Review 03/29/09: Kingdom of God Series Part V: "A Kingdom Without Walls"

Kingdom Series
Part 4: “A Kingdom Without Walls”

Review
- Jesus came to Earth and began preaching about the Kingdom of God
- The kingdom he speaks of his not a physical one, but a spiritual reality
- Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Is. 61:1)
- Two polar ways to approach Christianity. We need to look at both.
- 1. Jesus came as a substitute to die for the sins of those who put their faith in
Him. (Last week)
- 2. (Luke 4) Jesus came to restore and redeem everything that is screwed up in
this world

A. World
1. The world is screwed up.
a. The United Nations estimate that 850 million people go to bed hungry.
b. People shooting up schools (Hospitals)
c. 27 million men, women and children are held as slaves.
d. Millions of antidepressants a year
e. Friends, family, ect. If not someone, you don’t know them well
f. Ourselves – First step in coming to know God – seeing our need for
Him.
g. Can attempt to ignore it (go to all the right places) but it will
be there more subtly

2. God cares about the screwdupness of the world (OT/NT)
a. Scripture
1. Scripture - Deut. 10:17-19, 2. Ps 146:6-9 3. 3. Rev. 21:1-5
2. Reason – Humans choosing to do what we want to do (greed, ect.)
3. God himself came to Earth to serve (Luke 4: not distant – but
personal)

3. God’s plan: A perfect God uses imperfect people to accomplish His
perfect plans
a. Jesus (perfect) and Disciples (imperfect) – Luke 9:51-56
b. What do we do after we become Christians?
1. We try are hardest to be really good – straight A’s, smile a
lot, go to church
2. We continue to rely on God’s grace to take part in God’s Kingdom
movement to restore and redeem everything around us.
is looking for a great adventure or purpose while
living. People use their entire lives knowing that there is
something adventurous that they are missing out on. Jesus fills
that void by offering us to take part in his redemptive work on
this Earth. Entering into suffering
3. God is working in us (Phil 2:12)
4. We serve Jesus when we serve others (Matthew 25:1-40)
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B. Application: There is No Secular

1. The application for living for God’s Kingdom is very difficult because of how we
see our life due to church ect.
2. Secular vs. Sacred Exercise
3. If you grew up in church, more than likely you have heard the word "secular"
tossed around in many ways. "Secular world," "Secular music," "Secular movies,"
ect. I have heard this word countless times in church culture used in similar
ways. The idea behind this word is one of contrast. The concept is that there
are some things that are inherently spiritual. These include the evangelical
church, Christian music, Rated G or PG movies, and Chick-fi-la. On the other
hand is the secular world, exemplified by public schools, the business world,
Starbucks, and the Simpsons

4. The identity crisis that results from this. Fragmented. Different people to
different friends. Church life v. outside the church. Church friends v. non
church friends. Ect. The world offers other identities that keeps us fragmented.
Kingdom perspective keeps our identity stable no matter the situation.
5. Everything is spiritual because God cares about every aspect of this world and
our life. Also, everything exists to bring honor to God no matter how small or
insignificant it may be. This is good news because it means everything in our
life has meaning. Even the janitor that works at a school has a life
(Corinthians 10:31)
completely filled with spiritual meaning because he has the opportunity to
glorify God.
6. Being prayerful and creating. This Bible study may be easy to see how it
glorifies God. But the other aspects of our life take thought. Plumber 3:16
example. Tipping at a restaurant example.
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C. Missional Living

1. Remembering God’s care for the world
2. Fragmentation to God’s Kingdom
3. Ignoring world pain v. entering into suffering
4. Finding identity and purpose in God’s Kingdom.