Stanwich Church

The Way of the Kingdom

The central message of Jesus was the arrival of the kingdom of God. The Gospel that Jesus embodied, proclaimed, and demonstrated, was the Gospel of the Kingdom. His arrival was a declaration that a new King was in town. As followers of the King of kings, it makes sense that we would be rooted in a kingdom dynamic. It also is important for us as his church to see how the kingdom God was meant to be the natural cultural and overflow of our lives. The word “kingdom” occurs 120 times in the gospels (53 in Matthew and 45 in Luke). We are going to walk with Jesus into a rich and practical theology of the kingdom for the next 7 weeks.

Seek First the Kingdom

The central message of Jesus was the arrival of the kingdom of God. The Gospel that Jesus embodied, proclaimed, and demonstrated, was the Gospel of the Kingdom. His arrival was a declaration that a new King was in town. As followers of the King of kings, it makes sense that we would be rooted in a kingdom dynamic. It also is important for us as his church to see how the kingdom God was meant to be the natural cultural and overflow of our lives. The word “kingdom” occurs 120 times in the gospels (53 in Matthew and 45 in Luke). We are going to walk with Jesus into a rich and practical theology of the kingdom for the next 7 weeks.

The Kingdom is at Hand

The central message of Jesus was the arrival of the kingdom of God. The Gospel that Jesus embodied, proclaimed, and demonstrated, was the Gospel of the Kingdom. His arrival was a declaration that a new King was in town. As followers of the King of kings, it makes sense that we would be rooted in a kingdom dynamic. It also is important for us as his church to see how the kingdom God was meant to be the natural cultural and overflow of our lives. The word “kingdom” occurs 120 times in the gospels (53 in Matthew and 45 in Luke). We are going to walk with Jesus into a rich and practical theology of the kingdom for the next 7 weeks.

Allowing Healing to Flow from our Wounds

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4–5)

Your Protection

It happened on an ordinary day. Jesus had withdrawn to a solitary place to pray—something he did regularly, a rhythm his disciples had observed countless times. After Jesus finished praying, one of his disciples approached him with a request that would change everything: "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). It's a remarkable request when you think about it. These were Jewish men. They'd been praying since childhood. But they'd seen something different in Jesus. They'd watched him pray with an intimacy, an authority, an expectation they'd never witnessed before. His prayers weren't performances or recitations.   When Jesus prayed, things happened. Sick people were healed. Demons fled. Storms calmed. The Father's will was done. We will go deeper in the Lord’s prayer around five phrases in the prayer: Our Father, Your Kingdom, Give us, Forgive us, Lead and Deliver us. This is an invitation to go deeper by Learning to Pray with Jesus.