FRIDAY REVIEW

George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop and Missionary

April 11, A.D. 2008

Proclaiming the Kingdom: Maintaining our Focus

“And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 10:7).

From the Collect for George Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand (1841): “Almighty and everlasting God… Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

The fact that the kingdom of heaven is at hand is such a glorious reality that it should sharpen our focus on all that we say and do. Some miss this fact by thinking that “at hand” means some unknown time off in the future. Jesus, however, became incarnate and preached the Good New of repentance since the kingdom of heaven was immediately at hand in Him (Matthew 4:17). Kingdom living under Jesus meant healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons (Matthew10:8). In short, he meant living and working in the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. Life in Jesus is overflowing and abundant.

As His disciples we’re called to see the world as He does. We’re to maintain our focus on proclaiming His kingdom as we go about every task at hand. To proclaim is not always to preach or even always to share our testimony about how God has transformed us and what He has done in our lives. Kingdom proclamation is also to allow God to sanctify us so that we grow into living holy lives that bring Him honor and glory.

Focused Christians make and honor commitments. They fight the good fight. They persevere and even rejoice during suffering and tribulation. A kingdom focus keeps us from living in the past and holding on to resentment and unforgiveness. It motivates us to live into the sure and certain future that God has for us.

When we realize that God’s kingdom really is “at hand,” all around us, and indeed the realm in which we live, move, and have our being; we can then focus our lives on proclaiming the Good News of His present kingdom so that others might enter in. We proclaim as we go: as we go to work, as we labor around the house, and as we interact with all the people that God brings into our lives.

Again as I close this week, let me remind you one final time of our Common Cause Conference in Loganville, Georgia next week. Conference details and registration information are available at: www.regonline.com/195695. There’s still time to register. Call a friend today and join us for a time of worship, fellowship, and roundtable discussions, as we focus on proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven is indeed at hand!

Your brother in Jesus the Christ,

Jim McCaslin+

P.S. Due to our Common Cause Conference next week and a previous engagement the following week, the Friday Review will not appear again until May 2.