-tellers about the story of our faith that is founded in the reality that God sent his Son to earth in order to begin the redemption mission of God’s that includes modeling for us a way to live that honors God, then dying on the cross to atone for our sins and was raised on the third day in glory by conquering death. That is the story, the reality, that we tell as Christians. And it is a massive one, that invites all sorts of responses from others. As Jesus preached to his followers, he brought a message of assurance for us all…that in our ministry, we must prepare ourselves to face whatever comes our way. When we rightly focus ourselves on serving God, it may seem to the world that we are “losing ourselves”. We need to focus on the one thing that will always remain: God. In his loving and enduring strength, God will sustain us and calls us to charge forward with unwavering dedication to this story. The story of Jesus. The story of true love.