EXILES: Jesus is on the Throne

I'm I'm hoping that we are able to begin to see uh a theme emerge in our time together today.

It's it's really emphasized on us recognizing who Jesus is, what he's done for us, and having a proper perspective of the finished works of Christ.

Everything that we sang so far has been focused on Jesus, and what we're gonna preach today is focused on Jesus.

It's meant to make sure that even in seasons of turmoil and confusion that we find ourselves focused and centered on Jesus.

You know, at the conclusion of Jesus' earthly earthly ministry, and as he was preparing to ascend into heaven, he had like these, I call it like his last huddles with his disciples.

He's already been raised from the dead, and he's now spending these moments with his disciples before he's about to ascend into heaven and send the Holy Spirit to be this anchor that keeps us encouraged.

He speaks to them at Matthew 28, verse number 18 is what I want to highlight today.

Jesus says to his disciples, He came to them and he said to them, All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me.

Jesus says that all authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me.

And then verse 19 is so crucial.

Go therefore, make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I've commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

This is such a powerful statement.

But I want us to grab a hold of the magnitude of what the disciples were about to enter into.

They were about to shift into a season that was still under the Roman Empire.

They were shifting into a dynamic where their Lord, their savior, their protector was now about to ascend into heaven.

And the words that Jesus decides to encourage them with is saying this, I have all authority in heaven and earth.

So you can go.

In other words, what he was saying is just because things may look a little bit differently, you still are empowered to move forward with your life because all power and all authority rests in my hands.

I want us to I want us to be anchored in this thought that no matter what we may see around us, that Jesus is on the throne, that no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in, that Jesus is still on the throne.

And I found myself over this past season having moments where I just uttered those words when I realize that the power doesn't seem like it's in my hand, the authority doesn't seem like it's in my hand, but the truth of the matter is Jesus is on the throne.

So there's moments where I just say it out loud as a declaration.

So before you have your seats, will you say this with me, Jesus is on the throne?

I feel some faith rising up in the room.

Can we say it one more time?

Jesus is on the throne.

Now, can you turn to someone next to you and say that Jesus is on the throne?

Turn to the person you ignore to say to them that Jesus is on the throne.

God bless you, God bless you.

I'm believing that no matter what, that Jesus is on the throne.

So can we give God some praise?

Like we really believe that Jesus is on the throne.

God bless you.

You can go ahead and take your seats.

You can be seated in the presence of the Lord.

Megan, do you mind handing me um that right there?

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I want to thank you all so much for coming to worship with us today.

We are we're so, so glad that you're here with us today.

And as we said earlier, if there's anything that we can do for you and your family to come alongside and serve you, please don't hesitate to let us know.

It'll be our honor and privilege to serve you and your family in any way that we can.

Today I'm excited to be concluding our our exiles series.

Over the past couple of weeks, we've really been talking about this idea of not losing sight of the fact that we are called to be citizens of heaven, that we're citizens of the kingdom of God.

If you miss any of the messages so far, I really want to encourage you to go back and check it out because each one kind of builds on top of one another and actually was leading us to today.

We realize that this is a great time for us to recenter our perspective.

We see in the writings of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3, verse 20, that we are citizens of heaven.

Philippians 3:20

But we also know that we're citizens of heaven, but God has given us the ability to thrive here on earth, that we can thrive where we are as long as we don't forget where we're from.

And so over the past couple of weeks, we've been unpacking this idea through the lens of Daniel and his writings of it's important for us to recognize that there's some places that we have to draw the line.

That the Bible says in Daniel chapter 1, verse number 8, that Daniel resolved, that he made up inside of his mind that he is not going to defile himself by eating the king's food.

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

Ultimately, what that means in our context is that Daniel was saying that there's certain things I'm just not going to do, there's certain places I'm not going to go, there's certain ways that I'm not going to talk.

I'm going to draw the line.

I'm not going to allow the culture that I am in to stain the thing that God has called me to do.

As we now find ourselves concluding in Daniel chapter 7, if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me there to kind of give you some context as to where we are now as we're beginning to see this shift in Daniel's writing.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Now we're entering into Daniel chapter 7, where now Daniel begins to share and unpack some of these profound visions that God has given him.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Daniel's Daniel's prophecies, Daniel's ability to see what God is doing is so crystal clear, is so accurate that even to this day, that many scholars debate on whether or not Daniel actually wrote it because he was able to literally predict the rise and falls of nations and empires.

