Whose Kingdom?

If you don't know me, guys, my name is Jeremy.

I've been with Watermark for about, oh, it'll be five years this summer.

Time flies.

And the beauty of that, I think, is in Hong Kong, you do see people come and go,

and there are transitions.

Ex-pats come in, ex-pats leave.

You know, people just, it is a transient place,

but the beauty of that is I've just met so many people,

heard so many stories about people seeking to impact the world

and seeking to impact Hong Kong for God's glory.

And that's just been amazing.

So, you know, if you're new here today, if you haven't been around for too long,

you know, there's so many people that still haven't met.

We'd love, you know, staff and the community group leaders,

we'd love to meet you guys and get to know you guys a little more.

And, you know, as I was thinking about the sermon today

and just preparing and thinking about preaching,

man, it's just been such a blessing for me

because it's not my authority in even coming up before you

and kind of sharing God's word with you.

The authority rests in God's word, the scripture that we just heard.

And just kind of reading that this week, preparing for that,

it's been so illuminating from my own heart.

You know, some of these passages that I'm going to share with you this morning,

they were just speaking to me throughout this entire week

and encouraging me and refreshing me and revitalizing me.

And it's been challenged about how I pray,

how I think about the topic of prayer.

And that's the series we're in right now.

And back when I started praying more on my own,

kind of as I kind of started to get a little more serious about my faith

and think about what it actually means to follow Jesus Christ,

I found that my prayers usually went in one of two directions.

You know, there was a much more kind of formal,

kind of laundry list of things that are written down, you know,

names, people, things.

And I would just kind of like go down that list,

kind of almost check those things off, right?

Like, yep, I got through that list.

They've been prayed for.

Those prayers have gone out to those people, right?

And then the other kind was just a lot more kind of spontaneous and organic.

You know, it was like just whatever came to mind,

I would just, okay, this and that.

And I think maybe some of you guys can identify with maybe one or two,

one of those two kind of extremes.

But really the issue wasn't so much that form of prayer that I was thinking about.

I think it was more I realized as I was doing that,

there wasn't this kind of overarching vision for how I prayed.

There wasn't this thing that captured just how I was motivated to pray,

you know, what I was praying towards as a trajectory.

You know, it was all pretty reactive.

It was dependent on, you know, what happened that day,

what happened that, you know, that week, you know,

the focus of my season, the time of my life.

And I'm not saying that's wrong.

You know, there is a place for that.

But I noticed there wasn't this overarching vision.

vision.

And I also noticed my prayer didn't always connect with my actions.

You know, I'd pray for these things.

Yeah, of course, it's important to me.

I was praying for these things.

But then I was thinking about my day-to-day actions and my lifestyle.

And there wasn't this connection.

There was disconnect in so many of these areas of my prayer.

So this is why I think this sermon series that we're going through is so important.

Because we're looking at the Lord's Prayer, what we just heard read to us.

We're looking at the Lord's Prayer,

and we want to see how it actually shapes our attitude towards prayer.

It's not just a method of praying.

And we've been talking, and our goal for this series is really simple, actually.

We just want to ask God, God, help us to pray.

Show us how to pray more expansively.

Things that we wouldn't pray normally.

Things that are outside of our normal thought process and comfort zones.

We want to say that prayer is an attitude.

It's not just an activity.

And we've developed this definition of prayer that might help us.

It says it's a child calling out to their loving Heavenly Father

in response to Him reaching down to them.

And I love that image of the child.

You know, I've talked about wearing a onesie before,

and someone very kindly bought me a onesie after I talked about that the last sermon.

Because if you imagine yourself literally in diapers before your Heavenly Father,

you start to realize how God really sees you.

Not in kind of like a stupid, immature way,

but in a way that says,

I need you like a baby needs his father, his mother.

That relationship is there.

A child calling out to their loving Heavenly Father

who is reaching down to pick them up lovingly.

The smile on his face.

And that's the ethos, the heart we want to see for prayer.

And because it's a loving Heavenly Father,

because that's always the starting point,

we can be genuine.

We can be honest with Him.

You know, when Alfie kicked off our series two weeks ago,

it was really all about that relationship with our Father in Heaven

who picks us up and creates that relationship

that we didn't have before.

