"your Kingdom Come, Your Will..." (Part One) Series

“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