How can believers be grieved by and distinct from the injustice and selfishness in the world AND yet also be simultaneously beneficial and involved BOTH mourning AND thriving in Babylon.

Today, we set the tone for living in this tension, this love/hate relationship. ONE text calls us to totally identify with Babylon and the OTHER is an expression of disgust and disdain for Babylon.

So let 's look at:

1. The Essential Tension of Exile
2. Keys for Staying at the Center of the Tension

Last week the sermon was about death (the death of a king, Josiah) today the sermon is also about death – the death of a dream, of a nation, AND … IN this brutal and final death, a very vivid expression of Hope… havoc AND hope. Once again, the story in two parts #1 Havoc and #2 Hope and #3 Four truths about God from Kings and today's finale

The Bible thinks of death as the source of all fear and the final enemy (1Cor 15.26) facing humanity (Heb 2.15). We can't stop thinking about it and dreading it. Could this very ancient text have anything to say to a modern society that doesn't know how to think about death? … Let's see!

Let's first look at a two-part-story (i.e. the tomb of the unknown prophet and the death of the well-known king) And THEN what we can take away with us: 3 Truths about death to guide us through life.