Sunday Bible School- What does the bible say about The Kingdom?- Sept25

Sunday Bible School 21st September 2025

Here’s a whistle stop tour of what the Bible has to say about one of Jesus’ main obsessions - The Kingdom of God

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

When it comes to looking at this at the Bible, it's a book that is so inspirational, so helpful to encounter God, at times kind of confusing and sometimes a bit hard to read, which is why Bible School gives us a chance to kind of to uh to wrestle with some of the kind of things that it says. Um one of the ways that we can you can track through the story of the Old Testament through the life of Jesus and into those first letters that were written by Apostle Paul and others, um, is to say what themes kind of start at the beginning of the book, go right the way through, and are there at the end of the Bible? And how do we, who are living between Jesus and his second coming, how do we follow that theme through in our lives? So this evening we're going to look at a theme, uh, the theme of kingdom. Uh what what is the kingdom of God? And how, starting from the book of Genesis, as you work through, uh, what does the Bible say about kingdom? Because I'm not sure if you're you're aware, but actually the kingdom of God was an obsession of Jesus. Now, I'm I'm not sure if you've got friends who are obsessives. Have you got friends who kind of uh I know some of the preachers we have around uh here, and maybe if you go to church kind of at home, um uh whatever topic someone's given, they somehow can manage to bring it around to their favourite topic. Uh, do you know those kind of preachers? Um uh Rob, who did a little prayer for Barney upstairs, uh, he he just loves a colleague of mine, he loves the Alpha course, and just when whenever he's speaking, kind of he he'll just talk about Alpha. In fact, my two boys used to kind of run the sweep to take how far into the talk before Rob mentions Alpha. Um uh and he was kind of Alpha, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, kind of weddings, funerals, bar mitzvah, kind of he would just kind of wherever he was, he would talk about Alpha. Now, if you read through the gospel accounts of Jesus, you'll find that he has uh an obsession. He has something that kind of wherever he is, whoever he seems to be talking to, actually he's got something that that he always is kind of banging on about, and that's the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. Actually, it seemed to be a Jesus obsession. Now, if Jesus is the person that we follow, and Jesus is the person we want to be like, actually, probably the thing that Jesus is obsessed by, maybe is the thing that we should be obsessed by too. Um, so Jesus, if you uh read through those uh gospel accounts, uh you'll see that actually Jesus felt that his purpose of those years he was here physically on earth, actually his purpose was to teach the kingdom. Um there was a time when um he was preaching and uh healing the sick. Uh they went to bed at night with his disciples. They got up in the morning, Jesus wasn't there. He was on uh a mountain um praying, and they he said, Well, let's go back and and tell them more about uh the great things. Let's see a few more sick people being healed. And he says this, but I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns also, because that is why I was sent. That's interesting, isn't it? Jesus' own definition of why he was sent, actually, we might say he was sent to to die for our guilt and shame and wrongdoing. We might say that he came to show us what God is like. Actually, in Jesus' mind, the reason that he came was there was this thing called the kingdom of God that he needed to proclaim, he needed to make known, he needed to announce. In fact, if you look through the gospel accounts, uh in over a hundred verses, uh the kingdom is mentioned. Umly by Jesus. Uh the kingdom can again there'd be things like uh the time has come, he said, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news. Uh, time and time again, he would start off his parables, the stories. He would say, look, you just need to understand what the kingdom of God's like. The kingdom of God is a bit like treasure hidden in the field. The kingdom of God is a bit like a dragnet. The kingdom of God's a bit like, and story after story after parable after parable, he wanted them to get their head around exactly what is the kingdom of God and what is the kingdom of God like. He said, Truly, I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. Um when he sends his disciples out on a little mission, so they've been with him for a while, and he sends them the 12th act, kind of uh two at a time, uh, and he says, actually, I want you to do this. I want you to go and preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick. Actually, that's all I want you to say. I just want you've heard something about this thing about the kingdom of God. Now you go on mission, and I don't want you to come up with any great theology, no great philosophy. Just tell them this the kingdom of God is near. And to show that is heal people who are sick. The next chapter he sends out the 72, a few more now on a mission trip, and he says to them, heal the sick who are there, and tell them the kingdom of God is near you. That's just the deal. This time, heal sick people. When they say, How do you do that? Well, God's kingdom is nearby. God's kingdom is near you. And Jesus said for himself, I've got the kingdom when he sends his followers out, they've got to talk about the kingdom. Um, when it gets to the uh to the time between when Jesus died and when Jesus uh ascends back to heaven, he just has 40 days. Just 40 days with those first followers, 40 days to instruct them, 40 days to teach them, all the kind of the best stuff. And I