Citizens of God’s kingdom seek God’s will in all they do. They do not depend on their own understanding. Instead, they rely on the Spirit’s lead to bring discernment. Learn more about discernment in this GCI Buzz.
Author: Elizabeth Mullins
Kingdom Living—Loving Neighbor
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Matthew 25:35–36 NIV
The GC Cincinnati West congregation is partnering with another nonprofit this winter. Blessing Bags of Love is a local outreach that helps individuals that are unsheltered and unhoused in the Cincinnati community.
On a wintry evening in January, members met other volunteers downtown to provide warm food, hot drinks, blankets, and sleeping bags. The night’s low was 5 below zero, so their neighbors were grateful for the items! GC Cincinnati West provided hot pizzas to 60 members of the community.
Let us join our voices and prayers with the global Church, praying for God’s kingdom to come in its fullness. We look forward with hope to new heavens and a new earth, where people will build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat (Isaiah 65:21–22). We pray for those suffering under predatory labor laws and decades of wage suppression that benefit the powerful, oppress the poor, and contribute to homelessness.
How will you love your neighbor this week?
Devotional—Surrender
If not for Jesus’ willing death and surrender to the Father’s will, we would still be dead in our sins. If not for his resurrection, we would have no hope of eternal life with God and no hope of experiencing Christ’s resurrection life here and now.
This truth is worth meditating on. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, the 40 days of Easter Prep give us a beautiful opportunity to implement some spiritual practices as we prepare our hearts for renewal.
Many people fast during the days leading up to Easter. We don’t fast to seek after our own will, but to seek the will of God and his heart to heal our world.
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter? Isaiah 58:6-7a NIV
We fast to identify with the complete surrender of Christ to the will of the Father. From the 40 days in the wilderness to the agony of Gethsemane, we have Christ as our model and our strength to say, “Father, not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Perhaps invite others to join you. Observing Easter Preparation with other believers will not only make the journey more enjoyable but will also give each of you the accountability to persevere by lifting one another up in prayer and affirmation.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, bless us with renewed passion. Father, transform us into the image of your Son. Jesus, empower us to live a life of surrender. Amen.
By Jillian Morrison, Pastor,
Glendora, California, U.S.
Adapted from an Equipper article. Read the full article here: Spiritual Practices for Easter Preparation
Subscribe to Equipper today!
God’s Promised Rest in Christ
Dear GCI Family and Friends,
In our Kingdom Culture series, I previously wrote about being a kingdom citizen and drew attention to the people of Hebrews 11. Today I am backing up in the book of Hebrews to chapter 4 to show why the heroes of the faith chapter were so relentless in their pursuit.
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
‘As in my anger I swore,
“They shall not enter my rest”’,
though his works were finished at the foundation of the world. For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And again in this place it says, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he sets a certain day—‘today’—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.’
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later about another day. 9 So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; 10 for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labours as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs. Hebrews 4:1-11 NRSVA
Entering God’s rest is the ultimate pursuit. If this rest was achievable by observation of a weekly Sabbath day, then the rest from creation through to Joshua would have been enough. And if simply setting aside a day to cease from labor was adequate to enter God’s rest, then human works would have been enough, too.
Why does the author say “… his works were finished at the foundation of the world”? The picture from Genesis shows God creating the earth and all that it is in it and then resting on the seventh day. The creation story is awe-inspiring, and it points us to a God who spoke and the material world came into being. Amazing!
Revelation 13:8 adds an astounding piece to the creation story that helps us have a clearer understanding of the concept of God’s rest:
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. (NIV)
The Father sending Jesus was the plan from the beginning. In fact, the entire Old Testament history was the stage being set for the main character to appear. The mysterious rest the writer points to is the abiding, healing, empowering relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the only one who gives true rest to the weary and heavy laden.
Hebrews 4 may appear to be pitting obedience against faith. The reality is that we can only enter the rest by the faith of Jesus and faith in Jesus. It is through faith alone that we are saved, and it is by faith that we believe and obey. The surrendered life of reliance on Jesus is how the saints of old remained faithful and obedient to the many hardships that came their way.
So, today as you hear his voice speaking out to you, open your heart and enter the rest of Jesus.
