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the house.

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Alright. Well, good morning.

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Welcome to the house. Good

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morning. My name is Greg. If

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you've never met me, I'm one of

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the pastors here at the house

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and today we are continuing our

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walk through the gospel of

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Mark. We're calling it the

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first gospel because even

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though it's not the first one

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you come to when you open your

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Bible, it was the first of the

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gospels that was written and

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it's been around for a solid

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like 1616 weeks. I think,

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right. So, we're like in the

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fifth week, I think and so

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today, we are going to jump

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right into Mark chapter four.

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If you don't have a Bible, we

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have Bibles out on the book

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shelf. You can take one of

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those on your way home if you

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like. Otherwise, you can

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download a a Bible from a

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digital app store. It goes

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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts,

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Romans and that's the

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neighborhood that that Mark

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mentioned. We read them and we

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have a tradition of doing that

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in any number of ways. The

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primary way would be to stand

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as you are able or as you

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prefer as I read the

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scriptures allow. So, this is

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Mark chapter four. I'm going to

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start in verse 26. It says

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this. He also said, this is

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what the kingdom of god is

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like. A man scatters seed on

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the ground night and day,

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plucking the seed, cutting the

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grass, and grows though he does

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not know how all by itself.

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The soil produces grain first,

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the stock, then the head, then

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the full kernel in the head. As

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soon as the grain is ripe, he

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puts the sickle to it because

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the harvest has come again. He

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said, what shall we say? The

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kingdom of god is like or what

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parable shall we use to

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describe it? Is it? It is like

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a mustard seed which is the

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smallest of all seeds on earth

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and the smallest of all garden

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plants with such big branches

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that birds can perch in its

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shade. Many similar parables.

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Jesus spoke the word to them as

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much as they could understand.

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He did not say anything to them

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without using a parable but

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when he was alone with his own

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disciples, he explained

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everything. Let us pray. God

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bless you. Every nation. We

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thank you for the scriptures,

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the scriptures that have

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persisted throughout the

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millennium that we still have

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today that we can look at,

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read, consider, be guided by. I

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pray that today, whatever you

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have for us to learn, I pray

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that that thing would stick.

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That it would become a part of

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the framework of our faith,

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that our faith would become

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a part of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

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Thanks all. You can have a

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seat. Alright, so today, I want

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to talk about the kingdom of

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god. Uh any Princess Bride fans

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in the room? Probably surely

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many. Uh I feel like the phrase

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kingdom of god reminds me of

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the quote, you keep on using

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that word. I do not think it

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is. I do not think it is.

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Because surely, you've also

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heard the phrase kingdom of

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god. We keep hearing about the

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kingdom of god in the book of

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Mark. John the Baptist

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proclaims it. Jesus preaches it

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and now he actually starts

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telling stories about it. He's

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describing what the kingdom of

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god is like but even though he

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doesn't say it, Jesus isn't

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exactly straightforward about

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what it is. I don't just mean

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for us as we read it today. I'm

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talking about for the first

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hearers. Mark literally says he

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did not say anything to them

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without using a parable. He

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spoke to them as much as they

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could understand. So, Jesus is

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talking about it but he's

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intentionally not explaining it

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to them. He's explaining it to

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his disciples and then Mark

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says but when he was alone with

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his disciples, he explained

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everything but when Mark but

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then Mark doesn't write down

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all of the explanations for us.

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So, here we are reading the

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scriptures and we don't

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necessarily have a

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straightforward explanation

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about everything Jesus taught

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either and so today, we're

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going to read the scriptures

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about what is it? What is it?

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When is it? What does it look

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like? How do we live in it? So,

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I have three words to help with

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our understanding of the

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kingdom of god and like any

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good pastor, I use a

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literation. permanent, present,

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potential, permanent, present,

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potential. The kingdom of god

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is the permanent, present,

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present, and present in the

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church today. Alright, so first,

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the kingdom of god is

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permanent. We tend to have a

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hard time wrapping our minds

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around the concept of a

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kingdom because we have

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democracies and mayors and

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elected officials. We think of

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republics and constitutions and

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voting but most of the rest of

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the world for most of the rest

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of the world is an emperor, a

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chief, a king, and they all had

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beginnings. You can open a book

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and and read the story of when

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this kingdom began and when

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that kingdom ended and so that

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tends to be how we think about

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the kingdom of god. We think

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that the kingdom of god began

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when the ministry of Jesus

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began. Oh, there's that date.