And people are saying, there's no way that anyone that was living in Daniel's day could have actually seen all this stuff coming.

But how many of us know that when the hand of God is on you, that he gives you the ability to see things differently?

That Daniel had this ability to transcend where he was and he could see things differently.

And so now in chapter 7, God has given him this profound vision of nations rising and falling, different kingdoms are coming into place.

And it actually frightened Daniel a little bit.

He didn't have full understanding or clarity, but he knew that God was showing him something that had such deep significance.

So here at verse number 13, that after Daniel has already seen a couple of things, it says this I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like the Son of Man was coming with the clouds in heaven.

He approached the ancient of days and was escorted before him.

He was given dominion and glory in the kingdom, so that those of every people of every nation and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.

God had given Daniel this vision that in spite of all the rising and falling of different kingdoms and nations, that this man shows up.

Oddly enough, he's defined as the son of man.

If we read the Gospel of Mark, and we'll see that there's times where Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, he's referring to this very passage.

Jesus is saying, the Son of Man that you see in Daniel chapter 7 that comes in and brings order to everything, that is me.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Today I just want to spend a couple of moments talking to us, encouraging us through the lens of this passage.

And I simply entitled today's message, Jesus is on the throne.

Jesus is on the throne.

Let's pray and let's get into God's word.

Lord, we're so thankful that you're on the throne and that we place our faith and our trust in you.

So God, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes that we can see you, open ears that we can hear you, open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen and amen.

You know, I find myself thinking back to about three and a half years ago, I guess, give or take uh a few months, um, when when my family and I we moved up to the Washington, D.C.

area.

It was really an exciting time.

We got a chance to go and serve our church up there in uh in the capacity of being the executive pastors, and we we absolutely loved it.

It was it was something amazing about being in the nation's capital.

Now we've we're we've lived close to the nation's capital in other seasons of our life, so we were very familiar with the with the grandeur of being there, but actually living there was really cool.

Riding by and seeing monuments, going into some of the different museums and and just seeing the relics that I read about when I was a small boy.

It was just something really inspiring about being there.

We loved every moment of it.

We just felt so close to history and context and perspective.

So we were feeling really good about it, but then I remember there was this moment where the reality of the world that we live in kind of landed on our doorsteps in the most uncomfortable way.

As I felt we were getting momentum at the church and really beginning to begin to move forward in a way that God was calling us to move forward, we had a tragic event that happened in our culture.

You know, just about a hundred miles away from where our church is located.

We we we were unfortunately just hit with the news of what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Many of you guys may remember that.

That happened in August of 2017.

It was it was a it was a moment that that I still remember it like it was yesterday.

And I I recall as I was watching this on a on a Saturday afternoon, seeing the the display of of anger and hatred, and then unfortunately the loss of life.

It it grieved me to my soul.

It grieved me to my soul knowing that we're we're living in a world where we're still so deeply divided and yet we're still trying to find our best to be citizens of the kingdom of God, even when we have different points of view.

That happened on a Saturday.

So that Sunday when we went to church, we went to church with the expectation and anticipation of praying for the events that occurred the previous day.

I remember us and the leadership team, we got together and said, like, we really feel like this is an opportunity for us to be the church in the midst of all this chaos and confusion.

So we got in front of the church.

We all held hands, we took communion together.

We had a very diverse church, much like ours is here in our Orlando community.

We held hands and we prayed a simple prayer.

I got it memorized.

It was really simple.

It simply said this: Lord, we need you.

We need you to unify your people.

The prayer of our hearts is simply this that God, that you show up.

Allow your church to be the people that brings unity and love and centers our lives on Christ.

We pray for the young lady who lost her life yesterday.

We pray for her family.

God, only you can fix this in Jesus' name.

Simple prayer.

I literally have it memorized.

I was really perplexed at the end of that service where I was standing out in the lobby as I always do, and I had people come up to us and tell us that we were being divisive with our prayer.

I had people walk up to us and say, like, man, you're you're making a political statement with that prayer.

I I genuinely had no idea what they were talking about.

They began to go on and say, Because you prayed for the young lady and she represented Black Lives Matters, that means that you're against cops, against police officers.

And I found myself saying, How did we get here?

I found myself just wrestling with this idea of saying that when you do what the Bible simply instructs you to do, when you just grieve with those who grieve, when you pray for those, when you just stand in a gap for those without making any statements whatsoever, it can still be interpreted as you're making a political statement.

