Living Under God's Kingdom: Embracing True Blessings

Have a seat. Good morning. My name is Dave. I'm one of the pastors here at the church. And as we sing this song, reminded of a conversation I was having with my family yesterday as we sat around the breakfast table. Saturday morning is our Sabbath. It's just a day off to enjoy God and be present with each other and do things that bring us life. And bacon is one of those things for me. So we sat around, we're having bacon, and we're eating, and reading about Thanksgiving and what it means to live a thankful life, a blessed life. And as we sing this, to bless God, I think that that might be a strange phrase for a lot of us. Bless God. What does it mean to bless God? God does the blessing, right? And typically when we think about blessing, we think about the blessing of God. And we think about the blessings, we think of material things, right? Or maybe happiness, or having things go our way. The problem is that that's not what Jesus says a blessing is. He actually, in his Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, he says that you're actually blessed when you're mourning, when you're at a loss, when you're at the end of your rope, when you're hungering and thirsting for righteousness. These things. So how can that be a blessing? Well, blessings are those things that actually give us more of God, more of his presence in our life. We could say, this is a blessing to us. So what it means to me to bless God then is to give him more of me. If I'm blessed when I give more of God, I bless God when I give him more of me. And that could look like my time. That could look like my affections. That could look like more lordship or authority in my heart. I don't know what it looks like for you today. [00:00:02] (114 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


There's nothing magical that happens in these waters. They're not particularly holy. What's holy and divine is, is. The moment where we say, yes, I want to go under. I want to participate in this death and resurrection. I want Jesus's death resurrection to cover me and my sin. That's what we're celebrating today. Colossians 2 says, entering into this fullness of life is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in insiders, not through some secretive initiation. Right? But rather through what Christ has already gone through for you. We're not adding anything. We're not accomplishing or achieving something. We're recognizing that what Jesus did on the cross is for us. We're declaring that with our lives here today. [00:02:49] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


It is so encouraging and faith building for me to see what God is doing in the lives of others. And if you feel like, you know what, today I didn't even know. I'm just here to participate. But maybe God has something else for you today. He wants to do something in you. God's the one that invited you. God's the one that's been drawing you. And you think, oh man, I'd love to do that. I want to make this declaration. But I didn't come prepared. We're prepared for you. We've got some bags in here. I mean, there's. There's t -shirts. There's shorts. I'm not going to lie. There's underwear. All right. [00:04:29] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


To live truly our lives is under God, means to remember that his kingdom is not of this world. That's what Jesus himself says in John 18, and that's where we're going to spend the rest of our time here today. It says he stands before a governing authority, a ruler named Pontius Pilate. In verse 33 of chapter 18, Jesus stands accused of being the king, of, of not only in, in just, uh, what's, what's the word I'm looking for? Uh, instilling a, a riot, or, or, or wanting to take power over a country, a physical one, but of claiming, to be God. That's what upset the religious rulers. So they weren't able to get him, so they hand him over to Pilate, and they say, why don't you try to get him? He's claiming to be a king. [00:36:03] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world. [00:37:20] (17 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And yet when Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world, it does beg a question. Well, then how do I live in it? I am here in this world. Anybody else feel like, how do I do that then? I want to live on this kingdom of Jesus. I want to see his kingdom come in my life and in our country, in our world. What does that look like? I want to give you three practical, tangible things that Jesus actually says that we see in this interaction for how to live our lives in a kingdom with a king who is not of this world. Because we are, just like Jesus prayed, still in it. We're still in it. Because a whole lot of us would say, oh yeah, this kingdom of God that is not of this world means that we can only enter into it once we leave it too. [00:38:40] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


He says you can start living as a citizen of that one right now. You can start investing in that economy right now. You can experience the life that is to come, though even just in part, right now. It's so much better. It's so much more full. It's so much more lasting than anything that you would ever experience in any other kingdom with any other king. [00:40:27] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


There's empty promises in all of them. But Jesus says, I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life. And if you want a part, if you want in, then it's through me. [00:40:51] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


We recognize the true king. We align with kingdom values and to live life under God, we listen to the truth. John 18, 37. Jesus says that He came to bear witness to the truth. And Pilate says, what is truth? Well, same thing is true for Pilate as it is for every single one of us. Truth is standing right in front of your face. [00:52:44] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Jesus says, I'm the truth. You don't need laws. You don't need systems. I'm doing away with all that stuff. You have something better. Listen to my voice. I'm giving you the Holy Spirit. Listen. Receive the truth. You will be set free to walk into all kinds of fullness. You won't need authorities in your life anymore. You'll do what's right. You'll do what's good. You'll pursue what's best. [00:55:08] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Jesus willingly submitted to authority. Jesus willingly went to the cross so that you and I would know the truth that God loves you, that he made you. He is for you. And life, life to the full is available in Jesus. That is what we're declaring. That is what we're putting our lives under and saying, this is my allegiance. I have a new king. And this king leads me to freedom because his kingdom is the true one. His kingship is the true one. I want to ask you, as we go into this final time of worship, maybe you want to pray with someone. We actually have these cards that are full of scripture that is true. What is true about God and what is true about you in response. Or as a result. [00:59:37] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)