{"id":4907,"date":"2018-01-21T15:42:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-21T15:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=4907"},"modified":"2018-01-21T13:42:20","modified_gmt":"2018-01-21T13:42:20","slug":"the-kingdom-of-god-has-come-near","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/the-kingdom-of-god-has-come-near\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kingdom of God has come near"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"qtranxs-available-languages-message qtranxs-available-languages-message-es\">Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en <a href=\"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4907\" class=\"qtranxs-available-language-link qtranxs-available-language-link-en\" title=\"English\">English<\/a>. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.<\/p><p><strong>Reading<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mark 1: 14-20\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230;after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,\u00a0and saying, \u00abThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.\u00bb<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the first three Sundays of 2018, we have studied two events of Jesus&#8217; early ministry:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>his baptism by John;<\/li>\n<li>the calling of Philip &amp; Nathanael\/Bartholomew of \u00abFollow me\u00bb<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Today we read of John&#8217;s arrest, of the calling of Simon (who we know as Peter) and his brother Andrew, fishermen of Galilee, and also of the brothers James and John, but most importantly we read that Jesus continues to preach \u00abthe kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news\u00bb.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not going to go back into discussing this morning repentance, because I hope that you have already understood the concept of change of lifestyle that is required with repentance.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not just a simple \u00abI&#8217;m sorry\u00bb, but rather a fundamental change in the way we think, speak and act.\u00a0 Repentance is not \u00abgoing on a diet\u00bb: repentance is choosing to live a new healthy lifestyle in which you are active, exercising and eating healthy as a way of life, for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n<p>So, today, I ask what does this mean \u00abthe kingdom of God has come near\u00bb?\u00a0Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule of the eternal, sovereign God over all the universe. But that&#8217;s not all that it is.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.focolare.org\/gb\/news\/2016\/02\/08\/chiara-lubich-the-kingdom-of-god-has-come-to-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">One writer<\/a> says that God&#8217;s kingdom is simply this: Jesus present among us.\u00a0 Jesus came and preached this good news:\u00a0\u00a0\u2018The kingdom of God has come near to you\u2019 (Lk 10:9). \u2018<em>\u00a0The kingdom of God has come to you<\/em>\u2019; \u2018the kingdom of God is among you\u2019 (Lk 17:21).<\/p>\n<p>God himself (not the throne room with the angels and cherubim and their harps and songs, but God)\u00a0has come into the midst of God\u2019s people.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018The kingdom of God\u2019 was the Jewish people\u2019s way of saying that God acted for their sake, on their behalf, freeing the people from every form of slavery and evil, guiding them to justice and peace, flooding them with joy and good things.\u00a0And so, Jesus came, healing the sick, making the lame to walk again, causing the blind to see, preaching a repentance and \u00abgo and sin no more\u00bb.<\/p>\n<p>If we look at the world around us, just at Panama City, do we feel like it is dominated by corruption, evil and that the violence is a normal way of life.\u00a0 Do we feel at the mercy of gangs, corrupt police, corrupt government officials, wondering when justice will be done and flood down on this country like rivers of living water?\u00a0 Do we feel like there is even impotence to change matters personally when others have personal agendas and plans that are not Godly?\u00a0 Jesus responds: \u00ab<em>the kingdom of God has come near<\/em>\u00ab.\u00a0\u00a0These verses invite us to believe that God, right now, is conquering these evil actions and intentions and is establishing a peace that surpasses all human understanding.<\/p>\n<p>Colossians 1: 27 reminds us:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>the glorious riches of this mystery, which is\u00a0<em>Christ<\/em>\u00a0in you, the\u00a0<em>hope of glory.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Christ is in you<\/em>! This is the hope of glory: <em>God is with us<\/em>. That God&#8217;s kingdom is \u00abat hand\u00bb, it has already \u00abcome\u00bb. This Good News is not that we, as Christians, will have eternal life and go to heaven, although there is that too!\u00a0 This Good News has\u00a0everything to do with <strong>this life<\/strong>. God was beginning to reign on earth in a new way, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This new way is Christ in you!<\/p>\n<p>But, what do we have to do? Live our lives Act in such a way as to have him always in our midst. And how do we do that? Well, as Jesus said in Mark 1: we repent and believe the good news. Then we go forth, and \u00absin no more\u00bb. But, in what practical ways can you experience\u00a0God\u2019s reign in your life? What would it mean for you to recognize God\u2019s purpose and plan for you, living your very best life and best self, when you\u2019re at work? at school? at church? at a family reunion?