Your Kingdom Come

ReCAST Church of Mattawan iconReCAST Church of Mattawan

1 view

Bill Smith; Luke 6:9-13 Your Kingdom Come

0 comments

00:08
Welcome to the podcast of Recast Church in Madawan, Michigan, where you can grow in faith, community, and service.
00:14
Welcome to Recast. We pray that you're encouraged today and blessed by being here together like we experience every week.
00:29
So feel free to continue to get your coffee, whatever you need to to stay awake.
00:36
I'm excited. I get to teach this morning and the last time
00:42
I spoke, actually the last two times, I've slowly been going through the Lord's Prayer.
00:48
And so I want to continue that teaching today. We're going to look at the phrase in the Lord's Prayer called your kingdom come and what does that mean?
00:56
How how do we pray that? Is that a prayer request? Can we pray that into somebody's life?
01:03
That's what we're going to look at and I'm very excited to share with you what God has taught me on this prayer.
01:12
I would encourage you to fill out the connect cards in the bulletin and I just want to remind you that if you put a prayer request on the back of that card every
01:23
Tuesday morning we meet as elders and we pray over those things.
01:29
Kyle and Don and Zach and I and Rob we pray for you all and that's really the most serious part of our elders meeting and the best part in my opinion is is being able to pray for you all.
01:44
We take that seriously when you ask us to pray.
01:52
I'm going to start out with kind of a personal question. I don't know about you, but personal questions can be a little uncomfortable at times, right?
02:04
But I am going to call on people to answer. You have to stand up come up front and I'm really going to embarrass you this morning.
02:11
No, I won't. I won't do that. I promise, okay? But really it's a serious question and the question is this.
02:20
How is your prayer life? I'm not asking you do you pray because I know that you do.
02:31
How is your prayer life? If you're normal an honest answer would be
02:39
I struggle. I've been in ministry for 26 years at Youth for Christ.
02:45
I know it's the foundation of my ministry. The most important part of what
02:50
I do is to pray for the young people that I work with. But I struggle with it.
02:59
We struggle with prayer for different reasons, but I think one of the number one reasons why we struggle with prayer is because the enemy opposes it with a vengeance.
03:11
If the devil can keep us from praying, he's got us right where he wants us.
03:19
Because he knows that prayer is the most powerful weapon that we have as children of God.
03:27
That prayer moves the heart of the Father in heaven and the
03:32
Father in heaven's hands can move mountains. And that God does amazing things through prayer.
03:39
And so I believe the enemy really attacks us in regard to prayer.
03:45
Get us discouraged. The first time I introduced the Lord's Prayer, this was a while ago,
03:52
I brought in my whole library of books on prayer. And you know that's ever since, you know,
03:59
I came to Christ at the age of 20, I realized prayer is important. I want to learn how to pray. And so, you know, through the years
04:06
I bought different books on prayer and I stacked them up, you know, I think it was about this high and it started getting tipsy.
04:13
And, uh, I often get discouraged when I read books on prayer. That ever happen to anybody else?
04:20
It's kind of like, wow, I'm not doing this. Wow, I'm not, I don't know if I could do this. Oh, all right.
04:26
And instead of encouraging me to pray, sometimes they discourage me. But I have found one prayer that revolutionized the way
04:35
I pray. One prayer that fits on one sheet of paper that taught me more than my big stack of books.
04:46
We call it the Lord's Prayer. Jesus' closest friends who hung out with Jesus for three years, they camped out with him, they walked with him.
04:58
I mean, they were with him. They saw Jesus pray. They saw him go off in the evening for prayer.
05:05
They saw him get up early in the morning for prayer. They saw Jesus pray and amazing things happen.
05:12
And so they said these words in Luke chapter 11, verse 1, we have them. Lord, teach us to pray.
05:20
Lord, teach us to pray. And then Jesus gave what is the most famous of all prayers.
05:28
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. How many of you know it?
05:35
How many of you could stand up and recite it? Okay. Quite a few. That's amazing. I'm amazed even with the young people that I work with in the juvenile home who at some point have learned that prayer.
05:47
There are seven requests in that prayer. And I call this the prayer that covers all.
05:54
Because when you pray, when you learn to pray these seven things into your own life, into the people that you're praying for, you are covering it.
06:04
And so I call it the prayer that covers all. And just by way of introduction, I wrote this down.
06:11
The Lord's Prayer. Let's look at it first. So grab a Bible. If you don't have one, grab one out of the chair there.
06:20
We're going to turn to page 600 in 91. So we're going to Luke chapter or Luke Matthew chapter 6.
06:34
And we find this amazing yet simple prayer that is easy to memorize.
06:40
Many people know it by heart. We have it on plaques sometimes in our homes.
06:48
So they ask Jesus, Lord teach us to pray. And in chapter 6 verse 9, Jesus says pray then like this.
06:56
And he gives us this beautiful prayer. Follow along with me.
07:03
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
07:12
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
07:24
Pretty short simple prayer, right? But this this prayer is so deep.
07:31
And I'm excited to dive into what did he mean when he told us to pray your kingdom come.
07:40
This prayer is the prayer that covers all, all the concerns of our relationship with God and his with us.
