A Deeper Look at the 10 Hills:
Practice & Proclaim the Kingdom of God
October 2014
Jesus replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”
-- Luke 4:43
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
-- Matthew 28:18-20
Reflect
Jesus tells us clearly in Luke 4 that the reason He came to earth was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. We see all throughout the Gospels that His preaching came with miracles – epileptics healed, dead raised, blind eyes restored, hungry fed. This is the kingdom of God – the rule and the reign of Jesus the good king.
In Matthew 28, the stakes get raised. It’s no longer about Jesus doing these things only. Jesus tells his original disciples to teach others to do everything He did. Fast forward a few generations, and that means we should be talking about and showing others the kingdom of God.
Hang on just one second here…I am nobody special. How am I supposed to be performing miracles? I mean, Jesus was GOD, and I’m…well, I’m me.
Rewind
John 5:19 is perhaps the most liberating verse in all of Scripture. Here Jesus tells us, “The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”
Think about this for a moment. Jesus could do ANYTHING on His own! Jesus did miracles and spoke powerfully because He understood what God was doing, and joined Him.
Jesus raised little girls from the dead because He joined the Father in it. Jesus fed thousands with a young man’s lunch because that is what God was doing. Jesus healed literally hundreds of people, because His Dad was doing it. Jesus was the conduit, not the source.
We don’t have to have it all together. We have to be willing. We have to be paying attention. We have to risk. We can do that!
React
Now we get down to the brass tacks. Let’s talk about how to actually be someone who extends the kingdom of God. This will be a lifelong journey for each one of us, but we can all start with the same three steps.
1) Ground ourselves in the Father’s heart.
The easiest way to center ourselves in our Father’s will is to start each day with a prayer of surrender. Something simple, something like:
Father, give me your eyes today. I want to see what you are doing.
Give me courage to join you.
I surrender my day to you.
Amen.
2) Listen and look for the hand of God.
Once we have prepared ourselves, our next task is to pay attention. Opportunities will cross our paths. If we are not careful, we will walk right past them, and never even notice.
A coworker might tell us his shoulder is sore. One of our friends might have a son struggling with depression and suicide. Maybe we hear a statistic about the number of homeless veterans in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
3) Act.
Once our spirit is quickened and we sense the heart of God, we must act. Even though it can be terrifying, we must do it anyway.
Someone once said faith is spelled R-I-S-K. To extend the kingdom of God, we must risk. It will not be comfortable at first to pray for the sick family member, to pass out lunches to the poor, to lead someone to Christ. But we must act. We must risk. This is the only way forward.
-- Luke 4:43
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
-- Matthew 28:18-20
Reflect
Jesus tells us clearly in Luke 4 that the reason He came to earth was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. We see all throughout the Gospels that His preaching came with miracles – epileptics healed, dead raised, blind eyes restored, hungry fed. This is the kingdom of God – the rule and the reign of Jesus the good king.
In Matthew 28, the stakes get raised. It’s no longer about Jesus doing these things only. Jesus tells his original disciples to teach others to do everything He did. Fast forward a few generations, and that means we should be talking about and showing others the kingdom of God.
Hang on just one second here…I am nobody special. How am I supposed to be performing miracles? I mean, Jesus was GOD, and I’m…well, I’m me.
Rewind
John 5:19 is perhaps the most liberating verse in all of Scripture. Here Jesus tells us, “The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”
Think about this for a moment. Jesus could do ANYTHING on His own! Jesus did miracles and spoke powerfully because He understood what God was doing, and joined Him.
Jesus raised little girls from the dead because He joined the Father in it. Jesus fed thousands with a young man’s lunch because that is what God was doing. Jesus healed literally hundreds of people, because His Dad was doing it. Jesus was the conduit, not the source.
We don’t have to have it all together. We have to be willing. We have to be paying attention. We have to risk. We can do that!
React
Now we get down to the brass tacks. Let’s talk about how to actually be someone who extends the kingdom of God. This will be a lifelong journey for each one of us, but we can all start with the same three steps.
1) Ground ourselves in the Father’s heart.
The easiest way to center ourselves in our Father’s will is to start each day with a prayer of surrender. Something simple, something like:
Father, give me your eyes today. I want to see what you are doing.
Give me courage to join you.
I surrender my day to you.
Amen.
2) Listen and look for the hand of God.
Once we have prepared ourselves, our next task is to pay attention. Opportunities will cross our paths. If we are not careful, we will walk right past them, and never even notice.
A coworker might tell us his shoulder is sore. One of our friends might have a son struggling with depression and suicide. Maybe we hear a statistic about the number of homeless veterans in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
3) Act.
Once our spirit is quickened and we sense the heart of God, we must act. Even though it can be terrifying, we must do it anyway.
Someone once said faith is spelled R-I-S-K. To extend the kingdom of God, we must risk. It will not be comfortable at first to pray for the sick family member, to pass out lunches to the poor, to lead someone to Christ. But we must act. We must risk. This is the only way forward.