“Your Kingdom Come, Your...”
OKAY – so we are in an in-depth verse by verse study of the Gospel of Matthew... (The King and His Kingdom)...
AND CURRENTLY – we are doing a deep dive into the most well-known prayer in the world, a prayer that Jesus unveiled in His Kingdom Manifesto, a prayer that His people have been praying for 2000 years ago.
A prayer that we know as the Lord’s Prayer.
AND SO FAR – in our journey we have looked at the first 11 words of this prayer… “Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be Your name”
OUR – calls us into community, into relationship...
‘Our’ reminds us that we are not an only child in this family, that we are part of something so much bigger than just ourselves. OUR... breaks down walls - creates community - diffuses conflict - empowers God’s dream for us, to become a reality OUR - meets our innate needs to be both known and accepted.
FATHER – this word invites us into intimacy with Our Creator… Understand B/S – with this one word Jesus made a radical shift in the way that people approach God.
(Understand not one time from the Garden to Jesus did anyone every address God as Father)
YES – God is the Sovereign King of the Universe, but we can still approach Him with complete confidence, because He is our father.
AND – ‘Our Father:’... loves, listens, cares, good, available. We just need to talk to him. That’s what prayer is.
WHO ART IN THE HEAVENS – proclaim 3 life-altering truths that...
God is Great
God is Near, and
There is more going on than our eyes can see
HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME…
UNDERSTAND MGCC – to pray these words is to say, ‘Father...
I want the way that I live at: home, work, school... everywhere to be: distinct, different, set apart from the world around me
I want to pursue a ‘personal-practical-progressive’ holiness...
I want the way that I live to bring You honor and glory by: revealing who You really are, by showing how life can be lived.
“Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be Your Name”
11 words that are just overflowing with...
meaning, power, insight, comfort, inspiration
NOW THIS MORNING – we are going to begin look at the next 14 words of The Lord’s Prayer (I said begin because we will finish unpacking these words next week) ...
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
NOW - for years most of us have prayed those words.
BUT what do they actually mean?
LIKE - what exactly is the kingdom?
AND - why is the kingdom so important that Jesus says it should be a part of our regular prayers?
OKAY – here is how I want to attack our conversation this morning 10/23/2022... by answering 4 questions...
What is the kingdom?
What does the kingdom look like?
Where is the kingdom?
What does it mean to pray these words?
Prayer...
OKAY – let’s do this... question #1...
I. What It Is The Kingdom?
NOW - we don’t use the word "kingdom" very much these days, and when we do, we’re usually talking about a place… LIKE - the United Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom.
AND - in each of these cases, a kingdom is a specific geographical place defined by its borders.
SO – in English a kingdom primarily refers to a place.
BUT UNDERSTAND - the emphasis of the Greek word for "kingdom"... is not on a place but rather on, the rule or reign of a king.
IN FACT - some Bible translations actually translate the Greek phrase "kingdom of God" - as the "reign of God" or the "rule of God."
AND LISTEN – Jesus in Luke 17 made it about as clear as anyone could, that The Kingdom is not about a geographical place…
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” - Luke 17:20,21
AND LISTEN – these 14 words in Jesus’ prayer that we are beginning to unpack, really drive home this point as to what The Kingdom really is…
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
NOW – to grasp what these words mean...
It is helpful to talk a little bit about Hebrew poetry.
YOU SEE – many times in the Bible, the second line, repeats the truth of the first line, but in a slightly different way. For example;
The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out. - Proverbs 10:9
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall - Proverbs 16:18
A perverse man stirs up dissension and a gossip separates close friends. - Proverbs 16:28
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. – Matthew 6:10
OKAY – keeping in mind how Hebrew poetry works what is Jesus teaching us about the kingdom of God in the Lord’s Prayer? He is teaching us...
THAT – ‘the kingdom’ is the place where God’s will is done? Done how? As it is done in heaven (btw, it is singular)…
QUESTION – How is God’s will done in heaven?
UNDESTAND MGCC – in heaven God’s will is...
always done, instantly done, constantly done, completely done, humbly done and joyfully done…
IN FACT – there’s only been one being in heaven who didn’t do God’s will, and He got kicked out (along with his comrades)…
QUESTION #1 - what is the kingdom?