07:46
It covers all our personal needs and the needs of those we are praying for. It brings the beauty of God into our lives and the kingdom of God into the world.
07:57
It connects us to the will of God and to his supplies for our daily needs.
08:04
It brings forgiveness and healing. This prayer also brings deliverance from evil and protection.
08:10
This truly is the prayer that covers all. So I would, you know,
08:16
I'm excited, you know to to share with you what I've learned from this prayer.
08:21
And again, this prayer has helped me more than than anything else as far as how to pray.
08:27
I'm not actually, I'm just going to open it up just by praying for you. I'm using this prayer and then we'll go into our worship time.
08:35
And then later we'll dive into what's it mean your kingdom come, okay? Father in heaven, just thank you that we can call you father.
08:48
Thank you that we are your sons and daughters and that you are the perfect parent.
08:54
Thank you that your love for us is perfect. Thank you for how you take care of us day to day and just the privilege of knowing you and being your children.
09:05
Thank you that you're our father in heaven, that you fill the heavens and the earth completely with your spirit.
09:12
You are the ever present one and we just honor your presence among us this morning.
09:19
And father we do pray your kingdom come here among us this morning.
09:25
That we would get a new vision of who you are as king of kings and lord of lords.
09:33
Renewed vision of your plan father for this earth and your kingdom. That you would reign in our lives, that our hearts would be your throne father.
09:44
And when your kingdom comes, it comes with power. And so father we pray that whatever the enemy has brought against us this week, that you would just crush it.
09:55
That you would tear down any walls of discouragement father or vain beliefs or whatever father is keeping us from going deeper with you.
10:06
That your kingdom would come in our lives, your righteousness, peace and joy in the holy spirit. That your will would be done here among us this morning.
10:16
And that you would help us to will your will and want to do your good pleasure. And father it is your will that we should love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
10:26
And so it's your will that we know your love in a personal way. And I pray that you would pour out your love in our hearts this morning.
10:33
That we would be drawn to you and encouraged. And that you would give us this day our daily bread.
10:39
You know father there are many needs in this room this morning. In our families, in our personal lives lord, finances.
10:47
Things that we're going through, struggling with. And you can meet our needs lord. You can give us that strength, that wisdom from above.
10:54
You can meet that financial need lord god. You are the son of righteousness who comes with healing in your wings.
11:01
And we pray oh son of righteousness come this morning with healing in your wings.
11:07
That you would forgive us our debts and our trespasses as we come so short of your glory.
11:13
Father we fail to honor you as you are worthy. We fail to love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
11:20
We fail to do your will. Father forgive us our debts. Thank you for the atoning sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world.
11:29
And father as you have forgiven us, help us to be forgiving people. Father even as I say that I know that someone just popped up in somebody's mind.
11:38
I pray you'd give them the grace to forgive that person. That you would help us to be forgiving people.
11:45
That you would be our good shepherd and that you would lead us this week. That you would lead us into the paths of righteousness.
11:51
That you would keep us from the paths of the destroyer. Father that you would keep us from the enemy's traps, the enemy's poison.
12:00
Keep us from temptation in this week to come. That you would destroy every weapon the enemy brings against us.
12:08
And that you would be our shield and defender. That you would deliver us and our loved ones from evil.
12:15
That you would protect us oh God. And just thank you that that you are a mighty fortress unto your people.
12:22
And we love you. Thank you that yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. We just pray you would meet with us in a special way in Jesus name.
12:31
Amen. The most famous prayer. More well known than any any prayer on this earth.
12:40
So simple that a small child can remember it. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
12:49
It's funny how most of us know in the King James, right? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
12:58
When Jesus introduced this prayer it was revolutionary.
13:05
Because he said in response to their question, Lord teach us to pray.
13:11
He said pray in this manner. Our father who is in heaven.
13:19
And when he said those words their jaws dropped. They're like, what are you saying
13:27
Jesus? We can call God father? In Jesus day and in his culture among the
13:36
Jewish people no one dared to call God father. Jesus did.
13:44
And at one point they wanted to stone him for it. They said blasphemy. It was just way too intimate.
13:51
In fact in their culture, they would not even say the old testament name of God. And so now to this day, we're not sure how it was pronounced.
14:02
You know, you hear it Jehovah, you hear it Yahweh. In our
14:07
English Bibles when you see Lord in capital letters, that's the word for Yahweh or Jehovah or however you pronounce it.
14:20
In fact, I was, I love this, I was at Bell Tire getting some brakes fixed on my car and this guy walked in and he was obviously a rabbi.
14:35
And I mean he looked the part, you know, the beard, the clothing, the tassels, and he had a black book and I watched him.
14:44
He would, he was out in the parking lot reading and walking and he came back in and I went up and introduced myself to him and I asked him, are you a rabbi?
14:55
And he said, yes I am. And I got all excited and he's like, who's this crazy guy, you know?
15:03
And I said, oh, I love the scriptures, you know, and we started having this conversation and I told him I've been studying the names of God.
15:11
And I wanted to make sure I had like pronunciations, correct? Like Elohim, is
15:17
God, El Shaddai, God Almighty, El Elyon, these different names of God that I was studying and I said, can, can, how do you pronounce the name?
