“..because the keys to the Kingdom got locked inside the Kingdom..”
“..i got a girl in the war and the only thing I know to do is turn up the music and pray that she makes it through..”
“..and the angels fly around in there but we can’t see them..”

Calling…
There are plenty of days when I find myself wishing that Auckland and Wellington shared more of the Space/Time Continuum, because finding myself in the middle of the same conversation at both ends of the island is refreshing and comforting. As if in response to my heartache in this weeks posts and musings of the last month, Sam posts here from his sermon notes of last week, including some precious thoughts, metaphors and quotes borrowed and gathered from all over.. devour with hope while listening to Josh.

Church Is Not The Destination.

In the gospels Jesus mentions the word Kingdom 121 times in 114 verses
Church is mentioned 3 times in two verses

I think there is a misconception that the Church is the destination.
Its such a small bandwidth.

When an airport confuses itself as the destination, it thinks its winning when all the planes are on the ground and the airport ground is just packed with people. Look how many people we have!

But every time it does that it screws up people’s lives. The Airport is a connector going to somewhere I want to go. People are meant to move through it, not stay put in it.

The Church is not the destination, it’s a connector getting people to where they really want to go. To life… its pointing to the Kingdom “I came to give you church, and church more abundantly”. I came to bring life. The role of the church is to proclaim the Kingdom. And the Kingdom brings life.

Furthermore on Art & Kingdom
NT Wright: “When art comes to terms with both the wounds of the world and the promise of resurrection and learns how to express and respond to both at once, we will be on the way to fresh vision, a fresh mission”.

The kingdom is every act of love, gratitude, and kindness, every work of art or music inspired by the love God and the delight in the beauty of creation; every act of care and nuture, of comfort and support for others, all spirit led teaching, every prayer, every deed that embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honoured in the world.