<\/p>\n<p>I think this starts with humility: accepting the sanctuary and purpose of God requires humility. It means accepting that we don&#8217;t know it all. It means that we accept God&#8217;s purpose and plan for our lives, which may be different from the purpose and plan we had.\u00a0\u00a0The \u00abSupreme Being\u00bb of God is all knowledge, all wisdom, all seeing, everywhere, at all times, and yet, each of us is called to an innate relationship. In order to regain our lost relationship with God, our approach must come with humility, because we were the ones who decided to separate ourselves from God.<\/p>\n<p>Many see this as the \u00aboriginal sin\u00bb &#8211; a decision to separate from our Oneness with God, and now we each have a constant struggle to rebuild, each day by every choice we make, living with the kingdom of God in our hearts.\u00a0 We no longer live in the garden of Eden, where we walk and talk with God constantly and easily, but rather living separately and alone.\u00a0 But Jesus came to preach the Good News: the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it has come!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.realteachingsofjesus.com\/2008\/07\/repent-for-kingdom-of-heaven-is-near.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This week I read<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The true meaning of\u00a0\u201cfor the kingdom of heaven is near\u201d\u00a0is that each of us can gain the sanctuary of God &#8211; the refuge of God &#8211; immediately by simply turning to the Supreme Being &#8211; by worshiping Him and relying upon Him &#8211; and dismissing ourselves (<i>\u00abrepenting\u00bb<\/i>) from our search for happiness in a materialistic world of emptiness and physical gratification.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But many of us struggle to live with this mystery, <em>Christ in you, the hope of glory.<\/em>\u00a0 We live under a false sense of entrapment, focused only on the material world, controlled by our fears, rather than seeing the presence of God in our lives.\u00a0 How much time do we spend caught up in fear and worry? And rather than living a powerful life, in which we have clear priorities, motivation and actions, we live timidly.\u00a0 The kingdom of heaven has come: Has it come in your life? Is it reflected in the decisions you make? Have you let go of fear, blame and guilt &#8211; to live in the freedom of Christ in you, the hope of glory?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i>\u00abThe kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, &#8216;See here!&#8217; or &#8216;See there!&#8217;<br \/>\nFor indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.\u00bb (Luke 17:20-21 NKJV)<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The call from Jesus and John for repentance was a call to take off the old and put on the new. And part of that is a call to take off our ego and replace it with a humble, pure heart.\u00a0 When our ego is out of control, we are trapped by it. Our ego insists that we are \u00abright\u00bb, that our way of viewing the situation is the only way and that every other way is therefore \u00abwrong\u00bb. Our ego leads us to believe we are superior to others: better educated, more prepared, more deserving. Our ego leads us to be greedy &#8211; we never have enough. Our ego leads us to be envious: instead of being happy and grateful when another succeeds, we are resentful and want to pull them back down to our own level.\u00a0 Our ego tells us that everything is about me: it becomes obnoxious, rude and annoying.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The ego gives a grandiose sense of self-importance and expects others to see this at all times.<\/strong>\u00a0Our ego exaggerates talents and achievements: constantly comparing ourselves to others, craving respect and recognition. And from here, our ego takes us to being self-serving and self-centered. Favours that we do for others are all transactional: what is in this for me? This, in turn, becomes manipulation and pulling strings.<\/p>\n<p>But Jesus calls us: repent, take off that mask so that you can see life through a crystal clear lens, and allow God to live within you. Take out the ego, and make room for Divine Purpose in your life.\u00a0 Jesus calls each of us \u00ab<em>follow me<\/em>\u00ab, and to each of us Jesus says: \u00ab<em>The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news<\/em>.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>As we leave church today,\u00a0what practical ways can you experience\u00a0Divine Purpose leading your life? What would it mean for you to recognize God\u2019s purpose and plan for you, living your very best life and best self, when you\u2019re at work? at school? at church? at a family reunion? That is a question each one of us has to respond, because our hope of glory is that Christ is in each one us.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.Reading: Mark 1: 14-20\u00a0 &#8230;after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,\u00a0and saying, \u00abThe time is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[159,677],"ctc_sermon_series":[],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"class_list":["post-4907","ctc_sermon","type-ctc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ctc_sermon_book-1-corinthians","ctc_sermon_book-mark","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4907"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4910,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4907\/revisions\/4910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=4907"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=4907"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=4907"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=4907"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=4907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}