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.
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
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
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.