How is a pastor supposed to effectively pastor a community of people that may vote differently?

And if you simply try to stand on the word of God, it can be interpreted as you making a political statement.

How do we get here?

I found myself feeling grieved and sick into my soul that I tried to figure out what is it that you want us to do in this context, God?

We are so deeply divided, and it became very real to me that our politics have entrenched itself so deeply in our faith that even when I try to pray about something, it seems as if we're making a political statement.

How did we get here?

How do we get to this place where our beliefs have been hijacked by varying political parties?

I have seen over the past couple of years, as a pastor who's been doing this for a very long time, I've sat front row and watched people that I know that are deeply, deeply close friends.

People that I know that they have spent and done life together in every sense of the word, that they were there for each other's children when they were born, that they were there walking with them when they had cancer, they were there with them when they went through that scary surgery, they were there with them when they lost their spouse, and I now see them not even having conversations with one another because they vote differently.

How?

How did we get here?

But nonetheless, while I was living in DC on numerous occasions, Megan and I would go to restaurants that are often frequented by the politicians that people are anchoring their varied lives on, and they're sitting at the table with one another, laughing and joking and talking about their plans for the weekend.

But meanwhile, we're arguing against one another at the expense of our families, at the expense of our friendships, where for people this is just their job.

How did we get here?

It's become abundantly clear to me that we got here because we've handed Jesus over.

See, the Bible talks about how when Jesus was about to be arrested, that he was standing before Pontius Pilate, and there's this conversation that takes place.

There's this conversation between Jesus and Pilate, which is a very political conversation.

And Pilate makes this statement to Jesus the people that should be following you, your very nation, your chief priests have handed you over to me.

Think about that for a moment.

The people that should be following you have given you over to me, have given you over to the political structure for me to make a decision on what I'm supposed to do with you.

And I think unfortunately, I'm grieved in my soul to feel like we still are doing the same thing.

We're taking Jesus and giving him over to politics and policies and waiting for them to make a decision on what does it mean to be an adequate expression of the kingdom of God.

But even in that conversation, Jesus response, same conversation, Jesus says in John 18, verse 36, My kingdom is not of this world.

John 18:36

I'm I'm my kingdom's not even of this world.

So for you to try to box me into an expression of something that was built and created in this context, it will never be adequate in expressing the kingdom of God.

My kingdom's not even of this world.

What Jesus was saying is stop trying to box me into one corner or another.

I transcend that.

I'm beyond that.

They tried to hand Jesus over into this political system.

And I want to encourage us with a couple of passages of scripture that I think can help to recenter our focus.

Colossians number three, verse number two, set your mind on things above and not on earthly things.

On things above and not on earthly things.

Here's how I discern for the most part if it's something above or if it's earthly.

Okay, this is my very simple just way that I look at things.

Will this exist in heaven at the end of time?

That's how I look at it.

Like, okay, will this exist in heaven at the end of time?

And let me prepare your hearts right now.

In heaven, there is neither Democrat nor Republicans.

I promise you it's not.

Just prepare your heart for it.

Prepare your heart for it.

Will this concept exist in heaven?

If it doesn't, then why am I losing friendship over it?

Why am I losing focus over it?

It doesn't exist in heaven.

Set your minds on things above and not on earthly things.

Jesus says in John 12, 32, that if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to me.

Can we lift up Jesus above our politics?

Can we lift up Jesus above our preferences?

Can we lift Jesus up above that?

Because the scripture tells us that's when we do that, that's when we're effectively being witnesses of the kingdom of God.

He says that people won't know me based on how you vote.

They will know me and that you're my disciples based on how you treat one another.

Who would have ever thought that that cool Instagram photo of the passage of scripture that you read is not how people are going to know that you're a follower of Jesus?

The way they're going to know that you're a follower of Jesus is how you love people that you don't agree with.

Let me say that for this side over here because I feel like I got some nods over there.

I don't know if I got it over here.

So let me let me let me come over on this side.

That cool picture, continue to post it.

I love seeing the Instagram Devo shots in the morning where people got the coffee cup, they got the highlights in the Bible, they got all that stuff laid out perfect.

I love that.

I love that.

I used to do it myself.

You got the dove in the background, like how'd they get a dove at the perfect time?

Like, that's awesome.

