God's Messianic promise. God promises the Messiah a forever kingdom. Then God fuses himself to the Messiah as a Father to a son. These promises are the adoption papers for the Messiah, but by which we also get to call God our Father.

As our Messianic King, Jesus brings us God's protection and presence.

We give Jesus our allegiance because he is our head, defender and shepherd.

Jesus does not delight in the death of his enemies, but their reconciliation. Romans 5:10: "While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son."

God freely forgives all who give their allegiance to Jesus as Lord. His forgiveness saves us, can infuriate us, but can also softens us.

God has established Jesus as the Christ. Not human wars nor politics will take Jesus off God's throne, nor help advance it. God alone has established Jesus' kingdom. Repent, and believe!

When we consider what God has done, we can only respond in praise: 'Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.'

In Jesus' resurrection he has entered into joy - having been delivered from death, he can again encourage us that God does deliver, and world mission has begun.

Jesus is our perfect redeemer, able to present us to God. He perfectly bore our sin, and perfectly obeyed his Father - all for our sake!

As followers of Jesus we're constantly seeking to grow in our faith in God and our love for other people. We're seeking to grow together as a community and grow the church at large in the world. But how do we do this? Our foundation should always be in the precious hope of the Gospel.