And so today we're going to continue with the Lord's Prayer.

We're going to go on to what it means when Jesus said,

Lord, let your kingdom come.

Your kingdom come.

And the Lord's Prayer isn't just some kind of formula

that you recite kind of mindlessly.

I mean, you can recite it, of course,

but there's nothing magical about the words in and of itself

when you say those words.

It's actually what Jesus was saying in that prayer

is a model for us to kind of get a glimpse of what is important.

What are the things that we should actually be praying about?

So our goals, I think, for this sermon are really, really simple.

First, we need to have a grasp of what the kingdom is.

Really kind of get our hands around that,

wrap our minds around that a little bit.

And secondly, as we do that,

as we get that understanding of the kingdom,

we need to begin to see how that actually transforms

the way I pray, how you pray,

and why we pray.

So it's really simple.

So grasping the kingdom and seeing how that impacts the way we pray.

So our first task is really just to define what the kingdom is.

And if you're not a Christian here today,

I mean, that might be kind of a weird concept to you.

And if you haven't really thought about the Bible or theology before,

like the word kingdom, it's just, I don't, for me,

it was kind of archaic.

Like, you know, you might think of, I don't know,

the British monarchy or something.

And Chris Thornton might start humming, you know,

God save the queen or something, right?

You know, just that pride of being a Brit.

You want to try?

Okay.

You know, and actually it's not a bad analogy

because a kingdom by its very definition needs a king.

And in the kingdom of God, obviously, who's the king?

The king is God.

God is the king, as Eric was saying in the psalm today,

expressing that through a psalm.

He is the king of God's kingdom.

But it's not this kind of juicy tabloid fodder

you see in the British monarchy.

As much as I like Kate Middleton

and appreciate her sense of style,

come on, don't, you know,

don't pretend you guys don't look at, you know,

what's her latest kind of most recent dress

or how she's dressing the little baby prince, George.

That's important.

I appreciate that.

But God's kingdom, it's not about,

ultimately about that.

This is our God, the king.

He's our perfectly, perfect heavenly father.

He's on that throne.

He's our king.

And so there's this idea of that king.

But don't kind of confuse that with what we think about as kings and queens

throughout history and today.

This is our perfect heavenly father.

Our daddy is on the throne.

So God is the king,

but what is his kingdom actually like?

And I mean, there are so, so many different descriptions of the kingdom in the Bible.

And what I want to do is actually just look at three kind of really classic passages

that describe the kingdom of God to us.

Two from Isaiah in the Old Testament and one from Revelation.

And I think these passages should leave an impression on us.

Because, well, if you've read them before, you know they're quite profound.

But even if you've read these passages before, I encourage you guys, look at it with fresh eyes.

Try and visualize what these passages are saying about the kingdom of God.

Because back in the Old Testament, we already had some amazing pictures of the kingdom.

And in these images, the kingdom of God is described as a mountain, the highest of all mountains.

And it says in Isaiah 2,

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains.

And it shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it.

Many peoples shall come,

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks,

and nations shall not lift up sword against nation,

and neither shall they learn war anymore.

And that's just,

I was thinking about that image,

can you go back for a sec there?

That image of the sword being beaten into plowshares,

and the spears being beaten into pruning hooks.

And I'm not an agricultural major or anything,

I have to kind of look up,

what is a plowshare?

And actually that's the blade,

the sharp part of a plow that you use in farming.

And a pruning hook is just a knife that you use to prune a vineyard.

So there's this image of this transformation,

these instruments of death and destruction

being transformed into tools of cultivation,

of bringing life and growth.

And that next passage,

Isaiah 11,

or Isaiah 11,

the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra.

The weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

There's this complete transformation when you look at creation.

The ecology is changed.

It's a relationship between all living things

is transformed to true peace and harmony.

And it's not in the Old Testament.

Let's look at Revelation, this third passage.

Revelation, this third passage.

It's one of my favorite passages,

pointing to this new reality.

No weeping, no hurting, no pain.

So this kingdom of God that we read about,

these images,

it's a kingdom of just universal,

all-encompassing peace and prosperity,

complete restoration for everything that's broken and imperfect.