Resting in Jesus,
Greg
Save the Date
You’re Invited—LiLY Women’s Conference
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
2025 LiLY Women’s Conference
April 25-27, 2025
Embassy Suites in Independence, Ohio (in person)
Theme: As He Has Forgiven You
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
Registration Fee:
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- $75 Early Bird Pricing — Register by Friday, April 4, 2025
- $85 Regular Pricing — Register by Friday, April 13, 2025
- $95 Late Registration — After April 13, 2025
- $50 Special Teen Rate — Ages 13-17
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Online registration ends on April 13, 2025.
Hotel Reservation/Cost:
Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd. Independence, Ohio
Overnight hotel rate: $132 per night, per suite, 4-person room
(Total with tax is $310.20 for both nights. Breakfast and manager’s reception is included for hotel guests only.)
Click here to make your reservation online.
Group Name: LiLY Women’s Conference
Group Code: LW5
Central Reservations Number: 1-866-344-7548
Deadline for hotel reservations at the special rate is Friday, April 4, 2025.
Register today online at gccle.church/lily
If not registering online, mail your registration fee with checks payable to:
Grace Communion Cleveland
4499 Canterbury Road
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
(Please include your name, address, phone number, emergency contact name and address, and if you are staying for Saturday night dinner)
If you have any questions, please email us at: LiLYwomensministry@gmail.com
Rosa Hulse
Women’s Ministry Leader
Grace Communion Cleveland
Like/Follow us on Facebook at LiLYWomensConference.
Share Your Kingdom Experiences
Would you help us highlight our 2025 theme, Kingdom Culture?
Even though we live in the tension of the “already but not yet” — signifying that the kingdom is here now, but not in its fullness — we want to embrace the “nowness” of the kingdom. We want to demonstrate the goodness of Jesus as we bear fruit in every good work. We want to proclaim the goodness of Jesus as we point others toward him in all opportunities.
Through Update, we want to stay connected as a global family and learn from one another. Would you be willing to help us? Send us your pictures and stories of how your congregation is collectively living as citizens of the kingdom! Email elizabeth.mullins@gci.org
Celebrating a GCI Centenarian
Join us in wishing a very Happy 100th Birthday to Burniece Chambers!
Mrs. Chambers birthday was Sunday, January 12, and she celebrated with her church family, GC Maumee, in Ohio, U.S. Everyone enjoyed cake while she shared her well-earned wisdom.
Mrs. Chambers began attending GCI in 1964 and was baptized five years later. She says she is very pleased to have stayed with one congregation for her lifetime. (GC Maumee was formerly known as the Toledo congregation.)
Burniece Chambers, “100 & Fabulous,” is pictured below with her pastor, Stuart Mahan.
Prayer Guide—February 2025
Sometimes that’s what prayer is — simply inviting God to join us where we actually are, not because He isn’t already here but because inviting Him reminds us it’s true. —Emily P. Freeman
Join us in seeking God’s guidance and celebrating his presence. Download the guide now.
Kingdom Citizens’ Toolbox—Center on Jesus
Citizens of the kingdom believe that the kingdom of God cannot be understood apart from who Jesus is and his mission.
Enjoy an excerpt from a series on the kingdom of God by Gary Deddo. Read the entire article here.
The centrality of Jesus Christ
… the biblical revelation, in no uncertain terms, identifies the kingdom of God with the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself embodies and brings the kingdom of God. Why? Because he is the King of all creation. His ministry as mediator between God and creation involves kingship as well as priestly and prophetic elements. The kingdom of God is real and actual in and through Jesus Christ since he reigns wherever he is. The kingdom of God is his kingdom. Jesus tells us so: “I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:29-30; NRSV throughout except as noted).
At another time Jesus declares that the kingdom of God belongs to him. He says, “My kingdom is not from this world” (John 18:36). So, the kingdom of God cannot be understood apart from who Jesus is and what his entire mission is about. Any study of Scripture or any theological synthesis of the exegetical material that does not interpret the kingdom of God on the basis of the person and work of Jesus Christ will be off-center. It will end up at a different place than one that operates from this living center of Christian faith.
Working from that center, what can we begin to understand about the kingdom of God? We should first note that it is Jesus himself who announces the arrival of the kingdom of God and makes this a comprehensive theme of his teaching (Mark 1:15). Jesus brings with him the actual presence of the kingdom, not just a message about the kingdom. The kingdom of God is operating wherever Jesus is—because he is the King. The kingdom of God has its reality in the living presence and activity of King Jesus.
