Kingdom ComeSermon NotesMay 20, 2012
I. Entering His gates with thanksgiving and praiseA. Hallowing a loving Father
B. Meditating on His great names
II. Aligning Myself with His KingdomA. Your kingdom come
1. The kingdom comes upon people as they receive the Word of God★ There is no reference in the Bible to “building the
kingdom”• This makes the kingdom man centered and
organizational★ Jesus portrayed the kingdom as coming upon people
• MaChew 9: 35 and 10: 6-‐‑8
2. Jesus portrayed the kingdom as something that grows. It is not an organization, nor do people build it. They receive it, they submit to it, and then they ooze it★ The parables of Mark 4 and MaChew 13
B. The kingdom, when received and acted upon, bears fruit exponentially1. Inner fruit -‐‑ Galatians 5:
22-‐‑232. Outer fruit -‐‑ MaChew 9: 35
and 10: 6-‐‑8
C. The kingdom influences1. The lamp on the lamp
stand2. The seed that grows into a
huge tree
Write any notes from the week here
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III.Your will be doneA. This can be prayed as a general intercessory prayer
1. “Let Your will be done by our president and congress”2. “Father, may Your will be done in my friends’ marriage”
B. This is personal prayer1. “What are You doing and how can I get in on it?”
★ This is eyes ever upward, asking Him what He is doing.
★ This requires a working knowledge of the word and principles of Biblical wisdom
★ This requires eyes to be ever outward
2. “Father, I choose Your will in this situation”
Table TalkTeens
Sorry, no table talks this week.
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Life Group Questions for May 20, 2012
“Transforming Conversations” SeriesMessage = Kingdom Come
Ice Breaker: Tell about a time of great spiritual growth in your life.
Read Mark 4: 14-‐‑34
1. What do all these parables of Jesus have in common? (They are all about the kingdom, and all of them speak of things that grow exponentially or spread out to have great influence.)
2. When the sower sows the word, how would you think Jesus defined “the word?”
3. As a group, see if you can put together a concise statement defining the kingdom of heaven.
4. Based on the parables of Mark 4, can you describe what keeps the kingdom from growing?
5. When Jesus commands us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” do you think those two phrases say the same thing with different words? Please explain.
6. The word bears fruit. Randy spoke of inner fruit (the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5: 22-‐‑23 -‐‑ or “character” fruits) and outer fruit (seeing others transformed, healed, or saved through my influence. MaChew 10: 6-‐‑8). Do you see yourself growing more inner and outer fruit than you were a year ago? Please explain.
7. Pray for one another.
Table Talk
ElementarySorry, no table talks this week.
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Table TalkPreschool & Nursery:Sorry, no table talks this week.
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Personal Devotion PagesThe following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom.
LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God.
BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol:
INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol:
ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him.
These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don’t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming.
Enjoy!
Day One1. Take at least 40 minutes to pray through the prayer guide
you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks
2. Meditate on Psalm 145. Read over it several times.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray and pursue it for at least 40 minutes per day this week.
Memorize MaWhew 9:14.
Memorize MaWhew 9: 14 and MaWhew 9: 35.
Memorize MaWhew 9: 14 and MaWhew 9: 35.
When you meditate on the parables of Jesus in Mark 4, you realize that the kingdom has a natural tendency to grow exponentially. The only thing that hampers its growth is our own lack of tenderness toward and obedience to the word.
• The kingdom is like a sower sowing the word...• The kingdom is like a person putting a lamp on a lamp
stand and the tiny lamp lights up the entire house...• The kingdom is like a farmer who plants a crop and it
grows exponentially in ways the farmer does not understand...
• The kingdom is like a tiny seed that grows into a huge tree...
The kingdom bears fruit. I like to call it inner and outer fruit. Inner fruit is the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5. It’s the fruit of CHARACTER. As the kingdom grows, it brings about Christlike character in me.
Outer fruit is seen in the lives of others who are transformed and healed through me as I walk in love and authority. Whenever Jesus healed or transformed people, He let them know that the kingdom had come upon them!
As you look at your life today, take an objective look at the fruit of your life. Do you see the inner fruit of Christlikeness growing inside of you? Can you see a marked change in your character since this time last year?
Then take an objective look at the outer fruit in your life. Do you see people being healed, delivered, transformed and saved through your life?
Father, where I have hampered your word from transforming me, I repent in Jesus’ name!
Day Five
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Day Five1. Take at least 40 minutes to pray through the prayer guide
you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks
2. Meditate on MaChew 19: 23-‐‑26. What does this passage say to you about entering the Kingdom of Heaven?
3. Meditate for a few minutes on MaChew 9: 10. Ask God if there are specific people He would like you to reach out to this day.
4. Finish your Bible memorization today.
Day OnePray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’
~Matthew 6:9, 10
The first two lines of the Lord’s prayer, if taken seriously and contextually, tell us that prayer is not about me. It is ALL ABOUT HIM. The first line exemplifies the idea of entering His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and entering His courts with praise. As I approach the King, I quickly realize that I am not here to air my laundry list and tell Him what three wishes I would like Him to grant.
The second line escalates me into even greater selflessness. I am asking Him for His kingdom to come on the earth as I present myself for Him to bring the kingdom specifically through ME! As Henry Blackaby would say, What are You doing Lord and how can I get in on it?
Jesus exemplified this kind of living on a daily basis. I personally believe Jesus had stripped Himself of many of His God-like attributes, like omnipresence (He couldn’t be everywhere at once), and omniscience (He wasn’t all knowing, but rather, was dependent on the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit would daily let Jesus in on what the Father was doing and Jesus would go out and do it.
