1st March 2026 - Brendan Hurley

Well, if you could keep your Bible open at Matthew

Matthew 6:10

chapter 6 verse 10, that would be great. We're

going to be looking at your kingdom come. And

just a quick thing about those booklets, which

I forgot to mention before, I said they were

twofold and then I only described the first bit.

The second bit was that the booklets are there

for new people too. So it helps anyone new coming

to our church quickly understand who we are,

what we're on about. So we hope that lots of

new people can get their hands on that and see

what we're on about. We'll even put one on the

website at some point that you can go through

and have a look at if people want to look at

it there too. Okay, let's get into Matthew 6

.10. Let's pray, let's ask God for his help and

let's listen to his word. Gracious Heavenly Father,

we ask that you would help us to be people who

seek your kingdom, who seek your kingdom first,

who pray for your kingdom to come. Please Father,

help us to see what it means to pray this prayer

and we ask that you would help us to do that

diligently and consistently until the Lord Jesus

returns. We ask this in his name. Amen. Well,

I want to take you to a beach in Khao Lok, Thailand,

almost 20 years ago. Children sitting on the

sand, making sandcastles. Swimmers are enjoying

the cool relief of the water. And sunbathers

are lying on their towels, working on their tans.

As everyone enjoys the beach and the sunshine,

many tourists start to congregate at the shoreline.

The waters at the shoreline have receded. It's

a fascinating sight. Tourists start taking photos.

Wow, look at the waters. They're receding. The

tourists had no idea this was the 2004 Boxing

Day tsunami. The devastating waves in that region

were over 10 metres high. In other places, just

phenomenally high, triple the size, even 50 metres

high. But it's estimated that in that region,

4 ,500 people died from that tsunami. Now, on

a happier note, let me take you to a smaller

beach in Thailand called Macau Beach. Everyone

there was also doing the same things. They were

enjoying the beach and the sunshine. And again,

the water sucked away from the shore. But at

this beach, there was a 10 -year -old British

girl named Tilly Smith. Two weeks earlier, she

had been at school in a geography class. Guess

what they learned about? Tsunamis. pays to listen

in class, doesn't it? Tilly told her parents

what was going on, and they warned beachgoers,

they warned hotel staff of what was happening.

And in that short window between the waters receding

and the waters flooding back in, everyone there

got to high ground. Almost 100 people were saved

because of Tilly Smith telling them a tsunami

was coming. Now today I want to show you there's

another tsunami coming. One that's going to obliterate

Cairns. Actually it's going to cover the whole

world. And it's not a tsunami of water, it's

a tsunami of God's judgment, God's righteous

and holy judgment on the world. And the signs

are clear if you know what to look for. And there

is a way to escape it. if you believe it's coming.

There is a high ground that anyone can flee to.

Now, there might be some here who are sceptical

of that. I want you to ask today, is there a

good reason to think that a tsunami is coming?

But if you're a Christian, you'd believe as I

do that there is a tsunami coming. How do we

stay on high ground? How do we get others up

there? That's the question we're asking. And

that's what we're going to explore in that three

-word petition of Your Kingdom Come. And because

it's Vision Sunday, I want to show you how these

truths in these three words are what drive our

mission and vision as a church. But first, the

big thing I'm hoping you'll take away from our

passage today. Pray for God's kingdom to come

so that many people get rescued. There's one

thing you remember today. Pray for God's kingdom

to come so that many people get rescued. That's

why we pray, because when we pray, many people

in God's kindness get rescued. And there's two

things that we should be praying for that we're

going to see that make up your kingdom come.

Firstly, Pray for Christ to come to his people.

Pray for Christ to come to his people. And secondly,

pray for people to come to Christ. Pray for people

to come to Christ. So let's look at the first

one. When we pray, your kingdom come, we're praying

for God's rescue. We're praying for Christ to

come to his people. Essentially, we're praying

for the end of the world. Do you ever think you

were doing that when you pray, your kingdom come?

