Joining Jesus – 12th March 2019

4. The Time has come!
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:14,15
The first words that Jesus used in His announcement of the ‘Kingdom of God’ were “The time has come”. From this moment, things would never be the same again because it was time for something new.
I believe with all my heart that the time in which we are living is a “time that has come”! It is vital, at this time, that we announce, to a world that is largely disconnected from Jesus and the truth of the gospel, that the Kingdom of God is near.
If we are to join Jesus in His Mission and make this announcement then we must we must stop waiting and start witnessing, and, we must start immediately.
Jesus announcement was not in words only, it was also in actions! He didn’t just talk about the Kingdom of God, He lived it out in front of people and these people were in the public places, not in the private place of a church building!
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus quoted scripture to provide us with a fuller understanding of the Kingdom that He was introducing:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Luke 4:18-19.

Jesus came to usher in a kingdom that would set people free and this would be achieved by a blend of action and words. Having made these announcements, Jesus continued to ‘put into practice’ what He had said and as a result many entered into the Kingdom of God.

If we are to join Jesus in His mission, we must talk about Him but we must also, in His power, live lives that help people to have a glimpse of what His Kingdom is like.

I will always remember, years ago, a good friend of mine put it like this:

Our lives should so reflect Jesus that it causes people to be curious about Him and ask us questions. We can then talk about Jesus without ‘preaching’ at people.

I want to close by asking you a direct question – ‘Are you announcing ‘The Kingdom of God’ through how you live and what you say? If not, I encourage you to recognize that ‘The time has come’!
Dennis