WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:07.519 God, along with everything else, we call you Daddy, Abba Father. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:09.199 We just praise you for that. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.080 Thank you for adopting us as your own kids. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.039 Holy Spirit, thank you for being our teacher and our counselor. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:16.559 Please teach us today. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:23.120 And please let each one of us come away with something that we know came directly from you. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.920 And Jesus, our Savior, our friend, our King. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.280 We love you and we thank you. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.840 And we ask you this morning to teach us to pray. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:37.200 Amen. 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:45.439 It's nice all being together again. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:52.960 If it's your first time here, visiting a church for the first time to me is always kind of nerve-wracking. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:55.920 And it might not be for you, but I hope you can tell. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:01.280 You can just uh relax and uh be yourself, and we're glad that you're here. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.959 So we're taking a few weeks to talk about a prayer that literally changed the world. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:07.120 It changed people's perception of God. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.000 It explained a whole new relationship with God. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.680 It changed how we talk with God forever. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:20.159 Jesus simply says, pray like this, and then he teaches us, and we call it the Lord's Prayer. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:24.239 The whole prayer is about a minute long, maybe even less than a minute. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:31.680 The overriding message there is that it is so simple to talk to God. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:34.799 And Jesus starts a prayer with the word Abba. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:41.599 We translated our Father, but the closest English translation is really daddy. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.719 God is our daddy. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:54.719 A dad like Jesus describes in the story of the prodigal son, uh a dad with great love, with uh great compassion. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:59.840 That no matter where we've gone, no matter what we've done, he's running toward us. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.400 So when we pray, we don't need to impress God. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.959 We don't certainly don't need to impress other people. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:12.240 Um we don't need to be fluent in Christian ease. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.520 We are simply kids talking to our dad. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:24.960 And so Jesus says, pray like this, our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy, may your kingdom come soon, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:29.759 Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:33.919 And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:35.680 That's the whole prayer. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:37.280 Pray like this. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:44.800 Now, if you have memorized the Lord's prayer, you might finish with, For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:45.759 Amen. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:51.599 That is in the King James Version of the New Testament. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:57.680 I got to thinking, I haven't really made anybody angry in a while, at least I haven't gotten any angry emails. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.639 It might be because I have stopped talking about circumcision every Sunday. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:11.759 But if there's one thing that might do that, it's talking about the King James uh version of the Bible. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:17.360 It was uh it was translated almost exactly 400 years ago. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:33.520 In the last 400 years, um when a translation is done, a committee of great scholars get together and they look at the oldest manuscripts they can find, um, because they're less likely to have something that a person would have added to. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.759 And so since 1611, there's been a lot of older manuscripts found. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:51.759 And in those older scrolls and ancient manuscripts, that last part's not part of the Lord's Prayer, the Lord's Prayer, that it's it's clearly been added on by someone, which isn't a big deal. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:04:01.680 If you uh whatever translation of the Bible you use, uh if you have footnotes, at the bottom of almost every page, there's gonna be a note on something in the manuscript. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:15.360 So my uh New Living Translation has a note that says some uh other translations add, and then it has that uh that phrase. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:28.399 Um that's you know, there's some people have a really hardcore belief that the King James Version is the only most accurate version of the Bible because it's the oldest. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:34.959 And in reality, it's not the most accurate because it's the oldest, if that makes sense. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:42.480 Because since in the last 400 years, uh we've found a lot of uh newer translations. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:49.360 Um for thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:50.160 Amen. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:58.160 Certainly, if that's how you memorize the Lord's Prayer and that's how you pray the Lord's Prayer, what a wonderful phrase of worship at the end of the prayer. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:05.920 Um but the reason I bring that up, I want to explain why we're not studying the one you know. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:11.920 And um and also there's something important there. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:23.600 That some point some people got together and said that the way Jesus prayed wasn't divine enough. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.839 It wasn't churchy enough, it was so simple. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:37.120 And so, of course, you'd have to add on a power phrase like, for thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever, amen. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:46.639 Jesus didn't pray with platitudes, Jesus simply talked to his dad. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.839 He was simply talking to Abba. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.399 So we looked at the start. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:54.079 Is everybody cool with that? 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.560 I didn't see anybody rushing out with their King James Bible in their hands. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:04.800 Um the uh he says, pray like this. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:07.279 Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.399 And so we have a daddy who's different than our earthly dads. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:14.720 Um says, may everyone know what you're really like. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:19.279 And you can sum up all those great aspects of God, just like the song we just sang. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:21.360 You know, so many wonderful things about God. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:24.319 You can sum all those up with the word holy. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:26.319 This morning we're gonna look at verse 10. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:31.920 It says, May your kingdom come soon, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:33.680 Your kingdom come. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:40.879 The kingdom of God is kind of a big topic in one way, and it's a simple topic uh in another way. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:46.879 In Matthew, the kingdom of heaven uh is interchanged with the phrase the kingdom of God. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:59.680 And it's for, if you're here last week, we talked about how the Jewish people, part of their cultures, that they wouldn't write or even say God, that they would use some, you know, instead of Yahweh, they would say Adonai or El Shaddai. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.319 And this is the perfect example. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.480 Matthew is the gospel that was written most directly for the Jewish people. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:12.000 And so in Matthew, some of the times where it says kingdom of God, it says kingdom of heaven. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:18.800 Um and it uses an Aramaic word that's not for the sky, but it's just another word for God. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:26.399 And so in Matthew, it would be a more culturally uh correct way to express kingdom of God. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:31.279 In Mark, Luke, and John, it is always kingdom of God. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:43.600 And so, how could you describe this mysterious uh part physical, part spiritual kingdom of God, like kingdom come. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.040 Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a field. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.399 He says it is like a commercial fisherman's net. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.959 He says it is like a mustard seed. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.480 Jesus says it's like the yeast used to make bread. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:00.399 It is like a landowner that goes out early to hire workers for the vineyard. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.240 It is like a great wedding feast. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.560 It is like a man going on a long trip. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.759 It is like ten bridesmaids getting ready for a wedding. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.879 It was like a pearl merchant searching for the perfect pearl. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.519 It is like a treasure hidden in a field. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:19.680 It's like a storeroom with old and new treasures altogether. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:31.040 Jesus is a Jewish man, he's speaking to a predominantly Jewish audience who, since the days of Moses, have always been part of a physical kingdom. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:42.159 A kingdom led by great women like Deborah, who was a judge over Israel, and great men like King David when he led Israel. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.480 They would fight and they would win wars. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:48.879 And when they got away from God, which was often, they would fight and they would lose wars. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:58.879 Now, so as Jesus is talking to this group, they're on the side of a hill, sloping down to the Sea of Galilee, he's talking to a defeated group of people. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:02.559 The kingdom is in disarray. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:08.879 Ninety years before this, Pompey, who was a friend of Julius Caesar, overran Jerusalem. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:13.919 And now the kingdom of Israel is an occupied country. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.879 The Romans are running Israel. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:25.440 And so they dreamed of the day and talked about the day that the Messiah would come and return that country to a world power again. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:33.279 Jesus was talking about something completely different: a kingdom ruled by love, not by force. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.279 A kingdom of God. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:43.200 And so at this point, when Jesus is teaching them and us to pray, hardly anyone understood this. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.919 His closest friends, they did not understand it. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.600 His closest disciples, they did not understand it. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:52.080 This was going to be a physical kingdom, they thought. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:57.039 They were actually hoping for cabinet positions and to get to run the show a little bit. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.679 John the Baptist didn't understand it. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:06.080 Not long after this, in Matthew 11, John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:10.879 So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, Are you the Messiah we've been expecting? 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:14.240 Or should we keep looking for someone else? 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:20.000 In Jesus' answer, we see that it's going to be a different kind of kingdom. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:25.840 Jesus told him, Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:35.440 The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the good news is being preached to the poor. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:41.120 And tell him, God blesses those who do not turn away because of me. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:57.600 See, John, like every other Jewish person, would have been expecting Jesus to say, go back and tell John, we're stockpiling weapons, we're training the troops, we got a terrific attack plan. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:00.320 But this was going to be different. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:01.600 The signs are different. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:11.519 He tells John that God will bless him if he doesn't turn away because Jesus is not what he expected. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:17.759 That the kingdom wasn't what anyone expected. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:25.519 This mysterious kingdom of God, it's part physical and it's part uh spiritual. 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:37.919 You know, it's uh it's the good news that that uh that we can have a relationship with our Father, that we can come alive inside. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.679 That God loves us no matter what. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:44.879 I guess maybe that's the spiritual part. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:53.039 The physical part is that when we get that love inside, it pours through into other people in physical, in physical ways. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:12:02.159 So the kingdom is both spiritual and physical, built on two foundations, loving God and loving people. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.919 In Mark 12 it says, one of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:13.840 He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, Of all the commandments, which is the most important? 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:22.080 Jesus replied, The most important commandment is this listen, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:27.919 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.639 The second is equally important. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.279 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.000 No other commandment is greater than these. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:50.960 The teacher of religious law replied, Well said, teacher, you've spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other, and I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:57.360 That is more important than to offer all the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:05.200 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:07.279 He got it. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.440 He was close. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:15.519 Loving God and loving people was more important than all the rules and all the requirements. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.600 It was the two foundations to the kingdom of God. