Everyday Hope Series - August 9, 2026 - We are a people of the Kingdom of God - John Aureli

I want to ask you a question. Who taught

you how to pray?

You remember who taught you how to pray?

For those of you who grew up on Sesame

Street, you might think that Sesame

Street taught you everything. They

probably didn't teach you how to pray.

Was it somebody that you saw? Was it Was

it a time that you were in a battle time

and you were afraid AND YOU WENT, "OH,

GOD." DID situations teach you how to

pray? Who taught you how to pray?

Mama.

>> Mama. So, I was talking with a friend of

mine this week, and she's just a dear,

dear woman. Uh, and and year after year,

I'm so grateful that we get to get

closer, and she's a grandmother and and

just um continues to invest in children

around her. She works at a local school

and uh helps out in different ways and

and every once in a while, these

elementary school kids, they come up to

her and they tell her the strangest and

sometimes saddest things. And so it not

being in a Christian school, it's not

like she has a ton of uh freedom to do a

lot to start a Bible study with

elementary school kids or something like

that. But she does ask them, "Do you

know God?" And they go, "Yeah, maybe yes

or no." And then she'll say, "Well, do

you know how to pray?" And most often

they'll say, "No, because nobody's

taught them how to pray." Can you

imagine? People need to be taught how to

pray. They need to be taught. And so

they go, "I don't know how to pray." And

she says, "Well, it's very easy. Just

like you're talking to me, you can talk

with God." And so she begins this

beautiful conversational

hyper relational situation with these

kids in the playground in the cafeteria

where she's praying in the most simple

and beautiful ways with these kids who

are coming with problems above their

pay,

but they get to begin to talk with Jesus

about them. Her example to me, I I was

sort of blown away. And so I said, "Who

taught you how to pray?" This simple way

of just coming alongside of people and

saying, "You could just talk to God like

you talk to anybody?"

She said, "I saw it in my parents in

every single situation they were in.

They just began to talk to God about."

And I grew a little convicted over the

last couple weeks. I've been asking God,

"God, why is it that I don't talk to you

about everything all the time? Why is it

that I'm so distracted that maybe when

something bad happens or even good

happens THAT I JUST BEAR into it, try to

control it and get through it instead of

going, "God, what is going on? What are

you doing? How do you want to love me

here?" And so, I've been trying to grow

in this and and my hope is that you

would be able to grow in this, too.

Today, we start a new series called

Everyday Hope. Over the next five weeks,

I hope to lean into some beautiful

values that we have as a local church

about what it means to interact with God

on a regular basis and not just interact

with God, but interact with how God is

already interacting with us in the

world.

And so to ground us in this uh series, I

want us to remember Bible verses. Has

anybody ever memorized a Bible verse

before?

>> I'm introducing you to the first Bible

verse that I ever really remembered. And

it was somebody who was discipling me.

And the way that they discipled me was

they asked me to remember a Bible verse

with them. And this was the Bible verse.

It's from the book of Lamentations. You

might go, "What is the book of

Lamentations?" It's in the Old Testament

near the book of Jeremiah. And it's got

lots of honest conversation with God.

But in the middle of that honest

conversation, sometimes deep, sometimes

dark, this two verses just pop out with

hope. And so as we engage the series on

everyday hope, I'd like us to remember

this verse. If you have the capacity to

stand up, would you stand up with me? It

helps us remember, I think. If you can't

stand up, that's okay. God will help you

remember. It's okay.

So, Lamentations 3:22 and 23. Would you

Lamentations 3:22

say it with me? Because of the Lord's

great love, we are not consumed. For his

compassions never fail, they are new

every morning. Great is your

faithfulness. Let's say it one more

time. Because of the Lord's great love,

we are not consumed. For his compassions

never fail. They are new every morning.

Great is your faithfulness. God, I thank

you so much that this is true. That

because of your great love, we're not

consumed, that your compassions never

fail, and that they're new every

morning. And so we say together this

morning as a congregation, great is your

faithfulness. Would you help build in

us, God, especially over these next five

weeks, your everyday hope in Jesus name.