When we talk about world peace,

I usually just think about,

oh, just no more fighting,

no more killing each other,

this place where people just stop hating on each other.

But God's peace,

the peace of the kingdom of God

is so much more than that.

It is so much more expansive.

Think about wolves and sheep dwelling together,

children playing alongside snakes.

That imagery of complete transformation,

it's profound.

And I was thinking about that

as I was preparing this week,

and just like those images of that.

Like I can only even begin to imagine

what,

how glorious,

how perfect,

how peaceful,

how prosperous

that new kingdom

will be.

Even just from these little sketches.

So today,

when you,

if you put your faith in Jesus Christ,

to have that relationship

with your heavenly Father,

if you put your faith in Him today

for the first time,

or putting it afresh,

anew,

it won't be easy,

as we're gonna talk about in the sermon today.

It won't be easy.

But that's the kingdom

that as you follow Jesus,

as you seek Him out,

as you respond to Him,

that's the kingdom

that He is gonna lead you into.

That's our inheritance.

But you know what?

When I first became a Christian,

you know,

eternal life

was what I kind of thought about.

Yes, eternal life.

Who wouldn't want that?

But eternal life for what?

It's eternal life for that kingdom.

That amazing kingdom.

But it's also a future kingdom.

And at this point,

I think the temptation for us,

the easy thing to do

is kind of separate the two.

Kind of,

there's this future kingdom,

and then there's this now.

And you know,

for now,

I'm just gonna pray,

oh God,

your kingdom come,

but in every other aspect,

I'm just,

it's just business as usual.

You know,

whatever that business looks like.

Playing video games,

or just hanging out,

or whatever.

Whatever,

you know,

just working,

going to school,

whatever.

That's,

that's now,

and I'm just praying,

your kingdom come.

But that's not the whole picture,

and this is where it's important for us

to really grasp

the second aspect of the kingdom.

Because biblically,

when you look at the,

just what the word kingdom means

in Greek and Hebrew,

it's not just this place,

it's not just this realm

that's the kingdom.

The kingdom also refers

to the king's rule,

his reign,

his authority,

how he rules.

So when we think about that,

and when we look at the word,

your kingdom come,

we're also asking God,

let your reign come

to this world.

Break into our world now.

A growing experience

of God's kingdom,

his reign,

right here,

right now.

People coming to know God.

People becoming

God's children.

Experiences of that,

peace,

of that restoration,

right here in our families

and in our communities today.

You know,

last Sunday,

Graham talked about

being salt and light,

remember?

The lifestyle of the kingdom

as we become lights for God

and point people to Jesus.

God's design isn't for us

to just kind of sit on our butts

and wait in a bunker

for his kingdom to come.

His design is for us

in light of that security,

that promise of the eternal kingdom.

kingdom,

we've been called to live out

that reality

right here,

right now,

in your lives today.

Even though we're not fully

in that kingdom yet.

God's reign coming into our hearts,

into your heart,

spreading through his church

in Hong Kong and globally,

bringing about these glimpses

of the kingdom

coming into the world today.

And you and I,

every follower of Jesus Christ,

we're called to be

representatives

of that kingdom.

And I was thinking,

what does it look like

to live out that reality then?

And I think a good analogy

is this idea

of cross-cultural living.

I think a lot of you guys

are expats here

or even you've traveled

or lived all over the world.

And it brought back, you know,

this kind of very clear memory for me.

You know,

before I moved to Hong Kong

about five years ago,

I was living in Canada.

I was a lawyer in Canada.

I had a kind of an interest

in human rights.

And so I kind of had

that identity

of a human rights lawyer.

And I decided to move

to Calcutta, India for a year.

And obviously there's,

you know,

you can imagine

the culture,

the customs,

the way of life.

It's pretty different in some ways.

It's what we kind of call

culture shock, right?

When you go to a place

with completely new

kind of cultures

and norms

and values.

And I mean,

some of those things

were pretty kind of harmless,

you know,

like refraining from beef

most of the time.

I mean,

that should be pretty harmless,

right?

And if any of you guys

think that's not harmless,

you need to really kind of,

maybe mill in,

you know,

that's very serious,

giving beef.

And you need to think about that

for Lent,

brother.

