The Table California
The Table is a church family in Arroyo Grande, California. Our desire is to give Jesus His desire...a house where He can be Himself with His family. This podcast hosts the weekly teachings from our Sunday evening gatherings and occasionally supplemental conversations throughout the week.
The Table California
Becoming Kingdom People
We begin a journey through the practicals of what it looks like to be a kingdom people. As kingdom people, we understand the importance of moving beyond salvation and embracing a kingdom life, dethroning imposter kings, and allowing Jesus to reign in our hearts. Kingdom people navigate the tension of being citizens of a heavenly kingdom that has come and is still yet to come. Living a kingdom life is costly, but kingdom people have counted that cost and see the empty tomb as permission to live for the age to come rather than a place to camp out until Jesus comes back.
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All right, go ahead and turn to the book of Colossians. We're going to be in Colossians today at some point. While you're doing that, I don't always mention tithe and offering, but if you would like to give to the ministry and, of course, if you're blessed by the ministry, we hope that you would like to give to the ministry and, of course, if you're blessed by the ministry, we hope that you would, so give tithe, whatever language you would want to use. You can do that on the website, the Table California. Checks can be made out to the Table California as well. We're going to talk more about finances, stewardship, giving tithe who we are as kingdom people as it relates to being sacrificially generous with our resources. In the coming weeks, that's going to be one of the things that we touch on, so we won't belabor the point now, but if the ministry is a blessing to you, we trust that you would sow into that ministry as you see it, as good soil. Amen, amen, all right.
Speaker 1:Colossians, chapter 1 is where we will eventually end up. So last week, before I jump in, is there anything else I needed to mention? I don't think so. I think we're good. Okay, what have we been talking about for the past eight, nine weeks now. Kingdom of God, the kingdom of God. Last week, I mentioned three different examples of people that come to Jesus. I mentioned this at the end of what I was talking about. Does anyone remember what those three or who those three people are that come to Jesus? And they represent three different types of people. Joshua, that's very important. Those are three attributes of God, three persons of God. The nature of God. That's very good, very true, but who were the three people that we talked about last week that come to God? Anyone? No, no, no. John, jacob and Jeremiah. Good try, I appreciate that, but no, okay. First type of people the crowds that came to Jesus. The end of John, chapter two.
Speaker 1:Remember, these are the unsaved believers, the ones who say they believe in Jesus because they see all the cool stuff that Jesus is doing, but then, when things get tough and he starts saying things like pick up your cross and follow me, love your enemies, eat my flesh and drink my blood, they're like nope, we're out. So these are unsaved believers, is the language that Warren Wiersbe used. So that's the first type of person that comes to Jesus. They say something with their lips, but Jesus sees that their heart is not in line with what they're saying. They're not saved, but they come to him but they're not saved. First type.
Speaker 1:Second type is Mary on the third day, clinging to the resurrected Savior outside of the empty tomb and remember, jesus says to her what Don't cling to me, why I haven't ascended yet. It's too late now. It's too late now. So the second type is a saved, born again follower of Jesus, clinging to the resurrected Savior outside of the empty tomb. And then the third type of person is what I said last week is like the Apostle Paul or Peter or John, these apostles who they recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. They saw his death, they experienced his resurrection, but they didn't stop there. They realized that he ascended, they witnessed him ascend and they know that he's seated on the throne as king. These are kingdom people. So we have unsaved believers. We have born again, saved, clinging to the savior believers. And then we have kingdom people who know that Jesus isn't just the savior, he's the ascended king, he's Lord, he's Lord and Savior. All three of these type of people come to Jesus. This is who we usually find in church, one of these three types of people. It's important for us to know who they are, so that we know who we are. Ask yourself who am I? If you're an unsafe believer, let's just stop right now and not go any further. We need to be born again. If you're clinging to the resurrected Savior, that's a great place to start, but let's not stop at the empty tomb. We're going to get to that in a little bit. We want to be a kingdom. People who serve the king have him seated on the throne of our heart.
