The Kingdom Perspective

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

What should the church do in the face of the coronavirus pandemic?

We should be all the more discerning between true and false shepherds of the church.

There are many charlatans that only want to fleece the flock. Many skeptics will want to blame Christianity itself for this. However, the fact that there are counterfeiters is not proof that something is false. Quite the opposite. Counterfeiters always counterfeit what is real and valuable.

The Bible itself warns of such imposters. Jesus, in John 10, warns of the difference between “hirelings” and true shepherds. His teaching echoes that of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, (chapter 23), and the prophet Ezekiel (chapter 34). The hireling is in it only for the personal gain—money or the man’s praise. He uses the Word of God to mislead the flock. The true shepherd, like the Great Shepherd Jesus Christ, is in it for the love of God and the love of His people. He uses the Word of God to serve the flock.

False shepherds are mere entertainers and entrepreneurs. They are conmen. True shepherds tenderly care for and protect each and every one of the sheep, laying down their lives for their spiritual and material welfare. And so, they follow the pattern of the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep and guards them at the cost of His own blood.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good.”

~ Hebrews 10 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

The coronavirus lockdown has created some uniquely difficult challenges, especially for parenting. How should we respond?

We should use this as a divinely mandated opportunity to grow in patience.

Now, for many of us this suggestion may feel like a cruel joke, or at least, somewhat tone deaf to the painful madness of the present moment. We are tired of being patient!

Patience is perhaps the most difficult of virtues. It takes work. Hard work. No pain; no gain. Perhaps you know the old joke you should never ask the Lord to help you grow in patience—for the only way God can answer that prayer is to allow challenging situations or people into your life and force you to bear up underneath—to wait. Indeed, the New Testament word for patience, quite literally, means “long tempered” or “long suffering”.

Nonetheless, St. Paul lists patience first in his description of what love is (1 Corinthians 13). “Love is patient. Love is kind.” Etc. Indeed, patience belongs to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). So, we can be assured that patience is exactly what Jesus is working in us at this time.

Now, to assist you in your parenting, I’d like to direct you to some helpful resources. The book Parenting with Patience: Overcoming Anger in your Home by Chap Bettis is excellent, and for the next month it comes with free access to the videos by the same name. Go to the transcript of this podcast on our website for details and for more suggestions.

Bottom line: we grow in our patience when we feast on Jesus’s patience toward us.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

~ Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV)

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

~ Colossians 3:20-21

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the coronavirus lockdown?

We should be all the more determined to sink our roots daily into the rich soil of God’s Word.

The Bible commands us to be steadfast. We should not be like a boat that is tossed to and fro by every wind of panic or every whim of pleasure. Rather, we should be a tree rooted in the Word of God—the shoots of our faith sinking our hopes and desires deep into the soil of our Savior’s promises.

This is where true happiness is found, and this is why the Psalmist calls such a man “blessed”. By “blessed”, he means one that is happy—someone that is fulfilled; one that has deep soul satisfaction. Listen the Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
~ Psalm 1:1-3

Ultimately, deep and steady happiness does not come from within or from worldly advice, but from the blessing of God. And that blessing can only come through feasting on his Word.

Something to think about from the Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus?

We should take comfort in the biblical doctrine of the incarnation.

Many of us are stressed—troubled by the social, financial and physical terror COVID-19 has unleashed upon us. Where can we turn for help?

The doctrine of the incarnation speaks of the great mystery, that in Christ Jesus, all of God has come to us as a true human being. The fullness of God has become a member of our human race. In other words, in classical Christian theology, God is not a being that is distant and removed from human experience. He is not “the man upstairs”. Rather, he is the man who lived among us. This means that God has experienced firsthand all of our trials and troubles. He knows what it’s like to feel pain and disease, to feel the rejection of a friend, to feel temptation, to feel the onslaught of anxiety, to experience poverty and loss, to face what feels like an insurmountable situation.

Yet, the Bible likewise tells us that Jesus experienced all this without ever failing to trust His heavenly Father. Not once, did he give in to sin. Therefore, Jesus totally “gets us” and can totally save us.

The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

~ Hebrews 4:15-16

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the COVID crisis?

We should seek to be creative and resourceful with how we do our work.

Work life has been disrupted. So many of us are being forced to do our work remotely. This can often seem inefficient. Worse yet, it can feel exhausting. Therefore, it is very tempting for us to throw up our arms and settle for mediocrity or a less-than-optimal attitude.

However, this is not a viable option for the follower of Christ. St. Paul commands us:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
~ Colossians 3:23-24 ESV

In a fallen world, work is always fraught with difficulties (thorns and thistles; see Genesis 3:18). This is nothing new. However, the present pandemic takes this to a whole new level.

Fortunately, right now, there are quite a few good resources out there from a Christian perspective, such as “Made to Flourish” and the “Global Faith and Work Initiative”. These resources not only help us think through work in the modern world, but also provide practical aid in the present crisis. I encourage you to go to our website and find the transcript for this episode for a full listing of these resources.

