When we celebrate together we say, ‘your victory is my joy’, and in times of trouble we say, ‘your concern is my burden, and together we will get through this.’

Marriage is a commitment like this. For better and for worse, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health. In a family we are born into this commitment. And in Christ’s body, we lay down our lives for the purpose of the King and his kingdom.

“We are not what we do, we are not what we have, we are not what others think of us. Coming home is claiming the truth. I am the beloved child of a loving creator.”

― Henri J.M. Nouwen

The Good Samaritan, and the sheep and the goats, are stories about kindness. Kindness isn’t just a fruit of the Spirit; it is fundamental to the work of the gospel and the Great Commission. Kindness is good doctrine. Kindness is a beautiful foretaste of God’s kingdom.

The growth of the early church was not due to famous people, it was because normal people were radically altered by their relationship with Jesus in a way that made them prepared to love, and sacrifice for others. It wasn’t just the way the church reacted to persecution that made them unusual, it was the consistent loving actions of Christians for hundreds of years that truly changed the world.

What a twist, the king invites everyone to the party! Good and bad! This is definitely not how a royal wedding reception works. Here is the punchline – God desires that all people would respond to his invitation into the kingdom of heaven. This is what our gatherings should reflect. We should invite all those that have bounced off the church and those that aren’t normally invited. We should open up the banquet for the people least like us, good and bad. Not just the poor but those who we simply don’t normally connect with. We should be a place where people can come and find room at the table.

“Listening is an act of intimacy and when you choose to listen to someone you are giving them a gift.” Also make sure you check out this video from Brené Brown as an introduction to this message: The Biggest Myth About Vulnerability

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkDaKKkFi6Y

The Son of Man was tempted to serve the beast just like every other human before him, but he resisted. The Son of Man came among us and built a new kingdom that was not corrupt or violent. And in his kingdom the beast is expelled. Sickness, disease, poverty, violence… none of these things exist in the Son of Man’s kingdom. The beast is defeated and thrown into the fire and the Son of Man is given authority, glory and sovereign power.

“Jesus is the very incarnation of God. He is the exact representation of God’s being. Jesus shows us exactly what God is like. And in this moment of shared grief as Jesus wept with his friends Mary and Martha, we can know with certainty that God also wept.”

The life of Christ writes in small letters what God has, since the beginning, been writing in grand letters too vast for us to comprehend. Jesus is the supreme example to all mankind of what God has always been like and what God has always been doing. He summarized in one short lifetime what God has been doing throughout all of history.

Jesus always treated people like they were human beings not issues. Jesus never looked at people and saw them as ‘the adulterer’, ‘the thief’ or ‘the greedy man’. Jesus saw people and had compassion on them.