Speaker 1:Now, when our kids, they used to think that if someone called themselves a Christian, then they were the same type of people that we'd done life with in Iraq, or the same type of people that we experienced in Charlotte, north Carolina. You see, we were blessed to have really surrounded ourselves for the whole time of our children's lives with kingdom people, missionaries who had given their lives for the gospels, apostolic men who carried an incredible revelation of the kingdom. You know pastors, evangelists, who were burning on fire for God. Maybe they were newborn again, believers, but they had counted the cost and they were completely sold out for the gospel. Like. This is who our kids believed was just normal christians. This is what you are if you're a christian, and as we transition to life in america, our kids became exposed to a different kind of christian. I use that term lightly. We could have a discussion on well, are they really a Christian or not? Just bear with me here, I'm using the term lightly. It's a different kind of Christian that our kids were exposed to. They were exposed to a deluded kind of Christianity, a people who said that they believed in Jesus but lived in ways that were not consistent with who our kids pictured to be Jesus followers and church. Wow, big wake up call for our kids when they were exposed to the American church Rather than church being a gathering together of our kids' favorite people in our living room worshiping Jesus together the churches that I would speak at was more like a show filled with strangers.
Speaker 1:The first time Layla saw the smoke machine at a church that I was speaking at, she literally looked at me and said oh my gosh, dad, you were serious about that. I thought that was just a joke. I'd say the greatest culture shock that our kids got was not going from life in Iraq to life in America. It was going from life with kingdom Jesus people to life with lukewarm church people. I'm not talking about anyone here. You guys are our church family. I mean, my goodness, you're choosing to go to church in a tent. This is not lukewarm church people I'm standing in front of, but you understand what I'm saying. Our kids were exposed to something that confused them. The greatest culture shock, I think, for the kids wasn't going from life in Iraq to life in America. It was going life with kingdom people to life with church people. I want us to be kingdom Jesus people that my kids recognize as Christians.
Speaker 1:The unsaved believers are the curious onlookers described at the end of John, chapter 2. The saved Sunday Christians are Mary clinging to the resurrected Lord outside of the empty tomb. The kingdom Jesus people are Paul, the Apostle, john, peter, etc. The crowds in John 2 said they believed but they were not born again. This is all review, but I just want to make sure we're on the same page. The crowds in John 2 said they believed, but they were not born again. They professed faith in Jesus but when the reality of what following him entailed hit them, they turned and went the other way.
Speaker 1:The condition of the heart was exposed, remember, by the truth that jesus spoke. Grace attracts truth, sifts. Remember we talked about that mary was born again, mary, clinging to jesus on the day of the resurrection. She was born again. She experienced the cross. She was there for the resurrection. She was born again. She experienced the cross. She was there for the resurrection, but she was clinging to the resurrected Savior, not the ascended King. You're going to hear me hit that so many times because, statistically, we have to hear something 12 times before it even registers.
Speaker 1:Paul, peter and John the apostles they were born again, just like Mary. Like Mary, they experienced the salvation of the cross. They experienced the empty tomb, but they weren't clinging to the resurrected Savior. They had bowed their knee to the King. They were clinging to Jesus where he presently is. Remember, david answered this question last week when I said where is Jesus right now? Is he standing outside of an empty tomb in Jerusalem? And David said no, he's seated next to the Father in heavenly places. We have to cling to him where he is. These apostles, these kingdom men they were clinging to Jesus where he presently is seated on a throne above all power, above all principality, above all authority, in every name that is named on earth and in heaven. These apostles, these kingdom men, they knew that they didn't belong outside of an empty tomb because they were presently seated with Jesus in heavenly places. The crowds in John 2 were citizens of the world. Mary was a citizen of salvation. The apostles were citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Apostles were citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker 1:We don't want to receive salvation but never leverage the gift of salvation and move forward into the kingdom of God and actually live a kingdom life. To put it another way, we don't want to camp out at the empty tomb clinging to our resurrected Savior. Salvation is a great place to start. It has to start there. We have to go by way of the cross, we have to see the empty tomb. We have to experience the resurrection. But Jesus didn't die to save us. He died to bring us to himself. And where is he Seated? On a throne in heaven.