15:31
You sometimes hear people say Jehovah, Yahweh. Yeah. He said, we don't say the name, it's too sacred.
15:38
And I said, what do you, do you use the word Adonai? Because that's what I had heard, that they substitute the name
15:44
Lord for Yahweh. And he said, no, we, when we come to his name, we say the name, we say in praise to the name or the name said, and so they, they use the
15:57
Hebrew expression for the name. And so we don't even know how to, the best scholars figure is it's, you know, kind of Yahweh might have been a
16:07
Old Testament pronunciation of the name. So they wouldn't even say the name of God, let alone call
16:14
God Father. And so people were amazed like, wow, we can call God Father.
16:20
This is what Jesus brought to us. This kind of close relationship for all people that we can come through what
16:29
Jesus did at the cross. We come into this most personal, intimate relationship to be able to call
16:35
God our Father. What a privilege. Amen. Amen. I love to tell kids when they come to Christ in the juvenile home or lakeside or the ark, some of the places
16:45
I minister through Youth for Christ. I love to show them that you are now a child of God and that your heavenly father is
16:54
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And if you're the child of a King, what does that make you?
17:00
And then, you know, all of a sudden a smile comes up. Well, I'm a princess or I'm a prince.
17:05
Yes, you are. You're royalty because your father is King of King. And Lord of Lords. In John 6, verse 9,
17:13
Jesus said we can call God our father. Wow. Well, he had to clarify that just like we do when we think of that name
17:22
Father, because for many people it's not a positive expression.
17:28
Because sadly to say many of our earthly fathers let us down and weren't the best of dads.
17:34
And there is no perfect earthly father. We all mess up. And so that can be a very negative term in people's minds.
17:42
Well in the same chapter, Jesus clarified and said your father in heaven is perfect.
17:48
So when you think of the perfect parent, how they would treat their child, how they would want to build into that child's life, meet that child's needs, that's that's
18:00
God. That's who he wants to be to us to have this most intimate relationship and to be able to call
18:06
God Abba. I love to call him Abba. You know, some people even say daddy or because Abba is similar to that term.
18:16
But I just I really like to call him Abba. Try it if you've never done it. Just say Abba. I love you.
18:22
You know, it's just like wow, it's close, intimate. In fact, he's so close that when it speaks of in the heavens, our father in heaven, it uses the same word in the
18:34
Greek that's translated sky or the atmosphere around the earth.
18:39
It also is the outer atmosphere and then the word for the heavens of heavens, the third heaven.
18:46
We think of God as way up there right in this place called heaven. You know, he's on a throne.
18:52
He's distant. He's looking down on us, but the scripture teaches that he is ever present, that his spirit fills the heavens and the earth and he is as close as the air you are breathing right now this very moment.
19:06
He's the all knowing one. The scripture says he hears every word that we speak and he knows every thought that we think.
19:14
Wow, will you hear my prayers? He's already hearing it all. And when you call on his name, you have his attention in a special way.
19:22
Just like when someone calls your name, you like turn around to see who's calling my name.
19:28
Prayer, what a privilege to come into the presence of God. We are so blessed.
19:35
So you learn our father in heaven, what a privilege that is. That he's ever present.
19:42
Then the next response is, Hallowed be your name. And that's the first request.
19:48
So the last time I got to preach, and it's been a while, I taught on what that meant.
19:54
And this word, hallowed be your name, has the idea of being regarded as holy and sacred.
20:01
That God is in a class of being of his own, that he is the perfect spirit being.
20:09
And because of who he is, we should have the utmost reverence and respect for who he is.
20:15
And so when we pray the prayer, hallowed be your name, when I say father, hallowed be your name in my life today.
20:22
I'm saying father, I pray that I would honor you with my life today.
20:28
I pray father, that you would help me to realize your beauty and your glory.
20:34
It's really a prayer asking God to show you his beauty and his glory, his majesty.
20:40
It's as we learn who he is that we will begin to hallow his name and regard him as sacred.
20:48
And that he would be sacred in our hearts. The living bible just comes straight out and translates it, may your name be honored.
20:56
Which I think is a good, good translation. Hallowed be your name.
21:02
Then we come to the second request, which is your kingdom come.
21:09
So, you know, we'll play that game, you know, I'll say a word, you tell me what comes to your mind.
21:17
Lunch. Okay. Ah, okay. You're making me hungry now.
21:23
Okay, kingdom. Kingdom, what comes to your mind? Hmm. A castle, maybe, right?
21:30
A throne, certainly. In fact, you know, all through the old testament,
21:36
God has pictured us sitting on a throne high in, Isaiah the prophet said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on a throne.
21:45
We think of a king, right? And we think of a realm, a kingdom. And this, this word uh
21:53
Is basilea in the greek for kingdom and it comes from another greek word that means royalty
22:00
And the word has means to rule And to have a realm so it's a king ruling over a realm of people
22:12
And so I want to kind of talk about well, how could this be a prayer request your kingdom come?
22:19
How can I pray that and what what does it mean? We live in a in a very crazy world
22:29
Would you agree with that? I mean, there are some awful things going on aren't there?
22:37
I mean listen to the news. I mean, you know what's going on in syria, you know, people are dying, you know people
22:43
Uh, you know going into movie theaters and just randomly shooting People what what kind of a crazy world do we live in?
