Teaching from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem from Luke 19:28-44, Pastor Andy Lucas demonstrates how the Palm Sunday parade is a parallel alternative to the parade of Pilate. In the same way, the Church is to be a parallel alternative city to Rome. The Church must be ready to challenge the prevailing assumptions about the life of empire because of their allegiance to Jesus as King. The Church is to develop new ways of organizing our lives together based on the kingdom of God and the teaching of Jesus.

Early Christians living in the Roman empire were so formed by the ways of The Kingdom of God that people were drawn to their lives. Author Alan Kreider says in his book, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, “their reflexes and ways of life suggested that there was another way to perceive reality – that made the Christians interesting, challenging, and worth investigating.”

In a world full of fear, hate-speech, and division, let’s be interesting, challenging, and worth investigating!