Speaker 1:You can be saved, but not live as if Jesus was Lord of your life. It's kind of a scandalous statement. You can be saved and not live as if Jesus was Lord of your life. This is a big thesis point that I'm making here. This is what I mean when I use the metaphor of Mary clinging to the resurrected Savior, camping out outside of the empty tomb saved, born again, but not living with Him seated on the throne of your heart. We rightly acknowledge that Jesus died for our sins, that he was buried and he rose from the dead, but that's not the full gospel. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is not the full gospel. It may be the gospel of repentance, it may be the gospel of salvation, but it's not the full gospel. It may be the gospel of repentance, it may be the gospel of salvation, but it's not the gospel of the kingdom. That's what Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom.
Speaker 1:The story doesn't end outside of an empty tomb. The story ends in a throne in heaven. Jesus ascended and is now seated on the throne in heaven beside of his father. If he didn't stop outside of the empty tomb, neither should we. So if you're seated outside of the empty tomb of salvation? This is the question we have to ask who is seated on the throne of my heart? If I'm seated outside of the empty tomb, grateful for salvation, but stop stopping there? The question is who is seated on the throne of my heart? Now, this isn't meant as condemnation. I believe Jesus is wanting to call us up higher. No pun intended. This is for our good. Intended. This is for our good, because when Jesus is on the throne of our heart, he dethrones every other king that we've ever been loyal to.
Speaker 1:In our old life, we had multiple kings on multiple thrones. We were schizophrenic serving these different masters. This is why there was so much chaos and turmoil and lack of peace. We had multiple masters on multiple thrones. But now Jesus gives us the opportunity to dethrone those imposter kings like greed, like lust, like fear, addiction, laziness, pride. All of these imposter kings that used to influence us have now been dethroned.
Speaker 1:If Jesus is seated on the throne of your heart, if he's Savior and Lord, kingdom, people aren't just saved from the influences of the king that used to rule us. Those dictators are dethroned and we now serve the conquering lamb. We serve King Jesus, kingdom. People have one master Jesus. We've been rescued from all the other imposter kings that we ever served and we are now transferred into God's kingdom, which brings me to Colossians, chapter 1. Told you I was going to get there. Colossians, chapter 1. We've been rescued from imposter kings and transferred into God's kingdom. This is the language that Paul uses when he writes this letter to the church of Colossae.
Speaker 1:Within the first 15 verses, paul's already jumping into this dissertation on the kingdom, telling them who they are. Listen to this, beginning in verse 9. For this reason, we also, since the day that we heard about it, heard about your faith in Jesus. Since the day that we heard about your faith, heard about your faith in Jesus, since the day that we heard about your faith in Jesus, we've not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. I think this harkens back to what Regina was pointing out from Psalm 119. Teach us your ways so that we can walk in them, so that we can walk in a manner worthy of you. Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthen with all power, according to his glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience. This is the verse I wanted to get to, verse 13.
Speaker 1:Now this word transferred is important. This word transferred was used to describe the deportation of a population from one country to another. So picture it One king goes to battle with another king. The guy who wins, he gets to repopulate the land. He gets to deport, transport, transfer the population from one kingdom to another. Earthly rulers transported the defeated people. Jesus transports the victorious people.
Speaker 1:Is this not what he did for the Israelites in Egypt? God rescues his people in Egypt and what does he do? He transfers them from the kingdom of Egypt into a promised land. He brings us out so that he can bring us in. He brings us out of an inferior kingdom, a kingdom of darkness serving the gods of this age. He brings us out of the kingdom that is ruled by sin, ruled by flesh, ruled by imposter kings. He brings us out of that kingdom so that he can bring us into his kingdom. He transfers us from one into another.
