May 10, 2026 - The Son is Rising Living in light of His Kingdom

Devotional

Day 1: Authority Marked by Scars

Jesus called twelve ordinary men—fishermen, tax collectors, zealots—and handed them power to heal diseases and authority to cast out demons. Their sandals kicked up dust as they walked village roads, proclaiming the kingdom with cracked voices and trembling hands. The same hands that once mended nets now mended broken bodies. Jesus didn’t give theoretical permission but concrete commissioning: “Go.” [22:49]

Authority flows from the King’s scars, not human merit. When Jesus sent the disciples, He transferred His royal mandate to flawed servants. Their effectiveness depended not on eloquence but obedience to His word. Demons shuddered at Christ’s name, not their courage.

You carry the same unstoppable authority. That argument you’re avoiding? That addiction you’re tolerating? Jesus marked those areas for His kingdom advance. Where have you hesitated to wield His name?

“He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
(Luke 9:1-2, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to highlight one relationship or situation where He wants you to act in His authority today.

Challenge: Text one person this verse: “The kingdom of God has come near you” (Luke 10:9).

Day 2: Anointed with Oil and Ashes

Jesus stood waist-deep in the Jordan, water dripping from His beard as the dove descended. The Spirit’s anointing didn’t lead to a throne but wilderness—forty days of hunger, confrontation, and clarity. Power came not through conquest but surrender. Satan offered shortcuts; Jesus chose nails. The oil of anointing mixed with desert ashes prepared Him to preach freedom. [37:24]

The Spirit’s power thrives in emptied places. Jesus’ humanity required the Spirit’s fullness just as yours does. Miracles flowed not from His divinity alone but Spirit-empowered obedience. Your weariness, not your strength, becomes the altar where fire falls.

What distraction muffles the Spirit’s voice? Social media scrolls? Endless productivity? Silence them. Fasting creates space for oil to replace ashes. How will you hollow out a space for Him today?

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and…he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
(Acts 10:38, NIV)

Prayer: Confess one habit that dulls your spiritual sensitivity. Ask for fresh anointing.

Challenge: Fast from one distraction (TV, snacks, phone) for two hours to pray.

Day 3: Light Through Cracked Branches

Dawn light filters through sycamore branches, casting patchwork shadows on the forest floor. Jesus compared His kingdom to this—brightness advancing through fractured places. He healed a demonized man’s muteness, scattering religious darkness like shattered pottery. The Pharisees saw chaos; Jesus saw sunrise. [25:01]

God’s kingdom invades through cracks—your chronic pain, your strained marriage, your divided workplace. Every shadow becomes a canvas for light. What looks like failure—a stuttering prayer, a fumbled conversation—is dawn breaking.

Where have you dismissed small kingdom victories? That time you forgave quickly? The moment you chose peace? Trace the light patterns. What broken place is God using to shine?

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants.”
(Matthew 13:31-32, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for one “mustard seed” victory you’ve overlooked this week.

Challenge: Write down three areas of struggle. Draw arrows pointing to how God might use them.

Day 4: Forty Days of Pouring

Joel’s prophecy hung in the air like storm clouds before rain: “I will pour out my Spirit.” Peter stood at Pentecost, drenched in the downpour. Forty days after resurrection, Jesus promised power—not just for apostles, but slaves, teens, and grandparents. The Spirit floods prisons and palaces, turning waders into swimmers. [56:02]

God’s pour requires empty vessels. Fasting drains our self-sufficiency. Confession cracks open clogged hearts. When you journal three struggles daily, you make room for the deluge. What if your worst habit became the channel for His power?

What reservoir have you sealed shut? Bitterness? Self-reliance?

“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”
(Joel 2:28-29, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to break one inner dam blocking His Spirit’s flow.

Challenge: Begin the 40-day “Pour Again” challenge: fast one thing, read Mark 1, journal three struggles.

Day 5: Priests with Muddy Knees

John wept in Revelation until he saw the Lamb—scarred, standing, crowned. Blood-bought priests from every tribe knelt, not in temples but dirt roads. They reigned by washing feet, breaking bread, lifting the oppressed. Kingdom authority wears work gloves. [49:00]

You reign by serving. Your office cubicle becomes a sanctuary. Your kitchen table, a communion altar. When you pray for a coworker or confront injustice, you wear the priestly robe. Royalty isn’t about dominance but spilled oil and broken bread.

What ordinary space is God appointing as your throne room?

