In this age of scientism, technology and materialism, it is hard to think in spiritual terms at all. Reality as we know it is what we see, hear, touch, taste or smell. Just give us hard facts. Anything beyond smacks of Voodoo.
We live in an age of rationalism – scientific and religious. We put our trust in formulas. This is certainly true in secular thought. But it’s also true in the religious world. We want to put everything in a box. We have no time for the mysterious, the inexplicable, for realities beyond our power to grasp.
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In Matthew 13 we find an anthology of Jesus teachings on the Kingdom of Heaven. Each parable has its own nuance. However, the heart of the message is simply this: the Kingdom of Heaven it’s a matter of hearing, receiving, growing, and bearing fruit. Jesus has come and has inaugurated the Kingdom of Heaven. He has invited us to follow him into that kingdom, to learn from him Life as it was meant to be lived.
It will be hard. The kingdom of heaven is already inaugurated, present, and attainable but it is not yet fully realized. Many are growing toward maturity and productivity while Satan is hard at work in the lives of others. Sometimes we become discouraged because we don’t see what God is up to. However, Jesus promises us that the Kingdom of Heaven is relentlessly growing nonetheless. From small beginnings the Holy Spirit’s influence grows in our individual lives and in the world.
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This is my final blog for the year 2014. As I look back on this year, I see that the Holy Spirit has been moving in powerful ways among his people. Approximately one third of our land debt has been retired thanks to our right-of-way agreement with the city of Denton. Our Hispanic ministry has taken off, and we have a thriving Spanish-language service at our church, with a large group of Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters. That is the cause for celebration!
As I look back, I see that in 2014 we covered the entire sweep of the Biblical narrative in sermon, in class, and small groups, as we went through the series, “The Story.” And that is no small thing.
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I want to thank you all for taking time last Sunday to participate in our Congregational Survey. I spent a good bit of time this week reading all that you said and taking notes. I have sent copies to all of the elders and ministers. And Ron Hasty is going to analyze what you all said and summarize it for everyone. I look forward to sharing some of the insights and and themes that have emerged.
I hope that this is going to be only the beginning of an ongoing dialogue of the church with its leaders as we seek to discern God’s will.
One thing that came across strongly was a positive conviction that God’s will is now being done and is going to be done as we move forward in faith.
Ross
The past couple of weeks have been a storm filled time: the volatility and racial turmoil in Ferguson Missouri, the beheading of the journalist in Iraq, the murder and religious persecution there, the situation in Ukraine. Closer to home, right here in our congregation, there have been storms…storms of many kinds. The most apparent is that people have been dying. And it’s “the good guys,” the people who have been the heart and soul of Singing Oaks. I’m tired of it!
It is an uncanny coincidence that this week I am preaching on Paul’s shipwrecks, storms and trials: uncanny because of the state of the world, uncanny because the storm feels so real right now; uncanny because, if God has a purpose and a plan for you, He is not going to put you in a safe harbor. He will put you in the eye of the storm. I believe that God has a plan for us. I believe He has a purpose. But that purpose will necessarily take us through storms.
The good news is this: our God is the God of the storm!
