Dranesville Church of the Brethren

Dranesville Church of the Brethren

by Joey Moss

Season 2

Jesus Teaching' 8: The Persistent Widow

Persistence in prayer is key to aligning ourselves with God's will, and this is difficult because God's will is so different from our own.

Jesus Teaching 7: Give to God what is God's

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and Give to God what is God's, but what is Caesar's and what is God's?

Jesus Teaching 6: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" is a seemingly obvious prayer which is nevertheless hard to pray. While we are sometimes led into sufferings and temptations, it is God who always delivers us from it, as he did with Christ.

Jesus' Teaching 5: Our Daily Bread

In the Lord’s prayer, we pray so that we can be equipped to keep God’s name holy. This is a humble prayer of repentance, not a showy prayer of self-flattery. We also pray for God’s kingdom of heaven to come to Earth as in Revelation, in hope that the world would be set to God’s good intention.

Jesus Teaching 4: Feast, Don't Fast

The fasting of the Jewish people over the continued exile is no longer necessary because the kingdom is here. Whenever we feast together, we do so just like Jesus did because of our joy that God is here with us. God’s forgiveness was available for anyone to join that feast, but Jesus invited all the wrong people. The kingdom wasn’t for the self-righteous but for sinners and tax collectors.

Jesus Teaching 3: Blessed are the Peacemakers

Jesus’ new kingdom doesn’t just involve following the small, easy, minutiae of God’s law, but instead makes massive changes to a person so that they can actually follow the most important and difficult parts of the law. They’re no longer play-actors, but actually genuinely have a pure heart. This allows them to make peace in the world, so that it looks the way it was supposed to. However, these people will face persecution, not from the expected Gentiles, but principally from their fellow Jews.

Jesus' Teaching 2: Blessed are the Meek

The Israelites wanted the end of exile to mean that they can exact vengeance on the Gentile nations that oppressed them. Instead, if the exile was going to end, they would have to be gentle and merciful to those that showed them no such courtesy. Gentleness is harder work than fighting, since it means taming your angry impulses. But God’s new kingdom is not based on anger but on love. Jesus was meek, poor, and mourning in a way that we could not, and so he fulfilled the end of the exile.

Jesus' Teaching: Blessed are Those Who Mourn

Jesus shows a new way of being Israel, and says that the promised end of exile is not going to come through revolution or through the Law but through meekness, mourning, and gentleness. This was not the message anyone really wanted. Gentleness is harder work than fighting, since it means taming your angry impulses. But God’s new kingdom is not based on anger but on love. Jesus was meek, poor, and mourning in a way that we could not, and so he fulfilled the end of the exile.

Season 1

The Gospel Story 14: Revelation 21

God’s presence finally returns completely to his people, and all the chaos and evil of the present world is defeated. God gives his first orders as the undisputed king of creation, and justice is finally provided to his creation. Where once Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, it now becomes the capital of the Universe. This vision should inform the work we do on Earth, as we hope to make it look more and more like the beautiful city of God.

The Gospel Story 13: Romans 8:1-17/Communion Sunday

Since God has proven faithful to all his promises, even when they seemed impossible, we can be certain that he will continue to be faithful. If God has given up his own Son, we can be certain that there is nothing that will keep him from saving the world. The Church lacks all the power necessary to do what God has called them to do, but they have God backing them, and all of history is leading toward God accomplishing the salvation of the world through them. The weakness of Israel is fixed by the strength of the Church through God’s power.

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