April 29, 2018

FOLLOWING A GOD-SIZED VISION—AGAIN
April 29, 2018
Pastor Sergio Guardia

Open:

There is no doubt that catastrophes are on every hand. Usually we take more notice when they are within our country or a favored country of the world, but sometimes they are within our own community and the effects are much more emotional. How do you normally respond when neighbors, fellow citizens or others are hurt by disasters?

We are looking today at a scene in heaven, where God is reigning. We focus on the model that the picture gives us, knowing if that is the “kingdom as it in heaven” (Lord’s Prayer) then we are to replicate it here on earth, and that is God’s desire for us. Let’s look more deeply.

Focal Passages: Revelation 7:9-10, Matthew 6:9-10

 Discuss:

God’s vision is UNITY IN DIVERSITY

  1. Read Matt. 6:9,10. What does Jesus mean when He says that we should pray for His kingdom to come to earth? What are some of the things you imagine would show that His kingdom has, indeed, come to earth? Is He speaking of the present?
  2. Read Rev. 7:9-10. What do you immediately notice about the multitude in the throne room?
  3. What countries did these people represent? If this multitude is a model, what does this mean to us? In heaven (as should be on earth), who is our family? If racial unity is important to God, why should it be important to us?


God’s vision is great, and the price to accomplish this vision had to be GREAT

  1. Because the cost of our salvation was so great, what did God have to do to adopt us into His family?
  2. Read Romans 9:1-5. Paul made a statement indicating how much he was willing to give for salvation for his Jewish brethren. Could you give your child to save humanity?
  3. If God desires that we be called to unity, how can we accomplish this?


God’s vision is DONE IN HIS POWER

  1. Why do we worship God? What are some of His attributes for which we give Him praise?
  2. What does God desire from us? How can we accomplish racial unity without totally depending on Him? Again, how can we—as a church—do this together?

Take Away: We need to take more than forward steps: we need to be a model for the world of what heaven will look like.

Close:

 When disaster strikes, people work alongside each other with no thought to the prejudices or inhibitions they may normally consider as part of their character. Yet when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking God to let us have a role in helping Him bring His kingdom and His will down to the earth, just as we read that it is carried out in heaven. As we saw in Revelation, around the throne are people of every tongue, nation and tribe. What do you consider appropriate on earth in our churches? Does your income level, culture or political persuasion influence you more than God’s will for your life?

Racial reconciliation has made huge strides in the past fifty years. Only those who were raised during the decades before 1970 will remember with clarity the tremendous uprisings of those years prior to integration. The younger generations have got it more correct: friends are friends, no matter the color of their skin, their nationality or their language. It is those who were raised in homes with hold-overs of bigotry who have had (or may still be wrestling with) a tough time making the transition, yet they expect to be in heaven beside those they counted enemies on earth—and in their churches. May God help them.

The church must be the bridge to help bring the kingdom to earth. By responding to our neighbors regardless of race, we can build relationships that will bring us into heaven with compassion and dignity for fellow believers, loving, encouraging, and uniting with them to establish God’s will for us.