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Oh, that's when Jesus was

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born. He's saying that the

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kingdom of god is no, he

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doesn't say the kingdom of god

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has begun. He says the kingdom

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of god has come near. It's the

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same thing that John the

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Baptist says. They don't

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proclaim the idea that hey, a

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kingdom that never was is now

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here. They're saying that a

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king that has kingdom that has

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always been is now visible in a

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kingdom that has has come so

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close that you can no longer

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ignore its existence. Because

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here's the thing. If god is god

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then it follows that god has

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always been king.

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Whether humans acknowledge

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that or not.

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We're not. Instead of choosing

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and acknowledging god as king,

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we choose our own ways. We

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choose our own fruit from the

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trees that we choose. We want

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and we choose our own rulers

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and our own kingdoms. We see

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this happen in the story of the

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Israelites. Yeah, after they've

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been in the promised land for

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awhile, what happens is that

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every other kingdom has a king

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as a human king. So, what they

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do is they get the high priest

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Samuel and they say, hey, go

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tell god that we want a king

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like everyone else. Just a

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regular guy. They wanted to

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replace god with the human. Of

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course, why would they want god

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as their king? The king that

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was sent to them from Egypt,

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splitting the sea, creating

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daily bread out of thin air,

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leading them with pillars of

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cloud and fire literally

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breaking the barrier from what

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perceivable heaven and earth

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were making water spring from

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rocks and giving them a home

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and a land to call their own.

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Why would they want that when

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they could have a regular guy?

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They would want that. But just

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because they and just because

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we and actually when Samuel

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goes to god and tells him that

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Samuel's feelings are hurt and

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god says, hey, they're not

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rejecting you. They're rejecting

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me. Just because we reject god

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as king and put earthly men on

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thrones, god doesn't stop being

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a god. I don't like to bring a

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politics a whole lot from the

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pulpit but this reminds me of

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what happens here in America

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after a new president gets

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elected. It I've seen it in at

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least the last few election.

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There's always a small

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contingency of people that will

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say something like this. Not my

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president.

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But what I've seen is that

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someone made magically makes

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that person not their president.

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But what any one of us says

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doesn't change the reality of

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what is. If I am a citizen in

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the United States, then whoever

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holds the opposite of president

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is my president for better or

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worse whether I believe it or

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not, whether I agree with them

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or not, whether I think they're

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not my god. I'm not my king.

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Not my god. Not my king. While

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we can have honor and respect

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for each other, understanding

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and empathy toward different

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religious backgrounds and

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create space for diversity of

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how we believe in that god at

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the same time, what we say or

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think does not change what is.

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That if there be a god.

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If there is a god, then what we

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choose on earth doesn't change

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the nature of what or who that

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god is. Even if I'm standing

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here in the center of the

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concept of Christianity and I

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have it all wrong, everything

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that I'm saying right now does

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not change the nature of who

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that god is.

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So, if god is king as the

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concept of Christianity would

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change the nature of the king

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even when we do not know it. So

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the kingdom of god is permanent.

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Second, the kingdom of god is

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present in the person of Jesus.

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Jesus makes the kingdom visible

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again. One of the reasons if

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you go back and listen to to

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the sermons, we've I've brought

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back the first two sermons in

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the gospels with Jesus keeps

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pointing back to what happened

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in the first testament in the

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history of these people was so

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that they would think so that

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we will think, hey, I remember

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when god did that before when

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when god proved his presence

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when god proved the goodness of

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his kingdom before way back

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when the spirit hovered over

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the waters at creation. Look,

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the spirit descends upon Jesus

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and look, Jesus is tempted and

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resists the tempter. Moses

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brought the twelve tribes out

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of Egypt. Look, Jesus is

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choosing twelve disciples on

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the mountainside. The prophets

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healed the sick. Look, Jesus is

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healing entire crowds of people

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way back when human beings

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rejected god and wanted a man

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to be a man. You know how

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brilliant that is. You rejected

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me as god king. You wanted a

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human being. So, here you go. I

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will become a human being. I am

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giving you what you asked for.

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Kingdom is permanent. The

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kingdom of god is present and

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perfect. But not perfect. Why

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why not perfect? If god is

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perfect, if Jesus is the

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perfect king, why is the

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kingdom not perfect? And Greg,

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I don't know if you noticed but

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perfect starts with P as well.

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You could have kept the

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alliteration going with that but

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I can't use perfect because the

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kingdom is not perfect yet.

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The kingdom is not perfect yet.

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The New Testament scholar,

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Scott McKnight says this, the

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kingdom now is not the perfect

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kingdom of the not yet. And

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that means kingdom citizens now

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are not yet perfect, not yet

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fully loving, not yet fully

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holy, not yet fully just, and

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not yet fully peaceful. In

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other words, the kingdom is

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present but the kingdom is also

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not yet. Because we are not yet

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fully like him. One day, Jesus

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will come and make all things

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new and then when we, when all

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things are made perfect, then

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the kingdom will also be

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perfect but until then, the

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kingdom of god here on this

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planet will have the same

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infinite potential of Jesus on

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the earth and in the church and

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here's the thing.