ANSWER – the rule or reign of God within the hearts of men.
Q #2...
II. What Does The Kingdom Look Like?
I MEAN – what would this earth look like...
IF - God’s will,
IF - God’s rule was supreme…?
MGCC- we can barely imagine…
LIKE – it boggles the mind
BUT - the good news is that the writers of Scripture (both OT and NT) spent a great deal of time reflecting on this, (reflecting on what the earth would look like) if it were ‘perfectly’ aligned with the kingdom of God.
BUT UNDERSTAND - because this involves spiritual reality, and spiritual reality is very hard to describe (because we’re so finite and fallen)… FOR - the most part the writers of Scripture used images to convey what life on earth would look like under God’s reign.
OKAY – so let’s take a look at ‘some’ of those images…
AND SEE - what it would look like if God’s kingdom came, if His will was done on earth as it is in heaven?
NOW – the Bible talks about this relative to different spheres of human life.
First of all, there’s...
a) The sphere of economics and human need
John writes in Revelation 7:16 about the day when God’s kingdom is fully realized, and he says - “never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst.”
B/S – think about what that would look like...
The elimination of hunger. No more pictures of little children with swollen bellies. No more mothers trying to scrounge around for enough food so that her children could survive another day.
BUT LISTEN - it’s not just the end of poverty. YOU SEE - the writers also talk about the great abundance that would occur in God’s kingdom. Amos wrote.
"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes; when new wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills." – Amos 9:13
NOW – we need to understand that this was written to people who lived in a desert environment. Where they had to wait for rain and where the ground wasn’t very fertile. BUT - Amos says that all of those changes in the kingdom of God… HE - says that in the kingdom of God; the one who plows and the one who reaps keep bumping into each other because there’s such abundance (pretty cool picture).
Amos also says; "New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills." NOW - that doesn’t mean that there’s literally going to be Chardonnay flowing from the Rockies. It’s an image of abundance, of God’s abundance.
In our terms we’d say things like,
"Every day the stock market will end a little higher than the day before. The bull will dwell on Wall Street forever.. Everyone’s pantry will be full; their bills will be paid and they will never have enough deposit slips for their savings account…
b) Then there’s the sphere of politics
Which in our history is mostly the story of human conflict. Got any? Isaiah 2:4 says,
"God will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples."
AND - just think about these words:
"They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore"
No more fighting, no more hatred.
AND LISTEN – in the kingdom of God, there won’t be any more use for swords... SO they will beat them into farming equipment. One writer putting this in modern terms said, "Intercontinental ballistic missile silos will be converted into training tanks for inner-city kids to learn scuba diving in." YES – in God’s kingdom, there will be peace, no such thing as enemies. THEN - in Isaiah 11:6 we read,
"The wolf will lie down with the lamb…
NOW UNDERSTAND – Isaiah is not saying that there is going to be some kind of biological upheaval in the animal kingdom but instead he is talking about radical social transformation among the people of God…
YOU SEE - in the Kingdom those who should be natural enemies will become friends, because the walls of hostility that divide people in our world, are knocked down in the Kingdom of God, AMEN?!
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. – Galatians 3:26-29
AND THOSE - who are ‘wolf like’ – those who have power... In the Kingdom of God... will no longer use that power to oppress and take advantage of the vulnerable ones, the poor, the elderly, the orphan and the widow. BUT INSTEAD – will use their power to: help, encourage and uplift the least of these.
YES - the world would be at peace if the kingdom of God were fully realized. AGAIN - the wolf will lay down with the lamb. And the dog will make peace with the rabbit, and the cat will be no more. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Then there is...
c) the sphere of everyday life
UNDERSTAND - when teenage girls in the kingdom of God look at magazine covers and then look in the mirror, they will think to themselves, "I look just right."
Because society would have learned to see and celebrate the beauty that God sees when he looks at human beings made in his image.
SO - whatever their shape or size or color, they would all look in the mirror and say, "I look just right."
