What Kind of King? (Amboy)

Christ the King Sunday - November 23, 2025

I. THE GATHERING

Prelude

Welcome & Announcements

Pastor: Good morning, church! It is a joy to look out and see you all here today. If you are visiting with us, we are especially glad you found your way to Amboy UMC this morning; you are welcome here.

We have a few things coming up in the life of the church... (Notes: Mention upcoming Advent study, reminder about hanging of the greens, etc.)

Transition to Worship: Now, friends, today is a special day on our calendar. It is Christ the King Sunday—the very last Sunday of the Christian year. Next week, we turn the page to Advent and start looking toward Christmas. But today, we pause. We pause to remember that Jesus isn't just the baby in the manger; He is the Lord of all creation, the one who holds everything together.

So, whatever kind of week you’ve had—whether it was full of joy or full of burdens—I invite you to take a deep breath. Let’s set aside our to-do lists for this hour, and center our hearts on the King who loves us.

Please join me in the Call to Worship.

Call to Worship

Leader: We gather today to celebrate Christ the King! He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

People: Through him and for him all things in heaven and on earth were created, and in him all things hold together.

Leader: Yet, we find this King's throne not in a palace, but upon a cross, where his crown was made of thorns and his power was revealed as pure, self-giving love.

People: He has rescued us from darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

All: Let us worship the Lord whose power is salvation, whose reign is peace, and whose love is for all of creation!

Transition to Hymn: Friends, let us lift our voices to crown Him Lord of all. I invite you to stand as you are able—whether in body or in spirit—as we sing together, "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name."

Opening Hymn

"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" (UMH 154)

Transition to Prayer: You may be seated. As the notes of our praise settle, let us turn our hearts toward God. We serve a King who is majestic, but also deeply merciful. Please join me as we pray together...

Opening Prayer (Communal)

Leader: Let us pray... O God of Majesty and Mercy, we confess that we often seek a King of might and glory, yet you reveal your power most clearly in humility and sacrifice. Thank you for the cosmic Christ, through whom all things were created and in whom all things are reconciled. Forgive us when we fail to recognize your sovereignty in the small, quiet, and painful places of our lives and our world. Open our hearts this hour to behold the crucified King, that we may be strengthened by his glorious power and live as citizens of his kingdom—a kingdom of forgiveness, compassion, and peace. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our King. Amen.

Transition to Children's Message: And now, I would like to invite our youngest disciples to come forward for a special time together. Come on up!

Children’s Message & Noisy Coin Collection

(Notes: Gather the kids, deliver the message regarding Christ as King.)

Transition to Junior Church & Noisy Coin: As our children head downstairs for Junior Church, they will be passing around the tin buckets for our "Noisy Coin" collection. Just a reminder: This is a special collection specifically for our Children's Ministry—it is distinct from our regular tithes and offering which we will collect later in the service. So, if you have some loose change, feel free to drop it in and make some noise for Jesus!

Transition to Blessing of Boxes: As our children head out to learn more about God's love, we have a tangible example of that love right here in front of us. These boxes are part of Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse. They will soon be sent to children in need across the globe—not just as a gift of toys and hygiene items, but as a tangible opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Each box is a seed of the Gospel.

I invite you to come forward to the altar if you would like to lay hands on these boxes, or simply extend a hand of blessing from your seat as we pray.

Blessing of the Operation Christmas Child Boxes

God of all creation, we bring before you these simple gifts, packed with love and hope. We pray that as these boxes travel from our small community in Amboy to children around the world, they may be tangible proof of your universal reign—a kingdom established not through power, but through self-giving love. Bless the hands that packed them, bless the feet that carry them, and bless the children who receive them, that they may know the joy and peace of Christ our King. Amen.

II. THE WORD

Transition to Scripture: Our first scripture reading this morning comAnd now Ies from the letter to the Colossians. The writer here is encouraging a young church that was facing pressure from confusing religious philosophies. To ground them in their faith, he shares what many scholars believe was an early Christian hymn or poem. Listen closely to the soaring language in this passage—it describes Jesus not just as a teacher, but as the visible image of the invisible God, and the very glue that holds the universe together.

