7: Living in the Overlap of Heaven and Earth

The Neighborhood Church

Jesus' followers always have questions. Just when it seems they're coming to grips with Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, forty days after Easter Jesus slips into heaven and out of sight. The disciples are still looking, asking, and waiting. But! Jesus is still sending, filling, and helping those who keep walking the Way. Will we keep going without knowing every detail of what comes next? Maybe if we know that Jesus and his kingdom will be out there waiting... NOTES -- // SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Acts 1.1-11 // THE GOSPEL -- The Good News that Jesus—through his life, death, and resurrection—is the reigning Lord of heaven and earth and all people are invited to live in God's kingdom, filled with God's Spirit, free from sin and death. // The ascension is not Jesus' escape... it's Jesus' expansion. Now every step is an arrival to where Christ already is. So as you go, wake up to where Christ is... which is wherever you happen to be. // In those moments when we want a clearer answer Jesus tends to give us a clear next step instead. But if faith is a relational journey of trust, then walking with God is where we discover the answers are: "Right here" and "Come and see." // The kingdom of God is where the reign of God is expressed and experienced. // We are born into and living within the overlap of heaven and earth -- awake to God's presence and aligned with God's purpose.