Two Girls at Play: Our Daily Bread Designs Bible Verse Thursday Challenge #57

"How awesome is the Lord most high, the great king over all the earth!" ~Psalm 47:2

This Sunday in my church we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Many churches may not be familiar with Christ the King Sunday. Next week is "New Year's Day" in the Church, the first Sunday of Advent. The Feast of Christ the King helps worshipers who are already thinking about Christmas to remember that the event of Christmas is about much more than a baby in a manger—it's about a sovereign Christ! Even if you do not identify the day as a special celebration, I encourage you to consider this theme for the Sunday before Advent begins. Marking the kingship of Christ makes a healthy transition that leads directly from Ordinary Time into Advent, the Christmas cycle, and the remainder of the Christian year.

We mark this day as the culmination of everything we have been learning, doing, and praying about over the course of the past 51 weeks, all of which has been geared toward the conclusion, toward the fact that Jesus Christ is truly King of the Universe. This is a FACT, whether we recognize it or not. Whether 51% of the electorate would elect him as King of the Universe, it doesn't change the fact that he is. And certainly at the end of the time, when the Lord comes in all his glory to judge the living and the dead, that fact will be apparent to all. We celebrate this feast with great joy, because we, by God's grace, KNOW this reality. That our King is our Good Shepherd who loved us so much that he laid down his life for us. But knowing this reality is not enough. For those who carefully observe the events of the Christian year it is the last Sunday before Advent begins.

The theme of the Lordship of Christ is integral to the message of the entire New Testament and certainly to the faithful practice of Christian worship. So this Sunday aims to focus our attention and our worship on the cosmic character of Christ's reign over the world.

If Christ is really King of this world -- and he is! -- then he must be King of my life. And if Christ is really King of my life, then he must be King of every part of my life. I must let him reign in all parts of my life, if he is truly my Lord, my God, my King. So this feast is a great day to ask ourselves whether Christ is truly King of our lives, whether he rules everywhere. If he's king of my life, then he should be king of my time. If he's king of my life, then he must be king of my home. If he's king of my life, then he should be king of my wallet. If he's king of my life, every one of my moral decisions must be geared toward living in his kingdom; in every moral decision we face, there's a choice between Christ the King and Barabbas and the one who seeks to live in His kingdom is the one that says, 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Your challenge this week is to create a project that acknowledges Christ as King. When uploading your project, please use keyword ODBDBVT57 and then hop over to Our Daily Bread Designs Forum and share it with us!