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Doing Politics from the Middle of the Story

Week 25

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐— -๐—จ๐—ฃ
โ€ข Which city do you live in? Whatโ€™s your neighborhood like and what do you like most about it?
โ€ข Did you ever have to leave a cinema or theater before the ending? Why?
โ€ข Who is the best storyteller you know? Why do you think he or she is the best?

๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——
โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ; ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ. ๐˜›๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด; ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด; ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ. ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ง, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ.โ€ ๐—๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—˜๐— ๐—œ๐—”๐—› ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿต:๐Ÿฑโ€“๐Ÿณ

We started talking about civil government by saying that the Bible is better understood if we read it as a narrative divided into four acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration.

God created a good world (Act One) but that world was broken by sin (Act Two). The biggest chunk of the biblical record covers redemption (Act Three, from Genesis 3 to Revelation 20), while the last two chapters of Revelation show us a preview of the restoration of all things (Act Four). We live in the middle of the story.

What does this mean? We are living in a time when redemption has already begun but is not yet completed. We are in the middle of the โ€œalready but not yet.โ€ Like living through a pandemic, the end may be in sight but getting there takes time. It is, in many ways, a very real expression of โ€œalready but not yetโ€ in our time.

As a church, what do we do from the middle of the story?

๐Ÿญ. ๐—•๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ.

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ. ๐—ฃ๐—›๐—œ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—œ๐—”๐—ก๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿตโ€“๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ

When we gather as a church every week, we are declaring that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not. That truth has implications on how we live the rest of the week. The church is a formation center for righteousness, both private and public. This is where we grow in our discipleship. As our lives are shaped by the gospel of Christ, our inner convictions will eventually affect the way we approach political issues. How did you become part of a local church, and how have you grown as a disciple?

๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—น.

โ€œโ€˜. . . ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ.โ€™โ€ ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿณโ€“๐Ÿญ๐Ÿด

A nationโ€™s true hope lies in the transformation of individual lives. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring about this transformation. We engage in politics not to score political wins, but to preach the gospel and make disciples so that the nations will come to know Christ. How do you think society and even interaction online would be different if we bore witness to the gospel of Christ in everything we do or say?

๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†.

โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ง, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ.โ€ ๐—๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—˜๐— ๐—œ๐—”๐—› ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿต:๐Ÿณ

For seventy years, the Jews lived as exiles in Babylon, where they were surrounded by political enemies every day. However, God did not instruct them to destroy their enemies. He told them to build houses, plant gardens, get married, and have families. The Jews were to go about their social and cultural activities in a way that would benefit the broader population. They avoided two extremes: they neither adapted fully to the Babylonian culture nor withdrew completely from it.

As believers, we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). We are strangers here on earth and are only passing through. But for the sake of our Christian witness, we seek our societyโ€™s common good. We need to do good whether we are at home, at school, or in our workplaces. Christians should be excellent accountants, waiters, bosses, and politicians. What does seeking the good of the city look like for you where you are?

๐Ÿฐ. ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„.

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹โ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ . . . ๐—ฃ๐—ฆ๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—  ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ

As ambassadors of the King, we do not put our hope in politics or expect it to save us. After all, politics is only one sphere of society. Instead, we can work faithfully to renew every sphere and institution of cultureโ€”not only politics, but also banking and finance, marriage and family, the arts and sciences, education, entertainment, and sports. Our combined Christian witness in all spheres of society will make those who donโ€™t know Jesus yet even more responsive to the gospel. Why is transforming every sphere of society, not just politics, important?

๐Ÿฑ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

โ€œ๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด; ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด; ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ . . .โ€ ๐——๐—”๐—ก๐—œ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿญ

Instead of putting our hopes on short-term political activism, we should commit ourselves to consistent political engagement over a long period of time. Godโ€™s purposes outlast empires and kingdoms. He is the one who sovereignly ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด. Because of this, our political vision should not be limited to our lifetime. We need to work towards comprehensive and sustained cultural witness over generations. How do you think this might look? What are some steps you can take to achieve it?

๐Ÿฒ. ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜†.

โ€œ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง, ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ, ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ.โ€ ๐—๐—ข๐—›๐—ก ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ:๐Ÿฐ

Doing politics from the middle of the story is difficult. We run the risk of disillusionment, distraction, and discouragement. Our constant connection with God is what will keep our hearts tender, our eyes on the prize, and our hands and feet ready for the task. We must be especially consistent in our prayer and worship. How have you learned to take your concerns and requests to God, and to set them aside to worship Him alone?

๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก
โ€ข How have the four acts of the biblical narrative (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration) affected your understanding of the world and Godโ€™s plan for it?
โ€ข Consider the action points discussed today. Which of these do you think you need to apply most? What is one way you can do this?
โ€ข Having discussed these topics, what do you think is your role as a Christian in society? What is the role of civil government in our lives?

๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ
โ€ข Thank God for making sure Redemption and Restoration are part of His overarching narrative for us. Declare how much you need Him in every area of your life.
โ€ข Pray that you would seek the good of the city and live out righteousness both in private and public. Pray for Godโ€™s strength and grace to carry this out every day.
โ€ข Ask God for a longer and broader view that carries over to future generations. Pray that you will do your part in being Christโ€™s witness to your community, nation, and the world.