Kingdom

All Saints to

Christ the King

 

November, marked by the days of All Saints, All Souls, Remembrance and Christ the King, was named as the season of the Kingdom in the changes to Common Worship, with red as it's seasonal colour. These are the last days of the Church's year, but closely linked with Advent, both in tone and in history. At one stage, Advent lasted from the beginning of November and only settled to four weeks relatively late. The season of the Kingdom and the first three Sundays of Advent share themes of Judgement, Death, Resurrection, Repentance, Hope, Heaven.

 

This all sounds very heavy and miserable. However, these themes are not meant to be dire rather messages of hope - hope in the New Testament means confidence, expectation. Judgement is not a threat, it is the promise that God will set things to rights, the hungry will be fed, creation will be restored, the downtrodden will be raised up. Of course, whether this is a comfortable process depends on which side of the putting right we find ourselves - repentance, change of life and allegiance being key.

  

Jesus began his ministry by announcing the that the Kingdom of God is near, and proceeding to make it present by his actions. The Church is called to Wake Up to its call follow Christ and share his ministry.