wonder what he would have taught them. Would he have taught them how to run a church, how to recruit volunteers, how to financial management? What would he have taught them? Well, it says in Acts chapter 1, uh verse 3, after his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke to them about I've just got forty days, the kingdom of God. He tells them about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God. In fact, the Acts of the Apostles finished with Paul preaching. Normally we associate Paul with preaching Christ and him crucified, but it says in the last verse of Acts chapter 28, verse 31, boldly and without hindrance, he, that's Paul, preached the kingdom of God and talked about the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, it seemed to be an obsession of Jesus. He passed that obsession on to those first believers, those his first followers. And I wonder whether we have that same obsession. I wonder as we read through the Bible, from the beginning of Genesis through to the end of Revelation, actually, do we get why Jesus was obsessed with this thing called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven? Now, I suppose the kind of question is, what did Jesus mean? What do you think Jesus meant when he used the phrase the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven? In some ways, the people listening to Jesus would have understood that a kingdom has got something to do with a king, probably something to do with some geography, which that king has influence over, probably a kind of a culture that that king sets as a culture. This is what happens in our kind of uh in our in my territory. He would probably have some some laws where justice and uh could be could be served. Um, and there would be a people who would say, Yeah, you're our king and and we uh are your subjects. And and in some ways, that's probably how they understood the kingdom of God. And and in some ways, I suppose when Jesus talked about the kingdom, they were looking for a king who was God, they were looking for uh a culture that was God's kind of way of living life. He was looking for some kind of justice, and there was the law that was both social and spiritual. Actually, we were looking for a a people, uh, a body of people that would say yes to him. And in some ways, that's what they would have understood by the idea of kingdom, and and so the question that I just wanted to spend kind of 20 minutes thinking about is if Jesus was obsessed with the kingdom, are you? And if not, why not? Uh so we're gonna we're gonna start. Actually, let's we're gonna start by saying that um in the Old Testament uh the kingdom is it seems to be a cooperative thing. Now you might read through the Old Testament and you think, well, the psalmist says that the king is that God is sovereign over all, and that the king rules high above all others, and and that the kings and nations were gonna bow down before him, and that somehow God is the sovereign king. And and yes, he is, but actually his kingdom and the way he chooses to exercise his kingdom is cooperative. So, in fact, the very first uh uh chapter of the Bible, we read about how God was gonna get his kingdom rule done on this world that he created. And it says this the man blessed them, that's the uh male and female, humanity, and said to them, Be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. And then he gives them this uh this cooperative venture. Actually, what I want you to do, humanity, is I want you to rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the on the ground. Actually, I've made this, but I'm I'm commissioning you now. On my behalf, will you rule? Now, it's ruling in God's way, not ruling in the way that we see in the world. Actually, God's ruling is is serving, it's caring, it's nurturing, it's it's and and somehow in the care for this planet God entrusted to humanity, and he wanted us to see his kingdom come and his will being done on this earth as it is in heaven. That was the cooperative nature of that rule. We see as he as we go through um to right to the very end, to the very end of the Bible, the last chapter, uh it says this in Revelation: there will be no more night, there will be no need for the light of the uh of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever. Actually, right there at the start, there's something about God's kingdom. God wants to include us, human beings, in his kingdom rule, right at the very end, actually, not exactly sure how this is gonna work. There's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth when Jesus returns. He's gonna change this broken, dark kind of world into a world where his presence is gonna shine, that we're gonna no longer need any lamps or lights. Actually, and but still there, we're going to cooperate with him in ruling and reigning. It's kind of a theme that goes through the Bible. God always wanted there to be a somebody to rule on his behalf. He was always looking for a a body, somebody. I'm not sure if you've thought about the corporate um I I think of God's kingdom a bit like God's dreams, his thoughts, his longings. When he created the world, he had dreams, he had hopes, he had longings. And in some ways, there's things that he wanted to see happen. And that was his kingdom coming on this earth as it is in heaven. The place where God is. He wanted all the good things of God to come on earth, and it was good right at the start. The humanity then kind of broke uh rank with God and went their own way, and and this world went wrong. But God's dreams and longings and hopes, he still wanted to see that happen. Now, dreams and longings, I I suppose, I don't know if you have dreams and longings. I I don't know, kind of maybe it kind of I I don't know. Um maybe I've got this thought. Maybe I've got this thought that I'm going to what's your name?

