The Holy Spirit, poured out on the church, opens pathways of communication, enabling the Gospel to break through the multiple barriers to our hearing. Barriers are also broken down to enable us to to communicate with one another and with God.
It is in a developing relationship with Jesus Christ that our minds will be opened to understand the scriptures, just as happened for the disciples of Jesus.
Many of the stories of Jesus’ life, such as the entry into Jerusalem, can only be properly understood in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and so the church has a vital role in the revelation of the gospel.
Moments of transfiguration show how much more lies beyond our mundane perceptions – of Jesus, of the world, of ourselves.
With the coming of the Christ, our deepest longings and yearnings will be fulfilled.
God does not wish our suffering and struggle to continue, but is ready to gather us in his arms, and calls us to prepare for his arrival.
Christ’s call to respond to his presence in the needy is a call for the church to embrace a lifestyle of radical communal hospitality (but we have often used it to justify empires built on the labour of guilt-ridden, over-extended, under-prepared Christians!)
Although all in the church may appear equally worthy, it is those who live the life (inward and outward) of the Kingdom now who are prepared for its coming.
Jesus summarised the way by saying “Love God with everything you have and love your neighbour.” We find that easy enough to accept as the answer to a question but much harder to really live by.
All that is required to inherit all the fullness of the Kingdom is to accept the invitation and throw yourself wholeheartedly into the celebration.
There are all sorts of things that can make us look impressively Christian, but the only thing that matters is to deeply know Christ and to enter with him into the experience of his suffering and resurrection.
Sin is a seemingly objective force for evil within us that can only be addressed when it’s out in the open before a merciful God.
It is true that God is love, but God’s love is so tough, demanding and uncomfortably interactional that we will sometimes experience it as harsh, unpredictable and unreasonable.
God calls the most ordinary people to be his followers and through following we become a blessing to others.
In the aftermath of the Port Arthur Massacre, we need to see what it means to follow Christ through the valley of death.
Baptism is a public affirmation of our openness to the God who transforms us and calls us to continue the mission of Jesus.
If we live as though Christ was reigning now, we will always be ready for what he is about to do.
In a world where both monarchy and presidential democracy have lost touch with the needs of the people, Christ shows a Kingship that is expressed in solidarity with our suffering and raises us to royal dignity.
Our doubts and questions are welcome to God so long as we are not using them to avoid Christ’s question to us – “Will you follow me?”
Christ’s wish is that all people will respond with thankful joy to his offer of holistic healing and growth – physical, emotional, social.