Amen. Have a seat. If you don't remember

anything else from today, I'd love for

you to remember this. if you don't

remember anything else because I'm going

to lose your attention. That's what the

stats say and you're not going to

remember anything anyway. Unless I swear

or do something bad, you might remember

that. But remember this if you would

please. Everyday hope is not wishful

thinking.

Everyday hope is not wishful thinking.

Everyday hope believes in a good father

who loves us deeply.

Everyday hope believes in a good father

who loves us deeply.

We get to be children of God, not out of

our own example or our own striving or

our own manipulation. We can't earn our

way to God. Our relationship with God is

not established in some way by what we

do. It's actually established by God

through Jesus.

Jesus died on the cross for us so that

we could be adopted into the family of

God so God could be our father.

Now, I don't know what your father's

like, but God wants to give you an image

of a father that is so good and loving.

So good and loving. And he wants to give

you a hope every day out of the root of

that foundation that God is good and

loving. And that's hard for some of you.

Have you ever taken your dad or parents

out to dinner and try to pay the check?

>> Anyone?

>> Now, some of your parents are going,

"That's right. You better pay for my

dinner. I wiped your," you know,

whatever.

>> But whether they have money or not,

chances are your parents don't want you

to pay the check. That's right.

>> They want to pay the check.

>> NOW, WHAT IS IT IN US THAT WANTS to pay

the check when we go out to dinner with

our parents?

>> What is it? Why can't we just be kids

with them? Do we want to earn some right

at the table? Do we want to show them

that we've built up enough whatever

credit card debt to take the bill?

Good parents want to supply our needs.

Good parents say that our needs are a

delight for them.

Our needs are a delight to our heavenly

father. And so we get to learn about

what it means to relate to God,

especially in prayer, having an everyday

hope by the way of how Jesus relates

with this heavenly father. And one of

the greatest ways we get to see that is

in the book of Matthew chapter 6. Now

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Jesus has to correct us just a little

bit before he teaches us about his

relationship with his heavenly father.

Because like us who want to prove

ourselves in public,

religious leaders were teaching the same

thing.

Religious leaders were teaching that if

you pray, it better look good because

you need to prove yourself to others and

to God.

And so Jesus needed to come in and clean

up some of the mess that religion had

made over the years. And so he begins in

chapter 6 with verse one. He says,

"Beware."

Like putting out a sign with saying,

"Beware. There's dogs here. They're

going to bite you.

Heed that same sort of warning. You will

get bitten. Beware of practicing your

righteousness before other people in

order to be seen by them. For then you

will have no reward from your father who

is in heaven." Do you see what's going

on already? Jesus is saying if you want

to prove yourself and just go out to

dinner and say you need to pay the bill,

your father is never going to pay the

bill for you and you need him to pay the

bill.

I've talked already about Jesus dying on

the cross for our sins.

Friends, if we don't first come to our

father recognizing that we are in need

of his pity and mercy and compassion, we

are in need of his pity, compassion, and

mercy. If we don't come to him with that

perspective, paradigm, and posture,

we will lose out on him being the father

that he wants to be for us. If we come

to God and say, "I'VE GOT IT, GOD. I've

got it.

we will miss out on the father that God

wants to be for us.

Thus, when you give

uh when you give to the needy, sound no

trumpet before you as the hypocrites do

in the synagogues and the streets, that

they may be praised by others. Truly, I

say to you, that they've received a

reward. But when you give to the needy,

don't let your left hand know what your

right hand is doing, so that your giving

may be in secret, and your father, who

sees you in secret, will reward you.

Why? Have you ever given generosity and

and and given generously and and

thought, "Man, I'm pretty awesome."

Anybody? You can be honest. It's okay.

Yeah. Oh, boy. I sacrifice so much and

they need this gift so badly. Good for

me. Good for me.

Jesus cleans up our mess just a little

bit here and he says, "Boy, if you only

knew how much penny you need.

You may have the dollar that makes you

feel good about giving it today, but you

are so lost in this." You see, each one

of us live along a whole spectrum of

poverty. There's a great book out of the

Talmer Center in in Georgia, and they

describe the spectrum of poverty in such

a powerful way. They said there's

there's material poverty for sure, but

most of us live in all kinds of poverty.