John also says that when the kingdom of God is fully realized there will be no more seas…
AND – what that means is not that there will be no boating in the kingdom…
BUT – that there will be no more separation…
YOU SEE – in the ancient world seas were what separated and divided people and nations.
BUT – in the Kingdom people are no longer separated by any seas… no longer separated by: race, ethnicity, skin color, education, economic standing or political parties.
AND MGCC – the kingdom of God will also redeem family life. In Luke 1:17 it says,
"And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children."
UNDERSTAND – in the Kingdom will be no more separations, no more abuse, no more neglect, no more unloved or unwanted children…
AND – in the kingdom of God, members of a household will stay up late at night thinking of ways to out serve each other.
Children will insist that their little brother get the larger piece of cake and race to see who GETS to do the dishes.
People will turn on Day Time TV to watch shows with titles like:
"My Spouse Secretly Loves Me Twice as Much as I Thought He Did."
“How my dad and mom were always there for me”
“My teenager just keeps doing good things.”
AND THEN - maybe the most beautiful words of all about the kingdom, Revelation 21 will come true,
And I heard a loud voice saying, ‘Now the dwelling place of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’"
THINK - about these words,
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away." – Revelation 21:3,4
QUESTION – does anybody want to live in a world like that? No more kleenex; no more funeral homes.
We will turn caskets into toy chests.
AND – hearses will be converted to sports utility vehicles with names like "Eternal Voyager" and "Jeep Grand Resurrection."
AND YES - there will be counselors…
BUT - you’ll only go to them when you are so full of gratitude and joy, that you’re willing to pay somebody, just to get them to listen to how incredible your life is.
AND - every day you will be home with God, never separated by sin. In Ezekiel it says that God promises,
"I will remove their hearts of stone and replace them with a heart of flesh."
No more stony hearts; no more cold hearts; no more stubborn hearts.
You’ll never say something that you’ll regret later. You’ll never do anything to be ashamed of.
You’ll never do anything to feel guilty about…
AND - when you see somebody else’s success or beauty or wealth it won’t even occur to you to be envious…
BUT - only to rejoice as if you had these things yourself.
AND LISTEN - think about this one…
YOU - will see the living God.
No more doubt, no more questions, no more why.
YES – you will look into the face of God, and he will be your God, and we will be his people.
AND - your every thought will be a prayer, and your every prayer will be a conversation with God.
AND - God himself will wipe every tear from your eye…
AND THEN - He’ll remove the tear ducts, and he’ll point his finger and sadness and sorrow will be banished. AND - there will joy inexpressible. Isaiah says,
"The trees of the field will clap their hands." – Isaiah 55:12
B/S...
THAT’S - what it looks like when God’s kingdom comes to earth. THAT’S - what it looks like for God’s will to rule in the hearts of men….
NOW - if you’re like me, a part of you wonders...
Is it even possible for this earth to be redeemed?
I MEAN – will that day ever really come when God’s will is done fully? LIKE - is this real or is it just wishful thinking? Which leads us to the next question…
Which is a HUGE question with an incredible life-altering, world-impacting answer.
III. Where Is The Kingdom?
ANSWER - the kingdom is coming and the kingdom is already here…! NOW – we know...
That the kingdom, that the perfect rule of God is coming
That one day the trumpet will sound, the archangel will shout – the sky will split open and Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords will descend from heaven with a loud shout… and make everything new…
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: "The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." - Rev 11:15
MGCC – ‘The Kingdom of God’ is coming!
AND IT’S - going to be beyond awesome to one day live in a world where God’s rule in the hearts of men is experienced in all it’s fullness…when the whole world is the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
BUT LISTEN – in a very real way the kingdom God is already here – right now…
YES – hold on to your hat and put down your suitcase. BECAUSE – 2000 years ago Jesus came (not merely to save us from our sins and punch our ticket to heaven, as need and as awesome as those things are)…
BUT – He also came to establish the Kingdom.
UNDERSTAND - the kingdom was the central focus of Jesus’ ministry. He taught about the kingdom, told parables to describe the kingdom and he came to establish the kingdom…
TRUTH BE TOLD - he could not stop talking about it…. He used the word over 100 times in the Gospels.
JESUS – talked about THE KINGDOM more times than He talked about faith, love and prayer… added together!
