Sojourning in Babylon

Revelation 21: 3,4.- “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Exile They are given a new name, a new education, a new diet. The Western World is transitioning from Christendom to post Christendom.

Gerard Kelly “Some of the power and privilege that were once associated with the Christian church in our society has been lost. There is a sense in which the faith once so central to our culture is increasingly being pushed to its margins. When changes like this occur, it can feel a lot like exile.”

When you look back through history, the times when the gospel of Jesus Christ has been most effective is when it has worked from the margins.

Three Choices Just take them and say “thank you. There’s no moral issue at all.” Followers of Jesus should redeem. Because some things in life were created good by God, buy they’ve been twisted by cultures. Followers of Jesus should reject because they’re just wrong.

Courage Did you notice how Daniel related to his captors? Do you realize that what you do and what you don’t do; what you risk and what you don’t risk is determined by what you fear the most? Daniel feared God more than the king. And the thing that you fear the most ultimately determines what you do and don’t do. The more you cultivate a fear of God, the more you will develop some backbone, some spine to make tough decisions.

Influence Let’s decide to fear God more than anything else, and speak the gospel, and live out the gospel, and be a blessing to our community.