Family uh poverty of uh family, poverty

of community, poverty of our view of God

and others.

And so Jesus is saying, "You think

you're so awesome that you could BE

PROUD IN THIS MOMENT TO GIVE AWAY YOUR

MONEY?

Each one of us is on the same exact

level of poverty before God. There is no

pride that you can make. And so you are

silly for thinking that you can trumpet

that trumpet of your generosity in

public. Just give it up, my friend. Give

it up.

And when you pray, he says, you must not

be like the hypocrites, for they love to

stand and pray in the synagogues and of

the street corners that they may be seen

by others. Truly, I say to you that they

have received a reward. But when you

pray, go into your room, shut the door,

and pray to your father who's in secret.

and your father who sees you in secret

will reward you. Why? Who on earth in

their right mind thinks that they HAVE A

HIGHER STANDING BEFORE GOD THAN ANYBODY

ELSE.

Could you imagine going out into the

SYNAGOGUE AND SAYING, "I'VE GOT THIS,

GUYS. My holiness pretty good this week.

Much better than yours. I've seen it."

Are we crazy to think that God would

honor anybody else's prayers above

anybody else's?

The truth is that God is so holy and set

apart that Jesus instructs us when you

pray, be careful not to put yourself in

public because God knows who you really

are and you are just as in need as

everybody else around you.

So go into a closed closet as dark as

you can make it because when you become

the real child of God before your real

heavenly father, you'll realize just how

much you need from him. And it's going

to shock you to the moment.

My Britney Spears mic is failing me this

morning.

Britney Spears. What's a better more

contemporary

microphone like this? I don't know.

Now I've I've I've aged myself.

When we go into the closet and pray

before God in private, we are actually

honoring who our father is.

We honor our father because we recognize

just what children we are. And how much

pity and mercy and compassion we need.

I have to say that one thing that God is

working on my life is honoring God with

the honor and the praise and the

position that he deserves. You see, at

times I get too friendly with God and

and being friends, talking with him as a

friend is great, but I forget his

holiness. And so I argue with him as if

I'm an equal sometimes and it gets me in

trouble. Now, you might not do that, but

I know that you might be angry at this.

Imagine when if your parents

we're we're meant to honor our parents,

right? Raise your hand if you think you

should honor your parents. And I'm not

saying do whatever they say, but honor

them is right. Right now, what would

happen if you saw your parents

dishonored in public?

Imagine for a moment somebody who didn't

know them the way you knew them

took a moment and dishonored them in

public.

That helps me for just a moment think,

wait a second,

sometimes I don't treat God with the

honor he deserves. But even worse is

when I see people dishonoring God. That

posture of God being the father that we

need is so critical when we come to him

in prayer.

Our real condition is our need. And so

Jesus says, "Pray then like this."

And we've already prayed this prayer,

but we'll pray it again. Our Father, who

art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

So, it's the first thing that Jesus is

asking us to do is the opposite of what

I've just named. When we see parents

uh publicly shamed, no, no, no, no, no.

The opposite of that. WE LIFT UP OUR

FATHER WITH THE GREATEST HONOR WE CAN.

GOD, YOU ARE SET APART. YOU ARE HOLY.

AND SOMETIMES I TREAT YOU LIKE AN EQUAL.

Like I can handle my self and pay the

bill. and I'm so sorry, but right now I

say you're the only one that can pay the

bill. You're the only one that can take

care of my sin. You're the only one that

can provide for all of my needs. Right

now, I say holy hallowed is your name.

And after that, Jesus says, "Your

kingdom come and your will be done." And

Lucas, I've got a diagram I want to show

the congregation. When we talk about the

kingdom of God, we're not talking about

just a future recognition of what God

might do one day. We are inviting the

presence of God THAT'S ALREADY ETERNAL

AND ALREADY ACTIVE. DO YOU KNOW THAT

THERE'S AN EXISTENCE in God? It said God

says in the heavens, in the heavens,

meaning not just in the pie in the sky

and above, BUT IN THE HEAVENS, EVERY

SINGLE BIT OF CREATION WHERE God rules

and reigns.