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:25.200 And the kingdom of God is not Jesus' second coming. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:33.919 Certainly when Jesus comes again, we'll finally see the total kingdom, just how God's uh always desired. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.399 But God's kingdom is now. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:42.879 In Luke 17, it says, When did the Pharisees ask Jesus, When will the kingdom of God come? 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:47.279 Jesus replied, The kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.559 You won't be able to say, Here it is, or it's over there. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.480 For the kingdom of God is already among you. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:00.559 So God's kingdom doesn't have physical borders where we can, you know, it's in a geography. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.279 We can say it's over here or it's over there. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.799 It wasn't announced with a show of force. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:12.480 It was announced with a show of love, because God's kingdom and love go hand in hand. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:24.559 It says in Matthew 4, Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom, and he healed every kind of disease and illness. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:35.039 Matthew nine, Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom, and he healed every kind of disease and illness. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:42.399 Matthew twelve, I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived among you. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:15:03.840 You see, every time Jesus is out talking about the kingdom of God, he accompanies it by healing and helping and restoring and loving. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:09.840 They go hand in hand with the kingdom of God and helping people. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:19.919 Sometimes we think that God is like a big puppet master in the sky. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:30.720 Uh you know, where he's got everything preset, and everything that happens is like, well, I guess that's what God uh had in mind, and I guess that's what God wanted um to happen. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.120 And it's not true. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:42.480 Um God is over everything in the sense that he is a sovereign God and he created the world, and it's his to take back, and he is going to take it back. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:49.200 But in a sense, God doesn't rule the world, people do. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.000 Yeah, we have free will. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:57.600 And that's why we pray for God's will, God's will to be done. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.440 Because as people we have our own will. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.080 Jesus talks about this a little bit in Matthew 20. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:14.639 He says, But Jesus called them together and said, You know, the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:16.240 But among you it will be different. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.399 Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be the first among you must become your slave. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:29.919 For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:38.159 See he says that in this world there are rulers, and a lot of them are arrogant and self-serving. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:39.919 His kingdom's going to be different. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.639 But God gets blamed for a lot. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:49.200 You know, questions why did why do good things happen to bad people, and those kind of deep questions. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:54.080 As if he asserted complete control over everything. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.480 But you can't do that and have free will. 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:04.079 And then you know, a few thousand years of free will, the world's got pretty jacked up. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:11.839 And so God's promise is not that everything's going to go perfectly for us. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:17.599 It's that no matter what happens, even if there are our own mistakes, that he can turn it into good. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.119 That he will take it and somehow turn it into good. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:22.079 That's his promise. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:25.440 One day it'll be just like he wants. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:26.720 One day. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:31.039 But for now, he takes bad things and he turns it into good. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:36.960 But he doesn't like the bad things. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:40.480 You're his kids. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.000 He wants you to be happy, he wants you to be healthy. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:48.480 He wants you not to live with stress and anxiety. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.039 Isaiah gives us a clear picture of the kingdom of God. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.240 It's Isaiah 65. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.039 No longer will babies die when only a few days old. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.480 No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:07.920 No longer will people be considered old at one hundred. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.319 Only the curse will die that young. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:14.559 In those days people will live in the houses they built and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:18.799 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:24.480 For my people will live as long as trees, my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard won gains. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.319 They'll not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:32.960 For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children too will be blessed. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.519 I will answer them before they even call to me. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:42.559 While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.799 That's God's will for each of us. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:51.440 The best for you. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:57.039 Healthy, happy, plenty to eat, not worrying about our kids. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:02.720 But he hasn't yet taken back complete control. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:12.000 And so if that is what the kingdom of God should look like, how do we get to there from here? 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.799 And the answer is little by little. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:19.359 Matthew 13. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.559 Here's another illustration Jesus used. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.839 The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.279 It's the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.519 It grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.000 Jesus also used this illustration. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:41.359 The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:49.519 Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:57.200 See, God's kingdom comes as it is infused into the world. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:04.160 As it starts to permeate the world like yeast does dough. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:07.279 So may your kingdom come soon. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:11.680 May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:14.160 Those aren't separate requests. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.839 That all goes together. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.880 And so what would that look like for us to pray? 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:32.720 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.480 May your kingdom come soon. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:44.640 God, would you create a little heaven on earth? 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:50.960 Would you make something here the way we know that you really want it to be? 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:54.079 It could be a general prayer. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:03.119 You know, the our men's group on Wednesday night, we broke into smaller groups and were doing uh prayer requests. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:14.799 And uh Ken, who's on the prayer prayer team, had just read a bunch of the requests that are put in the boxes each week, and all those get prayed for uh every week. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:23.359 And his request was just, you know, for all the people here that are having big struggles and are hurting and need help. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.960 Abba Father, Daddy Father, will you make it right? 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.160 Will your will be done? 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:41.599 And then Daniel, who works a lot with the kids, was talking about uh all the prayer requests we get from kids and the hard things that are going on in some kids' lives. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:43.920 It's the same thing. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:48.480 God, would you take a touch of heaven and bring it into this child's life? 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:49.839 Bless him. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.039 Make it the way you want it to be. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.599 May your kingdom come, may your will be done. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.839 And part of that will is us. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:10.720 You know what would you have me do today? 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:19.440 Because when you encourage someone, the kingdoms come. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.559 When you pray with someone, the kingdoms come. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:30.240 When you let someone know God loves them, the kingdoms come. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:40.079 When we get it into our hearts that God really is a loving father and he really wants us to call him daddy, the kingdoms come. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:43.039 When you serve someone, the kingdoms come. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:48.319 When a family comes back together, the kingdoms come. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.519 When you befriend someone at school, the kingdoms come. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:59.119 When you love your wife or husband and you treat them with care, the kingdoms come. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:03.920 When you pick up your one-year chip, the kingdoms come. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:16.240 The kingdom comes when you and Jesus together bring a little heaven down to earth. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:22.799 And so his will in heaven is done on earth. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.519 We sometimes ask, you know, what's my purpose in life? 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:29.359 I spent a lot of time thinking about that years back, you know. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.279 Susan had a great message on that topic. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:37.440 Uh it's been, I don't know, maybe two and a half or three years ago. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:42.400 Uh and it's, I'm sure, on podcasts, and it probably have CDs back in the source. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.720 What is my purpose in life? 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.559 It's this simple. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:58.079 It's wherever you're at, whatever role you're in, your purpose is to love God and to love people. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:02.559 It's to love God and to love people. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.319 So each day we can ask God, how can I love someone? 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.599 Put someone in my path, show me what to do. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:26.559 And every day that we do that, his kingdom's come, his will's been done on earth like it is in heaven. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:30.400 And so if the worship team will come up, we'll stop right there. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:35.440 And each week as we're going through the Lord's Prayer, I want to do the same thing. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:37.440 Talking about prayer is one thing. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:42.000 Praying is uh itself is so much better. 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:48.559 And so just again, think about the one thing you need most from God today, or that you'd like to do. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:56.559 What type of heaven do you need in your life? 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:03.119 The whole Lord's Prayer lasts less than a minute. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:11.440 And the great thing Jesus teaches is in simple words, in a simple way, we're just talking to our dad that loves us. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:17.279 And so let's take a minute now and just whatever is on your heart, express it to Abba. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:31.680 You know, as Americans, we don't really like to have kings. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:36.000 I was thinking about that you know this uh week a little bit. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:41.279 But to have a king like Jesus, someone who takes that responsibility. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.319 Um blessed we are that we can call him king. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:53.279 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:57.279 But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:00.960 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.720 He said to them, Let the children come to me, don't stop them. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:09.440 For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:16.400 And that's how we connect with God through Jesus in our own words, in our own way. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:19.039 God, I need you. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:19.920 God help me. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:21.759 I love you. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:22.720 I want to trust you. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:25.119 Whatever it is, it's in our own words, in our own way. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:29.519 And then the spirit he created with comes alive and connects with God's spirit. 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:37.440 And then he takes over and starts changing us from the inside out and bringing people into our lives and situations and growing us and changing us. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.680 And the kingdom of God has come. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.640 So you can do that today if you haven't already. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.839 Um, let's stand now and we'll get ready to sing one last song together. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.759 Abba, Father, Daddy, Father, we praise you. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:02.400 We thank you. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:06.799 I thank you for hearing every person's prayer this morning and answering those prayers. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:11.119 I know it pleases you that we would trust you and ask for your help. 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:13.039 And we thank you for that. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:14.640 Jesus, we love you. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:16.079 We thank you for saving us. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:18.799 We thank you for showing us what our father's really like. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.200 We thank you for being our friend each day. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:23.119 We thank you for teaching us to pray. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:24.000 Amen.