This explains why Jesus would walk to the Pool of Bethesda in John 5 and heal a lame man. That pool was the ancient equivalent of a modern hospital. People were there to be healed. Yet, Jesus did only what He saw the Father doing and He healed one man. HE COULD HAVE CLEANED OUT THE WHOLE PLACE! Yet, Jesus healed only one paralytic - and if you read the story, the guy didn’t even end up following Jesus! But the Father was at work and Jesus did only what He saw His father doing!
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Day Two1. Take at least 40 minutes to pray through the prayer guide
you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks
2. Meditate on MaChew 13: 18-‐‑35.
3. After meditating on the above passage, write down what kind of soil you think represents you at the present time. Write down what you think the “fruit” is that is born from obeying the scriptures.
4. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring the scriptures alive in your life in such a way that you desire to immerse yourself in them daily.
5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week.
Day FourBless us as we build Your Kingdom...
This is the modern American version of the second phrase of the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus said, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus tells us that the kingdom comes. Jesus, never said, build the kingdom - nor did any of His disciples!
Jesus teaches that the kingdom comes near or upon people. He teaches in Mark 4 and Matthew 13 that the kingdom grows through simple obedience to the Word. The verbs Jesus uses make the kingdom seem organic, even living. When we use the phrase, build the kingdom, we make it seem organizational and man made and it somehow conveys a man centeredness.
Jesus uses two phrases to say the same thing. This is typical of Hebrew poetry. Just take a peek at Proverbs. Solomon will say one line and then a second line saying the same thing with different words. Jesus says, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus tells us that His kingdom comes as his will is done. We can pray for His will to be generally done and then we can pray the crazy, mad man prayer: Lord, let your will be done THROUGH ME TODAY!
This prayer implies first that simple obedience is the key to kingdom growth. (Once again, read Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13.) Obeying Jesus’ commands brings exponential kingdom growth. Let me say it again, based on Matthew 13 - kingdom growth is exponential when I obey His commands.
So, as I pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done... I am saying, God, how can I love you wholly today, and how can I love others selflessly today? Give me wisdom as I go through the day to love like You love.
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Day TwoThe sower sows the word.
~Mark 4:14
Mark 4 and Matthew 13 present to us the most pivotal of all of Jesus’ parables. Jesus said of this parable, Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4:13). It appears that if I cannot understand this story, I will miss the meaning of all the others. I think I better pay attention!
Mark 4 and Matthew 13 are about the Kingdom and how important hearing God is to the growth of the Kingdom on the earth. The Greek word for hear carries with it the idea of not only hearing the words someone speaks, but also conveys the idea of understanding and obeying as well.
The English word for hear carries the same meaning in some contexts. For example, when my wife is speaking to me and then realizes that my face is rather blank, she declares, Honey, you’re not hearing me! What she means is, my ears may be registering a sound, but I don’t comprehend her meaning, and I subsequently am certainly hampered from doing anything about it. (Quite honestly, I’m mentally far away from her - I’m thinking about what we’re going to have for dinner - - but, I digress)
Jesus points out to us quite clearly through this parable that hearing God’s word and acting on it is the simple way we bring God’s kingdom into fruition on this earth. The Kingdom grows through simple obedience.
The issue of hearing the word is not about having a keen sense of hearing. It is about having a humble, broken and contrite spirit - a moldable heart that is willing to pursue and receive wisdom from above. It is a willingness to accept when I am wrong and to admit to it.
The Kingdom grows as I hear and obey.
Day Four1. Take at least 40 minutes to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks
2. Meditate again on MaChew 21: 28-‐‑31. Based on what you see in this passage, what grants us access into the Kingdom of Heaven?
3. Write down several difficulties that you and people you love are going through. Ask God for His will to be done in each of these. Then ask Him how He would specifically like you to show love to others who are experiencing difficulty.
4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week.
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Day Three Day Three1. Take at least 40 minutes to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks
2. Meditate on MaChew 20: 1-‐‑16. Write down any insights you get about this passage.
3. Ask the Lord what He is asking you to do today. Step out and obey Him.
4. In what way is obeying God difficult for you right now? Write it down here.
5. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week.
When I pray for God’s Kingdom to come and for His will to be done, I am joining Him in His great mission to reclaim the people of the earth from the oppressive hands of the enemy. What’s amazing is that Jesus taught us to pray this way - it’s His idea, His desire, His plan, and in my little tiny corner of the world, I can usher His Kingdom into the lives of people around me.
Praying for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven begins a transformation ride for me. As I pray this line of the Lord’s Prayer, I step away from self centeredness into a Kingdom mindset. Mature Kingdom citizens think first of glorifying God and then about loving others. They take time to cast their worries on God, but then emerge into creative, life giving children of the King.
As I ask God to show me what He is doing, as I ask Him how I can be involved in bringing heaven to earth, I’m inviting Him to show me His heart for others. When my wife, Gay prays this prayer, the Lord sometimes just shows her a face of someone she knows. Gay immediately knows that she must contact that person that day and love on them. It’s uncanny how many times she catches people on the pinnacle of misery and she is able to be used by God to bring them into rejoicing.
One of my favorite times to pray for His Kingdom to come on earth is when I travel. God uses my natural love of talking with strangers to initiate fun conversations with those poor victims who sit by me on a plane. One time, I just pulled out my Bible and started reading it. This caused the man next to me to pursue a conversation which led to his transformation.
I am a wire for the current of the Holy Spirit to pass through. Use me today to bring life to someone’s life!
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