Speaker 1:So now I want to talk about the tension of his kingdom has come, but his kingdom is yet to come, because I think right up until now everyone's like Neil, you're beating a dead horse. We agree with everything you're saying, but there's this nagging question in the back of everyone's mind but what about that time? I prayed for this and nothing happened. What about all those prayers? I prayed for my lost family member and they're still not saved. If the kingdom has come, kneel. If the king is seated on the throne kneel. Then what about? Fill in the blank, that's the tension of the kingdom has come, but the kingdom is yet to come. So let's talk about that for a minute. Jesus' enemies are defeated. Jesus is sitting on a throne that is above every other throne and above every other name, but the kingdom hasn't yet come in fullness. The kingdom has come, it's just not yet established.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to the example of Israel being transferred from the kingdom of Egypt into the promised land. Pharaoh and his enemies were defeated, but that doesn't mean that they were instantly transferred into the promised land. There was a wilderness that they needed to navigate. There was a season of shedding the old life and learning the new life. Learning, like Regina pointed out, learning the ways of this new king. So we live in the tension of the victory is accomplished, but the kingdom is not yet established. Our enemies are defeated, but they're not yet imprisoned. Think about that. Our enemies are defeated, they're defanged. All authority has been given to me, jesus says, but we've still got these defeated enemies walking around trying to trick us into thinking they are still something. They are not. They're defeated, but they're not yet imprisoned. Our king is on the throne, but that throne is in heaven, not yet in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:I want to quote this man, larry Sparks. He wrote a book called Pentecostal Fire. He says this Jesus made it clear the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This means it's within reach, it's accessible to our spiritual grasp. He also said the kingdom of God is inside of you. The present rule and reign of Jesus Christ begins now, in this life, in this age, today. This is not a political or governmental overthrow in the natural realm. It's a violent dismantling of demonic principalities and powers in the unseen heavenly dimensions. And this is accomplished through a people. What's that people called Kingdom people. I like that. The church, which should be kingdom people, the church which should be kingdom people, the church should be a kingdom people. That's right. The violent dismantling of demonic powers and principalities, the grounding of the kingdom of heaven into the soil of this earth, is accomplished by the church, who should be kingdom people, by the church who should be kingdom people, a people filled with the Holy Spirit, who are confident in what God says, confident about the circumstances they are called to challenge and change through the supernatural power that God has given to them.
Speaker 1:Larry Sparks says this I understand that we will not experience the full measure of God's kingdom rule this side of eternity. He's saying look, I, I get it. I get the tension and I confidently and enthusiastically believe in the second coming of jesus and his glorious appearing. This is cool, but jesus did not give us safe perimeters for how much on earth as in heaven, we could expect in the here and now. Jesus said pray that what's going on up there comes down here, and he didn't give any perimeters or boundaries or measurements of what that should look like. He just said pray for it and then walk in it. He just gave us that model to pray and then presented radical language about a kingdom that was present, a kingdom that was near and a kingdom that was dwelling within us. So how much of heaven can we experience on earth? Perhaps as much as we are willing to press in for or believe for. I would add to this quote by Larry Sparks how much of God do you want? How much of God do you want in this life? How much of the kingdom are you willing to walk in in this life? How much room is there for God in your life? Back to Larry Sparks.
Speaker 1:He quotes AW Tozer in a book by AW Tozer. Another good title the Fire of God's Presence. Another good title the fire of God's presence. Tozer says this many Christians have the kind of faith that Martha had, martha, when her brother Lazarus died? Yes, I know, lord, I know that my brother Lazarus will arise when, on the last day. And the Lord says that's not the kind of faith that works. I want you to believe that he'll rise now, like right now. But how, lord? He's been dead for four days. Because the kingdom of God is at hand, martha, because the kingdom of God is actually standing right in front of you. Martha, I'm the king. Everything changes because the king has come. Everything changes because the king has come.