You're praying for the end of the world. You're

praying for Jesus' return. We're asking God to

come and end evil, sin, pain, persecution. This

is a prayer that Christ would come rescue his

people and take them home. To their eternal home.

They're home in glory where there'll be no more

crying, no more wars, no more mourning, no more

pain. Now, why do Christians have this hope?

Why do Christians pray this? Because God's King

and his kingdom came already. When Jesus came

the first time, God's kingdom arrived. Now, it

didn't come in its fullness, but it did come

in Jesus. A little while back, I flew from Cairns

to Brisbane for Diocese of the Southern Cross

mini conference that we had. And I want to ask

you a question. When I was doing that, did the

plane arrive on the runway? When it lands on

the runway, is that when the plane has arrived?

Or does the plane arrive when everyone gets off

at the terminal. Which one is it? Well, it's

actually both, isn't it? It arrives when it hits

the runway. And it arrives in a fuller way when

we get off at the terminal, isn't it? Both are

arriving. And it's the same with God's kingdom.

When Jesus came the first time, it arrived. God's

kingdom was here in Jesus. But he's going to

come back a second time and it's going to arrive

again in fullness. His kingdom will have completely

come. See, when Jesus arrived the first time,

his teaching, his miracles, his perfect life,

and especially his death on the cross and his

resurrection, they show that God's kingdom is

real and it's glorious. These show that it has

come and that we need to be ready when it does

come in its fullness. Jesus' first coming warns

us that there is a tsunami coming when God will

judge the world and there is a way of escape

where you can go and enter God's eternal kingdom

forever. We can either escape to eternal paradise

or be obliterated for eternity in the tsunami.

But all the warning signs are there. I mean,

what is the cross? The cross is both a window

into what God's judgment looks like, isn't it?

Do you want to see what hell looks like? Look

at what Jesus experienced on the cross. But it's

also the high ground. It's the place we go to

be safe. If you trust in the cross, if you trust

in what Jesus has done, you are on the high ground.

You are safe from God's judgment. More safe than

you could ever imagine. And what's Jesus' resurrection?

It's the big air horn, isn't it? It's the big

warning to everyone. Please repent. Turn to God.

Trust in Jesus' death. because judgment is coming.

Jesus has defeated death. He's risen as Lord

of all. One day he will judge the world. The

warning signs are there. But you might be thinking,

well hang on Brendan, God's gonna do this anyway.

This judgment day is coming. Whether I pray your

kingdom come or not, Well, that seems kind of

redundant, doesn't it? Why pray it? God's going

to do it anyway. Well firstly, isn't it nice

to pray a prayer that you know is going to happen?

But secondly, it's not redundant at all. When

we pray, your kingdom come, it's helping us to

keep seeking God's kingdom first. It keeps us

homesick for heaven. It keeps us longing for

that final rescue. Otherwise, our hearts get

too attached to the things of this world. We

forget where our true home is, don't we? Imagine

a refugee in a refugee camp. The camp isn't safe.

It's safer than where they were. But it's still

dangerous. Some nights, they hear the artillery

many, many, many miles away. And whilst you're

there, you make the best of it, you make the

most out of your tent, you enjoy the little comforts

you have. But you don't treat it as home, do

you? You know it's only temporary. It's a stepping

stone to somewhere better. You know, when you're

there in the refugee camp, you're living to get

out of there, aren't you? To get to your new

home. If you're there in the refugee camp, you

hold all that you have loosely. You know, if

they say to you, hey, your flight to Australia

is ready, pack your Vegemite and go, you don't

then grab onto your tent and think, oh, can I

really leave my tent? This is so awesome. I mean,

this is my favourite tent that I've ever had.

You get out. You leave because you go, yes, this

is where I need to be. And that's the approach

we need to have with the things of this world.

See, here's what can happen slowly to us. Our

hearts can easily drift, can't they? It could

look like this. You work hard at an office. You

climb the ladder. You get that promotion. Or

maybe you grow a small business, something like

that. Work is going well. And it's good. It brings

a comfier life, a bigger home, a better car,

more holidays to Thailand. And the added work

is more demanding, though. There is a trade -off.

