Jesus calls us to pray “Your Kingdom come.” But we believers don’t really understand this. In the 2nd message of this series, we try to frame up the “Kingdom” in the right context. If you missed it live, Steve refers to a series of graphs in this message, which are provided after the “read more” jump, below.
Lifegroup discussion questions after the jump!
Today’s group discussion questions are provided by Lynsie McDaniel. If you are the discussion leader, have your group open to this page on their mobile device, and share the reading together so all can participate easily. Remind everyone that we all get the same amount of prep for each week’s message, and that you can always catch up by listening to the podcast prior to the life group.
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
-Jesus, Matthew 6:9-10 ESV
What do you know about kingdoms? Do you have ideas and knowledge of “kingdom” because of fiction or history?
How do those images of a kingdom, an earthly kingdom, differ than from what we know about God’s kingdom?
In the sermon Steve referenced our tendency to turn His Kingdom into being about us, our health, wealth, our church experience. Does this ring true for you?
When you think about His Kingdom and how it connects with you or how you fit into it, what do you see? The kingdom meeting your needs or you living for the kingdom? I
Do you find yourself so caught up in the day to day that you forget about the kingdom?
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied this way:
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
-Jesus, Luke 17:20-21 ESV
What does it mean to you that it is in our midst?
The big question I would love everyone to leave LifeGroup having a grasp of the answer to is…How does all this translate to our day to day? How do we take this kingdom knowledge and let it permeate us?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
-Romans 14:17 ESV
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
-1 Corinthians 4:20 ESV
What do these verses mean for the way we live in the kingdom now?
Let’s walk through the three “kingdom facts” and break this down.
If the kingdom is eternal, way beyond our circumstance, what does that mean when we are in our circumstances? How does the kingdom being eternal effect us when we loose a job? When you feel overwhelmed by all that needs to get done? When you feel like you have hit rock bottom?
If the kingdom of God is indescribably valuable how does this impact our prayers and hopes? In your own experience or with others around you have seen people encountering God more when they are broken and in need or when they are healthy, wealthy, and wise? When we do need help, physical or financial, does knowing the value of God’s kingdom change our outlook on our hopes and prayers?
and all who dwell on earth will worship it (the beast), everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
-Revelation 13:8 ESV
If we truly believe and live out that Revelation 13:8 is true, that our names were written in the Book of Life BEFORE creation, and that His kingdom is solid and our King is victorious no matter what comes and how his people sin and mess up, how does that effect our fears, our look out, our prayers, our day to day obligations and struggles?
Read through Matthew 13 and the descriptions of the kingdom.
John 3:3 tells us we can’t see the kingdom unless we are born again. Steve finished with the question “Can you see the kingdom?” Can you? In what ways in your life? Where in your life would you like to see the kingdom that you don’t now?
*** Here are the time graphs that Steve used on Sunday morning.
