Living in the Kingdom XV

Sunday 01/10/16

Series: Living in the Kingdom XV

Message – Unified in Purpose VI

Living in the Kingdom

We are talking about being unified in purpose with God!

The last few services we’ve looked at being unified in purpose by being filled with the knowledge of His will.

Paul prayed that the dedicated saints of Ephesus & Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will concerning two predominate things…

The knowledge of God’s will of their inheritance, which is Christ IN us!

The knowledge of God’s will and purpose IN THE SAINTS towards His Own inheritance – which is that we become His abiding place forever!

Knowledge of these two things is IMPERATIVE to our walking in Union with God.

Sometimes God’s will is found in prayer, and other times it is necessary in order TO pray.

Jesus taught continuance in prayer and lived it – Matt. 7:7,8,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

As you remember the words Ask, Knock & Seek all appear in the present tense, which in the Greek represents a continuous action!

Persistence is a theme throughout scripture and in fact, in much of Jesus’ teaching. He stirs us to take our faith to heart and practice it seriously!

Two Wednesdays ago we looked at Christ for an example of constant and fervent prayer in concerning whether or not the Father could allow Him to not go to the cross. How many times did He pray? Three times!

What did we learn from that? That continuance in prayer is IMPERATIVE!

A key text for this part of the series is found in Luke 18:1-8,

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, (2) saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. (3) Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ (4) And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, (5) yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” (6) Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. (7) And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Faith with Patience

Like Wednesday, the message was simply a working through a journal entry of David.

As we read Psalm 37 we saw the following relationship building & strengthening qualities which exemplify the roles faith and patience play as we live in the kingdom of God.

Do not fret
Trust in the Lord
Be pliable in His hands
Commit
Rest
Wait patiently
Be merciful
give

Psa 37:1-40,

“(1) Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. (2) For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. (3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. (4) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. (5) Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. (6) He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. (7) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. (8) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm. (9) For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. (10) For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more. (11) But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (12) The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth. (13) The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming. (14) The wicked have drawn the sword And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct. (15) Their sword shall enter their own heart, And their bows shall be broken. (16) A little that a righteous man has Is better than the riches of many wicked. (17) For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the LORD upholds the righteous. (18) The LORD knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. (19) They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. (20) But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away. (21) The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives. (22) For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those cursed by Him shall be cut off. (23) The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. (24) Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand. (25) I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. (26) He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed. (27) Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore. (28) For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. (29) The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever. (30) The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, And his tongue talks of justice. (31) The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. (32) The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him. (33) The LORD will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged. (34) Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. (35) I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree. (36) Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found. (37) Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace. (38) But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off. (39) But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. (40) And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.“

Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!