I'm I'm for I'm for all of that.

But Jesus said, that's not how they know that you're my disciples.

People will know that you're my disciple based on how you talk to one another when you don't agree with one another.

Ooh.

Man, that hits a little bit differently.

That hits a little bit differently when you consider the fact that God is compelling us to do a little bit different.

Now, here's the thing.

I realize that as a follower of Christ, that there are things that I see in this world that radically need to be addressed.

I look at opportunities, even in our policies, that could really help to reinforce Christian values.

Of course I do.

I'm passionate about those things.

I see opportunities for us to truly make the world better.

I do.

I think all the time about the world that my granddaughters are going to grow up in.

Is it going to be a world where they're going to feel accepted and loved?

I think about those things all the time, but can I tell you something, church?

I have a great deal of peace.

And I don't have peace because of who's sitting in a white house.

I have peace because of who's sitting on a throne.

My peace is not connected to anything that I see that's happening in this world.

I have peace knowing that Jesus is on the throne, and I want us to put this in our hearts.

This will make the difference for the way that we move forth in this season.

The kingdom of God does not need permission from the empire to have impact.

Let me say that again.

The kingdom of God does not need permission from the empire to have impact.

We begin to believe those things, and then it causes us to be against one another.

But I am seeing all throughout the course of time that the people of God and that the kingdom of God has been able to advance no matter who was sitting in the seat of authority.

Right now, we're seeing the countries that are the most hostile to the gospel message are still seeing radical revival because the kingdom of God does not need permission from the empire in order to have impact.

I've seen throughout the course of scripture, when I look at the children of Israel, when they were in bondage in Egypt, but they still thrived because God was on the throne.

I've seen for the people of God that when they were in Babylonian captivity, they still thrived because God was on the throne.

That when the Persians and the Medes came in and was trying to dominate them, they still thrived because God was on the throne.

That even with the Roman Empire, that they were able to survive, thrive, and even grow because God was on the throne.

I want to let us know that no matter what we're facing, we can still move forward because Jesus is on the throne.

The way that you survived that cancer that you had is because Jesus is on the throne.

The way that you survive that struggle in your marriage is because Jesus is on the throne.

It's not because of the natural resources that we have, we can survive because we recognize that Jesus is still on the throne.

He's still on the throne, church.

So it's here we find ourselves with the writings of Daniel.

That he begins to paint this picture to help us to understand that even in the midst of a lot of chaos and confusion, that Jesus is on the throne.

Daniel begins to use some images and language to help us to get an image of what he's talking about.

This is referred to as apocalyptic literature.

And ultimately, what that means is that they're just using symbols and language to communicate a greater message.

I know when I'm not the only one that when I was a young boy and my mom would often tell me to read the Bible, Keith, you gotta read the Bible, that I would do like what I call Bible roulette where you just scroll through and just find out wherever you land at.

We we've all been there, we're just like, okay, Lord, speak, and you just open the Bible up.

Oddly enough, sometimes I will find myself in the book of Daniel or I would find myself in the book of Revelation.

My God.

When you start seeing seven-headed dragons and ten horns and all that stuff, you're like, man, I'm out.

Like I just need to hear about Jesus being born somewhere.

I need to have the happy Jesus message.

I don't understand what that means, but but when you understand that those are symbols that represent something, you realize it's not a seven-headed dragon.

Literally, you understand that it's speaking to something more.

And so Daniel begins to use this image to help encourage us to understand the message that God is trying to communicate to us.

Typically, what you'll find in literature like this, and I want to get this in our souls before we move on, is that it's typically meant to communicate three types of messages.

All of it is typically meant to communicate a message of encouragement for people who are oppressed, it's meant to be a warning to the oppressor, and it's meant to be a call of faith for those who are wavering between God's truth and human wisdom.

That typically, when you look at literature like this, it is meant to be a message of encouragement for the people who are oppressed.

Listen, it's going to get better, it's not going to be here always.

It's meant to be a warning for the oppressor.

Listen, I see what you're doing, and I'm about to shut it down.

And then, third, it's meant to be a call of faith for the people of God that are wavering between God's truth and human wisdom.

That tension.

And I think that we all can probably find out what bucket we find ourselves in, depending where we are.

So Daniel begins to use these very colorful images to paint this picture for us.

Those images include like a like a like a lion with like eagle wings.

Again, it's one of those weird things that's really hard to process.

