Question for college group

What is the Kingdom of God/Heaven?????  Post away…. and no Jesus points

With the Christian candidate out, where do Christians go from here?

Well, its official, McCain is the Republican candidate (presumably).  Christian favorite Mike Huckabee officially ended his bid.  Now don’t get me wrong, I like Huckabee.  I don’t agree with everything he said (or any candidate for that matter).  But, true, he was the most Godly of the candidates (at least based on what we know about him).  And everyone knows I’m not a republican, nor am I a democrat, but I do know that Christians around the country were rallying around Huckabee.  But he lost by a good margin.  Now what does that mean?  In my opinion, 1) Christians realized that McCain had more of a chance of actually winning.  2) Christians do not completely identify themselves w/ the Republicans 3) Other values are trumping the standard Republican Evangelical plugs 4) Maybe there are just not enough Christians!

But that matter aside, where do Christians go from here?  Our champion of anti-abortion is gone.  Some Christians might be thinking, “Well, God?  What the heck happened??  Why didn’t you come through?”  I think often times we rely too much on politics and government to solve our problems.  We’re waiting for Christ to come back, for the return of the Messiah.  He will right the wrongs, rescue the lost, etc etc.  But then we place our faith in the law of the country, in a man (in our case, Huckabee).  We may think that IF he gets elected, our problems will be solved!  Afterall, we’ll have a Godly Christian in the white house.  But Huckabee, the US Government, none of them are Christ!  None has the complete power to truly bring justice in the world.  Were we not disappointed by Bush, Clinton, and, well… everyone?

Yes, some things could be done.  But it is not the end all answer.  A law against abortion, gay-marriage, etc may or may not solve the problem.  In fact, I hardly think it would stop the sin and systemic issues at all.  Yes, we’d keep our hands clean.  Yes, we have saved some (and that’s good).  But the law is not Christ.

The church is supposed to be the body of Christ.  If there’s anything that should be trying to solve the problems, it is not relying on a law.  It is moving ourselves.  Yes, I believe abortion should be against the law.  But I also believe the church must take care of people.  If we are the body of Christ, that means we are Christ, come to redeem.  And relying on our laws means nothing if the church is unwilling to take care of people themselves.  Aren’t we the one’s to DO justice?

Questions for College Group – for 3/8/08

Connect this back to Galatians 3 – what do you see?

 

Galatians 4a

4:1-5 = What does Paul mean here?  How were we in slavery?  What do you believe Christ’s purpose was?  What does Paul say His purpose was?  What are we heir to?  What are the implications of being a son?

 

What is the kingdom of God?

 

Galatians 4:8-20

8 – What does this tell you about Paul’s audience?  How does his last argument about being a son work in this context.

 

9 – What does Paul mean by falling back to weak and miserable principles?  What are the weak and miserable principles of today?  What are the differences between Godly principles and the world’s?

 

12 – Doesn’t this seem rather boastful and arrogant?  Why would Paul say this?  What does becoming like them say for evangelism?

 

13- How can we follow the example of the Galatians when it comes to welcoming people?

 

17 – Paul is passionate, even zealous.  How can we model his example?  Should we?