unknown 11:52

Nathaniel.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Nathaniel. I've got this thought. I'm gonna just kind of brighten this evening up. You're getting a little bit kind of getting towards eight o'clock and some of your bedtime. And what if I have this thought, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna whack Nathaniel on the nose. And maybe I'm gonna kind of whack himself up, maybe his nose will start to bleed, and everyone will go, and you'll all wake up and be more alert. Now, I could have that kind of that dream or that thought, but if I didn't have a body, I could be quite frustrated. But the truth is, I do have a body. So this thought that I have, as my fist comes down towards Nathaniel's nose, Nathaniel might shout out, the kingdom of Tim Dobson is at hand. And as my nose, as my fist hit his nose and the blood starts to flow, he might say, The kingdom of Tim Dobson has come. Because the dreams and longings and thoughts of what God wanted to do, he was always looking for a body, a body that could work out God's dreams, that could actually physically impact this world with his love and his grace and his patience and his kindness and his forgiveness. And so we go through the Old Testament and we see that um uh there was uh Abraham, and there was, he was kind of, will you do my kingdom work? Will you obey me? Yes, I will. Well, I'm gonna bless you in such a way that the whole world's gonna get blessed. He then said to Moses, look, here's a people that I'm going to ask this people to um to follow me wholeheartedly and and and and to to live in this world, how I always intended. And and God was looking for a uh people that were gonna be distinct and different and and and and holy. And and yet you know that through the Old Testament, time and time again, they they followed other gods. They didn't see God's kingdom coming, his dreams and his thoughts being worked out in this world, they went their own way until the day came when Jesus arrived. And Jesus arrives in our world and now the kingdom of God is at hand. Why? Because Jesus is there caring for the poor, healing the sick, standing up for injustice. Actually, Jesus is here going to the cross to deal for the wrongdoing that's really messed up our world. And we see that the God who's been dreaming, the kingdom is now has got a body, the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus, and the kingdom of God was at hand because Jesus was here. A woman who'd been bleeding for 12 years could reach out and touch Jesus, and that kingdom flowed into a body, kingdom healing. And and I suppose that that's the deal, is that the kingdom is to do with cooperative rule. I mean, there's been different ways in which through church history people have interpreted the kingdom. Um uh uh somebody Augustine would kind of maybe say that he wrote this book called The City of God, and kind of would say that uh in his kind of in his time that the church suddenly gained before it was persecuted, it it suddenly gained political uh precedence because the the emperor became a Christian, and and and suddenly the church, rather than being persecuted, now had the ear of the emperor. Actually, it could help define how the culture would would run, and the Roman Empire eventually became the Holy Roman Empire. And theologically they said actually God's kingdom must have come on earth as it is in heaven because the church now has political status and has the ear. Maybe when Jesus talked about the church, what he really meant was the kingdom. Now, Jesus did talk about the kingdom over a hundred times, actually only talks about the church once. And I don't think he meant the church and the kingdom to be the same. I think the kingdom is is eternal and triumphant, and the the church is temporal and is weak and frequently persecuted. Actually, I think the kingdom is to do with all of God's creation, the church is just people. I think I think there's a distinctiveness between the kingdom of God and the church. Um, in fact, I think um Howard Snyder, in a book uh called Um Uh Reimagine the Church, he says this, that he thinks that the church gets into trouble whenever they uh whenever it thinks it's in the church business rather than the kingdom business. The church business, people are concerned about church activities, religious behavior and spiritual things. In the kingdom business, people are concerned about kingdom activities, all human behavior and everything that God has made visible and invisible. Church people think about how to get people into church. Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church. Kingdom people see the church, uh, work to see the church change the world. And I think they're two different things. I think if we can be very church-centric sometimes, uh, whereas actually the deal is we should be kingdom focused. Which is why you might have heard Jack mention it, our vision as the church family here is to see Bristol transform with the love and power of God. It's a it's a kingdom initiative and not to see we want to see a church where the word of God's preached and where the spirit moves. Actually, it's not a church-centered vision, it's a kingdom-centered vision. We actually want to see the things that are to do with God, his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Um I think some people think the kingdom of God is is to do with God's