What we're doing, we say, "Thy kingdom

come, thy will be done." is it welcoming

and saying, "God, LET YOUR FUTURE REIGN

EVERYWHERE WHERE your will is done

perfectly." We want that right now.

You see, because we live in a present

age of sin and suffering and death and

spiritual conflict ever since creation

and the fall. But today in THE CHURCH

BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S FOREVER'S coming on

the cross and his resurrection, he's

inaugurated a time where we through the

power of the Holy SPIRIT CAN SAY, "YOUR

KINGDOM come now." THE FUTURE PERFECTION

AND CULMINATION OF THE AGE gets to enter

into our sin and our need and meet every

single one of those needs. And we say

that God, everything in my life, I want

it to be done just the way you want it.

Because that's the way eternity is.

So we say, "Thy will be done. Your

kingdom come

on earth as it is in heaven." And then

we say, "Give us this day our daily

bread. Forgive us our debts as we have

forgiven our debtors." We clear the deck

recognizing all of who we are and all

that we need. lead us not to temptation,

which is just saying, "God, I can't

handle when I'm punished by you or other

people. Please have mercy.

I can't handle it.

Deliver us from evil." And he makes this

final final call to us. For if you

forgive others their trespasses, your

heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their

trespasses, neither will your father

forgive your trespasses.

And so as we go into ministry time

today, I want to invite us to clear the

debt.

Specifically, I believe that hope comes

when our heavenly father gets to be

invited into all of our lives and when

we recognize the pity and the mercy and

the compassion that we need. We want the

kingdom of God to break through. And

that is our real hope. Everyday hope

begins in living in the kingdom of God

where our everyday circumstances are

wrapped up in the expressed love of our

heavenly father.

But some of us need to forgive our

parents and forgive others in order to

enter into the blessings of the kingdom

of God. The truth is we will never live

in the love of God the father if we're

still living under the rule and reign

and the curses of unforgiven sin of our

parents.

God wants to be our loving father and

give us everyday hope, but it means

letting go of the sins of those that

have hurt us.

Dallas Willard says it this way. He

says, "In human affairs, other kingdoms

may be in power and often are the second

request that we ask for in this prayer.

Ask for those kingdoms to be displaced

wherever they are or brought under God's

rule." We're thinking here of the places

we spend our lives, our homes, our

playgrounds, our city streets,

workplaces, schools, and so forth. These

are the places we have in mind. And

there where we're asking the kingdom,

God's rules, come and be in effect.

You see, your heavenly father knows

exactly what you need before you ask

him, and your needs are his delight.

So, would you stand with me? We can't do

this on our own. This is relevant for

everybody. It's relevant for you and

it's relevant for those who you love.

Every week as we go through the series,

I'm going to be introducing to you

pieces of a disciplehip journey that I'd

love for you to interact with. And so,

as we go into ministry, I want to invite

you into a private disciplehip piece.

And that is to leave from this place and

pray the Lord's Prayer. Especially for

you couples, you married couples, you

may not know how to pray with one

another. Pray the Lord's Prayer with one

another.

Pray for God's kingdom to come in your

life and those of the lives around you

for your private disciplehip journey.

But some of you have been asking and so

we're going to be continuing to dig into

this. How do I disciple anybody else?

And so I would encourage you as you

leave this place that you would ask

others how you can pray for them. Ask

them if they know God just like my

friend does with the children. Ask

others if they know God and ask them if

they know how to pray. And if they

don't, share with them what you've

learned today. Every day hope

is available to give away to someone

this week. We have a good father who

loves us deeply and wants us to welcome

him into all of life.

So come, Holy Spirit, we ask you right

now into ministry. Would you bring to

mind those who we need to pray for?

Would you bring to mind those

who don't know how to even talk with you

that you've put in our lives so we can

teach them how to pray like you've

taught us how to pray? Come, Holy

Spirit.

Steve, would you come and lead us into

the rest of our ministry time as well? I

know that God wants to meet people where

they are. Some need to receive Jesus for

the first time and and begin a prayer

time. Some have never known how to pray

before, but there may be some other

things you guys have prayed for already

this morning.