Scripture Reading 1

Colossians 1:11–20 NIV

being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Transition to Hymn: Our Hymn of the Month is a song that speaks to the heart of the Gospel we just heard—that Christ reconciles us to himself not because we are perfect, but simply because he loves us. I invite you to remain seated and prayerfully sing with us, "Just As I Am, Without One Plea."

Hymn of the Month

"Just As I Am, Without One Plea" (UMH 357)

Transition to Scripture: And now, we turn to the Gospel of Luke. If Colossians gave us the view from heaven, Luke gives us the view from earth—specifically, from a rugged hill called The Skull. It is a jarring contrast. We find our King stripped of dignity, mocked by soldiers, and hanging between thieves. Yet, even here, in the darkest moment, watch how the King operates. Listen for the conversation that changes eternity.

Scripture Reading 2

Luke 23:33–43 NIV

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Sermon: "The Throne of Thorns"

Bow your heads for a moment with me...

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

This is a solemn and powerful day in the Christian calendar. It is the last Sunday of the Christian Year—the final, defining note before the quiet hope of Advent begins next week. Today, we celebrate the grand and glorious title that encompasses all of our faith: Christ the King.

The Paradox of Kingship

The idea of a king is instinctively linked to power, wealth, security, and visible control. For most of human history, kingship has been about securing boundaries, managing resources, and projecting authority—the ultimate source of worldly order. When we hear "King," we expect a gilded throne, a heavy, unassailable crown, and a display of strength that ensures submission.

But our celebration of Christ the King is unlike any other coronation. It is not an exercise in worldly power. It is, instead, an immersion in one of the most essential, and utterly jarring, paradoxes of our faith.

Today, our scriptures give us two vastly different, yet perfectly connected, pictures of our King. These two images, held in tension, tell us everything we need to know about the amazing, paradoxical power of God’s grace—grace that is sufficient for the whole cosmos, and yet intimate enough for the single, desperate soul.

We must hold these two truths together: the Cosmic King of Colossians and the Crucified King of Luke.

1. The King of the Cosmos: The Glue That Holds Life Together (Colossians 1:11–20)

Our first picture comes from the letter to the Colossians, and the language here is immense, cosmic, and breathtaking. It is perhaps the highest Christology—the loftiest description of Jesus' divine status—in all of scripture.

The author begins with a prayer for the church, asking that they be "strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy." And immediately, the writer launches into the reason why this endurance is possible: Christ's preeminence.

Listen again to the scope of this King:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created... He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15–17)

This isn't just the king of a region or a nation; this is the King of the Cosmos. He is the foundation and the center of everything.

The phrase that grabs the mind is, "in him all things hold together."

Think of this concept like the infrastructure that supports our lives. Think of the complex systems that allow our lights to turn on, our water to run clean, or our roads to remain passable. If one critical piece of that infrastructure fails—a main power grid, a key bridge, or even the molecular tension of the foundation beneath us—everything collapses.

Colossians tells us that Christ is the very structural integrity of the universe. He is the divine glue, the organizing principle, the central axis around which reality spins. The atoms in your hand, the stars in the deepest reaches of space, the flow of history itself—all of it was created through him and is held together in him. He is the Firstborn—not meaning created first, but having preeminence and authority over all creation.

This is a profound, life-altering comfort, especially in a world that often feels like it’s coming apart at the seams.

We live in a time of great disruption and change. Perhaps you are navigating the uncertainties of personal life, facing a health struggle, enduring the grief of loss, or simply watching our communities change year by year. It is natural to feel chaos, worry, and a lack of control.

When the pieces of your life, or the state of the world, feel broken, fractured, or disorganized, Colossians stands as an unshakeable promise: Christ is in charge, and Christ is steady. No matter what falls apart around you, the one who created everything is actively holding your life and all things together. This truth gives us the strength and the patience (v. 11) for the long haul. His reign is universal, extending far beyond the walls of our church buildings.

And here we find the first trace of Wesleyan theology. The fact that any human being can even begin to recognize or respond to this Cosmic King is a gift of Prevenient Grace. Even as we were lost in the chaos, Christ, the Sustainer, was already present, already holding the possibility of our response open. We only begin to seek Him because He already holds us.

2. The Throne of Thorns: The Power of Forgiving Love (Luke 23:33–43)

But if Christ is the King of the Cosmos, where do we find his throne? Our second picture, from Luke’s Gospel, answers that question in the most radical and humbling way imaginable.