“You…are a chosen people, a royal priesthood…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
(1 Peter 2:9, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to anoint your hands for today’s hidden acts of service.

Challenge: Write a prayer of consecration over your workplace/school on a sticky note. Post it where you’ll see it.

Sermon Summary

We identify the kingdom of God as a present reality that calls us to active reign under Jesus as King. We insist that the kingdom is inaugurated now and will be consummated later; it arrives wherever God’s reign breaks into human structures, bodies, and relationships. We affirm that Jesus entrusted kingdom authority to his followers, commissioning us to proclaim the kingdom, heal the sick, and cast out demonic forces. We distinguish between authority and power: authority comes by commission, but power arrives by the Holy Spirit being poured out. We trace the pattern in Scripture — Jesus received the Spirit, faced inner testing, then ministered in Spirit-empowered authority; the first disciples received authority and then waited for Spirit-empowerment before launching mission. We refuse to separate forgiveness and future hope from present responsibility; being forgiven opens us to priestly service and to ruling in God’s name here and now.

We name a practical path to move from authority to Spirit-flow. We will prepare inwardly through fasting that creates space, examine and confess areas that hinder fruitfulness, feed daily on a Gospel chapter to orient our hearts to Jesus’ priorities, and then ask to be filled repeatedly with the Spirit. We commit to a forty-day season of seeking this poured-out Spirit, believing that disciplined inward change enables outward kingdom breakthroughs. We expect the kingdom to show through varied expressions: personal healing, deliverance from demonic hold, and systemic reforms that protect the vulnerable. We will adopt the posture of those who both wait for the Spirit and go in the authority given, allowing inner transformation to precede and empower outward action.

Key Takeaways

1. Authority is granted; power is poured We receive delegated kingdom authority from Jesus to act in his name. That authority obligates us to specific tasks, but the effectiveness of that authority depends on the Spirit’s outpouring. We will not confuse a title or commission with the sustaining presence that energizes obedience, witness, and the disruption of evil. [22:49]
2. The kingdom is already and not yet God’s reign has broken into history through Christ, producing patches of light amid remaining darkness. We live between inauguration and consummation, working to extend light while recognizing incomplete realities. This tension keeps us urgent in mission and patient in hope. [24:04]
3. Prepare inwardly to receive power Authority without interior formation risks ineffectiveness or misuse; the Spirit requires room to move in heart and habit. We will identify and repent of the patterns that block fruit, embrace solitude and Scripture as corrective, and allow testing to refine motives. Inner work creates channels for sustained Spirit power. [41:45]
4. Four practices for forty days A focused season of fasting, self-examination, Gospel feeding, and asking for the Spirit creates a rhythm that cultivates capacity for kingdom work. These practices shift attention from convenience and approval to obedience and dependence, producing tangible change in disposition and ministry fruit. Small, disciplined steps over forty days open us to an intensified outpouring. [55:42]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[17:13] - Invitation to prayer walks
[18:17] - Series overview: personalize and participate
[18:52] - Power to activate authority
[24:04] - Kingdom already and not yet
[30:24] - Healing and deliverance as kingdom work
[36:57] - Jesus anointed with the Spirit
[41:45] - From authority to Spirit power
[55:42] - Pour again: forty day practices
[63:42] - Commitment and closing prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 9:1-2 (NIV)
"When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

Observation Questions

What two things did Jesus give His disciples in Luke 9:1, and what specific tasks did He authorize them to do?
How does Acts 1:4-8 connect the disciples’ authority with the need to wait for the Holy Spirit’s power?
What does Revelation 5:9-10 say believers are called to be, and what future role does it describe for them?

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus distinguish between authority (commission) and power (Spirit’s work) in Luke 9:1-2 and Acts 1:4-8? What risks arise if we confuse the two?
The sermon emphasized the kingdom as “already and not yet” [24:04]. How does this tension shape our urgency and patience in pursuing healing, justice, or spiritual breakthroughs?
In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus faced testing after receiving the Spirit at His baptism. Why is inner testing or repentance necessary before stepping into outward ministry?

