The Kingdom of God in our lives| Austine K

This message was preached  by Austine Kudalkar at Word of Grace Church on October 23rd, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

In Matthew 4 Jesus is in the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and nights, Satan offered the kingdom of the earth to Jesus if he  bowed down to him. He said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”( Matt 4:10). Jesus went on to Capernaum and proclaimed the gospel, healed the sick, and a great crowd followed him from everywhere.

Seeing the crowd, he went to the mount- where he preached the famous Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:19- 24- Jesus talks about money. Immediately in verse 25- 27 Jesus says, ““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Q. What does this passage tell us about God and man?

 Four times in the passage, Jesus says, do not worry.

Q. What do people worry about these days?

People worry about their career, marriage, car, etc.  You will never see a sparrow in a zoo, because the heavenly father cares even for the small birds. You are more valuable than the sparrows. So how much more will he take care of you?

Phil 4:6- 7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Matt 6:32- “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” We don’t need to live like them.

 We will seek God first! What’s the result of that?

Jesus says, all the other things will be added to us. They are not subtracted, but added. In every step that we take God is revealing his plan into our lives. We might not get them instantly, but we see the blessing later.

The kingdom of God is the will of God being expressed here on earth- it is the government of God. it is about righteousness, peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit. It is the power to see things transformed.

We see from Jesus’ lifestyle that he fasted and prayed. He went through temptations too. But he said, you shall worship God  alone and you shall serve Him first.

1.    1.  Prayer- Jesus instructs his disciples to pray.

Colin said last Sunday  ( for last sunday's sermon click here)that we want to be a people of His presence, being transformed and reflecting his glory from one degree to another. We need to have a private time with God daily.

We need to seek God in every decision we make. When we do that, there is a reward. He will add all things to us.

2. Worship- There are two kinds of worship- private and public. We need to seek him in both. We meet during the week. When you are isolated from the life of the church, you’re like the straddler in the herd who gets attacked by the lion. I have been transformed by being in the life of the church. God wants to use you in your community.

3.  Giving- you cannot serve God and money. Jesus encourages us to lay our treasure in his kingdom which is eternal. Jim Elliot said, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” We need to give generously as we have been doing. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

The other day I came across a man who was scary to look at. As I was singing- your kingdom come, your will be done! God spoke to me to go and pray for this man. I went and prayed for the man. I was looking for an instant miracle, but it did not happen, I said, “Believe in Jesus for a miracle”. After 2 days, I never saw him in that place again.

God brings these kinds of people in our lives. Jesus wants us to go near them. Jesus was not ashamed of them. He wanted to bring the kingdom of God here on earth. He could have accepted the shortcut, but he wants to seek His kingdom here.

He wants us to do greater things than he did. The kingdom of God is within you. Look around for opportunities to bring the kingdom of God where you live. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.