The added work is more demanding. And so you're

busy and you're tired all the time. But the comfy

lifestyle, it's seductive. It's really good.

And soon... your heart is swirling with worries

and distractions. Oh, eternity is truth. I'm

busy just trying to get through the now. There's

so much I've got to do for work, and we're planning

that next holiday, and I feel like I never see

the kids and wifey, and it's just so much. I'm

too busy for that now, maybe later when I'm older.

And when that happens... Faith that lives in

your heart slowly erodes, doesn't it? The world

starts to feel like your real home, and that

tsunami that Jesus warns us against seems less

and less real. Now that's just one example, but

heart drift can happen in a variety of ways,

can't it? Here's how Jesus puts it. He says,

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will

be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating

and drinking and marrying and being given in

marriage until the day when Noah entered the

ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.

There was a tsunami of God's judgment that came

on the earth. And people were just going on about

their lives as if nothing was coming, despite

the warning signs. Or Jesus says, likewise, just

as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating

and drinking, buying and selling, planting and

building. But on the day when Lot went out from

Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and

destroyed them all. So will it be on the day

when the Son of Man is revealed. So people engrossed

in this world. In good things, in marriage, in

kids, in work, in building businesses, in all

sorts of good things. But they're so engrossed

in it that they have no eye for eternity, even

though God's judgment is coming. So how do we

guard against heart drift? We pray. We pray into

Your kingdom come. Something like this, maybe.

Father, your kingdom come. Please, Father, keep

me homesick for heaven. Help me, help my family

to be ready for Jesus' return for when that tsunami

of judgment comes. Open the eyes of my heart

to see how glorious it will be in your kingdom.

Help my church, help Northern Hope to see how

serious it is to be outside your kingdom so that

we persevere in our faith. Father, thank you

that Jesus rescued us and made us citizens of

your eternal kingdom. That's the sort of thing

you can pray, isn't it? And prayers like that

need to be constantly on our lips. Is that something

you pray for? Are you guarding your heart? Are

you homesick for God's kingdom? But if we're

on about God's kingdom, we don't just pray for

ourselves, we must pray for the lost too. And

that's our second point today. We pray for Christ

to come to his people. We pray that Jesus will

return and rescue us, but also we pray for people

to come to Christ. When you pray your kingdom

come, you're praying for God's rescue effort

to come. You're asking God to expand and advance

his kingdom in the hearts and minds of people

around us. You're praying for more people to

become Christians. You're pleading with God to

save more souls. Because God's kingdom is expanding

until Jesus returns, this is something we need

to pray for. Here's what it says in Mark 4. And

Jesus said, with what can we compare the kingdom

of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when

sown on the ground is the smallest of all the

seeds. It's itty bitty tiny. And that's what

Jesus' kingdom was like. It started with Jesus,

with a crucified carpenter being completely humiliated

by the Roman Empire. His band of broken disciples.

Well, something happened, didn't it? The smallest

of seeds on the earth, yet when it's sown, it

grows up. and becomes larger than all the garden

plants and puts out large branches so that the

birds of the air can make nests in its shape.

It becomes this huge thing that brings people

from everywhere. That's what Jesus is getting

at. And we need to be people who pray that more

people come into God's kingdom. But why is it

so important to pray this? Well, firstly, it's

the second petition in the Lord's Prayer. Jesus,

by the nature of ordering it that way, is saying,

this is a high priority. Because this is one

of the ways that God answers the first petition

in the Lord's Prayer. Hallowed be your name.

What's one of the greatest ways that God's name

can be hallowed and glorified? It's by saving

people, isn't it? Now, if you're ever at the

beach, have you ever been at the beach, probably

not in Cairns, but maybe at a beach somewhere

else when you're on holidays and you've been

in a rip? Have you ever had that happen? And

imagine you're stuck in a rip and you're caught

there and you put your hand up, you know, and

you're needing help. And the lifeguard swims

out or jet skis out, you know, however they do

it these days, and they come out and they rescue

you. What would your attitude be to that lifeguard

for the rest of your life? What an awesome lifeguard!