Application Questions

The sermon challenged believers to fast in a way that “creates space” for the Spirit [56:38]. What daily habit or distraction could you temporarily set aside for 40 days to make room for prayer or Scripture?
Revelation 5:9-10 says believers are “a kingdom and priests” who “reign on earth.” What specific area of your life (work, family, community) needs you to actively “reign” with Christ’s authority this week?
The pastor identified “people-pleasing” as a hindrance to fruitfulness [59:24]. What recurring thought or behavior might the Holy Spirit be asking you to confess and surrender to align with His priorities?
How could reading one Gospel chapter daily (e.g., Mark 1) help you recognize Jesus’ priorities in your relationships or decisions? What time of day would work best?
The sermon linked systemic justice (e.g., ending slavery) to kingdom work [35:39]. What broken system or vulnerable group in your community could your small group pray for or serve practically?
Acts 1:8 promises power to be witnesses. Who in your life needs to see the kingdom’s “patches of light” through your words, actions, or prayers? How will you intentionally engage them this week?

Sermon Clips

If I were to ask you, why did Jesus die for your sins? Why did Jesus die for you? I I know what I would typically answer so that my sins could be forgiven. True? Check. There's more. Okay? So that I could go to heaven. Yep. True. Check. But this passage is telling us that this purchase of people, not only that look like us, but from every tongue and tribe and people in nation, and you're one of those, that he did this so that he could make us a kingdom and make us priests. [00:49:08] (49 seconds) #BoughtForTheKingdom

Jesus had to wrestle with some of that. When he's finished wrestling with that, it says that he goes out in the power of the holy spirit, and he begins to to execute execute the kingdom. He begins to preach and teach and cast out demons and heal. I want us to recognize that that going from having the authority because you are a child of god to living in the power doesn't just happen automatically. There's some some inner work, I think, that has to be done in order to create the flow or or create space for the flow of the holy spirit in your life. [00:41:16] (45 seconds) #MakeRoomForTheSpirit

And the people that became our forefathers spiritually said, it is unacceptable for Christians to have slaves. And they prophetically spoke against it. That bothered some people. So we got kicked out. And all of sudden, said, well, what the heck? We'll just call ourselves free, Methodist. Now listen. When when when when slavery is abolished, that's kingdom of god kinda stuff. We're talking about if we're going to be agents in your school, in your workplace, man, when corruption is overcome and and and and truth exists, the kingdom of god is there. [00:35:33] (46 seconds) #FaithAbolishesSlavery

So here's the big idea. The kingdom of god, the kingdom of heaven, synonymous terms, it's at hand. It's here. It's not fully here. So I use this language here. It's already not yet fully. It's inaugurated, not yet consummated. It's here. So let's not just wait. Last week, I talked about this imagery of a of a of being on a team. Right? And and sometimes we're fans, and sometimes we're not even very good fans at it. But but I was saying, let's move from being a fan to being in the game. [00:44:39] (37 seconds) #EnterTheGameForGod

Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by the father with the spirit and with power. And then how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because god was with him. If Jesus, who is a sinless human, needed the holy spirit in order to be an agent of the kingdom, how much more do you and I need it? So how much more do you and I need it, but at the same time, the same holy spirit is available to you and I so that we can be doing kingdom stuff. [00:37:55] (36 seconds) #SpiritEmpowersUs

Being forgiven of your sins is part of that, but it's the entryway into the kingdom. And heaven is part of that, and that's gonna be the reward at the end of the kingdom. But there's all of this stuff in between where we are called to reign with the king. You've been given authority, but you've also been given power. He has said, I'm giving you this authority. Go in my name. I'm also pouring out the holy spirit on you. Go in that power. [00:51:33] (39 seconds) #ReignWithTheKing

he uses kingdom of heaven. But I wanna say to you, be careful that you don't think of kingdom of heaven the way you grew up, the way I grew up. Maybe you think of kingdom of heaven as some place way out there, something that will happen in another time after after you've lived a good long life, then you die and you go to the kingdom of heaven. No. You have to understand. It's so imperative that what Jesus is communicating is the kingdom of heaven is here now. [00:23:38] (27 seconds) #KingdomIsNow

There are all sorts of expressions of of the kingdom. Right? Healing, for sure. Setting people free from demonic, for sure. But but, also, there's systemic evil. You know, we have one of the major issues in our world today is is human trafficking. And and if if when people are set free from human trafficking, when laws are put in place, when systems are established so that vulnerable people are not trafficked, guess what? The kingdom has come. [00:34:08] (30 seconds) #KingdomStopsTrafficking

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May 10, 2026 - The Son is Rising Living in light of His Kingdom

Devotional

Day 1: Authority Marked by Scars

Day 2: Anointed with Oil and Ashes

Day 3: Light Through Cracked Branches

Day 4: Forty Days of Pouring

Day 5: Priests with Muddy Knees

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

May 10, 2026 - The Son is Rising Living in light of His Kingdom

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