Speaker 1:Martha didn't grasp that the living embodiment of resurrection and life stood right in front of her. Jesus was the great awakener. Thus, this is still AW Tozer. Thus she did what many Christians do today with the Bible prophecies of Holy Spirit, outpouring and revival and every other impossible thing the Bible says should now be our inheritance. What eye has not seen? What ear has not heard, nor has ever entered into the heart of man? This is what God has prepared for those who love him.
Speaker 1:We discard who is standing in front of us and instead we settle listen to this on comfortable theology that does not demand anything of me right now. That is like a punch right into my chin. We settle for comfortable theology that doesn't make any demands of me right now. It goes back to what we were talking about, john. We've got answers for everything. We've got boxes and compartments to put God in for everything. We don't want to settle for theology that makes no demands of us, this kind of thinking. It receives salvation, it's grateful for salvation, but it never moves them from the empty tomb to the occupied throne. God wants to move a people from the empty tomb to an occupied throne. These people are saved, but they're just not kingdom Kingdom.
Speaker 1:People live with the awareness that what is going on up there is now possible down here, and inversely, what isn't going on up there shouldn't be going on down here, and inversely, what isn't going on up there shouldn't be going on down here. This is why we pray for the sick to be healed, because there's not sickness in His kingdom. So if he said, pray that that kingdom comes to earth, whatever's going on up there should be going on down here, and whatever's not going on up there should be going on down here and whatever's not going on up there should be eradicated down here. The costly Christianity fights against the gravitational pull of this world and it ascends to a heavenly place and it says I'm going to believe for those impossible heavenly things. This is why we pray for the sick. It's because there shouldn't be sick people here. I don't, we can disagree theological on healing and all those things, but I'm sorry, I just.
Speaker 1:I see healing as the inheritance of the saints and a complete eradication of disease in God's kingdom. This is why we help people that have needs among us, because there's no unmet needs in the kingdom of God. This is why we pray for we love our enemies and we pray for those who persecute us, because that's the way of the king, that's what his kingdom is like. This is why we endure sufferings and trials with hope, because in the kingdom of God, power is perfected how? In weakness. So when we experience suffering, when we experience trials, we have hope that we are going to walk out on the other side of that trial filled with power. This is why we share our faith with the lost and live as a people on mission, because the king desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and it's not okay with him that there's people down here that aren't serving him as king. Amen, you say.
Speaker 1:But I keep praying for people to be healed and nothing happens. This is a side note. I keep praying for people to get healed and nothing happens. What do people always get saved when you tell them the gospel. Does that keep you from sharing your faith with people? So why do you stop praying for healing? It's the tension, man. I I know, but this is the cost. This is the cost of being a kingdom person. This is why it's easier to sit outside of the tomb. We pray for people and sometimes we don't see anything happen. We share the gospel with people, we share our faith with people, and sometimes they call us bad names. Like David said, it doesn't change the fact that we are kingdom people and this is what we do.
Speaker 1:The point is, the kingdom of God has come, it's at hand, it's in our midst, it's inside of us, and the people of that kingdom live according to the culture of that kingdom and none other. When we encounter something that is contrary to that kingdom, when we encounter something that is illegal in the kingdom of God as ambassadors of the king, we now set those things in order. We cause them to line up with the kingdom of God. Give you an example. What would you do if you got home tonight and you found that someone had moved all of your stuff out of your house? They moved all their stuff into your house and they said I'm sorry, this is my house now. You'd call the police. The police would come. They would enforce the law. They would say I'm sorry, this person here meaning you has a contract that says you're entitled to that house. So they got to go. You have a right to that home.