Work is one of the most basic ways we “worship” God. It is necessary, therefore, that we do it well—especially in the present circumstance.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Work Related Resources:

Global Faith and Work Initiative: Numerous and diverse resources dealing with many aspects of our work and our personal life at work

Made to Flourish: A ministry committed to helping pastors and their churches integrate faith, work and economic wisdom.

What if no one did your job?

How and why your work still matters

Now is the time to reimagine faith and work

Gratitude, lament, and rest: 3 ways to engage God right now

The Veritas Forum: Mostly focused on big picture questions from the vantage point of higher education

Theology of Work Project

Institute for Faith, Work & Economics

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should we as a church respond to the coronavirus?

We should be loving our neighbor by understanding and following the best science available.

Science comes from an old Latin term for knowledge. Biblically speaking, science is a good thing because we live in an orderly universe, created by an unchanging God who governs his world in an orderly way. Thus, we can gain understanding by applying ourselves to the basic task of data collection and interpretation. Through our collective application of this scientific method, generation after generations, we grow in knowledge.

Now, there are certainly limits to the scientific knowledge. But most critically for us at the moment, we need to see that science is not only a social phenomenon (something that happens in community), but also a social good (something that benefits community). We can love our neighbor by not only doing good science (as many in our medical/college community do), but also by following good science. We can know how best to keep from spreading disease to our neighbor, and we can also know how best to care for our neighbor by applying ourselves to such knowledge. A desire to help your neighbor is a good thing, but zeal without knowledge (without science) is at best incomplete, and at worst dangerous.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Ryan Bouton, Campus Pastor of The Quechee Church of Quechee, VT. The Quechee Church is a ministry of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. This is a part of a special-edition series of “The Kingdom Perspective.”

In our recent sermon series we saw how Habakkuk tackles the thorny issues of having faith in God while asking questions that seem to doubt him. In times of trouble, we may be tempted to pull back and avoid God because of our worries and doubts; however, we should not be afraid to be honest with God about who we are and what we are concerned about. As the apostle Paul also encourages us, we strive to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). It is essential that we keep the lines of communication open with God, and learn to humbly trust in him.

At the same time, doubt does become dangerous when we stop listening to God’s word, because then doubt becomes the final word. How does that happen? Doubts are actually alternative beliefs, a growing sense that something or someone else is more trustworthy than what you already believed. This means that your doubts have to be examined, too! Otherwise, they grow as unexamined beliefs, undermining your confidence without reason. In reality, what we think is true is often mixed with error, because of our corrupt human condition. Communication with God, as difficult as it may be, allows us and our never-perfect beliefs to be examined and corrected, leading us to both humility and confidence.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus epidemic?

Pray for a massive intervention by God. Pray for spiritual awakening!

Certainly, we should pray for protection the from virus—for ourselves, our family and our world. The “Lord’s Prayer” commands us to pray, “Gives us this day our daily bread…and deliver us from evil”. Nonetheless, at the beginning of this prayer, Jesus prioritizes something deeper—the coming of God’s kingdom. As we pray, “Thy kingdom come!”, we pray for the inbreaking and advance of Jesus’s reign over our lives and over every human heart.

Now, history tells us that God often acts in times of crisis to bring both revival to his people and awakening to his world. In such times, the spiritual fog that clouds our vision is suddenly lifted and our state of spiritual need is unveiled.

And so, we should be praying that God would use the present circumstance not just to have us cry for temporal relief, but hunger for Him. We should pray with the prophet Isaiah:

1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

What we need most right now is God. And so, we pray, “May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven! Amen.”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus?

Consider this. In 1527 as the plague hit Wittenberg, the German pastor and professor Martin Luther offered some advice to a fellow pastor. Of course, he wrote without knowledge of modern science and medicine. Nonetheless, take careful note of his courageous faith tempered with practical wisdom. Luther writes:

…by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison…. I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then, I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed, in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death, as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me; and so, I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” (Martin Luther to Johann Hess, pastor at Breslau)

Luther strikes the right balance. True faith in Jesus always mingles prudence with courage. It always seeks to find the intersection between the wisdom of science and the wisdom of religion. God is a god of faith, but never the god of foolishness.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

How should you respond to the coronavirus outbreak?

You should take comfort in the fact that the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth is your Heavenly Father for Jesus’s sake.

The Heidelberg Catechism, a doctrinal teaching device developed in 1563 and still used by many Protestant churches around the world, nails this fact very clearly. Listen to question and answer number 26:

Question 26: What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”?

Answer: That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son.

I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world.

He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.

Because of Jesus, God is not only the Sovereign King of Creation, but also my faithful Father. Remember, Jesus said that not a sparrow can fall to the ground without the will of your Father in heaven (Matthew 10:29-31). Are you not of more value than a sparrow to him? (Matthew 6:26).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.