You know, that'd be a story you'd want to tell

all the time, wasn't it? The one that you'd tell

to your grandkids, oh, there's this time I nearly

drowned in the rip and this lifeguard, his name

was Fred, he came and he helped me, and you'd

just honour their name, wouldn't you? Well, that's

what happens when people enter God's kingdom.

When they experience his rescue and salvation,

they bring glory to God. As that second petition

gets filled, it fulfills the first petition as

well. But not only that, it's also important

for the good of others. There's no greater good

that you can do for someone else. than to help

them trust in Jesus for salvation. Eternal paradise

is on offer. People can escape the tsunami of

God's judgment. The cross is the only way that

people can be saved. I mean, there's no way that

Jesus would have gone through that pain and that

agony of the cross if there was some other way

that people could be saved. So to do good to

others, the highest good we can possibly do,

we must pray that they trust in Jesus and his

death. And we must tell them about Jesus and

his death. Try and be an answer to those prayers,

isn't it? And amazingly, God honours those prayers

and saves people through them when we pray. Think

of a seed in a pot. Any green thumbs here, this

is your moment to shine. If it doesn't get any

water, you wouldn't expect it to grow, would

you? It doesn't matter if there's good soil,

sunlight, if you have the fanciest pot you can

possibly get from Bunnings. It won't grow, will

it? And it's the same with evangelism. We won't

see many conversions if we don't pray. Praying

for the lost is like water on that seed. It's

a crucial element that that seed needs for souls

to be saved. That's the way God has arranged

it. Now God can save people any way he wants,

but that's the normal pattern of things, is that

we need to be prayerful if we're going to see

people saved. But praying for the lost doesn't

just glorify God and it isn't just the highest

benefit we can give to others. It also benefits

us. Praying for souls to be saved fires us up

for mission. It makes us more Christ -like. I

mean, what was Jesus on about? He was on about

seeing people saved. And so when we're praying

for that, it changes us. It makes us more loving.

It reminds us what's at stake. It reminds us

that we're dealing with eternal realities. When

we pray for the advance of God's kingdom, we're

aligning our hearts with God's heart. What an

amazing thing to do. It reminds me a little bit

of Schindler's List. If you ever saw Schindler's

List, there's a very powerful scene right at

the end. Schindler was running a factory for

the Nazis and he saw all these Jewish people

getting horribly murdered and killed and he shows

them compassion. He says, I need more workers,

I need more workers and they come and they work

at his factory and it means many of these Jewish

people are saved. But right at the end of the

movie, The Russians are advancing. He knows he

needs to get out of there. It's going to be bad

for him. And so he leaves. But as he's leaving,

he looks at the factory workers in his factory,

and he looks around at his stuff. And he's broken

hearted. He has this little pin on his lapel,

and he goes, I didn't need this pin. If I'd sold

this pin. That could have been one more person.

I didn't need a car. If I'd sold that car, you

know, that could have been 20 more people I could

have saved. He gets this intense moment of clarity

where he sees what people were worth, where he

sees what he could have done more. And when we

pray, your kingdom come, we get that sort of

clarity, don't we? We see how valuable souls

truly are. It aligns our hearts with God's hearts.

I mean, that's the key to sharing Jesus in any

church. Do you know it's really hard to get churches

mobilised for God's mission? How do you get a

church mobilised for God's mission? Get people

consistently praying. And especially praying

for the lost. That's better than a good workshop

on evangelism or a fancy little tract. To get

people praying changes hearts. And that's why

in your show bags today, you might say you've

got a bookmark. Now, our bookmark has our mission

and our vision on it so that every time you're

reading your favourite novel or whatever you

read, you can have a look at our mission and

vision. You can pray for it. But there's also

on the other side five slots for lost people

that you can pray for. Now, it's okay. If you're

not much of a reader and more of a YouTuber,

that's okay. You can use five fingers, okay?

