Kingdom Offerings
Exploring the offerings of scripture concerning the Kingdom of God and becoming aware of the handwriting of Jesus Christ across all of history.
Childbirth and the Kingdom
November 11, 2024
Transcript
Hi, this is Dave Scherrer. I am the president and founder of One Hundred-Fold Ministries. We’re a relatively new ministry expression.
We were born, as it were, just two years ago in January of 2023. It was at that time that we went public with our website and our blog environment, which is called Backyard Conversations, and this, our podcast environment, where you find yourself now, which is called Kingdom Offerings. So I want to say that wherever you find us, wherever you find me for that matter, you will hear us talking about the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Here at One Hundred-Fold Ministries, we believe that this gospel, this good news, is the central theme of Jesus’ person, work, and teachings. We also believe that believers and even pastors today have lost sight of this incredible good news. It’s filled with blessings and gifts and power and peace and purpose. We often say that the kingdom of God is a big idea. It’s an infinite idea.
So I can see why some might say, “You know what’s the use really of trying to wrap our minds around this infinite idea? I mean, after all, all of our questions will be answered when we get to heaven.” Okay, I kind of get that, but without being mean, I don’t think that that is a great way of approaching the deep places of our faith.
In this case, in the case of the doctrine of the kingdom of God, this infinite idea, Jesus actually went to unusual links in his teaching and his modeling of the kingdom life way too far for us to be intellectually lazy about it. He longs for us to seek hard after Him and His truths, even the deep truths. But again, as we’ve said before, this is a tough subject.
For me, I kind of think of it as inorganic chemistry on steroids. It’s just out of my league. And Jesus gets that. He gets this for me and for all of us, that to understand the infinite is a big task, especially if we’re finite, like we are. So to help us, because he wants us to understand the kingdom of God, the gospel of this kingdom. To help us, Jesus tells us stories.
You see, stories, I think a little bit like music, have a way of connecting us into the deep places of our soul. God designed music and storytelling, I think, to be especially connecting. So, to inspire us and maybe to tickle our imagination, Jesus told stories about the kingdom, usually beginning with the phrase, “The kingdom of God is like,” and then a way he went busting into a story, sometimes very, very short, sometimes quite a bit longer, and a little bit more difficult to understand.
So, to lay hold of this Jesus-inspired teaching tool, this storytelling, One Hundred-Fold Ministries is writing and collecting stories that speak of the kingdom of God. But they’ll be set in a more modern-day setting so we can apply ourselves to something that’s kind of for today. You can find some of these stories on our homepage under the very catchy heading, “Learn More About the Kingdom of God.” You can just click on that and there’ll be some stories that open for you.
But I wanted to share one of them with you today. I wanted to try one of these stories out for you, and you can search the site later and take a look at some of the others. This one’s kind of to whet your appetite. So let’s start with Jesus’ phrase. The kingdom of God is like a woman who is just now this moment giving birth to her first child. She’s excited, but oh, oh, so fearful. She’s reluctant, but expectant. She’s exposed, but trusting. I mean, after all, she’s heard so many stories. Her mother has been encouraging while at the same time being a bit terrifying. Her husband has been overly confident, and her midwife very matter-of-fact.
But this is the first-time mother. She’s having a child, and it’s been the center of a great hope for her. To have a child of her own has been a dream since she first held her Raggedy Ann doll. But I want to say in this moment, after hours of labor, the pain is pushing every rational thought from her mind.
She is telling all who will listen, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” And yet she hears in her heart a voice that says, “I love you and I love your child so much.” And then she pushes one last time in submission to her midwife who is speaking surprisingly calmly in her ear. And then a head appears, and then a shoulder, and then shortly another shoulder, and whoosh.
The baby is born. The child breathes air for the first time. Immediately, the child cries, and then the mother cries, and then the father cries. And here’s where our oh so familiar story ends.
But I have a question for you. How is childbirth like the advent of the kingdom of God? How is childbirth like the advent, the beginning, the establishment of the kingdom of God? So before you try and muster up an answer or put me on hold, let me see if this verse informs you a little bit. It is Jesus speaking only hours before his betrayal and death. It’s found in the Gospel of John, Chapter 16, and He is speaking comfort to the disciples even before they know to grieve.
It is just hours before his betrayal and ultimately His murder. And he says to them in John 16, beginning in verse 20, “Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” He says, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come. But when she has delivered her baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for the joy that a human being has been born into the world is overwhelming. So also, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you.”
So Jesus is helping us to know that the advent of the kingdom of God comes with a terrible cost, a cost that, in fact, all of creation cannot fathom. It seems like the end, this murder of their once and future king, but Jesus is explaining in this last hour that things are not always as they seem.
So as you and I, listener, journey together, I don’t know what pain or heartbreak you have gone through or even what kind of loss you may be in even now, this moment.
But I’ll tell you what, Jesus and I are here to tell you that there is more, so much more, just beyond the pain, just beyond the loss and grief, that you cannot yet fully know. But the good news of the kingdom is calling to you. It’s wooing you to draw near. So I’ll let that story rest for now. You can email me at dave@100foldministries.org and tell me what the Lord is telling you about childbirth and the kingdom of God.
