Church of the Nazarene- Harrisonburg
When it comes to the Kingdom, the call is to participation, not observation.
Acts 1:4-8 NIV
-This is an account of the resurrected Jesus, who has suffered on the cross, but now has been raised to life. He is preparing to ascend into heaven.
-Jesus is commissioning his disciples to be his witnesses, meaning active participants in this kingdom.
-Passivity will kill the church. But we are not called to passivity, we are called to action.
The Kingdom lives in you, so it must live through you.
-When we pray “thy kingdom come”, we are not just praying that the kingdom would show up in our lives. We are also asking the kingdom to come through our lives.
-As we pray, the Lord invites us to be a part of seeing that prayer come to pass.
-You can ask God to advance His kingdom and, at the same time, even today, you can be an agent of that advancement.
Matthew 25:14-30 NIV
-This parable always seems harsh to us, but Jesus tells it so that there would be no doubt that in the kingdom there are expectations.
-Notice it does not matter to the king how much you’ve been given. What matters is that we are called to use what we have to be participants in his kingdom.
Verses for further study/reflection:
Matthew 6:9-13 NIV
Luke 17:20-21 NIV
Matthew 18:3 NIV