sovereignty, and again, we've not got time this evening to delve into great depths about what we mean by the sovereignty of God. Um but I think from the start to the end we see that the kingdom being a cooperative thing. In my mind, I think not everything that happens is sovereignly planned by by God. I I think there's some things happen in the world that I that if it's if Jesus is the force of God, could I imagine Jesus sitting down and sketching out a plan for a gas chamber to kill millions of Jews? I can't imagine Jesus doing that. Can I imagine Jesus kind of deciding how uh a child's gonna die of starvation or or uh someone's gonna be uh kind of indecently assaulted or raped? I I I don't think Jesus would have planned those kind of things. But I think the deal is this world has gone wrong, and God has sovereignly chosen to use us as his people to see his kingdom come. There's a sovereign will of God that that kind of in the end there'll be people who are just like Jesus, who love him and are loved by him. That was always his sovereign dream. In some ways, he's sovereignly chosen to limit his sovereignty in this time and space continuum, actually, so that he could find people that truly love him, that truly want to be like him, that of their free choice and free will, can want to encounter him, who can then join with his kingdom activity to pray, your kingdom come and your will be done on an earth where it's not happening at the moment, as it is in heaven. I think some people think that maybe it's just to do with uh preaching the gospel. Now I believe in preaching the gospel, but I think the kingdom is more than just a cardiac, a heart response to God. Some people will say that that when you preach the gospel, it kind of uh one heart at a time, uh a person will yield to Jesus, and therefore God's kingdom is coming. Well, yes, but I think it's more than just that. I think it's more than just looking at the world's agenda. Some people would say that um you look at the world and and um there's things happening that God wouldn't want to happen. Actually, there's people who don't have access to fresh clean water. There are people who who who there's some some countries where women don't get access to education, there's places where uh health care is is insufficient for the needs of of communities and nations, and and uh of course that grieves God's heart. And so part of God's kingdom coming, God's will being done, is actually to care for this planet, of to see some of those injustice issues being faced. Of course, that's part of God's kingdom, but it's more than just that. I think that um we see the cooperative kingdom coming through Abraham, through Moses. Actually, we see the kingdom expressed uh in David. Uh initially, God says, Don't have a physical king, don't have a human king, because they'll become tyrants and they'll get lots of money off you and they'll take your daughters or go, don't have a king, just have me as a king. And but they wanted a king like every other nation, and and Saul was a disaster. But but then David comes, who's a man after God's heart, and and he still makes some really bad decisions and bad choices, but there's something about the way that he worships, he loves God, the way that he tries to follow him. That people always look back to King David. It was like he was the highlight, he was the hero of the old of the old testament kingdom. Maybe God's kingdom would come now in Jesus' time, like it did in David's time, and when Jesus called himself the son of David, or maybe it's gonna be like Israel's gonna be top dog again, like when David was around. But actually, God's kingdom is a different different kind of kingdom, and and the incarnation shows that it's a different kind of kingdom. The God who is who rules, who created the world, is contracted down into a human womb. Is born into our world. There was a kingdom intervention happening. God was getting his will, his dreams and longs and thoughts done on earth as it is in heaven, through this baby who grows up to be a young man, who grows up to be a man who preaches and teaches and goes to a cross and dies and comes back to life again. And we see the kingdom of God coming through Jesus. But this cooperative rule and cooperative reign, actually, Jesus then extends that. He then says, uh, don't be afraid, little flock. It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Actually, what's happened now is that God is now still wanting his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, and he's still looking for a body, he's still looking for a group of people. Who are the people who will take my kingdom? Work with kingdom principles, work with kingdom culture, work with uh the Lord Jesus as King of their lives. Who are those people? And Jesus says, Don't be afraid, little flock. It's the Father's been pleased to give you the kingdom. Actually, kingdom cooperation has been entrusted to his church. Jesus is the head, we're the body. Actually, if the body's going to work, we need to be alert to those kingdom activities, those kingdom dreams, those kingdom imaginations that Jesus has. And it should motivate us into the way that we live our lives. And Jesus says that we are to be those that seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. It was a Jesus obsession. He wanted his followers to be obsessed by this kingdom. And actually, I think it's a