Family Chapel

While waiting can seem like passive resignation, it is actually active engagement. Through Abraham's example, we see that waiting upon the Lord means to joyfully surrender to God's will, faithfully live in alignment with God's way, and patiently hope in God's timing. And beyond Abraham's example, we see the perfect example in Jesus who joyfully surrendered to God's will done in God's way all in God's timing.

So often, waiting can feel so pointless and even very painful. And yet, God invites us into seasons of waiting. He does so because He wants to carry out His good purposes in our waiting, namely: repentance, maturity, fruitfulness, and renewed affections. Waiting exposes our hidden idols, grows us to become more like Jesus, brings forth fruit from our faithfulness, and grows our longing for home. We can wait with joyful surrender because God is carrying out His good purposes.

The picture of the marriage feast calls us to look ahead with active anticipation and response. Therefore, we must not be indifferent, opposed, or unchanged as ones invited to his kingdom. So seeking first his Kingdom means active preparation now even as we are called to wait with patience and faith.

The picture of the marriage feast calls us to look ahead with active anticipation and response. Therefore, we must not be indifferent, opposed, or unchanged as ones invited to his kingdom. So seeking first his Kingdom means active preparation now even as we are called to wait with patience and faith.

To be in God's Kingdom involves being a good neighbor. And to be a good neighbor means to move in compassion towards those in need. As such, compassion involves seeing people in need, taking on inconvenient action, and refusing to draw artificial boundaries. By entering into the world, Jesus proves Himself to be the ultimate Good Neighbor.

Through this parable, Jesus teaches his disciples how they are to live as they wait for His return. As we wait for King Jesus to return, we should be faithful stewards of His resources for His Kingdom purposes. Those who truly belong to the Kingdom will faithfully live for the King.

With this parable, Jesus teaches that in the Kingdom of God, we ought to extend forgiveness to others because we have received forgiveness from God. At the heart of forgiveness is paying the debt of the wrongdoer yourself rather than making them pay for it. Forgiveness is the way of the Kingdom because forgiveness is the way of our King.

Parables were teaching methods used by Jesus where an earthly story was used to illustrate a heavenly or kingdom truth. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus teaches the crowds that a person's heart must be in the right condition and posture for the reception of God's Word, which in turn will determine the fruit he or she bears. The Spirit is at work and the seed is there. But we must be willing, diligent, and focused for it to bear fruit.

Parables were teaching methods used by Jesus where an earthly story was used to illustrate a heavenly or kingdom truth. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus teaches the crowds that a person's heart must be in the right condition and posture for the reception of God's Word, which in turn will determine the fruit he or she bears. The Spirit is at work and the seed is there. But we must be willing, diligent, and focused for it to bear fruit.

The practice of serving is humbly seeing the needs of others and ministering to those needs. When we engage in the practice of serving, we are formed to become truly great in God's Kingdom. We grow to become like our humble King. We can engage in the practice of serving by carrying out ordinary acts of kindness, by getting involved with ministry at church, and by faithfully engaging with our vocations.