Speaker 1:Now, in the same way, all around us, the enemy is trying to move into places that don't belong to him. He's trying to move in with sickness. He's trying to move in with lies about who God is. He's trying to move in and take our children. He's trying to move in and redefine marriage or redefine gender. He's trying to move in and take what Jesus secured with the victory of his blood kingdom. People hold up the contract and say, no, this doesn't belong to you, it belongs to me and my king.
Speaker 1:So I want to take some time and talk about. We're not going to get into this today. I'm almost finished. I want to take some time we're going to do this over the course of a few weeks and talk about what it actually practically practically looks like for you and I to live as kingdom people, to serve eviction notices to the enemy. I want to paint a picture for us of what a blood-bought, saved child of God, who has Jesus seated on the throne of their heart, actually looks like. My goal is that we would be to others what the Christians that my kids grew up with were to them. I want us to be authentic kingdom, jesus people, a living demonstration of what it means, what it looks like to be kingdom. It's not just me, man. I think that's what Jesus wants us to do. I think that's who Jesus wants us to be. Let's rewrite the definition of what it means to be a Christian in America. My goodness, I just saw two days ago another pastor, another scandal. America is just fed up with the cheap imitation. We have to be the authentic thing. We have to show the world what the kingdom of God is like. Let's rewrite the script of what church is in America. Let's reintroduce our community to the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:Now I've identified about a dozen or so qualities and characteristics of this Jesus people. These characteristics are demanding, that's my warning on the front end. But hey, you guys are willing to come worship in a tent, so I think you can handle the demands of the kingdom. I said once, I think, when we were at the tabernacle, I loved. Maybe someday I won't feel this way, but for now I do. It's like this filter. It's this firewall that keeps people away who just want to play church, like I don't want people coming who just want to play church. So I love the fact that even coming and gathering like this it's costly, but we are going to recover those chairs for you, don't worry. These characteristics are demanding. To walk in the ways of the kingdom will require much from us, but just look at what it costs the king. Should we expect anything different? Jesus says hey, if they've done it to me guess what friends I love you they're gonna do it to you too. And this is why so many choose to camp out outside of the empty tomb, because it simply costs too much to live like the king. So these are the characteristics that I've identified so far Before I'm done. I'm sure there'll be 127, but for now there's 14.
Speaker 1:Qualities of the kingdom people. This is what we're going to be talking about over the next few weeks. I'm not going to teach on these now. I'm just going to let you know what they are. Qualities of the kingdom people. Qualities of the Jesus people they are a family. They are not a collection of individuals. A family, they are not a collection of individuals. That's demanding. Family is hard. Family is raw. Family is real. This is why it's so much easier to just attend somewhere, blend in, but not enter into that place of family. Family's hard. They are a people who have entered into rest.
Speaker 1:Number three they are lambs. They are meek and they are humble. Number they are people of the Spirit. They're not that's all right People of the Spirit, they are not people of the flesh. Number five God's love is real to them and their love for one another is uncomfortably selfless and pure. God's love is real to them. The teaching of scripture is we love because he first loved us. Turn that around. We must love because he's loved us. God's love is real. That means I don't keep it for myself. It is uncomfortably selfless. Number six kingdom people are wise.
Speaker 1:I've been rereading through Proverbs recently and I'm making a list Characteristics of the wise characteristics of the foolish. I recommend you do this. It is fascinating how many foolish people are all around us, and Proverbs knows exactly what to look for and how to handle the fool. Kingdom people are wise. Kingdom people are devoted Devoted to Jesus, devoted to their own families, devoted to their church family. I'm thinking of Acts chapter two, the end of Acts chapter two. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the breaking of bread, to fellowship, koinonia and to prayer. They were devoted. They weren't just passively attending some gathering, daily they were together doing these things. They were devoted.
Speaker 1:Number eight they are a people of the cross. We've talked about this before Doesn't mean that they wear crosses around their necks or put fish stickers on their car. They embrace the cross. They crucify their flesh. I die daily. It's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Why? Because I was crucified with Christ. Kingdom people are people of the cross. Kingdom people are sacrificially generous. Kingdom people could care less about 10%. Kingdom people think 100%.