YES - the kingdom was always on his mind and lips from the beginning to the end of His ministry.
AFTER - 40 days of fasting, praying and battling the evil one in the wilderness… Jesus returned to Galilee ready to do what he came to do… AND - we read in Matthew 4:17;
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
The Greek verb means – it’s here and it’s been here.
And just a few verses later in Matthew 4:23 we read;
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
AND – in Luke 4:43, Jesus couldn’t have made the importance of The Kingdom any clearer…
I must preach the good news of the kingdom to other towns also, because that is why I was sent… - Luke 4:43
AND – in that final week in Jerusalem… We see Jesus still talking about…the kingdom…
At the temple with the people and the Jewish leaders
With the 12 in the upper room, and
When He stood beaten and bound before Pilate and the Jewish leaders
AND MGCC - what do you think Jesus’ favorite topic was during those 40 days after the resurrection?
LUKE - answers that one for us in Acts 1:3...
After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. – Acts 1:3
AND – guess what we find His guys talking about throughout the book of Acts… The Kingdom…
Checkout the very last verse of the Book of Acts…
Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ… - Acts 28:31
YES – the kingdom was without a doubt the central theme in the ministry of Jesus…
AND LISTEN – when Jesus arrived on this earth… His people, the Jews – were waiting for the kingdom…
IN FACT – they had been waiting for a couple 1,000 years. AND – for the last 700+ years they had been waiting as a: defeated, exiled and occupied people.
YES – when the Son of God put on flesh all of Israel was waiting for the Kingdom.
Though they all waited differently.
Some waited as Zealots… who said,
“The reason we are oppressed is because we’re too passive. If we would only have the courage to rise up and rebel, slit a few Roman throats, God would give us victory.”
Some waited as Essenes… who said,
“the only way to please God is to isolate ourselves from the ‘sinful’ world around us. Create an alternate society out in the desert. Build our fortress, erect our walls, establish our safe haven and stay inside them.”
Some waited as Herodian (named for being supporters of the puppet ruler, Herod)… who said,
“To rebel is suicide. Resistance is futile, we’d be crushed. No, we should make the best of our situation, cooperate, play the game. They were compromisers who choose to make friends with and be like the world around them.
And still others waited as Pharisees… who said,
“the Lord would send the Messiah to deliver us if we were purer. If would follow the rules better. There’s too much sin. If there were more people like us and less prostitutes, drunks, tax collectors and sinners God would bring our oppression to an end and set up His Kingdom.
YEAH - it’s the sinners fault that God is not bringing his kingdom. Let’s create tougher rules and condemn the world as sinners.
BUT UNDERSTAND REGARDLESS – of how they were waiting for the Kingdom, they all pretty much wanted the same thing: Their enemies defeated - Return from exile - And to once again, be the people God meant for them to be.
YOU SEE – they knew 3 things, that:
God had a plan to put things once again under His rule and reign,
this plan involved them,
And that it would one day come to a powerful climax when the promised Messiah came…
THEN ONE DAY – Jesus (a 30 year old blue collar carpenter from a hick town) came and said, “Hey guys the kingdom is here… YEAH - I know it is not what you expected…
NO – I am not going to overthrow Rome.
IN FACT - I am going to let them kill me…
Yes I know your hope is that when Messiah comes, things are going to go back to how they used to be… back to the 12 tribes of Israel in Jerusalem… but I have my sights much higher than that.
YOU SEE – I am not just interested in a nation or a city… Instead I want my kingdom to come into every nation and every city on this planet… I want to make disciples of all nations…
YEAH – I’m not moving backward, but forward to global domination... not through power and might but through grace and truth, through kingdom lived out by my people.
AGAIN - I know it’s not what you have been expecting or wanted – but it is here!
The kingdom you have been waiting for has arrived!!
WHERE – is the kingdom?
YES – one day it will be fully realized, and what a day of rejoicing that will be…
BUT MGCC – we need to understand that it in a very real way His Kingdom is already here!!!