22:52
It's crazy in a lot of ways. It seems out of control, doesn't it? Um, you know, I I see a dark side of life
22:58
Um with the young people that I work with at youth for christ just horrific things that they're growing up in their own families here in our in our city
23:08
You know you turn on the news if you're like me, you know, I I like to listen to news every day But it's like okay what happened last night or what?
23:16
You know, and I oh, okay. That's all thank god, you know world war three hasn't started yet. You know,
23:21
I mean It's it's the the potential of what we can do as human beings is it's it's really sickening um how we can be so overcome and this world can be discouraging and and For me, you know,
23:35
I I get discouraged just by looking in Okay, like and lord, I should be so much further along with you
23:42
Oh lord, lord. I'm forgive me, you know, i'm so lazy or lord help my mind, you know
23:49
And and I look in and I get discouraged Okay, but what we got to do is we got to look up Okay Your kingdom come we need to see
24:00
Who god is that he is? King and he is sovereign and he is in control and he has a plan which is much bigger
24:10
Than this earth and we get to be part of that plan I'm so encouraged by the psalms.
24:18
Um, you know, I love them. I read a psalm every day Uh, you know today it was psalm 118, um this morning before I came here
24:27
Turn to the psalms open your bibles And i'd love to see you, uh for you to see a few scriptures on god uh ruling as a king, so we're
24:37
We're going to go to psalm 47 8 So if you open your bible up halfway
24:45
You'll hit the psalms Here's where There is hope
24:56
Here is where there's hope, uh for this world for for anyone uh, look at verse, um
25:05
Oh, we should read verse 7 too So we'll read verse 47 verse 7 and 8 for god is the king of all the earth sing praises with a psalm
25:19
God reigns over the nation god sits on his holy throne And I have to be reminded daily that god is in control
25:30
That god's plan will be fulfilled and when I pray your kingdom come it reminds me of who the true king is
25:38
Okay He is the power that created the heavens and the earth. He he can handle what's going on on this earth
25:46
He's still moving in the midst of our heartache in the midst of our family struggles He is sovereign he is all -powerful and he is still king and he has a plan that will be fulfilled
26:00
Check out psalm 93 Psalm 93 verses 1 and 2
26:14
The lord reigns he is robed in majesty. The lord is robed. He is put on strength as a belt
26:21
Yes, the world is established It shall never be moved Talks in isaiah of him holding the world in the hollow of his hand
26:32
It talks in isaiah about the nations being like a drop in the bucket
26:38
Okay, he can handle what's going on In this earth and so I get my eyes off of the chaos and I get them
26:44
On the king of kings who is robed in mass majesty. He is great and mighty.
26:50
He is so beautiful I got to get my eyes Focused on him and not look so inward and and let um all of the outward
27:01
Difficult circumstances beat me down. I need to keep looking up your kingdom come to the king of kings and lord of lords psalm 97 1
27:13
The lord reigns let the earth rejoice Okay, I don't rejoice in what's going on in the world
27:21
I do what he's what's going on in people's lives that he's brought into his kingdom Because there's transformation and healing that's beautiful But when you look at this world
27:33
I mean sometimes just trying to make ends meet. It's like how am I going to do this, you know? And it gets discouraging but he says look at me.
27:42
I I am king. I've got this I'm sovereign rejoice in me. So, you know, he's the ultimate source of joy
27:50
He's the ultimate source of life king of kings and lord of lords psalm 99 verse 1,
27:57
I love this it's just like Ha the lord reigns let the people's tremble.
28:02
He sits enthroned Upon the cherubim let the earth quake psalm 146 10
28:12
I'd say there's a there's a theme here psalm 146 verse 10
28:22
The lord will reign forever Your god ozion to all generations praise the lord
28:30
Nothing can dethrone him Nothing can thwart his plan Um, if you've read the book you've seen uh, the beauty of his kingdom
28:40
I mean incredible things he has planned for his kingdom And it will be fulfilled
28:47
Now when jesus said you should pray your kingdom come this was no new this request was not
28:53
A new request, uh to the jews who were waiting for the messiah to come In fact, they would pray your kingdom.
29:01
Come Lord god, and they were praying that the messiah would come
29:07
The one who was going to rule the one who was going to set up the kingdom of god And there's these promises in the old testament
29:14
Of the messiah that are very clear that he would be this mighty king And that he would conquer all evil.
29:20
So they were praying messiah come and set up your kingdom
29:26
Now I want to show you what jesus said when he came on the scene. So turn to matthew chapter 4 verse 17
29:36
I'm, just going to let the word speak, uh this morning. So I got some scripture for you to To look at I hope you'll you'll look at it with me chapter 4
29:46
Um jesus, uh, you know, it's just starting his ministry on the earth. Uh, you know, he's like 30 years old and uh had been baptized by john and uh went through the
29:57
Test in the wilderness And now we come to he's actually starting his ministry in verse 17
30:04
And he and it says this, um, matthew chapter 4 verse 17 From that time jesus began to preach saying repent
30:13
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent
30:19
He's saying change your course Change your way of thinking because the kingdom of god is at hand.
30:25
What does that hand mean? at hand Right here at hand means it's right here.