We pivot from the majesty of the eternal heavens to the brutality of a hill called Golgotha, "The Skull." The King is not on a throne; he is nailed to a Roman cross. His crown is not gold, but thorns. His royal title—“This is the King of the Jews”—is a sign of mockery. The very setting shouts defeat, humiliation, and powerlessness.

The world challenges him repeatedly to prove his power. The leaders scoff, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers, too, ridicule him: "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" Finally, one of the criminals hanging beside him echoes the taunts: "Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"

The world demands a King of brute strength. But Jesus remains silent to their demands. His authority is not proven by coming down, but by staying there. His kingdom is founded on a different kind of power—the power of sacrificial, self-giving love.

This truth is best understood by the last person he speaks to before his death: a dying criminal hanging next to him. This thief represents the very lowest of society—condemned, broken, utterly lacking in merit or hope. He is running out of time. He has nothing to offer, no good works to claim.

Yet, he does one thing right. He looks at Jesus, not at the sign above his head, but into the eyes of the suffering man, and he recognizes something divine. He silences his partner, affirming their own guilt: "We are getting what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."

And then, this desperate sinner offers the simplest, humblest prayer—the prayer of the truly repentant heart: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

It’s not a long theological treatise. It’s a desperate plea for mercy based on the sheer goodness of the One beside him.

And what does the King say? Does he require a probationary period? Does he ask for repentance rituals? No.

He says the most radical word in all of scripture: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Today. Not tomorrow. Not after you clean up your act. Today.

The very first citizen welcomed into the eternal Kingdom, the first to experience the promise, is a repentant, dying sinner. This is the radical nature of Christ's reign: it is a kingdom of forgiveness, wide open to whosoever asks for mercy.

Here, we see Justifying Grace—the immediate, unearned forgiveness of our sins—in its purest, most dramatic form. It is the assurance that our salvation is dependent entirely upon Christ’s act, not upon our ability to perfectly obey.

3. Application: Living as Citizens of the New Kingdom

The great Wesleyan tradition calls us to move beyond Justifying Grace into a life of Sanctification, or Christian perfection—a process of being made holy. But how do we live out this process as citizens of a paradoxical kingdom? We live by the rules of the cross, not the rules of the world.

Colossians tells us we have been "transferred... into the kingdom of his beloved Son." A transfer of citizenship is a radical shift in allegiance and values. We leave behind the idea that we have to earn our status, and we enter a kingdom where the foundation is forgiveness and reconciliation.

What does it mean to be a citizen of the Kingdom of the Crucified King in our current life?

A. A Kingdom of Endurance and Hope

The Apostle Paul writes that we are empowered "for all endurance and patience with joy" (Colossians 1:11). This is a crucial word for both our older members and our city families facing the pressures of modern life.

In the Kingdom of the Cross, endurance is not grim stoicism; it is knowing that the very force that sustains the cosmos is sustaining you. When we face the challenges of aging, illness, or community decline, we do not despair, because we know that the "divine glue" holds. This confidence frees us from the tyranny of control and allows us to serve with joy, even when the results are uncertain.

B. A Kingdom of Reconciled Relationships (Social Holiness)

Wesley understood that grace could not be simply a private affair. It must be demonstrated in our relationships—what he called Social Holiness.

The ultimate goal of Christ's cross is stated clearly: "God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross" (v. 20).

To live as a citizen of this kingdom is to commit ourselves to being agents of reconciliation—the same mission that defined our King's reign. This means we must prioritize forgiveness and compassion in all arenas of our lives. It starts in our homes, where we often find the most complex and intimate conflicts. It extends into our church, where disagreements over method or tradition can threaten to divide what Christ has held together. We must consciously choose to prioritize the peace of Christ over personal preference or historical bias. And it moves out into our community. We must recognize that the "thrones or dominions or rulers or powers" (v.16) are not just ancient spirits, but modern systems—the structures of injustice, division, and apathy that we encounter every day. Our act of sending mission boxes today is a simple, tangible expression of this social holiness—sending Christ's love to reconcile the world one gift at a time.