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Misunderstanding this concept

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causes a lot of problems.

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Another P. Here's something

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else that Scott McKnight said.

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When we compare the kingdom to

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church, most people make

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comparisons. The point is to

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compare the future kingdom and

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the present church.

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But because the kingdom is now

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and not yet, the church is also

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now and not yet. He says we

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have to judge the church today

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on where we are in the timeline

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of god's kingdom.

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It's kind of like as a parent

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of a child, you know yourselves

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that the decision that a child

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just made is probably not all

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that bad of a decision. If you

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keep in mind how old they are.

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You're twenty-five. You're

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thirty-six. You're forty-eight

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or sixty and you're looking at

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an eight-year-old thinking,

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well, they shouldn't have done

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that. They're an eight-year-old

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child. So, with the concept of

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life, it makes complete sense

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that they did what they did

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when they did it. Has Jesus

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returned yet to make all things

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new? Not yet. Then, the church

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is also not yet perfect but we

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tend to want to declare that if

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Jesus is perfect, Jesus is

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present and his kingdom is

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here and the church follows

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Jesus, shouldn't the church

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be perfect?

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Because while the kingdom is

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permanent and the kingdom is

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present through Jesus, the

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kingdom by its nature chooses

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to live in the space of

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potential rather than

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perfection. Because unlike

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other kings and kingdoms, Jesus

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doesn't destroy his detractors

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and his people. Jesus doesn't

400
00:16:39,020 --> 00:16:44,340
trot around the countryside on

401
00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,440
horseback cutting the people

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00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:49,480
down that claim he is no king.

403
00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:49,480
that

404
00:16:49,540 --> 00:16:54,480
claim in their heart, there is

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00:16:51,540 --> 00:16:56,520
no god. Jesus doesn't expand

406
00:16:54,540 --> 00:17:01,420
his kingdom in the way of Rome

407
00:16:56,580 --> 00:17:04,360
or in the way of empires.

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Instead, the kingdom of god is

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00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:09,440
like a mustard seed. Night and

410
00:17:06,500 --> 00:17:10,940
day, whether he sleeps or gets

411
00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:12,440
up, the seed sprouts and grows

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00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:15,500
though he does not know how.

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All by itself, the soil produces

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00:17:15,580 --> 00:17:19,980
grain. First, the stalk, then

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00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:21,480
the head, then the full kernel

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00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,340
in the head. The kingdom is

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00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:25,180
like a mustard seed which is

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the smallest of the seeds on

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00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,580
earth yet when planted, it

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00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:30,260
grows and becomes the largest of

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00:17:28,660 --> 00:17:32,320
all garden plants with such big

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00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,620
branches that the birds can

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00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:38,580
grow. It's incredible in the

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00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,980
arena of potential instead of

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perfection because as one

426
00:17:41,060 --> 00:17:46,060
theologian wrote, the kingdom of

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00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,060
god does not force itself upon

428
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:58,100
Potential is something that we

429
00:17:53,660 --> 00:17:58,100
have to choose each day.

430
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:03,580
see this in the way that Jesus

431
00:18:03,580 --> 00:18:09,580
said in the Bible when he said

432
00:18:05,580 --> 00:18:13,520
our father who art in heaven.

433
00:18:09,660 --> 00:18:17,520
thy kingdom come where thy will

434
00:18:13,580 --> 00:18:21,520
be done on earth as it is in

435
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:21,520
heaven.

436
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:26,540
So, the kingdom of god is

437
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:31,500
permanent and it is present and

438
00:18:31,500 --> 00:18:39,480
it is present when we pray the

439
00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:42,480
way that Jesus told us to pray.

440
00:18:39,540 --> 00:18:43,980
And what he taught us is a

441
00:18:42,540 --> 00:18:47,520
prayer of potential if you're

442
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:51,520
paying attention. So, let us

443
00:18:47,580 --> 00:18:51,520
pray together. The our father.

444
00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:00,500
Our father who art in heaven,

445
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:06,480
thy kingdom thy will be done on

446
00:19:02,540 --> 00:19:09,480
earth as it is in heaven. Give

447
00:19:06,540 --> 00:19:11,480
us this day our daily bread and

448
00:19:09,540 --> 00:19:13,480
forgive us our trespasses as we

449
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,520
forgive those who trespass

450
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:19,500
against us and lead us not into

451
00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:23,500
temptation but deliver us from