But I mean,

really,

if you think about superficially,

I mean,

giving up beef,

that's a relatively easy thing

to give up, right?

That's an easy kind of custom

to adopt,

to adjust to.

But there were also

things in the culture

that I passionately

stood against.

Things like the rampant

prostitution

and the sex trafficking industry

that's just so pervasive there.

Things that were so commonplace

and ingrained in society there.

But because of my identity,

because of my values

as a human rights lawyer,

I just could not,

it just prohibited me

from engaging

in that aspect of culture.

You know,

my identity shaped

the way I lived there.

Not only could I not condone it,

but I actually had to take action

against what was happening

over there.

Such an amazing country.

I love so many things about it.

But those injustices,

they demanded a response

because of my identity.

And I don't know how often

you think of your life today,

but if you are

a child of God this morning,

if you are

a citizen

citizen of the kingdom of God,

you are actually living

cross-culturally

every minute of your life.

You're an expat in this world.

You're a foreigner

in many ways

because the values

of God's kingdom

so often are contrary

to the values of this world.

And it's not just obvious examples

like, you know,

human trafficking

or the war in Syria

or, you know,

ISIS

or riots in Mong Kok

or just people being

mean to each other.

I mean,

those are more obvious examples,

but all of those things,

they actually just boil down

to that inherent self-centeredness

of the human being.

It's all boiling down

to that influence

of a sinful world,

a sinful kingdom,

a sinful nature

that has rejected God,

the ultimate source

of peace and prosperity.

You know,

the influences of the world

and the values

of the worldly kingdom,

it's what continues

to kind of hold me back

and distract me.

You know,

it stops me

from faithfully praying,

your kingdom come.

Why?

Because I'm too busy praying.

We're too busy praying,

you know,

my kingdom come.

My prosperity come.

My promotion come.

My latest iPhone come.

You know,

my business come.

My top-tier education come.

You know,

in light of Valentine's Day,

right,

you know,

my,

you know,

praying for that

significant other,

boyfriend,

girlfriend,

husband,

wife.

Some of you,

maybe an improved

husband or wife,

right?

And I'm not saying

we literally,

I'm pretty sure we don't,

I don't literally say,

our Father in Heaven,

my kingdom come.

Right?

I mean,

that's too superficial.

But if I really

kind of check my motives,

the way my attitude

of prayer is,

the way I actually,

you know,

conduct my life,

in very many ways,

I'm praying for those

things to come.

And I'm,

and honestly,

none of those things

that I've just listed,

they're not,

none of them are

necessarily bad things.

Just to be clear,

I don't want to say

that those are bad things.

None of those things

are necessarily bad.

But when Jesus teaches us

to pray those words,

your kingdom come.

And remember,

remember the image,

those images of God's kingdom

that we kind of digested

and looked at.

In light of that kingdom,

what Jesus is telling us

is that the value

of that kingdom

is so great,

it's worth saying to God,

God,

I want your kingdom

to come no matter what.

Because I know

that nothing in this world,

none of those things,

those other things,

are worth praying for

when I'm ultimately

comparing that

to your kingdom.

That's why I pray

your kingdom come.

Think about what he says

in Matthew 13.

You know,

the man who finds

that treasure in the field,

the kingdom of heaven

is like the man

who's found a treasure

hidden in a field.

And when he finds it,

in his joy,

he goes and sells

all that he has

and buys that field.

And he didn't wait

until his 13th month bonus

and kind of go to the landowner

and had to haggle him

to try and sell,

get the field

for his bonus amount.

You know,

he sold everything.

In case you're not,

you're thinking,

well,

that was just a parable.

You know,

Jesus was just kind of

speaking in hyperbole.

It wasn't everything.

Well, I mean,

tonight,

go home and read

chapter 19,

you know,

what he says

to the rich young ruler.

And I want to be clear,

I'm not saying

that God necessarily

wants every single person

right now

to give up everything

and kind of go

wander the streets.

But are you willing?

Are you even willing

if that's what God

called you

in light of his kingdom?

And granted,

some of you might need

to do something

very drastic

with your wealth

because the love of money,

the Bible says,

is one of the biggest ways

the worldly kingdom

manifests itself.

