The Kingdom Perspective

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. What is God’s will for you as you face the difficult circumstances of your life? You should give thanks! The Scriptures command us: “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB). We are to give “thanks always and for everything t...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. As modern people, we tend to have a narrow or truncated view of freedom. We assume that as long as no one is telling me what to do or the government is not forcing me to do X or Y, then I am free. Now, this is certainly not less than freedom, but it is not the fullness of freedom. Biblical...

Transcript: Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective! In our current cultural climate, we are increasingly tempted to become anxious over politics. We can be tempted to get upset that things are not going the “right way”. However, as Christians we need not be anxious. Rather, we are free to walk in faith, despite political disappointment or disagreeme...

Transcript: Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective! In our current political climate, we are increasingly tempted to become anxious not only for any given election result, but also the potential reaction to it. However, as Christians we need not be anxious nor filled with dread. Rather, we are free to walk in faith and be peacemakers. Why? Well, fir...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. What did Jesus do for us in His work of redemption? Well, the Bible uses a number of metaphors, but one of the most vivid is that of buying us out of spiritual and moral debt. As the book of Proverbs tells, a debtor is a slave to his debt. But in Christ, God has not only liberated us by pa...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. What is the most political thing you will do this week? Christian theologian Oliver O’Donovan points out that the act of public worship is a political act. Have you ever thought of it that way? What is the outrageously bold political act that we do every Sunday? Well, we gather together publicly an...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. Aside from the foundational influence of the Apostles, in the first thousand years of the Church, St. Augustine’s influence is hard to match. However, St. Augustine was not always “Saint” Augustine. Although exposed to the gospel at an early age, he did not become a Christian until much la...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. In ancient Rome, Christians suffered persecution precisely because they did not find their hope and ultimate allegiance in the kingdoms of this world. They refused to say that the political realm of Rome was supreme, and that Caesar was the Lord. To them, they had only one supreme politica...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. The central claim of Christianity—namely that Jesus is Lord—does not remove us from the affairs of this world. We are still citizens of the United States (or whatever land we call our own). However, it does affect the way we imagine and engage in the affairs of this world. As Christians, we know th...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. Where do you find confidence when trouble surrounds you on every side? Remember that scene in The Lord of the Rings where Frodo is lamenting to Gandalf about the trouble caused by the Ring. Frodo: “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened” Gandalf replies: “So...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to “The Kingdom Perspective”. How should we process the difficulties of our lives? We should process them through the gentleness of Jesus. Many of us are suffering all sorts of anxieties. The good news of Jesus assures us that ultimately everything that comes our way, even the difficult, is not evidence of God’s condemnation,...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. Life is full of fears and anxieties. What should we do with them? We should take our cues from the brave Christians that have gone before us. Consider St. Patrick. He was not always St. Patrick, nor was he even Irish. He was an ordinary youth from Romanized Britain. However, at age 16 he w...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. What should we do in the face of evil and suffering? We should take comfort in God’s providential care. Evil and suffering do not catch God by surprise. There is not a single atom, not a single virus or cancer cell, that escapes his notice or power. He is Lord of all creation and he loves...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. What is prayer? 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. As the saying goes, there are no atheists in foxholes. However, for those who know God as the...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. Who is in control of your life? You may think you are, but it only takes one moment of crisis to reveal you are ultimately not. God is in control. Not you. Your life is not your own. You belong to Him. Your life is in His hands. And, for those who know God as their loving heavenly Father t...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. If parenting is anything, it is a divinely mandated opportunity to grow in patience. Now, for many of us, this suggestion may feel like a cruel joke, or at least somewhat tone deaf to the painful madness of parenting in the real world. We are tired of being patient! Patience is perhaps the most dif...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. As Christians, we are called to humble ourselves before the cross of Christ, so that we can experience the exaltation of His grace. You see, Jesus is a god who by His very nature shows us both the seriousness of our crimes against God and the certainty of His compassion toward us. And He does this...

Transcript: Many of us are stressed—troubled by social, financial, physical and even spiritual trials. Where should we turn for help? There is no better place than the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the incarnation speaks of the great mystery that, in Christ, all of God has come to us as a true human being. The fullness of God has become a member of our human race. In other words, in...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. The Bible calls us to encourage one another, and for good reason! The devil’s tool is discouragement. He loves getting God’s people feeling down and under-valued—that our efforts are useless, that nobody cares, and that all is hopeless. He loves futility. He loves dragging down the work of God in u...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. One of our chief responsibilities as followers of Christ is to be vigilant to live not in judgment of others, but in service of others. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul details a conflict in the early church over differing opinions on types of food and other matters of personal conscie...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. We should be very cautious in how we use our freedom. True freedom is not defined by “my rights” (i.e. me getting what I want without interference from others) but by obeying God’s command to sacrificially serve my neighbor. Listen to Galatians 5: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; theref...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the sadness of life? Well, you are in good company. The Bible is no stranger to weeping and sadness. “Lament” is an entire genre of biblical literature. The Bible is full of lament. Numerous Psalms fall into this category, not to mention that an entire Old...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. God made us emotional beings, but emotions are tricky things. If you are like me, you have been repeatedly, in various ways and at various times, overwhelmed by your emotions. What are we to do with these seemingly “unwanted guests”? We need to take our emotions to our Maker and process them before...

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. Our faith is a fighting faith because our faith grows stronger in the face of trouble. This is why the New Testament writer James commands us: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastn...

Transcript: Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective! In a Christian way of thinking government authority is not a necessary evil. It was established by God as a necessary good to facilitate a safe, functioning, and flourishing society. However, just because government is good and necessary does not mean that it is the most basic of social institution...