The Kingdom Perspective

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. What should we do in the face of the coronavirus? We should grow in our understanding of God’s providential care and the comfort that comes from it. The coronavirus does not catch our God by surprise. He is lord of all creation. There is not a single atom, not a...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. How should we respond to the coronavirus? With confidence that God is working all things together for good. Remember that scene in The Lord of the Rings where Frodo is lamenting to Gandalf about the trouble that has come upon him because of the Ring. Frodo: “I w...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. What should we do in the face of the coronavirus? We should commit our lives to God’s eternal safe-keeping. This pandemic reveals that we do not ultimately control our lives. God is in control. Not us. Your life is not your own. You belong to Him. Your life is i...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective. The past few weeks have presented our community with unprecedented challenges. Yet, in times of darkness the light shines all the more brightly. Therefore, I’d like to take today’s program to express thanks and to celebrate the many ways that all of you are serv...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. What should you do in response to the coronavirus epidemic? Obey the governmental authorities. All people need to obey the civil authorities, but this is all the more so for the Christian. Why? The Christian knows that authority is an essentially good thing. All...

Transcript: What should we do in the face of the coronavirus epidemic? We should pray! Prayer is the cry of desperation, a final resort when there is nowhere else to turn. It is the instinct of every human heart to look up to heaven for help, when all else has failed. There are no atheists in foxholes. However, for those who know God as their Father through Jesus Christ, prayer is not merely the l...

Transcript: What should we do in the face of the coronavirus? We need to drink deeply of good gospel-driven doctrine and theology. The history of the church is rich with centuries of pondering the good news of the Bible and the comfort that it brings to us, especially in times of trouble. The 16th century Heidelberg Catechism as one excellent example. Listen to the opening question and answer: Q:...

Transcript: What should you do as a member of the church do to respond to the coronavirus? Sacrificially care for those in need. Fortunately, we have 2,000-years of history of the church facing such crises with love and wisdom. One such example comes to us from a description of the church in 3rd century Alexandria as a lethal epidemic swept through that ancient pagan city. Listen to a church leade...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective! What should the church do in response to the coronavirus? We should generously care and provide for our fellow believers and our neighbors! We can assume that there will be many whose lives and livelihoods will be disrupted by recent events. People may be out of work and there will be incr...

Transcript: Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church and the following Kingdom Perspective is a part of a special series on the coronavirus pandemic. What should we do in the response to the coronavirus? We must rethink the arrogant assumptions of our lives. If this crisis exposes anything it exposes the frailty of our life and the assumptions we make about it. The fact that so...

Transcript: What should the church do in the face of the coronavirus pandemic? We can take some inspiration from our shared Christian history. The great German reformer Martin Luther is one who knew fear and tragedy. But he also one who knew the power of Christ to overcome these. When the plague hit the German university town of Wittenberg in August 1527, the pastor and reformer along with his wif...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. What should the church do in the face of the coronavirus? We should aim all the more to be social reconcilers. Right now, many from all different persuasions are tempted to become critics and complainers—trying to find fault and pin blame. However, the gospel ca...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. What must we, as the church, do in response to the coronavirus? We must learn from Christians that have gone before us, such as St. Patrick and the Celtic Christians that followed and originated from him. When European civilization was overwhelmed by the barbari...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. How should we respond to our genuine fears and concerns that arise from the coronavirus? We should take our cues from brave Christians that have gone before us, such as the great St. Patrick. St. Patrick was not always St. Patrick, nor was he even Irish. He was...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. How should we respond to the coronavirus pandemic? We should be all the more committed to preaching the hope we have in Jesus Christ! The virus has many of us scared, and rightfully so. Like it or not, it is a stark reminder of our frailty and the frivolousness...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective. How should we as the church respond to the coronavirus? We should seek and follow the best science available. The word science comes from an old Latin term for knowledge. When we speak of “science” we speak of a particular method of obtaining knowledge and the c...