AND –has been for 2000 years, since Acts chapter 2 and the day of Pentecost, when the church was born
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves… Col 1:13
We should be grateful that we were given a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And in this kingdom we please God by worshiping him and by showing him great honor and respect. - Hebrews 12:28
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen - Revelation 1:6
YES – the kingdom is here...
Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. – Matthew 16:28
MGCC - the arrival of Jesus has made it possible for the kingdom, for the reign of God to become a living reality in the lives of the people of God like never before… UNDERSTAND – the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit has unleashed a new age full of new and incredible possibilities for God’s people.
LISTEN – Jesus, our king came to establish the kingdom… HE - came to get back what was lost in the garden of Eden. YOU SEE – ever since the garden the earth has been the main battlefield of 2 opposing kingdoms.
BUT – that’s not the whole story. FOR YOU SEE - once the world fell into enemy hands, God determined to win it back at all costs.
THAT MEANT - sending His message through kings, prophets, priests and poets.
THAT MEANT - rising up an entire nation through who He would bless the earth.
THAT MEANT – rescuing from bondage, parting waters, crumbling walls, defeating enemies, slaying giants, conquering nations… AND – ultimately...
THAT MEANT, that He Himself had to enter the conflict, in order to reclaim the world from satan.
I love how CS Lewis describes this world in his book Mere Christianity. Lewis says that the earth is enemy occupied territory.
AND - he goes on to say that Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed in disguise and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.
MGCC – here’s the deal... When Jesus says the kingdom of God is near, He’s not saying it’s just getting kind of close.
He’s saying it’s now available.
UNDERSTAND - in human history, one life has already been lived on this earth. WHERE - God’s will had unhindered sway. WHERE - God’s will was always, instantly, constantly, completely, humbly and joyfully done.
AND HERE – is the awesome part…
Jesus says to the church, He says to the Christian – He says to you, and he says to me…
THAT - it is now possible for His kingdom to come into the lives of His people. THAT - it is now possible to live lives that are radically different than the world around us, because God reigns and loves in us!
“I am tired of living in a way that looks exactly like people who do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in them. I want to consistently live with an awareness of His strength. I want to be different today from what I was yesterday as the fruit of the spirit becomes manifest in me.” - Chan
YES THE - kingdom of God is here. Is at hand.
Is available to live in... NOW!
AND LISTEN - just as supernatural power was at hand for Jesus to: heal the lame, cleanse the leper, open blinds eyes and raise the dead…
THE POWER - for radical transformation and authentic kingdom living is at hand…
Is available to every JESUS-FOLLOWER in this room.
AND IT - has been available for nearly 2,000 years.
IN FACT – the only thing keeping this incredible and supernatural power from lighting up our world, transforming us into new creations, and causing rivers of living water to well up and flow from inside of us - is our own decision whether or not to tap into that power…
Imagine a farmer – living back in the day when the use of electricity just started to spread across the landscape. The poles have been set; and the wires have been run on the road outside his property. All he has to do in order to radically change his life is tap into that power.
YES – the kingdom of God is coming, and it is here!
UNDERSTAND - the poles were set and the wires were run 2000 years ago, when Christ came, died for our sins and then sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us.
B/S - the kingdom is here... and it is has come and is: awesome, powerful, unshakable, unstoppable…
AND – it’s a reflection of the heart of God, that is why in the kingdom the people who are usually last in our world...
the sick, the elderly, the young, the old, the poor, the less fortunate are NOT ONLY, not ignored or treated bad… BUT – are treated as if they are the most important people of all.
Rejoice greatly people of God, Shout for joy body of Christ
Your king has come, His kingdom is here!!!
AND B/S - if you want it more than anything else—which any sane person would—then Jesus says, "Follow Me and learn from Me how to live in My Father’s kingdom."
UNDERSTAND MGCC - you don’t need me or anyone else to tell you what a Christian is supposed to be, or do. YOU – just need to follow Jesus.
BE - like Him… DO - the kind of things that he did when he walked this earth. BRING - the kingdom (the reign of God) into your world just like Jesus brought it into his..
REMEMBER - there is a kingdom of darkness that is stealing the hopes, the dreams and the lives of so many in this world…. AND LISTEN – God has not called us to be like:
The ‘Essenes’ and build our ‘Christian fortresses’ and isolate from this world,
The Herodians - compromise, become like this world
Zealots – sharpen our swords and attack this world
The Pharisees – and sit in our glass houses of self-righteousness, pointing our fingers at ‘sinful’ world.