30:36
He's saying the kingdom of god is here Why because he is the king of kings and the lord of lords the kingdom had come uh now his disciples, you know, and the people were expecting messiah to conquer rome and and uh, you know to make israel the most powerful nation on the earth and You know, they they had confused some promises in the old testament
31:00
Um, but jesus is saying hey the the kingdom is here. The kingdom has arrived
31:06
The kingdom of god currently uh is The king who reigns in the hearts of his followers.
31:17
It's the reign of god in us The realm of god is where jesus is enthroned in our hearts
31:26
Um, in fact, uh, jesus said the kingdom of god. This is in luke chapter 11 verse 22
31:33
Jesus said the kingdom of god is within you So when
31:39
I accepted jesus christ the king in my heart at the age of 20 His kingdom came within me
31:48
And when I pray your kingdom come i'm saying lord, may my heart be your throne today
31:54
May you be number one in my life today Today The kingdom of god sets people free
32:03
Um, and I love this scripture. Um colossians if you want to see it, it's on page 843 in our paperback bibles colossians chapter 1 verse 13 speaking of jesus it says he
32:27
Has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son
32:36
In whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins Wow He rescued me from the darkness.
32:45
Uh, my life was overcome with a lot of awful things, uh, drug addictions alcohol
32:52
Uh, you know my life had become so empty You know, I would have suicidal thoughts and then all of a sudden my best friend who uh, you know,
33:03
I did drugs with and partied with and He became a new person Before my very eyes
33:11
And he said it's jesus Jesus has come into my life And it was such a transformation.
33:18
I knew it was a miracle of god. It was powerful. He he was a new person And you know i'm i'm not the smartest guy, but i'm not that dumb either
33:27
You know because I recognized for what it was. It was a miracle of god The kingdom of god had come into john's life
33:34
And john gave up lordship to jesus and jesus was taken to him down a new path
33:41
In transforming his life and at the age of 20 I asked this king into my life and he set me
33:49
Free he drives out the darkness um I got to read the this scripture to you.
33:57
It's in luke 11 Uh luke 11 verse 20 Jesus gonna, you know describe how the kingdom of god had come among them uh in luke 11 20 and You know his enemies they were kind of ridiculous because you know
34:16
He was casting out demons out of people's lives and they're like, oh you're doing that through the power of satan
34:22
And jesus like that doesn't even make sense. You know, why would satan cast out satan his kingdom will fall?
34:29
And so then we come to these amazing words In luke 11 verse 20 jesus said this but if It is by the finger of god that I cast out demons then the kingdom of god has come upon you
34:53
If it is by the finger of god that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of god has come upon you
35:00
In other words when god's rule and his authority comes in he transforms and sets free
35:07
So so I I love this. Okay, you know the the just the finger of god, right? Okay, so Uh, you know, there's a demon sitting sitting on on this book here.
35:17
I don't know if you can see see it Okay. Yeah, right. That's a demon. No, that's a bottle cap. Okay, there's my finger.
35:23
All right Whoa, that was difficult, wasn't it? I just flicked that out of there with my finger not hard to do right?
35:32
And jesus says this is the power of the kingdom of god Um in in uh corinthians 4 it says that the kingdom of god is power you know, uh he is so amazing at what he can do and when we
35:47
Uh come under his rule and his authority. He he can bring transformation
35:53
And freedom in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones Um, it is not difficult for him.
35:59
I think lots of times our prayers are too Too small we need to we need to pray
36:05
Bigger, uh, because our god is a great and mighty awesome god I met a young man in a juvenile home named leon
36:16
And uh leon, uh came from a real tough family situation uh, he was in and out of the juvenile home a couple times and we we got to share the word of god with him and Begin to teach him about jesus, but he he never came
36:30
Gave his heart to king jesus and he he got out back in the streets back in his gang Uh ended up in some kind of dispute pulled out a handgun fire pointed and fired at somebody
36:42
Unfortunately, he missed But he got arrested he was uh facing uh charges of attempted murder 17 years old
36:53
You know, he felt like you know, it was the end of the world no hope for him I would go up every week into the county jail and visit with him and Uh for pastorial visits, they'll put you in a little cement block room you don't have to talk through the glass with the phone and so I'd go up and see leon every week and In the process of time he gave his heart to jesus
37:15
Became a child of god and I remember coming back up now now he has the relationship
37:23
And uh, you know, they brought leon in and you know, he was downcast and and so depressed and He had just heard that his mom was getting evicted.
37:32
They were ready to put all of her stuff out on the street He that week he'd got a letter from his girlfriend saying
37:37
I can't wait for you You're going to be locked up for too long. So see you later Uh, his little brother was getting in trouble
37:45
Uh with the law his whole life was falling apart and It was like this dark cloud filled this little room.
37:53
I mean it was so oppressive. It was so awful You know, i'm just like oh my you know
38:00
What do you say to somebody like that? Right? Oh, hang in there. You'll be all right, you know Or trust in god.