That's all right. These are the fingers you click

with anyway. But we need to be praying for people,

don't we? Have you got five people who don't

know Jesus that you can be praying for? Start

praying consistently and constantly for them.

That's what the book marks there for, so that

every time you... Oh, hang on. Before I get into

my favourite... I'm going to start praying for

those five people. And pray for some of them

in your growth group. When you're doing your

growth group time, hey, we've got time for prayer

points. Yeah, you know, I've got one of my five

people. I'd like to pray for Jim, and you pray

for Jim. Wouldn't it be great if that was one

of the defining marks of Northern Hope? Is that

we pray, and we pray especially for the lost.

I love how Charles Spurgeon puts it. He says

this, if sinners be damned, at least let them

leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they

perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped

about their knees, imploring them to stay. If

hell must be filled, let it be filled in the

teeth of our exertions. And let not one go unwarned

and unprayed for. Let's be a church that does

that, hey? All right, let's recap. There is a

tsunami coming. How do I get myself and others

ready for the tsunami? Is there even a tsunami

coming? Maybe you're a skeptic. Well, for those

of us who do believe one is coming, the answer

is to pray. pray your kingdom come. The big point

of today, pray for God's kingdom to come so that

many people get rescued. And two things we need

to be praying about when we pray your kingdom

come. Pray for Christ to come to his people.

Praying for the end of the world that Christ

would come and rescue us. But also pray for people

to come to Christ. Now, what's all this mean

for us? Well, if you are that sceptic here, please

know we're praying for you. And you might be

thinking, I'm not lost and I don't need prayer

and there's no tsunami coming. That's okay. You

can think that. I don't agree with you. I think

you're in a very dangerous place. But we respect

that that's what you believe. But please know...

We love you. That's why we're praying for you.

That's why we talk to you. That's why part of

why we run church each week is so that you can

hear about what Jesus is offering to you. But

I'd want to ask you, are you sure? This is not

something you want to be wrong about. At one

point in your life, at least once, you need to

sit down and work out, are the claims of Jesus

true? Unbiasedly. Sit down and work it out. Read

one of the Gospels. Read Mark's Gospel. Check

out what Jesus has to say. Have a look. If you

want, come and do coffee with me. Happy to talk

you through it. And finally, I'd say to you,

pray. Say to God, God, if you're even there,

please make yourself known to me and see if God

truly is there and whether a tsunami of judgment

is coming. Give Jesus a fair go. That's what

I'm asking you to do. But if you're a Christian,

like me, you believe a tsunami is coming. You

believe that we need to be ready for it and stay

ready for it. You believe we need to encourage

each other to stay ready for it. You believe

we need to warn as many people around us as possible

to be ready for it. And not just so they escape

judgment, but so that they can enter the eternal

bliss of paradise that goes on forever and ever.

And the key to that is to pray your kingdom come.

And again, this fits nicely with Vision Sunday,

because what's the mission and vision of our

church? Well, it matches your kingdom come. Why

do we exist? We exist to see souls from Cairns

and beyond saved on the last day. Why does a

cricket club exist? They exist to play cricket.

Why does the police force exist? They exist to

fight crime. Why does our church exist? We exist

to see souls from Cairns and beyond saved on

the last day. That's our purpose. Our mission

is SOS. Save our souls. We want to see people

saved on that last day. That means evangelism

because we want to see new people saved. It means

discipleship because we want to see those who

are saved keep going. And it means care because

we want to see those saved keep going. Our church

is like a rescue ship. We're trying to pull people

in out of the lost waters of sin. We're trying

to see people come to know the Lord Jesus and

we don't want to see any of those on our ship

jump back into the waters of sin. We want to

make sure they stay with us until Jesus comes

back. But secondly, we have a direction we're

going. What do we do in the shorter term? We

pray our church would double in size to 200 people

because we're growing in love. Our vision is

we see where we want to go and we're praying

and working toward it. And our vision puts us

on the same page because there's going to be

tough decisions ahead. Do we buy a building or

do we stay in a hall? Do we put on two services

or do we try and find a bigger venue? Do we point

so and so as a growth? group leader or do we

appoint them as an evangelist? Do we cut a ministry?

