I can’t think of a community of people more dear to my heart than the one I spoke to this past weekend – the volunteer Young Life leaders in Austin, Texas. They go several times a week into places that make 30-somethings like me shake in our boots – the high school cafeteria, the middle school basketball game, the student section at the Friday night football game. They go in there and do the impossible – they make friends! They genuinely care about adolescents and live by 1 Thessalonians 2:8:

“Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 

I love them so much and I’m so proud of them!! You can hear the emotion in my voice at the end of my talk when I thank them for all they are doing in the name of Jesus.

I spoke about the two stages of the kingdom of God – when Jesus came and when he comes back – and what the Bible says about these stages. Then I talk about how we are living in a kingdom that is already present, but not fully completed, and how that affects our lives.  The two illustrations I use in the talk are below – please forgive my artwork.

*Much of this talk was inspired by a sermon given by John Piper. You can read it or listen to it here. In particular, I stole his list of how we are living “not between the times, but in both times”. If you are interested in learning more about the present and future kingdom, Piper has another fantastic sermon on it here.