INSTEAD – God has called us and empowered us (through His Spirit) to invade the kingdom of darkness with the light of Christ! LISTEN - the Spirit enables and empowers us to live lives that are radically different then the world…
Lives that are: meek, pure heart, peacemakers
Lives that: turn the other cheek, go the second, pray for their enemies, put the needs of others before their own,
Lives where:
LIVES - that come together to form a community that gives the world a picture of living that takes their breath away.
One author (Brian McLaren) that I’ve been reading for this study… talks about how the real difference in the world is made by those who live out the message of the kingdom in their daily lives.
AND HE – says that “When Christianity sees itself more as a belief system or a set of rituals for the select few and less as a way of daily life available to all, it losses it’s kingdom magic… “
AND THEN HE – talks about being in some of the great cathedrals in England and wondering what happened? Wondering why during the average week they attract 10 times as many tourists then worshippers. He writes...
One of my main hunches is that the Christian religion continues to sing and preach and teach about Jesus, BUT in too many places (not all!) it has largely forgotten, misunderstood or become distracted from Jesus’ kingdom message.When we drifted from understanding and living out his essential message of the Kingdom, we became like flavorless salt or a blown out light bulb – so boring that people just walked away. We may have talked about going to heaven after we die, BUT NOT ABOUT God’s will being done on earth before we die.We may have pressured people to be moral and good or correct and orthodox to avoid hell after death, BUT WE DIDN’T inspire them with the possibility of becoming beautiful and fruitful to heal the earth in this life. We may have instructed them about how to be a good Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic or Methodist on Sunday, BUT WE DIDN’T train, challenge and inspire them to live out the kingdom of God in their jobs, neighborhoods, families, schools and societies between Sundays. We have tried to make people ‘nice’ – quiet citizens of their earthly kingdoms and energetic consumers in their earthy economies – but we didn’t fire them up and inspire them to invest and sacrifice their time, intelligence, money and energy in the revolutionary cause of the kingdom of God.
MGCC – the kingdom is here!
The kingdom is available now!
YES – you and I can now live kingdom lives!
Radical lives! Revolutionary lives!
Lives that look like Jesus and draw other people to Him…
AND THIS - bring us to the last point in your notes which will be pretty quick
because as I said earlier, we will be continuing this deep dive next week on Membership Sunday.
(what timing)
IV. What Does It Mean To Pray These Words
It means that your kingdom must Go
UNDERSTAND
God’s kingdom cannot come until your kingdom goes.
BECAUSE - your kingdom and Gods kingdom, your will and God’s will... cannot co-exist in the same time and in the same place.
AND – our great example of this, is none other then Jesus who prayed in the garden;
“yet not as I will, but as you will..” – Matthew 26:39...
NOW THAT – is not an easy prayer to pray…
LISTEN – when you pray those words “Your Kingdom Come Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven)
Your are praying...
It means that your kingdom must Come
In your life.
“Lord, may Your kingdom come...”
QUESTION - What would it look like for the kingdom to come, for God’s will to be done in your life? In your; home, relationships, marriage, speech, attitudes, work, finances…
In the lives of people in your world
“Lord, may Your kingdom and come into the lives of...”
QUESTION - what would it look like for the kingdom to come – for God’s will to reign in the heart of your; wife, husband, parent, child, friend, co-worker --- you need to pray for that and believe that doing so really makes a difference…
In the lives of people at Maple Grove
“Lord, may Your kingdom come...”
In this world
Lord may you kingdom come to…. C’Ville…etc
Many years ago, Robert Frost – wrote a poem about a traveler who came to a crossroad and had to make a decision. He had to choose a road (because he couldn’t travel both – one way was well traveled the other it was obvious few had walked down); AND Frost concludes his poem with these words; “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference.”
AND – believe me when I tell you.
The road where we regularly pray and strive to live out
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” IS – most definitely the road less traveled...
I pray that we have the courage to travel it
Because it will make all the difference.