38:06
He'll see you through those are good words, right? But sometimes that just doesn't cut it It's like well, those are nice words, but I you know, how am
38:14
I going to make it through this? I didn't know what to say to him, but I knew what to do to come before the throne of grace to come to the king
38:26
And I just said leon, let's let's pray And we I started praying for him and I prayed over everything that he had mentioned to me
38:36
Prayed for his mom that somehow she would get help that she would be able to find a safe place to live Prayed for his girlfriend prayed prayed for his little brother this whole situation
38:47
Asking god to come and help and intervene In jesus name. Amen And we both opened our eyes and something major had shifted in that room
38:58
He looked at me and he just he just goes wow. He goes.
39:04
Do you feel that? It was I did it was it was miraculous it was like the room was filled with light
39:12
It was because we had come into the presence of the king And he had heard our prayer
39:19
And he was helping leon bear up to this Everything that was going on in his life and it imparted life and faith in him to know that somehow
39:28
God was going to take care of him And the kingdom of god is powerful and it drives back darkness and when that king jesus steps in When we pray your kingdom come in the situation father.
39:41
We're saying father Come in here and work and reign and bring in your authority god
39:48
And god moves the prayers of god's children move the heart of the father like nothing else
39:58
Your kingdom come father in my life you reign and rule in me lord May my heart be your throne lord your kingdom come
40:06
Into this person's life show them that you are king of kings and lord of lords
40:13
Help them to know that you can handle this situation Help them to know what an awesome king you are your kingdom
40:20
Come father the kingdom of god cast out evil Man have you read what the future kingdom of god is going to be like?
40:32
Have you read that? It's amazing last two chapters of the bible
40:38
Wow My mom she battled cancer for two years. She wasn't too much older than I am uh when she got cancer and She you know, unfortunately, um, she was reaping what she had sown.
40:52
She had smoked tobacco her whole adult life uh abused alcohol her whole adult life and it had caught up with her health and she she got cancer and and uh, the cancer was winning and You know, she knew her time on earth was short and you know
41:08
When you know that your time on earth is short you start thinking about eternity Don't you you start
41:14
I mean you think wow, is there really a heaven? Is this real? you know She started thinking those things and she became open to talking about jesus
41:24
And she came back to Her childhood faith because as a little girl she had turned to jesus, but she had no one to disciple her
41:34
Through her adult life, but she turned back to king jesus and he didn't be like, oh, you know
41:39
You ignored me your whole adult life, you know, and I kept trying to tell you that you know There's a better way and you wouldn't listen.
41:45
So forget you. No, he welcomed her With open arms and and I had given her a bible for christmas when
41:53
I had first come to christ I was trying to you know be a witness to my family and and uh
41:59
You know, I'd go over and i'd see that bible under all the good housekeeping magazines and whatever, you know it's always down there at the bottom and I could see the dust on it and she
42:10
But all of a sudden I saw that bible on the top And the dust was dusted off and there were book markers throughout and I remember opening it up and this is the passage that uh, she had a ribbon marker on um
42:26
Turn with me to revelation. I want you to see this. Um, this is When we pray your kingdom come this is this is what we're praying for um to fully manifest itself and it and it is so Beautiful.
42:41
I you know Life on this earth gets weary, doesn't it? Wow I look forward to the future kingdom of god for me.
42:52
It's getting closer every day, you know I'm in my 50s now. I might have you know, 20 good more years in this earthly body.
43:00
I don't know but I sure am looking forward Uh to the kingdom of god. Here's why chapter 21
43:07
John got to see this. He had a revelation of heaven of the future Verse one then
43:13
I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away
43:18
And the sea was no more and I saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down Out of heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
43:28
In other words, the new jerusalem is gorgeous Um, you can you can read you know
43:34
What what the new jerusalem looks like with the streets of gold and that's where that comes from people talk about the streets of gold
43:40
Yeah, that's that's what the bible says Coming down from heaven verse three and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of god is with man
43:51
He will dwell with them and they will be his people and god himself will be with them as their god
43:57
This became my mom's favorite scripture Before cancer took her body.
44:02
Then she went to heaven got healed completely Okay Uh, she's rejoicing now verse four.
44:09
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes And death shall be no more neither shall there there be mourning nor crying nor pain
44:20
Anymore for the former things have passed away hallelujah hallelujah
44:29
That's our future children of god Isn't that awesome corinthians says it's beyond our human
44:37
Understanding what god has laid up for those who love him That that thief was dying on the cross with jesus, right?
44:45
one of them had been cursing jesus and the other thief says Why why are you cursing him?
44:53
You know, he's done no wrong. We're getting what we deserve And then he looks at jesus
45:00
Dying on a cross and says lord Remember me when you come into your kingdom
45:06
And jesus said I say to you This day you will be with me in paradise
45:13
In paradise jesus used the word paradise Wow, yeah that word means pleasure ground
45:22
He didn't like uh, you know, you've been committing crimes, you know, uh, you're getting No, jesus is like I forgive you you're coming with me to paradise
45:33
That's the kingdom of god fully manifested the kingdom of god is in our hearts now Man, isn't that some good news?
45:39
We got this good news of the gospel For god so loved the world. He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life this gift of god that that we
45:53
You know have the opportunity to share with people your kingdom come I i'm praying
45:59
Every day when I pray this prayer your kingdom come I pray for the nations every day without fail and here's how
46:06
I do it. It's very simple. It doesn't take all day It only takes a few seconds. I'll say father your kingdom come
46:15
I pray that you would save lost souls in every nation tribe tongue and people
46:22
I pray that your word would continue to spread throughout this globe That the name of jesus would be high and lifted up And then
46:31
I will often pray for nations and I just start in america And canada mexico central america i'll name continents.