biblical theme for us to say, well, what does it really look like for us to seek first God's kingdom and its righteousness? Actually, what does it make mean for us to be to acknowledge that there's a kingdom people that we belong to, a holy people, a royal priesthood? What does it mean to say that actually God's kingdom is to come in this bit of geography where we live, the city of Bristol? How can it be transformed the love and power of Jesus? Actually, God's looking for a body. Are we the body that will seek first God's kingdom? And in some ways, kind of just practically, what might that look like? And practically, I love this verse that Paul tries to describe what the kingdom of God is like. He says this the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. Actually, religious um processes, actually, that's not God's kingdom. The Jews had lots of things, rules and regulations they followed, and they thought in following them, maybe the Messiah would come. If you had one generation who could follow all these commands, do it spotlessly, maybe then the Messiah would come. And they had all kinds of do's and don'ts. And Paul is saying here, actually, the kingdom isn't to do with do's and don'ts. It's not a list of here's lots of stuff. Can't do that. Here's lots of stuff you've got to do this now. Kind of it's not a matter of eating and drinking. But he says it's a matter of these four things. He says it's a matter of um righteousness. His kingdom is to do with righteousness. Righteousness is about being put right with God. Actually, we can't, we know through the gospel accounts, and as Paul explains the gospel, actually, no one could from their own right be made righteous. You can't be good enough. You can't, there's no actions you can do to make you to put you right with God. Actually, it's a righteousness that's just freely given by Jesus' death and his resurrection. When we turn our ourselves around and we follow him, there's a life that he gives to us. And what's God's dreams and longings and hopes in his imagination? Actually, he doesn't want anyone to perish. 1 Timothy actually wants all to come to know him, kind of two Peter. There's that indication that actually part of God's dream and vision is that he wants everyone to find that righteousness of Jesus. So if we're going to be people who've got the Jesus Kingdom obsession, we should be obsessed with sharing our faith, talking about Jesus. And I know that might seem a bit strange and a bit weird, but that's part of seeing God's kingdom come. People have the opportunity to find the dignity of becoming the children of God. That's why we were created. So part of God's dreams and longing for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven is that people find him. So if we have got kingdom obsession, we should be witnesses, we should be bold and confident to tell people about Jesus. The second thing, that's that's kind of our relationship upwards. Uh uh, there's a relationship outwards, because the kingdom of God to do with peace. Now, although Paul would have written this in in Greek, is is uh this word for peace would have come from its Jewish roots. And it's in its Jewish roots, the word for peace was shalom. You've heard that word, shalom. And it's it's more than just peace and quiet, it's more than just an individual peace. Actually, it's a corporate peace. Actually, it's a societal piece, it's a neighborhood piece, it's a community piece. Actually, this idea is that when a group of people live in God's world, God's way, actually, shalom is there. In fact, God so wanted there to be a space where people did live life exactly how he wanted, where nobody was going to be an outcast, no stranger was going to be mistreated, where the orphans weren't kind of abused. And he wanted there to be a space on earth, a city. So he he chose a city and he called it Jarushalom, city of peace. And and that city was supposed to be a community that demonstrated to the world, this is how people should live with one another. And in some ways, that's part of the deal, isn't it? When Jesus asked, What's the most important thing? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbours yourself. It's part of the deal. And so when it comes to peace, of course, there should be things that we're involved with in social action and justice projects. Of course, that it should be that nobody should be uh in need or in hunger. I mean, in fact, Jesus, when he comes to that strange little parable of the sheep and the goats, and he separates out the sheep and the goats, and the sheep of the thumbs up, the goats kind of and and what's the criteria? The criteria isn't how many people did you invite to Alpha, how many times did you share your faith? Actually, the criteria is I was hungry and he fed me, I was naked and he clothed me, I was in prison and you visited me. And they'll say, Lord, when would do we do that? Whatever you did for the least of these you did to me. Actually, the kingdom of Jesus comes through compassion and love that's shared to those, particularly to those who are most marginalized. I can remember a time when I went on a uh a mission in London, and I thought I was a kind of um the kingdom is all to do with how people become Christians. So we we did this, we're doing this mission time, we did this little open air, um, uh, it was kind of there's some music and some drama and some