But what that image is meant to really communicate, it's meant to communicate corruption.

And here's what I mean by that is that when God created these animals, they were not a hybrid of two different things.

They were actually meant to be created, one after their own kind.

So what Daniel is communicating is that the enemy of our soul will begin to use a strategy where he corrupts the things that God has created.

He corrupts the things that God has created.

Let me help you understand something.

The enemy of our soul, he does not have the reproductive ability or authority to create anything.

He can only corrupt what God has already created.

He can corrupt our marriages, he can corrupt our friendships, he can corrupt the way that we see one another, but he can't create situations, he can only corrupt and exploit the situations that are there.

So now Daniel is speaking language that deals with how the The enemy loves to create corruption and compromise in the context of the people of God.

The next image that we begin to see is we begin to see that this entire scene takes place in the sea.

Now, here's why that's so important.

It's because for the people of God, that the sea was a very scary place.

That was a place where it was unheard of, it was unknown.

It was like the place where scariness and death live.

This is why when we see many miracles, they take place, including the sea, to show the people of God that God had authority on them.

Jesus is walking on the water to show that I have dominion over that.

When he said, peace be still, they were like, Man, who is this man that even the winds and seas obey his voice?

It's showing the ultimate authority that Jesus has even over the natural elements.

But this image is painted in a way that speaks to chaos and confusion.

So let's see if we're keeping track.

Corruption, compromise, chaos, confusion.

And then lastly, it says that there was another enemy that came and it made war against the people of God in an effort to wear them out.

The enemy's strategy is to use corruption, chaos, confusion.

And he used it in a way to wear the people of God out.

You get to a point where you don't even feel like you can fight anymore.

You begin to lose hope.

You lose hope in believing that it ever will be any form of relief.

In other words, it's almost like we're being bullied nonstop by the reality of the world that we live in.

Oddly enough, it reminds me of a season that was many years ago for me.

It was when I was a freshman in high school.

When I was a freshman in high school, I had an encounter with, I probably would say the only bully incident I've ever had.

I was in a classroom with a kid, and he was actually a senior in said school.

I'm a freshman, he's a senior.

Why was a senior in my freshman class?

I'll let your mind go in those directions.

But I could just tell you that he was angry.

And this guy, for no reason whatsoever, he just constantly picked on me.

He constantly messed with me.

And I didn't know why.

There was even one time we were walking down the hall, me and my friend, and the guy just ran his shoulder into me.

And I and I fell back and I honestly thought, like, man, I got my friend with me, man.

We're gonna jump this dude.

And my friend was like, Man, I gotta get to class.

Just left me hanging there.

I was so frustrated.

I was like, man, I know who the real ones are.

But then what happened later on that day in this class, it was the last class of the day, that I looked out the window, it was about 30 minutes before the class was about to close, and I looked out the window and I saw one of my brother's friends.

Spoiler alert, I have a brother who's also a senior in that school at the same time, star football player.

You guys are gonna see where this goes.

The guide had no idea.

So the guy was messing with me, and I noticed out the window that one of my brother's friends just kind of look in the window and take a step back.

And I'm like, okay, Mass, that's cool.

Then I see another one of my brother's friends looks in the window, puts his head back.

I see another one of my brother's friends stick his head through the window and puts his head back.

I'm literally not understanding why they're all out there.

But the bell rings, and when the bell rings, the door opens up.

And it was like the million man march out there.

It was, it was, it was like the entire football team and all the senior class was standing outside in the hallway.

As I walked out into the hallway, the circle closed in on me and this guy.

The guy's looking around, he's kind of confused, he doesn't know what's going on.

And then it's like the the circle just opened up.

It was almost like something you would see from a John Woo movie.

My brother showed up walking through.

I don't know how they had a fan, but a fan was blowing out so he was walking by.

I promise, like a dove flew in front of him.

Like it was the most epic scene you've ever seen.

But my brother shows up, and the guy's looking around, and my brother just walks up and says, Hey man, I heard you have a problem with my brother.

Oh my gosh.

I had no idea that he was your brother.

I I am so, so sorry.

I I had no idea.

So my brother's like, Man, look at him and apologize.

I am I am so sorry.

I and I was like, hey man, listen, Reggie, he didn't know any better.

It's all good.

I had to intercede for my own enemy.

Somebody needs to write that down and put that in their soul for later.

I had to I had to intercede for this guy that had been picking on me.