46:40
I don't always do that Sometimes I'll you know, if I hear something in the news that triggers the prayer i'll pray for that That nation because god is moving among the nations in some remarkable ways even among the muslim people
46:55
Um, he is he is saving Lost souls and I get to be part of that when
47:01
I pray father your kingdom come and spread throughout this earth I also pray jesus said
47:08
You know when he looked and he saw the multitudes his heart went out to them. He said oh, they're like sheep without a shepherd
47:16
They're scattered and tormented And then he said pray to the lord of the harvest that he would send forth labors into the harvest
47:24
So when I pray your kingdom come I say father raise up witnesses for you Send labors into the harvest in jesus name
47:34
When I pray your kingdom come I am saying I recognize you as king
47:41
And I pray that my heart will be your throne today that you will reign and rule in my life and that I submit myself to your rule and authority because so often bill wants to be the lord.
47:54
You know what i'm talking about Okay, I want to call the shots. I I just like go into uh autopilot or something, which is like me running things
48:03
And daily, I need to pray god your kingdom come and then I remember he's king of kings and lord of lords and i'll pray for the young people that I know don't know jesus in my
48:16
Ministries and i'll just say lord your kingdom come into alex's life
48:23
Help him to know that you're king that you're lord and that you gave your life on the cross for him Lord rescue him save him your kingdom.
48:31
Calm save him from the darkness Remember the kingdom of god by the finger of god casts out demons
48:39
And I just pray against the work of the enemy in people's lives You know because sometimes you can just see the devil coming after people.
48:46
You know what I mean? I mean, they're just like deceived they're in darkness and I just say Jesus it's written in first john you came to destroy the works of the devil and I pray that you would
48:57
Just destroy the works of the devil in james life that you would tear down enemy walls of unbelief that you would tear down Enemy strongholds of sin that is keeping james from believing in you that you would rescue him father
49:11
Help him to know you're king of kings Our prayers are so often defensive or they're they're
49:20
Kind of shallow in that we like lord, please bless such and such and then god is like, okay
49:26
I want to do that. How do you want me to bless them? and he's looking for more and and we we need to get more aggressive in our prayers for people for lost people for situations going on in our our families and in our world and and and not just be so defensive in our prayers, but take some ground from The enemy is children of god.
49:51
We have that authority Over the enemy because we are children of the king
50:01
In romans 14 17, there's a description of the kingdom of god. Let me let me read this to you um
50:10
It's a really good description of the kingdom of god romans chapter 14 verse 17
50:19
It says this For the kingdom of god is not a matter of eating and drinking but righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit the kingdom of god
50:34
Is not about how big my house is or how nice it is. It's not about You know if my
50:41
I got this sweet set of wheels or I drive, uh, this hoopty. That's what the kids used to call junkers uh
50:49
You know, it's it's it's not about these material things It's about righteousness being right with god knowing him
51:00
Okay Him getting things right in our lives healing us up The son of righteousness coming with healing in his wings malachi says
51:12
It's about peace and that's such a beautiful biblical word The old testament word shalom.
51:18
It means more than just An end of conflict. It means to be made whole to experience healing uh to To be well to to be at peace with god
51:30
And then who doesn't want to be happy, right? Don't isn't that what we all long for?
51:38
Joy in where the holy spirit. All right.
51:44
Okay. It's not my bank account All right It's not always in my human relationships, uh, although we we can experience great joy from one another
51:55
But ultimate joy is from above in the kingdom of god One day it'll be fully manifested when jesus comes back when
52:01
I pray your kingdom come. I am praying jesus Come back put an end to this heartache put an end to this hate to this injustice that we see in our world
52:10
Every day this crazy world lord. I know you have a better plan for it He says i'm waiting.
52:17
I don't want any to perish He's long suffering not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
52:23
But one day he is going to say Enough, that's it Here I come
52:29
And he's going to change it all he's going to transform it Second peter says he's going to create a new heaven and a new earth.
52:38
Wow. I am looking forward to that Uh philippians 2 20 says that we are citizens of heaven
52:48
When I pray your kingdom come It says in uh, first thessalonians 2 10 that we should walk worthy of god and as of his kingdom as children of god
52:59
And i'm praying lord help me to walk worthy as a citizen of your kingdom.
53:05
I pray that that would show in my life And then this is the last scripture, um,
53:11
I want to share with you Um, it's second corinthians. Um, i'd ask you to turn to it and and see this for yourselves second corinthians chapter 5
53:27
As citizens of his kingdom as children of god And we are we're citizens of that kingdom
53:34
Um, this is this is what he uh calls us to Verse 20 of chapter 5 second corinthians therefore
53:46
We are ambassadors of christ god making his appeal through us
53:52
We implore you on behalf of christ be reconciled to god Notice what he calls us to be
54:01
Ambassadors, you know, you know what an ambassador is, right? It's a representative of a nation
54:08
And he says I call you children of god to be my ambassadors in this dark world
54:14
To go out and shine as a light in this dark world
54:20
Wow, this world needs some jesus ambassadors, doesn't it? Wow, our families need jesus ambassadors
54:29
We need to let them shine in us and then through us Um A dear friend of mine has been a supporter of youth for christ for many years.
