Life on the West Side

A Kingdom of Love

Nathan Guy Season 5 Episode 8

Then a kingdom of love will be set up, and someone from David’s family will rule with fairness. He will do what is right and quickly bring justice” (Isaiah 16:5 CEV).

The final lesson in our series of discipleship is the final word on what it means to apprentice under a cross-carrying Messiah. This is how all will know that we are His disciples. Doing rightly, acting justly, and living as ambassadors of the kingdom of love.

The sermon today is titled "A Kingdom of Love." This sermon is the twenty-sixth installment in our series "Follow Me." The Scripture reading is from Isaiah 16:5 and John 13:34-35 (CEV). Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on September 21, 2025. All lessons fit under one of 6 broad categories: Begin, Instill, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under GROW: Spiritual Formation.

Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.

Podcast Notes (resources used or referenced):

  • For the call to worship, I am grateful for the reflections of John N. Oswalt, Isaiah, The NIV Application Commentary on Isaiah 16.
  • For the first half of this lesson, I am indebted to Sam Wells, “Love Your Enemies,” Sermon at Duke University Chapel, November 4, 2007.
  • For the second half of this lesson, I am indebted to Martin Luther King, Jr. “Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Nov 17, 1957.
  • On peacemakers, not peacekeepers, see Wes McAdams, “The Peacemakers,” Sermon, Edmond Church of Christ, July 30, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/live/n48kfDI7wjk?t=981s
  • On our first instinct to destroy the destroyers, see Helen Prejean, “Loving Enemies: Is It Possible for Ordinary People?,” Sermon delivered at Duke University Chapel on Dec 4, 2011 
  • For the line "if your king isn't about love and goodness, your life needs another king," I got this from Ben Hayes, minister at Highland Park Church of Christ in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.


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