But there are other things,

and I don't think

it's coincidence

that right after

the Lord's Prayer,

Jesus gives us

that really classic passage.

Do not be anxious,

he says,

saying,

what shall we eat

or what shall we wear?

Your heavenly Father

knows that you need them all,

but seek first the kingdom.

And all these things

will be added to you.

I've just been thinking

about that idea,

you know,

what am I seeking?

And even just food,

clothing,

and shelter.

You know,

God's been convicting me.

Ultimately,

that's really all I need

to live well

for the kingdom.

You know,

in the parable of the sower,

I don't want to be

the seed

that gets sown

into the thorns.

And that's the person

who hears the word of God,

but the cares of the world

and the deceitfulness

of riches,

they choke,

they choke the word.

And the word proves

unfruitful in that person.

And I see that in me,

I see that,

that conflict

between God's kingdom

and the cares

of the world,

the cares of my flesh,

the cares of my own heart.

And speaking of

the cares of the world,

it is Valentine's Day

today,

as so many of you guys

have reminded me of.

And to me,

that's just

a huge reminder

that the cares

of the world,

the world cares

about Valentine's Day.

The world values

Valentine's Day

and romance

and romantic love.

And since it's probably

on a lot of our minds anyway,

I think we should spend

a few minutes

looking at something

absolutely radical

that Jesus says

about relationships

in the kingdom.

You know it's coming, Oscar.

We're still in Matthew 19,

chapter 19 now.

Jesus says,

there are eunuchs

who have made themselves eunuchs

for the sake

of the kingdom of heaven,

for the sake

of the kingdom of God.

Now eunuchs,

if you don't know,

someone who can't procreate.

So Jesus,

what he's essentially saying

is that the kingdom of God

is so amazing.

So amazing

that people are willing

to remain single

in order to demonstrate

their hope

in that heavenly kingdom.

I'm not going to go

into detail

about how it might

be beneficial

to remain single

for the kingdom.

If you want,

you can please feel free

to talk to me afterwards

and we can have

a good conversation

about that.

But what I will say

is this,

you know,

as intense as what Jesus

says in that little passage,

as intense as that sounds

to us,

for us today,

for the people

back then,

it was even more

radical.

because back then

people valued

marriage

and making babies

even more

than today.

Why?

Because back then

it was actually

essential

for God's people

to survive.

Literally,

it was essential

for them to survive

because you were born

into Judaism.

You were born

into the people

of God.

It was fundamentally

ethnic

and the Messiah

was supposed

to come

through the bloodlines

of Israel.

So that sense

of procreation,

that sense

of family,

that sense

of marriage,

all of that

was actually

essential.

So think about

how radical

that was

when Jesus

said that people

would be willing

to be eunuchs

for the sake

of the kingdom

of God

even back then.

But now,

Jesus,

the Messiah,

has come

and from then

on we begin

to realize

that God's family

is about so much

more than romance

and marriage

and children.

If you know,

elsewhere,

God,

Jesus says,

in the kingdom

of God,

there is no marriage

in the way

that we conceive

of it today.

It's ultimately

a spiritual family,

a spiritual reality

that you are born

again into.

So today,

whether you're single

or married,

you have

a critical role

in displaying

the kingdom of God

and your hope

in the kingdom of God.

And right now,

all of you

are either

married

or unmarried.

Not married

as in single,

dating,

it's complicated,

whatever.

And if you don't think

you're in either category,

we need to clarify

something,

so you need to talk

to me afterwards.

But the question

I have for us

on this holy,

glorious,

sacred Valentine's Day,

just kidding,

it's not actually,

I don't think

Valentine's Day

is holy,

it's holy because

today's a Sabbath day

and we're focusing

on God.

The question,

the serious question

we have,

I think,

on this day is,

you know,

what does it look like

for you to pray,

God,

your kingdom come.

Your kingdom come

in my marriage.

Your kingdom come

in my relationship.

Your kingdom come

in my singlehood.

What does it look like

for you to pray that?

Have you truly grasped

the reality

of the kingdom of God

that no matter

what your relationship

status is,

you can say,

Lord,

that status

is for

your kingdom.

