Paul

Doxology
Song Of Hope (Heaven Came Down)
Faithfulness
Holy One
Thank You

…

Jessica and Kurt

Committed to going with dad the month of January and it’s a really amazing family
Totally connected to the community
Great to see him growing to know Christ
For the month of January we’d pick him up from a VA Shelter in Santa Ana and driving him back to Buena Park
People at Crave Life immediately picked up on the need for drivers and they loved on him and filled the need

Jon

One more month, only eight thousand more, no big deal
Gods already doing what God does, we just want to participate
We believe that Jesus gives us the best way of experiencing life
For those who have already given graciously, we are so grateful
Before we start, a couple of questions
Anyone here make any dumb mistakes? Say any stupid things? Been too tough on yourselves?
Grace and peace to you and your self deprecation, the shame and the guilt that you’ve brought into here tonight, you can never be good enough for God to love you – He just does

Prayer

The kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God
Jesus is passionate about these things
These two interchangeable terms that mean the same thing
Teaches it and demonstrates it
What does it look like when God is reigning and ruling in our community
It’s about a people who have chosen their king
Two weeks ago we talked about a parable
The Kingdom of Heaven can be like a king with a servant that owed him
Splagma, a deep, gut level compassion
Giving back from the depths of their being
God I want you to rule and reign in my life
I want to experience this compassion that You have for us
Definitely going to have to be patient as we learn how to have this compassion and extend it
Forgiveness is one of those key central values
Extend it to ourselves and to others
Do you want to participate right now
The kingdom of God is here now
So we have to ask ourselves the questions
*Are we putting these things into practice
When I see forgiveness and compassion happening, I can say the kingdom of Heaven is here in this place
Sometimes when I look at the word kingdom, I sometimes take the g out and get kindom and I think of family

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29 ESV)

We are a consumerist culture
Observation one: we can’t do anything to make the seed grow
The kingdom of God is already here, we’re not ushering it in
Really hard for type A personalities and consumers
KoH isn’t something I can control? I just have to watch, observe, and acknowledge it
…
Takes care of those who have been marginalized
We’ve got a major problem in our culture
We don’t know how to live in the present moment
We live in the past and let that push us into the future
Or
We live in the future hoping our circumstances will change
What you have right now is the ultimate reality
Wherever you go, there you’ll be
What do you want to say to me right now
Recognizing god is a difficult discipline

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:1-4 ESV)

Moses is just living life, trying to get from point a to point b
Maybe we don’t even realize areas where God isn’t ruling or reigning
God wants to get our attention in the mundane portions of life
It’s so amazing to me that Moses turned and it was only then that God spoke
I think that Moses walked this same trail every day
When did you show up? I’ve been here all along
I’ve been trying to get your attention for years
I believe that the kingdom of God, the presence of God is right here, right now
Longing to get our attention
The King wants our attention
30 minutes a week is an okay start
I’ve been trying to practice this in my own life
I want you to deconstruct my heart and making sure to become fully alive every day of my life
Thursday rolls around – 4 days left for the sermon
In my office all alone
Ski week and kindergarteners gotta ski
Wander around the corner and greeted by two ducks
I’m not a duckologist
The male got in front of the female to protect her
I’m having a conversation with ducks
God started to speak to me about very specific hings in my life I needed to deal with and He spoke to me through ducks
God speaks through all of His creation – which includes literature, art, movies, nature, ducks
When Moses stopped to see this strange sight, God said take off your sandals for this is holy ground
Wait when did it become holy I’ve been walking on it for years
it was always holy because I’ve always been here

Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:10-17 ESV)

A certain place is translated as the middle of nowhere
That could be a bumper sticker – God is nowhere God is now here
I’m a God who comes to you
Would you slow down just long enough for me to speak to you
Show me where in my heart, deconstruct me, I want to experience this compassion, give the forgiveness you have given
I don’t want to be a consumer, I want to be a giver, not a taker
Done in this community as in Heaven
Even when we screw up He’s still there
A sower who throws out seed – doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it sprouts
And God speaks, go collect it

Paul

The song I want us to sing didn’t immediately jump to my mind
When Jon talks about the streets we walk past and considering the mundane
God is the God of our city, of the people we interact with every day
He wants to do greater things through us, not just in thunderbolts
You're The God Of This City (You're the king of these people)