A new name for an age-old mission: Participating in the restoration Jesus is already bringing, here and now.
“The people who belong to Jesus join him in his worldwide restoration project—and the called-out ones, the church, are committed to advancing the good news of this kingdom into the world—not as a means of helping people avoid the world, rather to see God’s kingdom life be made real, here, and now!”
This is a quote from yesterday’s video that Pastor Jack showed in connection to his sermon on “Spiritual Fruit.” (Missed the video? Watch or share it below.)
What calling? What kingdom?
As we learned, part of being a disciple of Jesus is allowing the Holy Spirit to produce spiritual fruit in our lives. One of the (many) amazing things about this fruit-bearing dynamic is that God uses it not only in our lives but in the lives of those whom we are around! In our lives, the Spirit produces the character and kingdom of God. As this happens, God is restoring us to who He meant for us to be—and who we will be when we’re one day with Him face-to-face!
The fruit of God’s character and kingdom being produced in us is also meant to spill over into the lives of other people though; in particular, God at work in our lives should spill over into the lives of those who are still lost on their way to Jesus, those who are looking for Him perhaps without even knowing it.
This is the “now” of God’s kingdom.
Jesus came to fix everything sin has messed up. Our brokenness will be fully banished at Jesus’ return to earth! (This is the “not yet” part of God’s kingdom.) In the meantime, God is restoring both broken lives and our broken world, piece by piece. We are a part of God’s kingdom being made real, here and now, in our world!
Opportunities to live our our kingdom calling
With God’s help, we can view our day-to-day lives as opportunities to live out our kingdom calling. Our moments are openings for God to bring His kingdom into each conversation we have, each circumstance we enter, each person in our path.
For me, this week that means asking God for more of a heart to care for the lost folks I do life around. It means being deliberate to take time and pray for A, K, and N and their families. It means seeing the cashier at Harris Teeter as a person. It means not treating my week as something just to get through. It means seeing my relationship with my housemate as a place where God is making me more who He wants me to be. It means praying “God, I want to want You to plan my day more than I want a certain outcome,” and then when He shows up in my day, not walking right past that.
What does this look like for you? For your family?
Our kingdom calling as a church
There are many ways on a daily basis we are each doing this, participating in the restoration Jesus is already at work to bring. As a church, we also want to equip us periodically with opportunities to live out our kingdom calling. Some opportunities may only fit into some of our lives, some of the time. That’s okay. Our goal is to offer a variety of opportunities throughout this year. This month, we will be highlighting Tree of Life Ministries , our local parachurch poverty relief and development organization. We’ll introduce specific ways we can partner with them to be a part of bringing restoration in our community of Purcellville and Western Loudoun County.
– Brittany Paist
More resources
Missed the Kingdom Calling video from Sunday? Watch here.
Looking for some prayer inspiration?
Let’s pray as a church body this month: Continue to give us Your eyes and Your heart for those right around us who are lost. We pray for us as a church body – help us to continue to catch your vision for us to be a part of the restoration you are working here and now through Jesus. Bless our local Tree of Life Ministries and their efforts to love and care for those in need in our community.
Look for a good passage to delve more into this topic?
Check out 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (particularly in the Amplified version!)