Speaker 1:Kingdom people know that their tongue is on fire, so their words are few. That's another one you can look at in Proverbs. That'll make you scared to speak, man, but it's a healthy fear, fear. Kingdom people aren't lazy with their speech and with their words. They're disciplined in what they say and what they don't say. Because the tongue is a fire. Yes, in talking about gossip and slander that, that's a given. But even in casual conversation, our life and death is in the power of the tongue. What's that? Proverbs 18.21. Yep. Kingdom people understand the power of their words and they're jealously guarding what is coming out of their mouth.
Speaker 1:Number 11. Kingdom people are a kingdom of priests who serves the Lord with sacrificial praise and the worship of their lives. Worship is not just three or four songs at the beginning of a church service. Worship is the sacrifice of their lives lived on the altar. This is priestly language. Kingdom people know their royal priesthood. Number 12, kingdom people are a people of covenant. Covenant means we don't just turn away when things get hard. Covenant means we actually turn towards one another when things get hard and we talk through it, we pray through it, we navigate our way through it. Number 13, kingdom people are a people of character and integrity, or what the Bible calls sometimes virtue, character and integrity. And number 14, kingdom people are on mission. Go make disciples Of all nations, teaching them what I have commanded you Baptizing them. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, kingdom. People are on mission. They've heard the marching orders from the king and they know they are ambassadors of that kingdom and their mission is to go and enforce what the king has achieved.
Speaker 1:Almost finished, is everybody okay? The kids say no, bless your hearts, my goodness. Joshua's good, tommy. No, all right. Well, good news is we're almost finished. Who is your mommy and daddy not even feeding you lunch? All right, we're almost finished. So we're going to spend a few weeks talking about these practicals and at the end, we're guaranteed to be kingdom. People have it all figured out Now. This is what I want to do. This is actually an idea that Lindsay had, but I'm co-opting it and I'm only giving her credit this first time. Every week after this, I'm taking full credit for it. I'm just joking.
Speaker 1:As we learn about these qualities of the kingdom, we're going to practice these and we're going to pursue these together. What is that going to look like? Okay, so say, for example, next week we talk about rest, family and generosity. I'm not going to take one week and hit each one of these. That would just be too much. We'll probably hit multiples every week. So say, next week we do family rest and generosity.
Speaker 1:In addition to each of us consciously pursuing those things throughout the week, we're also going to have someone that we are accountable to. To each of us consciously pursuing those things throughout the week, we're also going to have someone that we are accountable to, someone that we check in with throughout the week. You can have coffee with them, you can call them on the phone and you can just send a simple text message on how you did that day with those kingdom qualities that we had talked about that day, with those kingdom qualities that we had talked about. So this week the assignment is reach out and find someone within the church and tell them you are my kingdom accountability. That's your assignment this week. Find somebody, exchange phone numbers and say you're my kingdom accountability partner. Don't ask, just tell them you're my kingdom accountability partner. I'll tell you why in a second. What you're going to do is say, for example, danny is my kingdom accountability partner.
Speaker 1:I'm not asking Danny, I'm telling him. I'm telling him to give me his phone number and what I'm going to do is I'm going to send him a message tomorrow at the end of the day, telling him what my high was and what my low was. Man, I did great in generosity today. I gave somebody an hour of my time when I would have rather scrolled through Facebook my low. I didn't really enter into rest because I was. I would rather have been scrolling through Facebook. So tomorrow I'm going to work on entering into that place of rest.
Speaker 1:I'm not asking Danny for feedback. Danny has no obligation to respond. It's not engaging in a conversation. I'm just simply letting somebody know hey, this was my high point today, this was my low point. This is where I was abounding and this is where I was abased. This is why I don't need to ask Danny for permission, because he's not responsible to do anything with me, like he's not reaching out to me.