preaching, that little PA system. Actually, this Saturday we went out, it was pouring with rain, but we were still there, kind of half an hour. We thought, after half an hour we thought we'd give up. So we were packing up, and this block of flats opposite this um on the top floor, this elderly lady was kind of waving to us. So while my friends were packing up, two of us went up to her flat. We thought we're gonna carry on our evangelism, witness to this lady, and um uh she said, kind of, oh, what you what you've been doing? Oh, we've just been telling people all about Jesus, and and she said, Oh, which church do you belong to? And we mentioned the name of the church, and she suddenly went really quiet. Um and she started to tear up a bit, and we thought, Oh, damn, what's it? Have you come across the church before? And she was about kind of probably in her mid-80s, and she said, she said, I did, she said. She said, about three years ago, my husband died. We've been married for almost 50 years, and uh and I was just devastated. She said, I was devastated. I I just didn't know how I was going to survive. And and said, you know, when it's a it's a birthday or a wedding anniversary, somehow it's just made that much worse. Well, I wasn't looking forward to Christmas, but when it came to Christmas Day, it was worse than um than I imagined because there was a torrential downpour of rain, and and the gutter above my window came loose, smashed the glass, and all this dark kind of slurry of mud just went all over my bed and all over my carpet. And and I said, I just didn't know what to do on my own. I tried phoning social services and it was Christmas Day, it was closed. And I phoned the police and they said that they were too busy and they were short-staffed because it was Christmas Day, but they said, But there is a church down the road, we'll give them a call. And she said, now with tears coming down her face, she said, and do you know what? Fourteen young people from the church came round to my house on Christmas Day, cleared my flat, and gave me lunch. I don't know why they did it. It's the kingdom of God. It's the kingdom of God that's to do with peace, it's shalom, where the widow isn't forsaken, where the orphan isn't to be, where the asylum seeker finds a home and finds a space to belong. The kingdom of God is peace. And just lastly, um uh I think the kingdom of God has to do with with joy, and and actually that is to do with Jesus comes to give us life and life to the full, and and sometimes we feel that we've we've messed up and horrible stuff happens in life, and and maybe we find our loot we lose our joy. But if you can be somebody who can stand along, somebody in pain, and can help them find some joy, actually, that pastoral care, that love and kind of uh visiting somebody in hospital, standing alongside them and weeping with those who weep, actually, there's something about God's kingdom that comes when through those pastoral skills and gifts of counseling and nurture and listening, actually you find people encountering the joy that God always intended. That was God's dream and longing is for a life that was not kind of held and restricted, but it's life that's full of his joy. If you can release joy in people's lives, and there's I know there's people in this room you're very skilled at pastoral care and and just the ability to understand and empathize and see some release of God's kingdom. Uh that is uh part of God's kingdom coming. And all of that is in the Holy Spirit. That's the deal, isn't it? That God's kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus. How do we know? We have to be prompted by the those neural messages that come from the head to the body. It's the Holy Spirit that prompts us. Actually, the Holy Spirit needs to prompt us to witness for Jesus, needs to prompt us to care for the poor, needs to prompt us to notice who's feeling a bit on the edge and marginalized, that we we care for, we see some release of joy in their life. Actually, it's the Holy Spirit that is the Spirit of Jesus that helps his body to do the very things that Jesus did. So, just to finish, what does the Bible say about kingdom? Well, the kingdom is like many things, is there in the Old Testament, but in Jesus we see it profoundly displayed. And he says to us now, seek first his kingdom, his righteousness, and all the other things of life will be added to you. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the way that your word inspires us and challenges us and encourages us. Thank you, Jesus, that as we read the the accounts of your life, a phrase that's on your lips so many times the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. You so desperately want people to know and understand. And I pray you'd help us to go on that adventure to continue to understand this amazing way in which your kingdom can come through us, your church, here on earth as it is in heaven, through our prayers, through our actions, through our words. Thank you that one day your kingdom will come and reign eternally. There'll be no more death, no more sadness, no more pain, no more sickness. And as we welcome you back, Jesus, to this world, we'll see your kingdom come eternally. But until that day, it's our prayer. Your kingdom come and you will be done here in Bristol, in our workplace, in our families, along our street. In your name we pray. Peace. Amen.