Our series during Ordinary time will explore the revelation of God’s Kingdom through his Son. We will look specifically how the incarnation—the ministry, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ—reveals the long-promised Kingdom of God breaking into human history demonstrating God’s love, destroying the powers that ravaged creation, and displaying the Messiah’s promise (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
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YOUR KINGDOM COME
Pastoral Resources | 2025-26 Themes At-A-Glance
Week 41 — Harvest: The Messiah’s Predicted Suffering: The Kingdom’s Path, Mark 8:31-38; 9:30-37
The Kingdom’s values clash with the world’s attempt in its petty and vain striving after glory and prosperity for the self. Everything that the world seeks and desires contrasts with the Savior’s own sense of vision and His journey to glory. The Son of Man’s suffering was no accident of history but God’s ordained route to glory, and His downward path has become the model for all who seek to honor God in His Kingdom rule. Every disciple who follows Christ must embrace the Cross as their pattern and guide. To save our lives we must lose them, and to be great we must become servants of all. Therefore, we lead and live most fruitfully only when we die to ourselves, live unto Christ, and welcome the least.
Our Focus Today
The Inestimable Treasure of the Soul: Nothing Gained Is Worth a Forfeited Soul, Mark 8:36–38
Because the whole world cannot ransom a single soul, and because the Son of Man will be ashamed at His coming of all who are ashamed of Him now, the disciple must count unwavering loyalty to Christ and His words as worth infinitely more than any earthly gain, applause, or advancement.
Invocation
Lord Jesus, You have shown us that our souls outweigh the treasure of this entire world. Truly the Kingdom is more important than anything else that we can see and our making the right choice in this world will determine far more than how much money we have in the bank or how nice our possessions might be. Guard us from selling our loyalty for gain, applause, or advancement that cannot last. Give us courage to own You and Your words before an unbelieving generation, that we may not be ashamed, nor find You ashamed of us at Your glorious coming. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Thursday: Mark 8.22-9.13; Matt. 16.13-17.13; Luke 9.18-36
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Thursday: Psalm 10, 40, 70, 100, 130 and Proverbs 10
The Inestimable Treasure of the Soul: Nothing Gained Is Worth a Forfeited Soul, Mark 8:36–38
Because the whole world cannot ransom a single soul, and because the Son of Man will be ashamed at His coming of all who are ashamed of Him now, the disciple must count unwavering loyalty to Christ and His words as worth infinitely more than any earthly gain, applause, or advancement.
Reflection
No one can calculate the treasure of the soul of a human being. The soul outweighs the wealth and pomp of the entire world, so no gain, applause, or advancement can compensate for its loss. Christ binds our eternal standing to our present loyalty, for shame of Him now invites His shame at His coming. Therefore, we must hold fast to Christ and His words above every earthly prize, counting faithfulness worth infinitely more than the world.
Engaging God’s Word Today
What earthly gain, approval, or advancement have you been tempted to secure at the cost of your own open loyalty to Christ? When you compare your current temptations to the inestimable worth of your soul—and His coming in glory—how might this help you to reshape your ambitions and directions today?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
There is no way to calculate, dear Father, the worth of a human soul, the prospect of never-ending days of life, and the foolishness of living for things that will never matter and sacrificing the things that matter most. Let us go now, holding fast to Christ and His words above every earthly prize. May we never trade the treasure of our souls for the applause or apparent blessings of this passing world. And may the Son of Man, Who is soon to come in Your glory with the holy angels, welcome us as ones who were never ashamed to call Him Lord and live for His Kingdom alone. Amen.
Scripture Memory for this season
1 Peter 2:9-10, The Church as Visible Sign: Locus and Agent of the Kingdom
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Books We Are Reading this Church Year, and When
• The Most Amazing Story Ever Told, Dr. Don Davis (during season of Advent)
• Get Your Pretense On, Dr. Don Davis (during season of Christmas)
• Destined for the Throne, Paul Billheimer (during season of Epiphany)
• The Presence of the Future, George Eldon Ladd (during seasons of Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Ascension)
• Who Gets to Narrate the World?, Robert E. Webber (during seasons of the Coming of the Holy Spirit, and Headship)
• Kingdom, Church and World: Biblical Themes for Today, Howard Snyder (during season of Harvest)
• The Gospel of the Kingdom, George Eldon Ladd (during the seasons of Hope and Remembering the Saints, Exalting the King)
Book Reading Reflection: Kingdom, Church and World: Biblical Themes for Today
The Biblical Concept of shalom
Shalom, usually translated peace, is one of the great words of the Old Testament. It occurs some 350 times and clearly underlies the concept of peace found in the New Testament, as we shall see. Shalom is so woven into the fabric of the Old Testament that to touch virtually any strand of Bible history or theology is to meet it.
As Douglas Harris notes, “The root meaning is to be whole, sound, safe.” The fundamental idea is totality. God is the source and ground for Shalom. Anything that contributes to this wholeness makes for Shalom. Anything that stands in the way disturbs Shalom. In Bishop John Taylor’s words, “the biblical vision of Shalom meant a dancing kind of interrelationship, seeking something more free than equality, more generous than equity, the ever-shifting equal poise of a life system.”
The Old Testament teaches that God’s plan is to bring a universal peace, Shalom, to His creation. This means more than the absence of conflict and immensely more than “inner peace,” or “peace of mind.” In the Old Testament sense, shalom might be called an ecological concept. It carries the sense of harmony, right relationship, and the proper functioning of all elements in the environment. At root it means well-being, with a strong emphasis on the material side, and it is closely connected in the Old Testament with covenant. The Garden of Eden before the fall provides a good model. This Shalom is “every man sitting under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with none to make him afraid” (compare 1st Kings 4:25 and Micah 4:4, an image of the eschatological fulfillment of the peace enjoyed under King Solomon.)
Shalom is, of course, directly tied to the kingly rule of the Messiah in passages such as Isaiah 9:6-7. The Messiah is the Prince of Peace and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The clear link in the Old Testament of Shalom with God’s reign suggests that the dozens of references to the word and ideal should be studied thoroughly for their kingdom content.
~ Snyder, Howard. Kingdom, Church, and World: Biblical Themes for Today. Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR: 2001. Electronic Edition. Location 18-19.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
The Messiah’s Call to Discipleship: The Kingdom’s Demands (rich young ruler), Mark 10:17-27, Luke 18:18-30
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