Speaker 1:This is not some discipleship relationship we're talking about. This is not some discipleship relationship we're talking about. This is simply somebody within the church that you are letting know. Hey, I just want to let you know, I did really well with this today. I didn't do so well with this.
Speaker 1:So, in summary and in conclusion, the point is, man, we want to be a kingdom people, and that's hard, it's demanding, it's costly, it's not going to happen, because we show up and hear a couple of messages on the difference between kingdom people and empty tomb people, like we've got to take these things and bake them into our being and so I think by being accountable like this, it's going to help. Do that. You could have seven people come up to you and say, hey, you're my kingdom accountability partner, don't worry about it. You're under no obligation to correspond, so don't be afraid of that. But don't everyone come up to me and say, hey, you're my kingdom account. I'm a little bit of a partner Like let's spread the love around. The point, or the goal would be that at the end of this week or at the say, say, the end of next week not that we have perfectly figured out how to walk and rest, no but that we've trained some new muscle memory of thinking this way. I'm a kingdom man, I'm a kingdom woman. That means I enter into rest. That means I'm sacrificially generous. So I'm on the lookout of how I can be generous. That means I'm an individual of covenant. So when things get hard, I'm not going to turn away, I'm going to turn towards.
Speaker 1:Okay, any questions? Any comments? Any contributions? Yes, ma'am, dominion theology. How does this play into what you're speaking about? Explain dominion theology for us.
Speaker 1:Kingdom now, people Kingdom now. Okay, if I understand correctly what the kingdom now folks would say is the kingdom has fully come. Would they even go so far as, like this is the millennium reign now, or is that something different? Some would, yeah, like this is the millennium reign now, or is that something different somewhat. Yeah, like anything else. I think there's shades of truth then, if I'm understanding it correctly, there are shades of truth. The kingdom has come. Where I would disagree is in saying that it's fully come. And then what do you do with the second coming of jesus? What do you do with the restoration of Israel? Like there's some questions that I would have about that. So where I land is that tension of the kingdom has come, but the kingdom is still yet to come. I think that's the historical teaching of the church, church history and what I see in scripture.
Speaker 1:Yes, ma'am, here's an odd statement. I've never thought of it this way. I would rather somebody land on the extreme of kingdom now as opposed to passively just waiting to go to heaven someday or doing nothing and waiting for Jesus to split the sky and rapture his people off. I would rather err on the side of anything is possible. Man, let's go for it. Then I'm going to pray that it gets worse, because if it gets really, really bad, then Jesus comes back and saves us all. You know what I mean. Ideally, we land in the middle, but if someone's going to err on one side, let's err on the side of anything is possible. Yeah, anyone else, okay. Well, let's close in prayer and then, if you brought a meal and you need to set it up, go ahead and do your thing. We'll go in in just a minute.
Speaker 1:Thank you, jesus, lord. Thank you for this time. Father, we honor you as Abba. Lord, we know there's not a special Father's Day in heaven. It's not on the Jewish calendar. Lord, on this day where we are honoring fathers, we look to you and we thank you that you are our heavenly father, that you are Abba. There is none like you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, jesus, that you perfectly revealed Abba to us. Lord, for those of us who are fathers, we ask for the grace to demonstrate what a father is like. We know we fall so far short of that. So, holy Spirit, give us grace, give our children grace when we fall short. We pray that a revelation of the Heavenly Father would sweep over this community, would sweep over this community that Abba would be seen as he is, jesus. You said in John 17, Abba, I have revealed your name to them. We know that your name. It reveals your character and your nature. So we pray that the name Abba it would be manifest in this community, that we would see God as Abba. Lord, thank you for this time. Holy Spirit, thank you for helping us to comprehend the kingdom of God. Lord, give us the grace to be kingdom people. Thank you, jesus. Lord, we love you, we worship you. We say that you are king. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.