The book of Daniel is not primarily about prophecies and timelines, but to show how the people of God's Kingdom can live faithfully in a world ruled by man's kingdoms. How can we be faithful citizens of God's kingdom while living in exile?

All humans live our lives with daily rhythms that shape us. Everyone eats. Everyone listens to something or someone. Everyone has something to say. In light of who God is, what He has done for us in Christ, and who He has made us to be, what does it look like for us to do those things in line with our new identity? What if we did those things with an intentionality of sharing the good news of Jesus? Because of Christ, we can live out our BLESS rhythms of Blessing, Listening, Eating, Speaking, and Sabbathing for the glory of God.

Our doing flows out of our being, and our being comes from God's doing, not our own. Who are we now that God has brought us out of darkness and into light? Now that we who were once dead have been made alive? Now that Christ has given us a new identity? We have been made a family of servant missionaries, continually learning to follow Jesus in all of life.

When we start with God and what He has done, we gain a better understanding of ourselves, who we are, and how we are to live. This week we explore the power and purpose behind what God has done for us through Jesus the Christ, in the power of his Spirit.

Often we try to make our own way, create a name for ourselves, or find our identity. When we start there it is like frosting a cake before you bake it… we’re going backwards and it gets messy. Better yet, it’s like trying to be made without the Maker. Instead, what if we begin with asking the question, Who is God? From there, we can begin connecting the dots to see who we are truly meant to be and how we can live in this world.

As we wrap up our journey through the book of Luke, we pray that our eyes would be open so we could see Jesus as he truly is. For two of his followers who were ready to give up and go home after Jesus’ death, an encounter where they saw Jesus alive changed everything.

In Luke 22 and 23 we see a number of different types of people as they participate in or look upon the death of Jesus. Some of them are calling for Jesus’ death, many attest that he is innocent, but two see him in light of the kingdom. Luke tells us that Joseph of Arimathea and one of the criminals on the cross next to Jesus were looking for the coming kingdom of God and saw Jesus as one entering into that kingdom. It seems most others in this story were looking to some other kingdom. Which kingdom are you looking to?

The night Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and taken away to his death, he shared one last meal with his friends. This wasn’t just any meal. This was the Passover meal; a meal which held great significance for the deliverance of God’s people. The bread, the wine, and the lamb were all signposts back to when God had saved them from slavery to Egypt, and signposts pointing them forward to when He would save them again from their slavery to sin. Jesus became the bread, the wine, and the Lamb at this meal, and he invites us all now to sit at the table and feast with him.

Chapter 21 of Luke shows us Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, the week of his death. Everyone he is with is enamored with the beauty of the temple, but Jesus is not impressed. He is more concerned with what is going on inside of the temple and inside of the hearts of the people within it. He is more concerned with creating a new temple for him to dwell in. He is more concerned with establishing a kingdom and a throne that will last forever.

Zacchaeus was hated by his community, because he was building a kingdom for himself at the expense of others. An encounter with the true King, Jesus, changed who he was completely.