But when my brother showed up, oddly enough, all the authority, all the fear that I had over this guy had just gone out the window.

Because my brother showed up.

The problem is that guy had no idea what family I belonged to.

He was picking on the wrong person.

He didn't know the community I was connected to.

He was picking on the wrong person.

And what Daniel was showing us in this passage of scripture is that it looks like it's chaotic right now, but then Jesus shows up.

And when Jesus shows up, he takes all authority, all power, all dominion away from the enemy.

And so when the adversary is rising up against you, we need to have a posture saying, like, you don't know what family I'm connected to, you don't know who my big brother is, that when Jesus shows up, he's taking your authority, that when Jesus shows up, he's taking your dominion, that when Jesus shows up, peace shows up, confidence shows up, strength shows up, that anointing shows up, that power shows up, that authority shows up, that when Jesus shows up, that he changes everything.

When Jesus shows up, he changes every circumstance that we find ourselves in.

The Bible tells us in Revelation 1.18 that Jesus took the authority of death, hell, and the grave.

So maybe right now you feel like you're being bullied by some things.

Begin to lean on the one who has you covered because you don't have to fight this battle on your own.

See, we belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

We belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Hebrews 12, 28 tells us that therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and by it we serve God acceptably with reverence and with awe.

We're in a world right now where everything is being shaken, but Jesus is still on the throne.

We're in a world right now where even the way that we function as a church is being shaken, but Jesus is still on the throne.

We have masks on, we have social distancing, we we we have to get on the elevator to come to church.

We have a limited time, all the things that we've had to work through.

But the beautiful thing is that Jesus is still on the throne.

We have a lot of transition, but Jesus is still on the throne.

We're looking at a place where a lot of things are being shaken, but Jesus is still on the throne, that even our friendship dynamics are being shaken, but Jesus is still on the throne, that even our finances at Caesars are being shaken, but Jesus is on the throne, that our resources are being shaken, but Jesus is still on the throne, our even country is being shaken.

But Jesus is on the throne.

Everything around us can be shaken.

But if you find yourself rooted on the things of God, on the kingdom of God, we're part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

You look at things differently when you build your life on the foundation of the kingdom of God and not on the convenience of culture.

We live in a world where things are shaking, but the kingdom is not.

You know, the important thing about when things are shaken, it begins to reveal the things that are loose and the things that are tightly welded to the right surface.

So I've come to realize that even in the shakings that are happening in my life, it's revealing the things that are not rooted in the kingdom.

It's revealing the things that don't have the adequate expression of the kingdom of God in every area of our lives.

See, for me, man, you guys know my passions are Jesus, my family, and barbecue.

And sometimes it's a different order.

Jesus first, barbecued and family.

Just all depends on what day it is.

But but Jesus, family, and barbecue.

And here's one of the things that I do.

Whenever I'm making, at this point, I'm gonna go ahead and call it world famous.

Whenever I'm making my world famous sweet tie chili wings, there's a process that I have.

And the process is this I go ahead and I and I put the I put the sauce inside of the little container, I put the chicken in there, I put a little bit more sauce in there, I put the lid on, and I begin to shake it up.

Just shake it.

Just I even got little dance steps for it.

Like I'm just shaking it up.

Shake it like a Polaroid picture, is what Andre 3000 said.

Then I take the lid off and I look at it, and I begin to look around.

I'm like, oh, like that piece at the bottom doesn't have enough sauce on it, so I need to shake it up some more.

Put the lid back on it, shake it.

Like a Polaroid picture.

I shake it up a little bit more and I open the lid back up again, and I'm like, okay, now I'm seeing that all of the sauce, that all of the flavor is now been stretched to every single element of item that's in this bucket.

The Bible says that we're supposed to be the salt of the earth.

What if God wants the salt to go beyond the surface of our lives?

He begins to shake some things up to make sure that that flavor goes beyond just a surface level and actually much deeper than our own convenience and preferences.

Let him shake it up a little bit.

It's uncomfortable, but you're inside of the bubble of grace.

Let him shake it up a little bit and allow the flavor of grace to get to every extremity of your life because when you come out, you'll be fully flavored in faith instead of having a faith that's built on circumstances.

I want us to be encouraged that even in all the shaking and even all the confusion, that Jesus is still on the throne.

See, the enemy can't take anything that's in the hands of God.

