Transcript:
Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.
We should take inspiration from reports of our fellow Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ.
Back in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, reports of Christian courage began to leak out of Wuhan. Listen to the following from early February 2020:
Nothing stopped [the Christians]…from proclaiming the gospel, not even the plague.
Now it is the 10th day since the city has been separated by quarantine, and protective masks are the most valuable thing in Wuhan. Money is useless because you can’t find a store that sells the masks. People are in a desperate situation. In response, our brothers and sisters preach the gospel and give out tracts and free masks. They are sharing the word of hope and comfort from God. They have become more and more favored in the city, even in the authorities’ eyes.
…churches in Wuhan keep themselves away from all the rumors and political issues, they just do what a true Christian should do in this situation: preaching the gospel and being witness of true peace and true hope that come from Jesus Christ in front of the non-believers who are in panic and hopelessness.
…Christians wearing yellow suits [i.e. Christian ministers on the streets in yellow healthcare protective gear]…[has made the color yellow] the most beautiful color in the city. Christians gained the respect that they never had because of their willingness to risk their health to serve.
Now, note well repeated references to faith and God that leads to loving service of one’s neighbor! Now, perhaps, the cultural setting would change what serving one’s neighbor for Christ would look like, but nothing should change the gospel impulse and courage to do so.
Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.
“I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.”
~ Philippians 2:25-30 (ESV)
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Chinese Christians Heroes
Kingdom Perspective
December 9, 2021 • Don Willeman
True Freedom
December 28, 2021 • Don Willeman
Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. It is especially critical at our cultural moment not to be driven by a selfish understanding of freedom, but by how the Bible defines freedom—which is, loving obedience to God’s commandments, especially the command to love one’s neighbor. Biblically speaking, freedom is not defined by “my rights” (i.e. me getting what I want without inference from others), but by obedience to God’s commandments. Certainly, freedom, as defined by individual rights, may be helpful political ideology. Indeed, as a red-blooded American I certainly think so. However, this is not the most basic biblical understanding of freedom. Listen to Psalm 119:44-45 “I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” Freedom is obedience to God’s commandments. Remember, God commanded Pharaoh to set the Children of Israel free. Why? In order that they might serve the Lord. Submission to God is freedom. And it was after the nation was delivered from slavery in Egypt that God gave them commandments. Why? So that they might fully realize the benefits of that freedom. Freedom is defined not by rights but by responsibility to obey God. Now, if obedience to God’s commandments is true liberty, then what is the essence of what God commands? Love. The New Testament repeatedly reminds us that the law of God is summed up (or fulfilled) in one commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That is true freedom. Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” ~ Exodus 7:14-19 (ESV)
Christmas Eve Invitation
December 22, 2021 • Don Willeman
Hello! This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special edition of The Kingdom Perspective. I want to let you know about something very exciting coming up for you and your family this Christmas Eve on the Lebanon Green. Last year, during the middle of the pandemic, we did something very special. We held our annual Christmas Eve service outdoors on the Lebanon Green. We did this because of the pandemic, but it was such a big hit, we are doing it again this year! So, this Friday, December 24th at 4:30 pm, we will meet for an outdoor Candlelight Christmas Eve Service on the Green in downtown Lebanon, NH. We will follow all the recommended COVID protocols for outdoor events. We will gather, sing and celebrate not only our shared community, but also the hope of Christmas—that God sent His only Son into our world of darkness, in order that He might give us the light of His love. So, make plans for you and your family to join us on Christmas Eve, December 24th at 4:30 pm. And please invite your friends and neighbors. All are welcome! And don’t forget to click on the link below for more details. Christmas Eve at the Lebanon Green http://(https://subsplash.com/christredeemerchurch/lb/ev/+29qgyyz) I look forward to seeing you! And on behalf of our entire congregation at Christ Redeemer Church: “Merry Christmas!”
The Church: Jesus’s Gathered Body
December 21, 2021 • Don Willeman
Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. The church by its very nature is a gathered community. We meet regularly, because we are called to be together as one. The Bible tells us that we are embodied, communal creatures. God made us flesh and bone, and He made us in community with other flesh and bone creatures. At the creation of Adam, God says, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2). In the immediate context, this leads to a statement on marriage. But Genesis is just the beginning of the story. You’ve got to look at how this traces out down the sightlines of the Bible. At the end of the biblical story, we see that this is not merely a statement about the meaning of marriage, but more so about the meaning of the church (see Ephesians 5:30 and Revelation). Why did God design a world with a community of flesh and bone divine image bearers? He did so precisely because He intended His church to worship Him together, in flesh and bone. He actually sent His one and only Son to become flesh and bone with us, quite literally, so that He, like Adam, might sing over us His bride, “Flesh of my flesh! Bone of my bone!” (Genesis 2; Ephesians 5) Thus, any kind of so-called “virtual worship”, though perhaps necessary for a time, should leave us feeling a bit uncomfortable and unsatisfied, longing for something more. It’s not what God has ultimately intended. But, for now, we live in a fallen world which is separated by sin. And we experience the effects of that separation from God and from one another to a greater or lesser degree, at various times and places. Yet, our hope is that someday, when the fullness of our salvation comes, all that has been separated will be brought back together before the throne of Christ—in glorious, embodied resurrection! Nonetheless, in this in-between-time, we believe in the mystical union of the saints—that though we may be scattered to one degree or another, we are still united under the kingly presence of Jesus our Lord, by the abiding power of His Holy Spirit. Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” ~ Ephesians 5:28-32 (NASB) “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” ~ Revelation 7:9-12 (NASB)