Vision

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’" (Revelation 21:1-4)

In the book of Revelation, John shares what he sees in a vision for the coming of the kingdom of heaven. The full vision of what he sets out is at times terrifying and at times comforting. In chapter 21, the coming of the holy city of Jerusalem shares the comforting image of God coming to make his permanent home among humanity, and there will be no more death or pain or crying.

Unfortunately, the kingdom of heaven as John envisions it is not where we live today. Our world is full of death and pain and crying. We are surrounded by suffering, our own and our neighbors'. However, this does not stop us from continuing to live into and work towards the vision of the kingdom of heaven. As Jesus followers, we are called to look forward, to see the vision of the kingdom of God, and to work towards making that vision a reality in our own lives.

As a community, we haven't spent much time thinking about the future, we have been worried about the present. Thankfully, with St. John's and Grace together, we are in a healthy place to stop worrying about the present and start thinking about the future. Who are we called to become? How are we faithfully walking towards the kingdom of heaven? In the next year we are going to be having more events and studies focusing on seeing the vision of the kingdom of heaven. I hope you'll join in on the work of envision the future of God's kingdom here in Franklin.