It Is All About The Kingdom

Recently, I have found myself talking about "the kingdom" rather than "the church" or ven "being a Christian". In fact, I have had this growing irritation with most anything that hints of "denominations" or "old wine skin church work". It is amazing how many conversations with "church people" end up talking about the maintenance and administration of an organization rather than THE KINGDOM!

Oh....the Kingdom.....now there is a concept dear to the heart of any true believer in Jesus Christ. The time is way too short to spend it on things temporal such as the organization and administration of "church". I often tell people that most church members will give an average two hours a week to their church (ie. the Sunday morning service). Therefore, if someone gives me two hours of their time each week, how do I want to spend it? Do I want to talk about the church and aspects of denominations, etc. or do I want to tell them about the Kingdom!

Nine out of ten times when witnessing to a non-believer, church will be brought up. (It seems everyone at some point or another has had at least one bad experience with "the church", no matter where.) If I go down that path with them, then usually the evangelism conversation is over. The church almost always ends up being a "witness killer". However, if instead, I talk to them about the Kingdom and THE RELATIONSHIP then life begins to happen.

Jesus spoke very little about "church" but papered the Gospels with "the Kingdom". The Lord's Prayer ends with, "For Thine is the Kingdom....". Elsewhere it says, "The Kingdom of God is neither meat nor drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." We have all sung this before: "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you." THE KINGDOM.

In conclusion, it is all about the Kingdom. At Grace Church it is our goal that we always be about the Kingdom. The Kingdom breeds life. The Kingdom is where the heart of God is. The Kingdom is not about territorialism that so often follows church work. Instead, the most important thing is not where a person goes to church but are they a part of the Kingdom? A key question we might continually ask ourselves is, "Am I doing this for my church or for THE KINGDOM?!

Blessings,
Father Scott +