Embracing God's Kingdom: Choices, Transformation, and Hope

1. "Jesus came to invite us into a journey to someplace weird and wonderful, just like Benny and the Jets. Someplace, bizarre and beautiful, a place where things seem and sound really strange and upside down, where a lot of stuff seems counterintuitive. It's the opposite of what we expect. It's a place, this place that Jesus is inviting us to is a place that seems, it doesn't make sense to us because in this weird place, Jesus said, the last will be first. Jesus said, in this weird place, we're strongest when we're weak. Jesus said, this place is so weird that leaders serve the people that they lead." [05:00] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "In this place, it's better to give than receive. In this place, the poor are celebrated and the rich are warned that all their money and all their stuff could actually ruin their lives. It is such a weird place. And this place is called the kingdom of God. And if you read Matthew, you'll see Jesus talking on every single page about this wacky, crazy, upside down kingdom. And they're really weird, wonderful, beautiful, bizarre people who live there. And those people are us, Jesus followers, who are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus." [06:27] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Most of us are doing pretty okay as untransformed humans. Most of us are doing pretty okay in this world where the first will be first, you know, and the last will stay last. Most of us don't want to become weak so that we can become strong because we're already strong. And most of us have gotten pretty used to being served and not being servants. And we like it here where receiving is better than giving. And we don't want a life of holiness and sacrifice and generosity. Because honestly, we prefer a life of pleasure and comfort and convenience." [09:39] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "I think the problem is it seems like our version of the good life is different than God's version. And you guys know the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, you know, that, that Matthew five, Jesus said like, blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed are the meek and blessed are the peacemakers. Why? Because those are the people that are eventually going to be in God's kingdom. And that word that we've translated to blessed are is a really interesting Greek word, makarios, and a really great translation of that word would be to say the good life belongs to whoever." [12:55] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Choosing Jesus, choosing to follow Jesus is more than just believing that God exists. It's, it's more than just believing about God. It's believing in God. It's, it's believing that his ways really are higher. It's believing that his kingdom really is better. It's believing that his transformed life that he offers is really better than our life. That's what it is to make him Lord. It's choosing his kingdom, not our world. It's making him king, not me. It's, it's a big, hard decision. But I want to tell you that it is so worth it." [21:14] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about any of that stuff? Isn't that better than what we're living now? I mean, and it's not even just that. What would your life look like if there were no sin in the world? I mean, think of all the bad stuff that's ever happened to you, right? What would your life look like if there was no such thing as pride? If there was no such thing as hate or violence or addiction or anger or abuse or shame? What if nobody ever lied or cheated or hurt each other? What if there was no such thing as sickness, as mental illness, as death? I mean, would that take away some of the pain?" [22:47] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "In the real good life in, in God's kingdom, it's not about coming in first and it's not about being the strongest or the richest or the most popular or the most powerful. It's about being in the presence of God and finding everything you need there to the point where you eventually don't even want anything else because you are so immersed in the powerful, protective, purposeful, peaceful love of God. And we're all together, united in our weirdness. We're, we're so blessed by God that we have nothing to fight for because we have nothing to fight over, right?" [26:59] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "Following Jesus is more than raising your hand and saying a prayer and coming to church. It's repenting. It's a turning away from the world that we are pretty dang comfortable with and turning away because we really believe in God and we really believe in his kingdom and it's king, Jesus. And believing that so much that we say yes to transformation, that we say yes to becoming like Jesus. We say yes to becoming a straight up weirdo who actually intentionally makes themselves last, who actually intentionally sees their weakness and is okay with it." [28:45] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "Jesus is inviting us into more than just saying some words so that we can avoid burning in hell forever. He's inviting us to follow him. He's inviting us to be changed by him. He's inviting us to be transformed into his likeness, fit for his kingdom. And I don't know about you, but I'm ready. I'm ready now. I'm ready to become a monk or something. I mean, let's start a commune, you know? I am so done with the hate and the violence and the betrayal, the cancer, the abuse, the poverty, the death. I'm just over seeing children hurt. And people oppressed. And evil winning. And leaders lying. And people hurting." [30:39] (86 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Trusting him means we trust his timing. Yeah? His kingdom has not fully come. That's his choice, not ours. So for now, we're in the overlap. We live in this world. We pray for his coming kingdom. And we can experience some samples of that kingdom here. When we experience his love, and his provision, and his healing, and his purpose, and his presence. Those are just like little gifts. And we can experience some glimpses of what's going to come. And until then, we resist conforming to this world. We embrace transforming into the likeness of Jesus, our king." [33:34] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)