Do we start a new one? There's going to be so

many tough decisions and the point of this is

hopefully it helps us see what we're trying to

do and unites us in what we're trying to do.

And hey, as a leader, not everyone is going to

like me or the decisions I make. Do you know

what Steve Jobs once said? If you want to please

everyone, sell ice cream. Definitely don't go

into ministry. He didn't say the ministry bit.

But every decision we make, this vision is meant

to be our northern star, to help us work our

way to what God wants us to do, to help us be

wise in what we're trying to do. And I hope it

will inspire you to partner with us in what we're

trying to do. Now, how can you partner with us?

Well, that's what I want to leave you with today.

There's five things for investing in our vision.

Firstly, pray for our vision. Pray for Northern

Hope and pray for those five people that are

on your bookmark. Secondly, come along regularly.

You know, it's really hard to ... Help you keep

going and and to work together for the cause

of Christ if you're not here So keep coming to

church keep coming to growth group. Make sure

you're coming along regularly Don't just pencil

it in on your diary pen it in church on Sunday

growth group whenever Thirdly invite others to

church If you believe that what Jesus is saying

is true that there is a tsunami coming. How can

you not invite people? to hear about Him. And

we are working really hard to make our church

a place where you could bring a non -Christian

friend confidently, knowing that they're going

to hear the Gospel each week, knowing that it

should be a positive experience, that's our aim

each week for them. I know that it takes a lot

of relational capital to invite a non -Christian

friend to church. And it's... Awkward if you

do that and it's just a horrible experience.

I think many years ago I had a next door neighbour

who I invited to Good Friday. He worked slaughtering

chickens during the week as his job. He, for

fun, went and hunted things with his bow. He

was as bogan and blokey as you can possibly get.

And we invited him to church and our pastor at

the time, who was an excellent preacher, did

probably one of the worst sermons I ever heard

him do. And then we sang this song that said,

Jesus, lover of my soul. And I looked at my bogan

blokey friend and I thought, this is awkward.

But you know what? In God's kindness, he came

back even after that awkward thing. But that's

what we're trying to do. We're trying to have

a service that is welcoming, that's not going

to be awkward, that's going to glorify Jesus

each week so that you can invite your friends.

Fourthly, serve with your gifts. Use your different

gifts to help us reach people and finally give

so that we can do more. Maybe one day, if people

keep giving, we can employ someone else who can

do more ministry than we currently do. Maybe

we can plant a church. There's all sorts of things

we can do if we generously get behind this vision.

I want to finish with this. I was looking up

ABS data the other day. you know, the Australian

Bureau of Statistics, just for funsies. That's

what I do in my spare time. There's 62 ,000 people

in the northern suburbs of Cairns. They're all

facing the tsunami of God's judgment. And the

only high ground is the Lord Jesus. And that's

just around us. What gospel impact, what... Footprint

can we leave if we work together for the cause

of Christ? Let's pray and work toward leaving

the biggest footprint we possibly can. Let's

see how many souls God will save around us and

beyond. Let's pray. Father we thank you so much

for the salvation that is in the Lord Jesus That

in him we can have eternal life in your kingdom

and Father we know that there is a day when you

are going to put right all the wrongs of this

world when you are going to sort everything out

and it is in many ways an awesome day, but a

dreadful and fearsome day and Father we ask that

many people in cans would be ready for that day

by trusting in Jesus. And not just cans, but

beyond all over the world. And please help us,

Father, as a church to be a rescue ship, scooping

people out of the deadly waters of sin so that

people would know, trust, love and follow the

Lord Jesus. Help us, we pray. Amen.