It was a cool cloudy Sunday morning. Normally, I would be in a church service inside a cool building either listening to a sermon or giving one. Today, my wife and I drove to the Monument Circle for the 8th Annual FHL Week Prayer Celebration.
We started at 1:30p with our first multi-church-bilingual service at the Circle. My message was about the Kingdom of God in our cities. Here’s an excerpt from my message:
Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” – NIV
The good news that God’s Kingdom is at hand! Jesus prayed, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
What would your neighborhood look like if you could say, “The Kingdom of God is here.”
Is the atmosphere of heaven spreading in our neighborhoods and your places of work? Jesus is no longer on earth but He commanded each and every one of us to represent Him and to co-labor with Him to expand His Kingdom. He wants us to…
Proclamation of the Kingdom
To share the Good News that whoever repent and turn around from their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior will inherit the Kingdom. Jesus sent His early disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He wants us to proclaim the Kingdom wherever we go.
Luke 9:1-2, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
Jesus has given us power and authority to continue His work here on earth starting in our own Jerusalem – Indianapolis, Anderson, Pendleton, Greenwood and Martinsville. Are you using the power and authority that God has given you?
John 17:20-23, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Demonstration
Today is the start of FHL Week. We come together in unity to be the tangible expression of God’s love to the nations. Through projects and services, many people get connected and are introduced to our Lord Jesus Christ. Our message is still the same – it’s all about our relationship with God and with others. Good works are noble but they will not bring people to heaven; only by turning from our sins and by accepting Jesus as our Savior – proclamation.
However, our good works are fruits of our faith in Him as we co-labor with God in expanding the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Proclamation alone is not enough; Jesus called us to also demonstrate the Kingdom through our works. Ephesians 4:12-13, “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is at hand. This coming week, hundreds of people will unite to make everyone aware that the Kingdom of God is already present in our neighborhoods through acts of kindness, mercy, prayers and through sharing the Good News.
Application
When we meditate on the goodness of God, we will experience His goodness. The more we focus on Him, the more others see Him in us. We are being transformed to His likeness. In the Book of Exodus, Moses ask to see the face of God. He waited on Him without any distractions. When Moses went down from the mountain, his face was transformed because God met Him at the mountain.”
In order for us to transform our neighborhoods, we need to be transformed and have higher awareness of His Presence in our lives and in our neighborhoods.
Proverbs 23:7a, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” -NKJV.
Awareness directs our action and our collective action changes our culture. Therefore, the prayer, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” begin with our awareness and faith backed up by our actions. You and I are Ambassadors from Heaven and we represent the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That’s why the verse…
Matthew 10:7-8, As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”
As we end this service, I will pray that God will grant all of us grace to be aware of the power and authority that Jesus promised to all of us. We know that His Presence is here right now.
There’s power in the Name of Jesus!
Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
It’s your time to rise; you are a part of the army that is rising up! This generation is called to proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom of God in our cities. You are called and commissioned to expand the Kingdom of God in your neighborhoods, cities, and to the ends of the world.