Discovering The Kingdom Of God Series

Discovering the Kingdom of God

Message #1

Pastor Chuck Hill – Trinity Fellowship Church

Sunday, October 08, 2006

I know you like to laugh…and so this morning I thought I would share a few funny episodes that happened with Children.

Listen to these:

A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand.

"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.

The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"

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A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?"

"I wouldn’t know what to say," the girl replied. “Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.

The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

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A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3.

The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.

"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ’Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"

Aren’t those great? Well, in Matthew 18 there was a discussion which took place between Jesus and His disciples about the just who would be the greatest person in His Kingdom. Listen to how the Bible tells us Jesus responded…Matthew writes:

Matthew 18:2-3 (NLT)

2Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. 3Then he said, “I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

This morning I am beginning a new series of messages entitled:

Discovering the Kingdom of God

I possess a conviction – it’s a belief that at the heart and soul of every man, woman, boy and girl is the desire to search for the ultimate reality of life. It is the driving force to hunt for that which will complete our lives and make our existence worthwhile. It is the search for something…something mystical or maybe divine…it is the search for that purpose for which to spend our lives…that which will be of eternal value.

And if there is this drive – as I believe there is, then by the very nature of man’s soul search would indicate that something we previously possessed is now missing.

Do you follow my way of thinking this morning?

I am convinced that there is something in us that drives us to search for the ultimate purpose or significance with which to live for. And what’s more, I believe that this drive to search is not simply a choice we make…but rather a necessity which drives us.

Just as thirst – implies the need for water.

Our desire for significance – implies the need for our eternal purpose!

It is my belief that according to the Word of God, that which we have been destined to do is the very same thing that the first man was commissioned to do…it is to establish the Kingdom of God within this world just as it is in heaven.

It is to rule and reign over this world and its systems just Adam was expected to do in the Garden of Eden. The only issue is that sin has corrupted this world…and so, before we can reign over nature and this world’s systems, we first have to reestablish the original plan of God. We have to reestablish the Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in Heaven.

And so, at the heart of this new series of messages, is what I believe to be a mistake of the church. In our effort to embrace God’s Kingdom plan and work to establish His Kingdom here, we have gone about it the wrong way. Unfortunately, many believers in Christ have bought into the fallacy that religious practices will make this world right. I believe the problem is that men have replaced God’s original plan of creating His Kingdom on earth with the plan of developing numerous religious practices and basic moralistic living. But the real issue is this:

Religion is man’s attempt to get close to God…but Christianity (as Jesus intended) is God’s plan to get close to man!

His plan is all about redemption, reconciliation and the reestablishment of His kingdom here on planet earth.

You see, I don’t believe that Jesus ever challenged this world – and more importantly, you and me with the idea of just seeking to be good at keeping a set of religious rules.