I’m curious for our ladies, for our mothers. I’m especially curious to hear you tell me about the miracle, the mystery of childbirth, and how you saw God in that moment.
This is Dave Scherrer. This is Kingdom Offerings. So until next time, take care. God bless.
We were born, as it were, just two years ago in January of 2023. It was at that time that we went public with our website and our blog environment, which is called Backyard Conversations, and this, our podcast environment, where you find yourself now, which is called Kingdom Offerings. So I want to say that wherever you find us, wherever you find me for that matter, you will hear us talking about the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Here at One Hundred-Fold Ministries, we believe that this gospel, this good news, is the central theme of Jesus’ person, work, and teachings. We also believe that believers and even pastors today have lost sight of this incredible good news. It’s filled with blessings and gifts and power and peace and purpose. We often say that the kingdom of God is a big idea. It’s an infinite idea.
So I can see why some might say, “You know what’s the use really of trying to wrap our minds around this infinite idea? I mean, after all, all of our questions will be answered when we get to heaven.” Okay, I kind of get that, but without being mean, I don’t think that that is a great way of approaching the deep places of our faith.
In this case, in the case of the doctrine of the kingdom of God, this infinite idea, Jesus actually went to unusual links in his teaching and his modeling of the kingdom life way too far for us to be intellectually lazy about it. He longs for us to seek hard after Him and His truths, even the deep truths. But again, as we’ve said before, this is a tough subject.
For me, I kind of think of it as inorganic chemistry on steroids. It’s just out of my league. And Jesus gets that. He gets this for me and for all of us, that to understand the infinite is a big task, especially if we’re finite, like we are. So to help us, because he wants us to understand the kingdom of God, the gospel of this kingdom. To help us, Jesus tells us stories.
You see, stories, I think a little bit like music, have a way of connecting us into the deep places of our soul. God designed music and storytelling, I think, to be especially connecting. So, to inspire us and maybe to tickle our imagination, Jesus told stories about the kingdom, usually beginning with the phrase, “The kingdom of God is like,” and then a way he went busting into a story, sometimes very, very short, sometimes quite a bit longer, and a little bit more difficult to understand.
So, to lay hold of this Jesus-inspired teaching tool, this storytelling, One Hundred-Fold Ministries is writing and collecting stories that speak of the kingdom of God. But they’ll be set in a more modern-day setting so we can apply ourselves to something that’s kind of for today. You can find some of these stories on our homepage under the very catchy heading, “Learn More About the Kingdom of God.” You can just click on that and there’ll be some stories that open for you.
But I wanted to share one of them with you today. I wanted to try one of these stories out for you, and you can search the site later and take a look at some of the others. This one’s kind of to whet your appetite. So let’s start with Jesus’ phrase. The kingdom of God is like a woman who is just now this moment giving birth to her first child. She’s excited, but oh, oh, so fearful. She’s reluctant, but expectant. She’s exposed, but trusting. I mean, after all, she’s heard so many stories. Her mother has been encouraging while at the same time being a bit terrifying. Her husband has been overly confident, and her midwife very matter-of-fact.
But this is the first-time mother. She’s having a child, and it’s been the center of a great hope for her. To have a child of her own has been a dream since she first held her Raggedy Ann doll. But I want to say in this moment, after hours of labor, the pain is pushing every rational thought from her mind.
She is telling all who will listen, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” And yet she hears in her heart a voice that says, “I love you and I love your child so much.” And then she pushes one last time in submission to her midwife who is speaking surprisingly calmly in her ear. And then a head appears, and then a shoulder, and then shortly another shoulder, and whoosh.
The baby is born. The child breathes air for the first time. Immediately, the child cries, and then the mother cries, and then the father cries. And here’s where our oh so familiar story ends.
But I have a question for you. How is childbirth like the advent of the kingdom of God? How is childbirth like the advent, the beginning, the establishment of the kingdom of God? So before you try and muster up an answer or put me on hold, let me see if this verse informs you a little bit. It is Jesus speaking only hours before his betrayal and death. It’s found in the Gospel of John, Chapter 16, and He is speaking comfort to the disciples even before they know to grieve.
It is just hours before his betrayal and ultimately His murder. And he says to them in John 16, beginning in verse 20, “Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” He says, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come. But when she has delivered her baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for the joy that a human being has been born into the world is overwhelming. So also, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you.”
So Jesus is helping us to know that the advent of the kingdom of God comes with a terrible cost, a cost that, in fact, all of creation cannot fathom. It seems like the end, this murder of their once and future king, but Jesus is explaining in this last hour that things are not always as they seem.
So as you and I, listener, journey together, I don’t know what pain or heartbreak you have gone through or even what kind of loss you may be in even now, this moment.
But I’ll tell you what, Jesus and I are here to tell you that there is more, so much more, just beyond the pain, just beyond the loss and grief, that you cannot yet fully know. But the good news of the kingdom is calling to you. It’s wooing you to draw near. So I’ll let that story rest for now. You can email me at dave@100foldministries.org and tell me what the Lord is telling you about childbirth and the kingdom of God.
I’m curious for our ladies, for our mothers. I’m especially curious to hear you tell me about the miracle, the mystery of childbirth, and how you saw God in that moment.
This is Dave Scherrer. This is Kingdom Offerings. So until next time, take care. God bless.