No matter what's

going on

in my status

right now,

it's ultimately

first and foremost

for the kingdom

to come.

Do you pray

that God uses

your relationship

or uses

your singlehood

as a means

in which God's

kingdom can come?

Above whatever

your personal dreams

may be,

as legitimate

and as good

as those may be,

ultimately,

is it about

your kingdom

coming

into my reality?

And practically,

I don't know

what that might

look like for you.

It might be like

praying for greater

contentment.

It might be

how you use

your freedom

as a single

to build

your community

group

and to serve

other families.

Maybe it's about

how you and your spouse

can serve together.

Maybe it's about

how you can love

and serve your spouse

better.

It might be

about forgiveness.

I don't know

exactly what

that kingdom

coming into

your life

looks like,

but we need

to start

by praying

your kingdom

come

in my life,

in my relationship,

in my status,

in my singlehood.

And it's not

just relationships.

You know,

we talked about

money and wealth

earlier.

What does it look

like for you

to say,

God,

your kingdom

come in my

workplace,

in my bank

account,

in my investment

portfolio?

So I want to

take,

just take a moment

right now

and let's just

pause.

Just think about

the different

things you've

prayed about

over the last

few days

or weeks

or even months.

Just think about

that for a second.

Not just verbal

prayers,

not just things

you've said out loud,

but those unspoken

prayers,

those deep

yearnings

and longings

of your heart.

What have your

prayers been

over the last

few weeks?

Months?

It might take

a while for you

to recall

some of those

things,

but please

continue

reflecting on

that today.

It's important

because those

prayers

are a mirror.

They're a mirror

of what,

of a lot of

the things

that are

important to you,

that you care

about.

They reflect

back to you

what you

care about.

So are they

about God's

kingdom coming?

Are they

motivated

by a desire

to see

God's kingdom,

his love,

and restoration

touch the world?

If you're

like a statistician,

you're just

thinking,

well, you

know,

I mean,

99%

of those

have been

kingdom,

my kingdom

orientation

rate is

99%.

Well, don't

pat yourself

on the back

yet, you

know.

Even for

that 1%,

that one

thing

which you

haven't

given

to God,

what is

that one

thing you're

still praying

about that

really isn't

motivated

by the

kingdom?

You know,

I have to

admit,

I find all

of this

difficult

because every

day,

every day

I'm

influenced

by myself.

My own

flesh tells

me,

the world

tells me,

Jeremy,

you need

to be

praying

for your

own kingdom.

If you're

not praying

for it,

no one

else is

going to

be praying

for your

kingdom.

It's by

definition

my own

kingdom.

If I

don't

seek

my own

kingdom,

I'll

miss

out.

You know,

I'll

be

picking up

books

after

people

and I'll

be kind

of in

the back

and

forgotten.

But by

God's

grace,

the Holy

Spirit

always

nudges

me back.

Brings

me back

to see

that

magnificent

picture

of God's

kingdom.

I can

just see

it,

that

prosperity,

that

wholeness,

that

just all

encompassing

peace

that we

look forward

to.

And I

see those

glimpses in

my own

life and I

see those

glimpses in

my family and

in this

church.

church.

And God

reminds me

of that

kingdom of

true prosperity

and peace

and I can

continue to

surrender the

things I've

been holding

on to.

I can

continue to

pray for

his kingdom

to come.

And guys,

I know,

I know there

are serious

things.

There are

things that,

there are

genuine things

that burden

us.

And I'm

not making

light of

those things.

There's

hardships in

this world,

there's

tribulation

in this

world.

I know

that.

I've seen

it.

I've

experienced

it.

And it's

not important

that I

know.

What's

important is

God,

your heavenly

father,

knows those

hardships.

And that's

why our

Lord Jesus

Christ could

say right

before the

Lord's

prayer,

he says,

your heavenly

father already

knows your

needs before

you even

pray.

He knows

all that

you actually

need.

So he's

telling you,

he's telling

me,

surrender

those anxieties,

surrender

your kingdoms.

You know,

when you wake

up every

morning,

if you wake

up every

morning to

the reality

of that

kingdom,

that image,

that visual,

that reality

of the

kingdom of

God,

if you

wake up

each

morning to

that,

you just

begin to

get transported

to this

whole new

reality,

this whole

new paradigm.

