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
For All the Saints: The Church’s Hope of the Kingdom, 1 John 3:1-4
As followers of Christ, we affirm our union with the Father through His Son by His Holy Spirit. As saints (i.e., holy ones, set apart ones) we own a new identity through our union with Christ by faith. This new sense of our identity does not rest on the world’s recognition or acknowledgement of us, but securely upon the Father’s declaration about us: we are what God calls us. Because we belong to Christ, we should expect rejection and misunderstanding from the world, a wretched system that never accepted nor knew Him. Let us then live considering our certain tomorrow, the time of our transformation into sharing the image of Christ, and seek to purify ourselves in hope until we see our risen Lord and King as He truly is.
Our Focus Today
That Kingdom Hope That Purifies Against Lawlessness, 1 John 3:3–4
Genuine hope in the coming King produces present holiness and a decisive break with sin, which is rebellion against His reign (lawlessness). Those who expect to see the King prepare for His coming by living under His rule now, because sin is not merely a moral lapse but lawlessness, a refusal of the King’s authority that is incompatible with the hope of His Kingdom.
Invocation
Holy King, we long for Your appearing, and we confess that this hope of seeing You and being with You must shape our living. Search our hearts and expose every pattern of rebellion against Your rule. Purify our daily lives as we spend time meditating on Your Word and following the leading of Your Holy Spirit that we may learn better to walk in Your holiness and gladly submit to Your reign as we await Your 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.
Saturday: Colossians 3-4, Philemon
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Saturday: Psalm 7, 37, 67, 97, 127 and Proverbs 7
That Kingdom Hope That Purifies Against Lawlessness, 1 John 3:3–4
Genuine hope in the coming King produces present holiness and a decisive break with sin, which is rebellion against His reign (lawlessness). Those who expect to see the King prepare for His coming by living under His rule now, because sin is not merely a moral lapse but lawlessness, a refusal of the King’s authority that is incompatible with the hope of His Kingdom.
Reflection
True hope in Christ’s return produces present holiness, for those who expect to see the King Christ Jesus prepare for His coming. Sin is lawlessness, a defiant refusal of His authority, an act in rebellion against the will of the King. We who follow Him must renounce every pattern of rebellion that tempts us to pursue our own ways and gladly submit to His reign now in our daily lives, living as people both excited and ready to meet their King.
Engaging God’s Word Today
If sin is actually a refusal of the King’s rule and authority, where in your life are you resisting His rule rather than simply struggling with weakness? How might the hope of seeing Christ face to face move you to surrender that area to His reign and pursue His purity 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
We long to see You, Lord Jesus. Maranatha, even so, Lord come! Help us to go now as loyal subjects of Your coming Kingdom. May the hope of seeing You purify our hearts and strengthen our resolve to forsake every rebellion and temptation the enemy seeks to undermine us with. May we live gladly under Your rule today, walking in Your purity and focus, so that when You appear, You may greet us with confidence and joy, and we be assured that we have been made ready for Your Kingdom. Amen.
Scripture Memory for this season
Rev. 11:15, The Kingdom’s Consummation: Second Coming of Christ the King
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
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: The Gospel of the Kingdom
“The twelfth chapter of Matthew clearly sets forth the exorcism of demons as the work of God’s Kingdom. Opposition to our Lord had become intense, but the Pharisees were dumbfounded by Jesus’ mighty power. They had to give some explanation of His mighty works, and so they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons” (Matt. 12: 24). The Pharisees recognized the presence of supernatural power; but they attributed it to the activity of the Devil himself. “Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand; and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?’” (vv. 25-26). It is ridiculous to say that Satan is casting out Satan. That would be civil war, internal strife; that cannot be. What is the explanation of Jesus’ power? “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (v. 28).
What is the Gospel of the Kingdom? What means the announcement that the Kingdom of God has come near? It is this: that God is now acting among men to deliver them from bondage to Satan. It is the announcement that God, in the person of Christ, is doing something—if you please, is attacking the very kingdom of Satan himself. The exorcism of demons is proof that the Kingdom of God has come among men and is at work among them. The casting out of demons is itself a work of the Kingdom of God.
Let us change the idiom and go back to the structure of the two ages. Jesus’ power over demons was the disclosure that the powers of The Age to Come have invaded the present evil Age. It was the proof that the Kingdom of God, which belongs to the age of the future when Christ comes in glory, has already penetrated This Age. Satan is not yet destroyed as he will be when he is cast into the lake of fire. Satan is not yet bound as he will be during the Millennium in the abyss. Yet God’s Kingdom is active; God is attacking the kingdom of Satan. “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (v. 28). The casting out of demons is accomplished by the power of God’s Kingdom. The exorcism of demons is proof that the Kingdom of God is present.”
~ Ladd, George Eldon. The Gospel of the Kingdom. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI: 2000. Electronic Edition (copyright © 1959, The Paternoster Press), Location 597-604.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
Reign of Christ the King, The Kingdom’s Consummation: Second Coming of Christ the King, Rev. 11:15; 19:11-16
Visit our CCK-microsite for a thorough summary of CCK for curious seekers: mycck.church/cck-microsite
