The Blessing Of God's Kingdom Series

INTRODUCTION

• VIDEO PC- Forgot Something Video

• SLIDE #1

• It is so easy to forget about the simple things isn’t it? It is easy to get distracted to the point that we can miss some of the awesome moments of life.

• When you take time to sit back and reflect upon life, there are so many things we can be thankful for.

• Some things shine so brightly they are easy to see. On a personal note I have my awesome wife, terrific daughters and awesome grandchildren.

• I came from a great family and I live in what has been the greatest country in the world.

• There are other things we can we can be thankful for that sit more in the background. The blessings are there, but sometimes they can blend into the background.

• Today we are going to take some time together to draw one of the awesome blessings we have out of the background and shine the light on it.

• With the Thanksgiving season upon we will endeavor on a journey through a series entitled “Thankful Blessings Series.”

• Today we will begin our journey by looking at Hebrews 12:28-29 as we shine the light on the Blessing of God’s Kingdom!

• Let us begin by reading Hebrews 12:28-29 together!

• SLIDE #2

• Hebrews 12:28–29 (ESV) Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

• Let’s begin with examining the overlooked blessing that we can be thankful for.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

We can be thankful because…

I. God’s kingdom is a stable force in an unstable world.

• We live in what seems to be somewhat unstable times. The economic outlook seems to be bleak, jobs are hard to come by, and companies are shutting down.

• We have a lot of unrest as usual in the Middle East (what else is new).

• Israel and Hamas are lobbing rockets at each other. WE could go on and on about the instability we face.

• Instability breeds insecurity in life. In the passage we are told, Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,.

• The context throughout the book of Hebrew the Hebrew writer has been trying to encourage the new Jewish background Christians not to leave their newfound faith to go back to the old Jewish ways.

• One of the points the Hebrew writer was making earlier verses in chapter 12 is that in the Old Testament the Jews were part of a kingdom that one day would be replaced, it would be in the terminology used in verse 28, shaken.

• The Old Covenant given to Moses on Mount Sinai was not going to permanent.

• The comparison is made from quoting Haggai 2:6-9 where God declared through the Prophet that since they were now out of Babylonian captivity they were to rebuild the temple.

• Zerubbabel would help reconstruct the temple, the people were told that even though it would not reach the glory and splendor of Solomon’s Temple, that nevertheless one day, God will fill the temple with great glory.

• He was speaking in veiled terms of the coming of Jesus.

• Jesus would usher in the kingdom that could not be shaken because it would be a permanent kingdom!

• In the face of the fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy we are told we ought to be grateful. This is worded in such manner that it carries a force of a command.

• WE can and should be grateful that we are now in current possession of the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that cannot be shaken because it is permanent!

• Being a part of the everlasting Kingdom of God affords is the blessing of being under God’s supervision.

• God provides and protects.

• In an ever-changing unstable world we can be thankful for the security and comfort found in Jesus and His kingdom.

• 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, o that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

• WE can be thankful that no matter what goes on in the world around us, no matter who does what to us, we are a part of the stable force in a many times unstable world.

• Now, let’s examine our next observation.

• SLIDE #5

II. Our gratitude toward God should be reflected in our attitude.