JUNE 09, 2024

Discussion Questions:

1. How does the imagery of two contrasting cities, Babylon and the New Jerusalem, shape our understanding of societal values and our role in fostering a community reflective of God's new creation?

2. In what ways can we, as individuals and communities, embody the presence of God in our cities and towns, contributing to their flourishing and reflecting the anticipation of God's ultimate fulfillment of dwelling among his people?

3. Take time to reflect on the illustration Pastor Russell gave if the presence of God saturates our downtown core. What impacted you as you heard it or read it it below?

‘What will it be like to walk renewed city streets street; cities and towns in a new earth where heaven has come down. This was in my heart as I walked this week; what would my walk here in the downtown core be like in a city saturated with the unfiltered presence of God.

I walked with that reality in my spirit this week:

 No need for a fence

 No discarded needles/crack pipes; no people trapped in addiction/mental health

 Repurposes shelters/hospital

 Reimagined graffiti; no vacant buildings

 War memorial repurposed

 Litter; air was clean

 No store-front church signs like – lukewarm Christians go to hell

 No loan stores

We can hardly imagine our cities and towns as places where God and the Lamb flood our streets; where God and the lamb are present everywhere. But John’s final vision prompts us to think about Hamilton as a flourishing, growing and vibrant city that embodies the ever-increasing fullness of God’s design for all creation.

 A city where the joy and peace of God are tangible

 Where we are no longer strangers

 Where we each actively contribute to its flourishing.

Cultural life freed from sin – for sake of others, for creation as a whole and bringing glory to God.

4. Considering the urgency conveyed in Revelation's final words, how can we balance the tension between living with a sense of anticipation for God's future restoration while actively engaging in the mission of the church in the present?