You have

this clear

idea,

this sense

that your

heavenly

father has

a kingdom,

his perfect,

glorious kingdom

waiting for

you,

and he's

bringing it

to you.

And that's

how you start

your morning.

that's what

you live

in light

of every

single

moment.

That security,

that promise

that God

will restore

everything.

And if that

is our

kingdom,

if that

is our

starting point

every single

day,

guys,

it's inevitable.

It's inevitable.

We'll stop

worrying about

our own

kingdoms.

because you're

so securely

resting in

that promise.

You're so

securely

resting,

and you

get your

head,

you take

your head

outside of

your own

kingdom,

outside of

your own

Friday night

rituals.

You take

your head

out of

that,

and you

look around

you,

and you

just become

so gloriously

consumed in

the youth

ministry,

and reaching

the poor,

and the

brokenness you

see in your

classrooms,

and your

lecture halls,

and your

libraries,

and your

workplaces.

And that

becomes such

a beautiful

experience of

God's love,

because it's

just channeling

through you,

and you just

stop worrying

about your

own kingdoms.

You start to

see what's

truly important

to the kingdom

of God,

the marginalized,

the weak,

the lonely,

the people who

don't know

that they have

a heavenly

father,

that's preparing

that kingdom

for them.

They don't

know that.

They have

this amazing

news that's

out there,

but they

don't know

it.

You begin

to see

those things.

You begin

to see

the places

in your

life where

God wants

you to

bring

restoration

to.

And when

you begin

to see

these

different

situations

situations

and

circumstances,

your

instinctive

response

is to

pray,

how can

your

kingdom

come

in this

situation,

in this

situation,

in this

situation?

You just

begin to

think that

way because

you're not

worried about

your own

kingdom.

And not

only do you

pray,

God,

your kingdom

come in

this situation,

you actually

are part of

answering that

prayer.

You act

in response

to what

you care

about.

You think,

what can I

do about

it?

In the

book of

Revelation,

at the end

of the

Bible,

at the end

of the

age,

it says

that we'll

hear this

proclamation.

It's from

Revelation

Revelation 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11.

It says,

the kingdom

of the world

has become

the kingdom

of the

Lord.

I think we

have it

on the

screen there.

The kingdom

of the world

has become

the kingdom

of our

Lord and

of his

Christ.

He shall

reign forever

and ever.

That's the

picture I

want to leave

you with.

That's the

picture that

I want,

I think God

wants us to

remember every

day.

that our

calling is

to look to

that every

day.

Our

calling,

watermark,

is to be a

part of that.

To be a

part of the

kingdom of the

world becoming

the kingdom of

our Lord Jesus

Christ.

Let me pray

for us.

God,

help us to be a

heart of that

Lord.

Help us to

see and

experience and

live out and

rest in the

truth of that

reality.

No weeping,

no hurt,

no pain,

but ultimate

prosperity,

ultimate peace

and truth and

love, Lord,

in the kingdom

of God.

God, I pray

that whatever

it is that

you want us

to surrender,

to give to

you,

whatever is

my kingdom

today,

Lord, shift

that in our

hearts to

your kingdom.

God, help

me, help

us live so

radically because

we know that

we do not

live for our

kingdoms, for

this kingdom,

Lord.

Whatever it

is, Lord, you

want us to

surrender to

your Lord, I

pray that your

spirit would

prompt us right

now, that we

would see the

beauty, the

majesty of that

eternal kingdom

and we would

live in light of

that, God.

God, I pray

for our church,

God, I pray

that you would

just mobilize

us to see

beyond these

walls, to see

beyond our

concerns, God,

and see this

city, see the

brokenness, God,

and to desire

your kingdom to

break in to the

brokenness, to

heal, to

restore.

God, whatever

it is, God, that

is holding us

back, Lord, I

pray that right

now we would

see that you

hold us in a

new reality, you

hold us in this

reality that there

is an eternal

kingdom waiting

for us, Lord.

And we can say

for eternity,

Lord, we want

to sing for you,

we want to

worship you.

Amen.

In the name of

precious Lord,

Savior, Jesus, I

pray.

Amen.