IEF Lectures April 2026
Join us for the IEF April Lecture 2026 on Thursday 23rd April at 7:30pm UK Time. We will welcome Dr. Phil Sumpter, Old Testament scholar and teacher, about 'How does the Kingdom of God come?' He will illustrate this in relation to Jesus, the Exodus story, and the Book of Isaiah.
Biblical faith is characterized by hope— the hope that one day the brokenness of this world will be overcome, and that we will live reconciled with God and with one another in a world without death and pain. We call this new reality the kingdom of God, and we await its coming in the future. And yet this future reality is already present among us: God is here, now, in our midst—healing, guiding, and giving us a foretaste of his kingdom. And at the same time, he calls for a response from us: faith and obedience.
In this lecture we will explore the different ways the Bible portrays this dynamic of God’s coming kingdom—which is already among us—with a particular focus on the book of Isaiah. As we learn to recognize this pattern, the Old Testament in particular should become more accessible to Christian readers.
We will look at this pattern in the following contexts:
• in the ministry of Jesus;
• in the exodus from Egypt and the entry into the promised land;
• in the calling of the prophet Isaiah to bear witness to Jerusalem (Isaiah 1–39);
• in the calling of the Babylonian exiles to return to the promised land (Isaiah 40–55);
• in the faithful waiting of the exiles in the land for God to tear open the heavens and transform the world (Isaiah 56–66).
Please take a moment to register for the lecture.
Biblical faith is characterized by hope— the hope that one day the brokenness of this world will be overcome, and that we will live reconciled with God and with one another in a world without death and pain. We call this new reality the kingdom of God, and we await its coming in the future. And yet this future reality is already present among us: God is here, now, in our midst—healing, guiding, and giving us a foretaste of his kingdom. And at the same time, he calls for a response from us: faith and obedience.
In this lecture we will explore the different ways the Bible portrays this dynamic of God’s coming kingdom—which is already among us—with a particular focus on the book of Isaiah. As we learn to recognize this pattern, the Old Testament in particular should become more accessible to Christian readers.
We will look at this pattern in the following contexts:
• in the ministry of Jesus;
• in the exodus from Egypt and the entry into the promised land;
• in the calling of the prophet Isaiah to bear witness to Jerusalem (Isaiah 1–39);
• in the calling of the Babylonian exiles to return to the promised land (Isaiah 40–55);
• in the faithful waiting of the exiles in the land for God to tear open the heavens and transform the world (Isaiah 56–66).
Please take a moment to register for the lecture.
Thursday 23 April 2026 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM (UTC+00)
Location
Online event access details will be provided by the event organiser
Contact Details
Contact Form
IEF Lectures April 2026
Resend recently purchased tickets to our events to your email.
Enter email to start search
You can review the event organiser's terms and conditions here.