Covenant Baptist Church
Sermon Guide for February 24, 2019
Often times, our pace of life and our unchecked assumptions lead us to react to life first and to think and reflect second.
The gospel of the kingdom of God declares to us we don’t have to just do what comes natural or normal.
Could it be, we have yet to realize how real and how readily available the kingdom of God is in all life’s situations?
Any time we submit ourselves to Jesus and obey him, a space is opened in our lives for the economy of the kingdom of God to come to bear on the situation.
The outcome of submitting to and obeying Jesus is always exponentially better than the outcome we get when react to life on our own in every situation you will ever face.
Submitting to Jesus means abandoning our efforts to be in control and, instead, yielding to Jesus in order to rely entirely on Him.
Anticipating the outcome of obedience to Jesus is seldom within our grasp, especially when we first begin to live this way.
To act in Jesus name means we are actively relying on Jesus by way of obedience to His commands/teaching.
In reference to obeying Jesus commands - “This is the means by which Jesus will be with us and manifest his authority over heaven and earth.” ~ David Fitch
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
When a disciple or disciples submit to Jesus and obey His commands the great good that would otherwise be impossible becomes reality
Soul Training Exercise:
Pray: …your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Matthew 6;10
We make space for the kingdom to come in our midst as we sincerely pray “your kingdom come, your will be done”. Working your way through this prayer can do a lot to reveal motives and agendas that don’t leave space for the kingdom to break out.
Consider you:
Can you think of an area of your life that feels overly burdensome or depleting? Is there a situation or circumstance that is frustrating or seems unnecessarily painful? Call that situation clearly to mind. With it before you begin to ask yourself….
● How have I responded to this? What have I tried to do in response to this?
● How have my efforts impacted the situation so far?
● Have I honestly, thoughtfully considered what it would look like to trust/obey Jesus in this situation?
● Who could help me surrender my efforts to be in control and submit myself and this situation to Jesus?
● Am I reluctant to obey Jesus because I have tried to anticipate the results and I don’t think they are worth the cost?
● Have a trusted friend help you keep in mind the result of obedience to Jesus is always good. That does not mean easy or good in the way of painless. It means when the kingdom of God breaks out, we will never regret following the way of Jesus, regardless.
● Read, memorize and continually reflect on Matthew 6:33 as you learn from Jesus how to live life.