May 29, 2020
by Pastor Don Willeman
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Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should you do in the face of the coronavirus epidemic?

We should take inspiration from reports of our fellow brothers and sisters in China.

In the early days of the epidemic, reports from the Chinese churches began to leak out of Wuhan. Listen to the following report from early February:

“Nothing stopped [the Christians]…from proclaiming the gospel, not even the plague.

Now it is the 10^th day since the city has been separated by quarantine, and protective masks are the most valuable thing in Wuhan. Money is useless because you can’t find a store that sells the masks. People are in a desperate situation. In response, our brothers and sisters preach the gospel and give out tracts and free masks. They are sharing the word of hope and comfort from God. They have become more and more favored in the city, even in the authorities’ eyes.

…churches in Wuhan keep themselves away from all the rumors and political issues, they just do what a true Christian should do in this situation: preaching the gospel and being witness of true peace and true hope that come from Jesus Christ in front of the non-believers who are in panic and hopelessness.

…Christians wearing yellow suits [i.e. Christian ministers on the streets in yellow healthcare protective gear]…[has made the color yellow] the most beautiful color in the city. Christian gained the respect that they never had because of their willingness to risk their health to serve.”

Now, perhaps, the cultural setting would change what serving one’s neighbor for Christ would look like, but nothing should change the gospel impulse to do so.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.”
~ Philippians 2:25-30 (ESV)

May 26, 2020
by Pastor Don Willeman
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Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus epidemic?

We should prepare mentally and emotionally for a marathon and not a sprint.

Sprints require a short burst of energy; marathons require endurance.

There are many indications that this pandemic is going to disrupt our normal way of life for a long time to come. No one knows exactly how long, but some data suggests that it could be unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetime. Now, perhaps this will blow over with little incident. If so, great! But if it doesn’t, then, we need to prepare ourselves mentally for a race of endurance.

Regardless, though, the Scriptures everywhere commend to us an endurance mentality. Biblically, perseverance is essential to our faith. Consider these passages:

In Romans 5 we are told to “exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope….”

In Colossians Paul prays that we would be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11).

Jesus himself warns us: “…many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:10-13 ESV)

It is not surprising then that the writer of Hebrews describes the Christian life as a marathon: “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB).

Perhaps, if nothing else, the Lord is using this crisis to grow his people in endurance.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
~ Romans 8:18-25 (NASB)

May 22, 2020
by Pastor Don Willeman
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Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the threat of the coronavirus?

We must determine not to be driven by fear.

Certainly, we need to do everything we can to follow the wisdom of medicine and science. God gave us a mind to think and act wisely. But God also gave us a heart to trust Him, and that raises the question of where our ultimate security lies.

The anxious heart can manufacture an endless list of “what if” questions. But to live at all in this world is to risk the “what ifs.” We are contingent beings living in a contingent universe. We cannot possibly know all the “what ifs”. You cannot possibly predict every particular of your future. And there’s a reason for this—a reason why God has not told you the particulars of your future. Why? He wants us to trust him.

This is the thinking that drives the heart of David in Psalm 27 (v. 1 ESV):

“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?”

We are contingent beings. Therefore, all fear is not necessarily bad. However, God intends all fear to drive us to faith, to the One who knows the end from the beginning.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.”
~ Psalm 27 (ESV)

May 18, 2020
by Pastor Don Willeman
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Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should you do in the face of the coronavirus?

We should prepare mentally for a long hard fight that we are confident we shall win.

This coronavirus pandemic has caught the world by surprise. We’re back on our heels in an unenviable defensive position. Nonetheless, the world has faced such challenges before. For example, we forget that for much of World War II the Nazis controlled nearly all of Europe with Great Britain left alone to fight Hitler and his followers.

On May 13th, 1940 with the fall of France imminent, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the UK and took a message of realism and hope to the airwaves. At his first speech before the House of Commons, he rallied the nation to sacrificial action:

I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy…

He ended his speech with:

I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, “Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”

And it did not fail. The “monstrous tyranny” of Nazism was eventually overcome, but not without a long uphill fight.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.’”
~ Luke 1:67-79 NASB

May 11, 2020
by Pastor Don Willeman
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Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of The Kingdom Perspective.

How should we respond to the coronavirus threat?

We should rejoice in the victory of Christ’s resurrection.

The experience of this pandemic has exposed our vulnerability. We are mere flesh, made from the dust of the earth. From dust we came and to dust we will return. As the prophet Isaiah put it: “All flesh is grass, and its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades” (Isaiah 40:6-7 ESV). It’s inevitable; someday, our loved ones will stand over our grave and weep.

We are what the philosopher calls “contingent beings”—we do not have life in and of ourselves. We are dependent for our life on forces that go beyond our control. Said another way, we are mortal, perishable, subject to death and decay.

However, in the face of this fact, the Apostle Paul inserts the amazing reality of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus and the hope of our resurrection in him completely changes the equation. So much so, that Paul invites us to taunt death! In 1 Corinthians 15 (54-55 ESV), he writes:

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?’”

Indeed, as Christians, we should draw on this hope all the time, but in times of crisis, it becomes all the more real and poignant.

“…[T]hanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
~ 1 Corinthians 15 ESV