And as long as you can put your life, your mind, your heart, your family, your resources in the hands of God, I promise you they can't be taken.

See, I want to help us to realign our focus to recognize that there's a difference when we're people that are called to pursue the things of God.

To pursue the things of God.

No longer are we going to be the people that passively waits to experience what God has for us, we're going to passionely pursue it.

We're not going to passively wait for us to have great marriages, we're going to pursue it.

We're not going to passively wait for us to have peace, we're going to pursue it.

Do you notice in scripture that whenever a breakthrough takes place, it wasn't because the people stood there and they waited for it, they passionately pursued it.

That when David David fought against the Philistines with Goliath, they had already won a victory, but they continued to pursue the enemy so they can have dominion.

That even after David went and got his stuff back, after they were attacked at the Battle of Ziklach, they already had won a victory for the day, but he continued to pursue them so they can have dominion and his children would never have to fight with it.

We see this moment in scripture that it's not good for you to have victory for one day when God wants you to have a dominion for the next generation.

And what God is calling us to be as kingdom-minded people is not to be content with a good church service.

He wants us to have a church service in our home.

He wants our dominion to be something that goes beyond the four walls of this church, that we're truly walking in victory and wholeness.

So we are called to be the people of God that passionately pursues everything that God has for us.

We're not going to be good with the little with the little ten pieces of the things that God has for us.

We want everything that God has for us, but it requires us to be passionately pursuing the kingdom of God.

We're called to passionately pursue it all.

I want to close with this.

And we're going to go back into a time of worship.

And I don't want anyone to leave yet because we're going to actually come up and intercede and pray together as a family.

But I want to realign our focus just a little bit.

I want us to have the perspective of what it means to pursue the kingdom of God.

It's almost like when you go to the eye doctor and they give you those options of the lenses that you can look through.

That's often the most scary test that I have because I'm like, they all look the same to me.

But it's like, does this one look better or does that one look better?

Which one do you think looks better?

And it's like, they're the same.

I don't know.

Like it's it's but I think that sometimes the world and the culture can blur in so closely that we can't even distinguish the kingdom from the empire anymore.

But I believe that God is helping us to get a proper perspective of it.

But I want you guys to put this in your spirit because there's a difference between the kingdom and the empire.

I want you to write this stuff down.

That the empire is fragile, but the kingdom will not be destroyed.

The empire is fragile.

It's built on a whole bunch of circumstances, but the kingdom of God will not be destroyed.

Just a couple of days ago, Megan and I were in our nation's capital.

We were in DC and we were walking the streets, and I was noticing how everyone was boarding up their houses and preparation for destruction and preparation for and preparation for riots.

You know who's not boarding up anything?

Heaven.

You know who's not concerned?

The kingdom.

See, the empire is preparing and planning for destruction, but the kingdom of God, there is peace and wholeness.

Here's another one I want us to write down.

That the economy of the empire, it fluctuates, but investing in the kingdom has eternal impact that cannot be taken away.

We all know that, yes, the economy comes and it goes.

There's things that rise and that they fall.

That's just the economy of the world that we live in.

But in a kingdom, it has the ability for me somehow, with my generosity, it can transcend this world, that it can somehow pillage hell and populate heaven.

That's what you call having an eternal impact.

The empire causes anxiety, but the kingdom of God gives us peace.

You know who's not filled with worry and concern?

The kingdom.

If we're looking at the world we live in, if we feel like this is a kingdom expression, you've got to recognize that there's a distinction between the way that the kingdom-minded person works and the way that a person who's adopted the culture of the empire functions.

God has not called us to be people of anxiety and fear, and when you're rooted in the kingdom, you recognize that Jesus is on the throne.

Here's the last one that the empire tears down, but the kingdom of God builds up.

Do inventory, just do inventory of your soul, do inventory of your mind, do inventory of your social media fees, do inventory of your heart.

Is it building up or is it tearing down?

Because if it's tearing down people that are made in the image of God as well, that ain't kingdom.

That's empire.

No matter where we stand on things, if I'm tearing you down, if I'm dehumanizing you, if I'm minimizing you to how you check the ballot, that's not kingdom.

I promise you that it's not.

That the kingdom of God is one that allows us and compels us to see one another as people that are also made in the image of God, who are worthy of grace in the same way that we are.

The empire tears down, but the kingdom of God it builds up.