54:41
Um, jim vanderhorse started the chicken coop restaurants years ago Um, I remember him telling me, uh, colonel sanders came up to see what he was doing in kalamazoo with his chicken restaurants
54:52
And uh colonel sanders when he found out that jim wouldn't open his restaurants on sundays
54:58
He said you won't last in this business As Jim lasted and prospered as a as a businessman with his restaurants and I don't know if you've ever there's still some around They're no longer really in his hands.
55:10
He passed them off to uh nieces and nephews and and others but Um on their napkins and plates anybody ever seen the little slogan that uh, you put on there
55:22
Only one life will soon be passed Only what's done for christ will last
55:29
Wow, what am I going to invest my life in that which is lasting make investments in the kingdom of god uh, you know, it's
55:38
We have opportunities, you know to advance the kingdom even like just through you know monetary gifts
55:45
Uh, you know i'm able to do what I do full time because people support youth for christ And maybe that person can't go into the juvenile home every week and share jesus, but I can
55:56
And they they invest in that they invest in god's kingdom work I was preparing for this week and I I have a lot of different commentaries and I pulled this off myself
56:08
I thought i'll see what john macarthur has to say about the kingdom of god and this convicted me Um, so i'm just going to read it.
56:14
I'm not trying to convict you or anything, but I thought it was pretty powerful Um, he says this he says our greatest desire should be to see the lord reigning as king in his kingdom
56:27
To have the honor and authority that has always been his but that he has not yet come to claim
56:34
The king is inseparable from his kingdom to pray thy kingdom come is to pray for the program of the eternal deity to be fulfilled
56:42
For christ to come and reign as king of kings and lord of lords his program and his plan
56:49
Should be the preoccupation of our lives and of our prayers But how self -centered our prayers usually are focused on our needs our plans our aspirations our understandings
57:02
We are often like tiny infants who know no world, but the world of their own feelings and wants
57:11
Is What we want to do is to pray for something eternal And we can pray for something eternal Every day when we pray this prayer
57:17
Oh father. Hallowed be your name show forth your beauty and glory Your kingdom come father
57:24
We're we're praying for something that's lasting and eternal
57:29
You know Try it your kingdom come father. Just you know
57:34
I submit to your rule and authority. Father I want to walk worthy as your ambassador on this earth.
57:41
Father your kingdom come in this person's life they don't know you help them to know you rescue them and just your kingdom come.
57:50
There's so many different ways that that you can pray and this prayer kind of grows on you as you learn to pray through it and I really encourage you you know pray through the seven prayer requests try praying it over your own life try praying it over other people's lives and it's it's just it's helped me pray like nothing else
58:10
I've ever tried. Like Nike says the best way to learn how to pray is just do it you know just do it okay
58:20
I read books on prayer they discourage me you know sometimes I learn good things from them but often they discourage me like I'm not doing this enough you know and he's like just pray you know that's the best way to learn just pray pray in your car pray walking down the street so with that we are going to move into our communion time and I love that at Recast we celebrate communion every week you know and in churches in my past it would be a once a month thing and it seemed like I would miss it often you know
58:58
I'd be at the you know somewhere else ministering and I wouldn't get to do communion and just to reflect that wow
59:06
Jesus shed his blood that's what this juice represents he shed his blood for me and that his sacrifice is sufficient to cover all my sins
59:17
Lord forgive me for all my sins and he says my child
59:22
I covered it all with my blood this is a new beginning a new day and to think of his broken body the bread you know represents his broken body and how he took that whip for me and how he took you know that torture and beating and the nails in his hands and feet and his body was broken and I think
59:44
Lord help me to offer my body as a living sacrifice for you and just to praise and rejoice that in Christ there is no condemnation there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because of his blood and his broken body so I'm just gonna say a prayer thanks and gonna put a little music on I believe and communion table in the back up front feel free when you're ready to come up and partake and with with that let's just pray together holy father
01:00:25
I'm just thank you so much for your beautiful glorious kingdom that your kingdom father is in the hearts of your people that you have saved out of this dark world and it's through the precious blood that was shed it's not through anything that we do other than trusting in you and that there is complete forgiveness this morning
01:00:48
Lord we praise you for that that the precious blood covers it all
01:00:54
Lord and we claim that beautiful forgiveness and Lord just thank you that you gave your all that you you became flesh and dwelt among us and and that your body was broken and bruised for our deliverance for our healing for our redemption
01:01:10
Lord God and we rejoice in your sacrifice for us Lord and may we take our earthly bodies father and use them for your honor and glory in this week to come and so Lord as we partake of the bread and the juice we just thank you for your most awesome gifts and may we
01:01:31
Lord may you just so work in our lives that we would shine as lights and ambassadors for you in this dark world we love you and thank you in Jesus holy name father just may you continue to shine upon us with your love pray that you would just pour out your love in our hearts through your
01:01:53
Holy Spirit pray your kingdom come in our lives father this week your righteousness peace and joy in the