C. A Kingdom of Universal Invitation

If the cross is Christ's throne, then the kingdom is open to everyone, especially those the world dismisses.

We are reminded by the thief that the Kingdom is open to the least deserving. The moment we start judging who is "in" and who is "out," we have stepped off the path of the Crucified King and back onto the path of worldly rulers.

The Kingdom of God is wide open to the person who feels they have sinned too much, to the person who feels they have waited too long, and to the person who feels they are too small or too insignificant. The King's message to the desperate thief is his message to you: "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

Conclusion

On this Christ the King Sunday, we have looked at the two great truths of our Lord.

First, we stand in awe of the Cosmic King, the Lord of all creation who holds the stars in place and the atoms together. When life seems chaotic, we cling to this truth for strength and endurance.

Second, we kneel before the Crucified King, the Lord who chose a throne of thorns to demonstrate that his power is the power of forgiveness, and his rule is the rule of grace. When we need salvation, we look to this truth for hope.

To celebrate Christ the King is not about praising a distant monarch; it's about acknowledging that the Lord of the Cosmos reigns from the Throne of Thorns, offering grace to the most humble, and calling us to live out that grace in every interaction.

It means the greatest, most powerful truth in the universe is found in the simple, loving, forgiving power of Jesus. May we be strong in that power, reconciled by that grace, and live in that light, today and every day. Amen.

III. RESPONSE AND INTERCESSION

Transition to Joys and Concerns: Friends, we have just proclaimed a King who knows suffering and holds the cosmos together. And because He holds all things, that means He holds the details of our lives—our celebrations, our struggles, and everything in between. We are a family held together by His grace, so let us turn now to the life of our own community. Who has a joy to share, or a concern we can carry together today?

Praises and Concerns

(Notes: Open floor for joys/concerns)

Transition to Silent Prayer: We have heard the joys and the burdens spoken aloud. But I know there are some here today carrying things too deep for words, or concerns you wish to keep between you and God. If you have a silent request today—a burden or a praise known only to your heart—I invite you to raise your hand. (Pause to acknowledge hands)God sees every hand. God knows every heart. He sees you, and He is holding you. Let us take a moment of silence now to bring these unspoken prayers to the Throne of Grace.

(Allow for a time of Silence)

Lord, hear our prayers...

Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer

O God, our King, we thank you that you have not left us as orphans, but have transferred us into the light of your kingdom. We lift up the praises that fill our hearts today—the blessings of family, the comfort of companionship, and the continued life of this church.

Now, we bring before you the needs of this community and this world. For those among us who are struggling with illness or infirmity, grant healing and patience. For those who bear the heavy burden of grief or loneliness, let the assurance of your constant presence be their comfort. For those who feel fear or uncertainty about the future—the future of our nation, the future of our youth, the future of Amboy UMC—remind them that in Christ, all things hold together.

Forgive us our sins, O Lord, especially the ways we fail to reflect your kingship of love. Strengthen us to follow the example of your Son, who did not save himself, but saved us all. Help us to find power in service and grace in humility.

Hear us now as we pray together the prayer that Jesus taught us, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Transition to Offering & Doxology: As we prepare to give thanks, a reminder that our offering plates are located at the back of the sanctuary. We are deeply grateful for your tithes and gifts that sustain the life and ministry of this church. I invite you now to stand, as you are able—in body or in spirit—as we sing the Doxology.

Doxology

"Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow" (UMH 95)

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

Receive these gifts, O Lord, which are but a fraction of all you have given us. Use them, and use us, as instruments of your Reign—a kingdom established not by might or power, but by sacrificial love and universal reconciliation, for the glory of your name. Amen.

Transition to Closing Hymn: Please be seated. As we prepare to go out into the world as citizens of Christ's Kingdom, let us close by proclaiming His lordship over every part of our lives. Let us sing together, "Crown Him with Many Crowns."

IV. SENDING FORTH

Closing Hymn

"Crown Him with Many Crowns" (UMH 324)

Benediction

Go forth now, strengthened by the glorious power of Christ. Remember that you are citizens of a new kingdom, rescued from darkness and living in light. May the Lord of the Cosmos hold you securely together. And may the grace of the Crucified King empower you to forgive, to serve, and to find your strength in humility, today and forevermore. Go in peace. Amen.

Postlude