Do you ever use those words? If you are here in either service, we say (together) the Lord's Prayer. In that prayer we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." I think most of us pray that in rote voice, as we say something learned, but distant from reality. But God is intentionally serious about those words.
The words are from Matthew 6:10, and are from the Sermon on the Mount. The sermon is all about how we, when we belong to God, are not part of the systems of the world ... we are part of God's present and future Kingdom, here now and coming with certainty and power. The rules of the people of God ... the rules of the Church ... are different from those of the world. Jesus' sermon repeats the phrase ... "You have heard ... but I say." The Church of Jesus' time (and we as the Church of the present) is confronted with a choice. The choice is all about where we choose to live. By which system will we operate and do life?
God is bringing His Kingdom, whether we buy into it or not. God is God, however our little minds try to confine Him. And God has called us as people of blessing (Abraham's Covenant) and Jesus-followers, whether we accept that call or not. We are Plan A and there is no Plan B.
As the Church in Abbeville. Alabama, we are called to be heralds and ambassadors of the Kingdom that is here in Christ and that is coming in power, love and justice. So, are you up for that? Are you willing to place God 1st? Do you believe Jesus, as he stands before the Caesarea Philippi of this world, and says "upon this rock I will build my Church, and the very gates of hell will not prevail against it! (Matthew 16:18)." I do ... and I want to be part of a Church like that! Randy
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