And here's what I believe in this season that God has He's allowed things to be shaken up in our lives so that we can really see and separate the things that are kingdom and the things that are empire.

Because it's attached itself so much that sometimes we can't even make the distinction anymore.

Revelations chapter 21, verses 3 through 5.

Revelation 21:3–5

It says, Then I heard a loud voice from the throne Look, God is dwelling with humanity, and he will live with them.

They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more, grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Then the one who is seated on a throne said, Look, I am making everything new.

This is the fulfillment of what Daniel was talking about in Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Is when there is no more suffering, when there's no more tears, there's no more grief, there's no more pain, there's no more division, there's no more racism, there's no more hate.

But you know the Bible talks about on earth as it is in heaven.

That means that as the people of God and as the ambassadors of the kingdom of God, that we have the ability to look to heaven and begin to manifest it here on earth.

So in heaven, there is no hatred.

So how about on earth as it is in heaven?

In heaven, there is no division.

So how about we begin to walk on earth as it is in heaven?

When we look at the things of the kingdom of God where people are comforted, people are loved, people are supported from every nation.

How about we begin to be the people that begins to function on earth as it is in heaven?

In heaven, there's no anxiety, in heaven, there's no stress, in heaven, there's no division, in heaven, there's no hatred.

We as the people of God, as the kingdom of God, have the ability to walk on earth as it is in heaven.

That's our assignment, that's our calling, it's our opportunity, it's our requirement.

I want us to change the way that we see things.

Jesus is not meant to be shoved into any political box, he transcends it.

And he said, if I can be lifted up above all that, that's where you're gonna draw all men unto me.

Jesus is on the throne.

And what I realize is that there may be some of us that are in here that maybe, that maybe that Jesus is not on the throne of your life right now, that he's not on the throne of your heart.

We want to create space to do that before we go into worship, and I think really close out this service in a way that really is a prophetic call and a declaration that allow us to be anchored in this season.

But if you're in here today and you're away from God and you know that your next step is to simply make that decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

We don't have all the answers, but what we do know is that right now you may be away from God.

That I'm I'm I'm too distant from God, and today is my day, my opportunity to say yes to Jesus, to allow him to be Lord of my life, so I can begin to walk on earth as it is in heaven.

I can have the peace on earth as it is in heaven, I can have the joy on earth as it is in heaven.

So with every head bowed and every eye closed, I simply want to pose that question.

If that's you, you're ready to commit or recommit your life to Christ.

Would you be as bold and as confident to raise a hand on account of three so that we can celebrate with you, we can pray with you, and we can equip you.

This is also inclusive of those who are watching at home.

On a count of three, I want you to recognize that I'm making Jesus the Lord of my life.

He's sitting on the throne of my heart.

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you, brother.

God bless you.

I see you over there.

Church, can we put our hands together for everyone that is making that decision to let Jesus be Lord of their lives?

Like, I mean, can we really, really celebrate for those who are really making the decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life?

I am so, so proud of you.

What we're gonna do right now is we're gonna go into a time of worship.

And we're gonna sing a song.

It's a it's an oldie but goody, but just talks about how Jesus is a center.

And what I want to do is I want us to really just sing from our hearts, sing from our souls with us saying, We're gonna reallocate our lives and really make sure that Jesus is the center of it all.

For the people that have made that decision to say yes to Jesus, I want you to pray this prayer with me.

And in fact, this entire community is gonna pray it with you to be an encouragement to come alongside you.

At the end of today, we're gonna come up and give you some resources to help you with your next steps, but I could not be more proud.

So, as a family, as a community, can we repeat this prayer as we prepare to go into a time of worship?

Say this with me Lord Jesus, I give you my life, I repent of my sins, I believe that you died on the cross and that you rose from the grave.

I said dead and grave at the same time, they're both the same thing.

Um, fill me with your spirit and order my steps in Jesus' name.

God bless you guys.

Let us all stand on our feet, let us all have that mindset.

Let us listen deeply to these words, let us be encouraged.

We're gonna come up and pray in just a moment, but this is an opportunity for us to recenter the way that we focus our lives.

So, Lord, we thank you.

We thank you, God, that you are the center.

We thank you, Lord, that you are on the throne.

And even as we lift up our worship to you in this moment, I pray in the name of Jesus that you still our hearts, that you steady our feet, and that you allow our eyes to be fixed on you.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Let's worship together, Church.

Thanks again for listening.

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