SERMON
God’s World, God’s Kingdom
Psalm 47 (especially vs.2,7,8,9); Mark 1:15; Luke 17:20-21
September 6, 2026
Theme: Growing God’s Kingdom with Kingdom Grown Hearts
Key Theme Verses: Matthew 6:10; Matthew 6:33
The story of God’s world, God’s kingdom…
Psalm 47
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth…
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
The Psalm was most probably written either during the Exile or after the Exile…
The psalmist realized that the only “king” that was ideal was YHWH, their one God.
But that was what God had always wanted.
God created the world; it was/is always his. But he chose humanity to “rule” over it – through the authority he, God, had given them.
Sin entered the world, which, in a sense, was, “I will be self-ruled – my will to suit my pleasures and appetites.” (This, even though humans are not constitutionally made for that kind of self-rule!!)
God chose Abraham and his family to embody that relationship of ruler <-> subject.
Fast forward to a freed Israel in the Promised Land. The time is during the judges.
Israel is now a theocratic Covenant Community = God is king, his Law is followed; but the relationships within Israel, and between God and his people, were based on love, mutual obligations, and how God related with them – with justice and righteousness.
Leaders were appointed, but that was temporary, because God was their true leader, their “king.”
Until 1 Samuel 8:4-20. That’s when the people rejected God as king, and wanted a “king like all the other nations around them.”
God warns them through Samuel, the last great leader/judge, what a king would do – how he would “rule” them – like all earthly kings do – for his own pleasure.
They still want that king. And the rest is history. Everything that God warned happened. And is still happening.
Israel and her kings went far from their God, and God exiles them. They do return, but it’s not the same.
A yearning arose for God to come back as “king” – maybe sending a Messiah, an anointed one, sent one, a kingly one. Then Someone called Jesus began preaching, “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
If the Kingdom of God has come, so must have its King (You cannot have a kingdom, without its king!)
TO: Someone (not something)
Who says: Follow ME
The “good news” (Gospel) begins with the Call. But it goes on to the real GOOD NEWS
How? When we see ourselves as ->
Out in a foreign – and often hostile – land, as an Embassy, that represents and reflects its kingdom and its government/king, but is not the kingdom
Out in a landless – and often raging – sea, as an Ark, as a sanctuary that holds the vulnerable and their guardians.
Neither is meant to be permanent, though they point to the permanent through what (or who is contained in them). And what is that permanence? It is the Kingdom of God. As Christ-followers, we need to rediscover this Kingdom, rediscover this King, so that we can represent them faithfully, effectively, and joyfully.
Psalm 47
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth…
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
The Psalm was most probably written either during the Exile or after the Exile…
The psalmist realized that the only “king” that was ideal was YHWH, their one God.
But that was what God had always wanted.
God created the world; it was/is always his. But he chose humanity to “rule” over it – through the authority he, God, had given them.
Sin entered the world, which, in a sense, was, “I will be self-ruled – my will to suit my pleasures and appetites.” (This, even though humans are not constitutionally made for that kind of self-rule!!)
God chose Abraham and his family to embody that relationship of ruler <-> subject.
Fast forward to a freed Israel in the Promised Land. The time is during the judges.
Israel is now a theocratic Covenant Community = God is king, his Law is followed; but the relationships within Israel, and between God and his people, were based on love, mutual obligations, and how God related with them – with justice and righteousness.
Leaders were appointed, but that was temporary, because God was their true leader, their “king.”
Until 1 Samuel 8:4-20. That’s when the people rejected God as king, and wanted a “king like all the other nations around them.”
God warns them through Samuel, the last great leader/judge, what a king would do – how he would “rule” them – like all earthly kings do – for his own pleasure.
They still want that king. And the rest is history. Everything that God warned happened. And is still happening.
Israel and her kings went far from their God, and God exiles them. They do return, but it’s not the same.
A yearning arose for God to come back as “king” – maybe sending a Messiah, an anointed one, sent one, a kingly one. Then Someone called Jesus began preaching, “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
If the Kingdom of God has come, so must have its King (You cannot have a kingdom, without its king!)
- The Call of the Kingdom – Repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15)
- The problem of seeing repentance as individualistic: me, my sin, my salvation, my relationship with God, my eternal life, my place in heaven
- The call to repentance is a call to turn
TO: Someone (not something)
Who says: Follow ME
- True repentance / turning shows me WHO I really am: poor, naked, hungry – realize God as King
- True poverty gives me humility that shows me that I am one of many
- Believe the Gospel – the good news that the King with his Kingdom has broken into history
- Responding to the belief – “Follow me”
The “good news” (Gospel) begins with the Call. But it goes on to the real GOOD NEWS
- The Presence of the Kingdom – It is here, among us (Mark 1:15; Luke 17:20-21)
- Previously, God had a hand in history; some might even say directed history. In Jesus, God has actually stepped into history. The long-awaited king has come, and with him, his kingdom is now present!
- A kingdom’s king embodies authority, power, protection, provision, law/standards, justice
- But this Kingdom begins in people’s hearts: “The Kingdom is among/within you” Luke 17:20-21
- Repentance causes the light to shine IN us, constantly changing us
- Thus, if I am a part of this “kingdom,” a follower, I will see Jesus as:
- King-> I am a princess / prince=>worthiness that reflects my family
- Ruler-> I am a subject=>loyalty that is demanded for my Sovereign
- Owner->I am a steward =>faithfulness what is entrusted to me
- Master->I am a servant=>obedience to his wishes /commands
- But Jesus introduces us to a Kingship that is very, very different
- A king born in a manger, not a palace
- A king riding on a donkey, not a horse
- A king who comes to show what true authority is – that based on love
- A king who gave his life for humanity, and not take lives
- Everything Jesus said and did between his humble birth in Bethlehem and his cruel, unjust death in Jerusalem was a picture of a new reality of Kingship among us.
- Jesus’ teaching, his miracles, his conflict and victory over evil/demonic spirits, and finally his death (with him generously forgiving his killers) and resurrection – all point to this new kind of Kingdom, and its King that is among us (Luke 17:21)
- In the Kingdom of God, nothing is as it seems – the visible, the invisible, the tangible, the intangible. This Kingdom was never meant to be a political or an earthly kingdom. It was always meant to be ABOVE the kingdoms of the world, and speak into them
- [One of our biggest problems is that we believe that when our worldly kingdoms resemble even to a small extent the Kingdom of God, we begin to equate one with the other, and then get disappointed when the earthly Kingdom falls short. The Kingdom of God WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE A KINGDOM OF THE WORLD (Remember Jesus to Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this world" in John 18:36?)]
- But the Kingdom is IN the world…within DUMC – this United Methodist Christ-following and worshiping community in Doylestown
How? When we see ourselves as ->
Out in a foreign – and often hostile – land, as an Embassy, that represents and reflects its kingdom and its government/king, but is not the kingdom
Out in a landless – and often raging – sea, as an Ark, as a sanctuary that holds the vulnerable and their guardians.
Neither is meant to be permanent, though they point to the permanent through what (or who is contained in them). And what is that permanence? It is the Kingdom of God. As Christ-followers, we need to rediscover this Kingdom, rediscover this King, so that we can represent them faithfully, effectively, and joyfully.