FROM THE PASTOR
mostly matthew:
kingdom of heaven
kingdom of god
Matthew uses the word “Kingdom” a lot. And for the rest of this year we are going to be hearing this word a lot, as most of the gospel readings for each Sunday will be from the gospel of Matthew. The word kingdom, most of the time is connected to the phrase “Kingdom of God”, or the “Kingdom of Heaven”, both phrases basically mean the same thing. Over the past weeks we have heard some parables and teachings of Jesus with regard to the kingdom of God – most end up with Jesus saying to those with ears let them hear… and do you understand what I have said?
The word kingdom (let alone the phrase “Kingdom of God) is not a word we use every day, it’s not a word we hear, or say a lot; not used in everyday conversation and it’s never really in the forefront of our minds. If we’re going to be hearing of this mostly from Matthew, it would be a good idea to have a starting point. I mean, we need to be clear as to what the word kingdom refers to. I’m sure you can conjure up an image, a thought or two, or at least make a reference to people like David Attenborough, or even our own Aussie guy, Steve Irwin. These people did some incredible things and made some amazing discoveries in the animal kingdom. Wow. Just think about it, I grew up thinking the Lion was the king of the Jungle – far from it! Even Lions have predators! Then we could talk about plant kingdom – if you’ve ever seen the grandeur of a Bunya Pine in the Bunya Mountains you’d be blown away. But a word of warning, if you ever do see a bunya pine, don’t stand under it when it drops a nut! Be about the size of one and a half bowling balls! The Bunya Pine, definitely the King of all trees where they grow.
We hardly relate the word “Kingdom” to a “churchy” kind of word because it does conjure up certain things in our minds; a place, or location, or something unrelated, like the plant Kingdom or the animal kingdom. At best, if we do think of the word “Kingdom” in a churchy / Christian kind of way we may relate it to place we get to go to one day when we die because of Jesus. Or similar, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom Come”, often with no real earthly idea exactly what that means. So, the Kingdom of Heaven / The Kingdom of God:
Where is it?
What is it?
What does it have to do with me?
How do I deal with this as a follower of Jesus?
And if Jesus is asking his followers, “Have you understood these things?”, then it would be good for us to learn from Jesus. Over the past weeks (in sermons and recorded messages on YouTube) I’ve mentioned the kingdom of heaven / God is simply this:
The kingdom of God is God’s gracious rule in the heart and mind of the believer.
The kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God) is where God’s presence and power is, it’s where God’s will, God’s goodness and gracious purposes is seen and done in Christ. For Matthew – for us: Jesus is the promised Messiah, The Son of God – who brings in God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom of God has come near in Jesus, and we pray his gracious rule comes near us too.
We Pray For:
† People who work in the media: journalism, newspapers, TV and radio.
† The unemployed and the underemployed, the overworked, and those with difficulties in their work.
† People who are disabled and those who care for them.
† All who seek the kingdom of God.
† Our state, its premier, and the leader of the opposition.
† People experiencing hardship, distress, persecution, famine, lack of clothing, danger or warfare.
† Criminals, prisoners and all those who look after them.
The word kingdom (let alone the phrase “Kingdom of God) is not a word we use every day, it’s not a word we hear, or say a lot; not used in everyday conversation and it’s never really in the forefront of our minds. If we’re going to be hearing of this mostly from Matthew, it would be a good idea to have a starting point. I mean, we need to be clear as to what the word kingdom refers to. I’m sure you can conjure up an image, a thought or two, or at least make a reference to people like David Attenborough, or even our own Aussie guy, Steve Irwin. These people did some incredible things and made some amazing discoveries in the animal kingdom. Wow. Just think about it, I grew up thinking the Lion was the king of the Jungle – far from it! Even Lions have predators! Then we could talk about plant kingdom – if you’ve ever seen the grandeur of a Bunya Pine in the Bunya Mountains you’d be blown away. But a word of warning, if you ever do see a bunya pine, don’t stand under it when it drops a nut! Be about the size of one and a half bowling balls! The Bunya Pine, definitely the King of all trees where they grow.
We hardly relate the word “Kingdom” to a “churchy” kind of word because it does conjure up certain things in our minds; a place, or location, or something unrelated, like the plant Kingdom or the animal kingdom. At best, if we do think of the word “Kingdom” in a churchy / Christian kind of way we may relate it to place we get to go to one day when we die because of Jesus. Or similar, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom Come”, often with no real earthly idea exactly what that means. So, the Kingdom of Heaven / The Kingdom of God:
Where is it?
What is it?
What does it have to do with me?
How do I deal with this as a follower of Jesus?
And if Jesus is asking his followers, “Have you understood these things?”, then it would be good for us to learn from Jesus. Over the past weeks (in sermons and recorded messages on YouTube) I’ve mentioned the kingdom of heaven / God is simply this:
The kingdom of God is God’s gracious rule in the heart and mind of the believer.
The kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God) is where God’s presence and power is, it’s where God’s will, God’s goodness and gracious purposes is seen and done in Christ. For Matthew – for us: Jesus is the promised Messiah, The Son of God – who brings in God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom of God has come near in Jesus, and we pray his gracious rule comes near us too.
We Pray For:
† People who work in the media: journalism, newspapers, TV and radio.
† The unemployed and the underemployed, the overworked, and those with difficulties in their work.
† People who are disabled and those who care for them.
† All who seek the kingdom of God.
† Our state, its premier, and the leader of the opposition.
† People experiencing hardship, distress, persecution, famine, lack of clothing, danger or warfare.
† Criminals, prisoners and all those who look after them.