Story Of Two Kingdoms

A fun fact about me is that I grew up in northern Argentina, by the mountains. And I am married to an awesome woman from Iowa. But we met all the way in England. That's correct. I was doing missions there, working with YWAM, and she came to do the same. We became good friends and eventually we fell in love. I remember meeting for the first time, she said she was from iowa and I was Iowa what?… after a long time trying to convience her to marry me she said Yesss… But she said, I need to confess something to you… When I moved to England, I was hoping to meet a Tall… maybe you can't tell, but I am not very tall.… British man, I know I look like it, but I am not British… With A british accent....I could fake a British accent, but I am terrible… I laughed and responded. You thought you knew what was good… But God knew what was even better…

We have a beautiful family now, I never in a million years imagined preaching to 500 people in the middle of Iowa. But…

God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and this week is all about learning to fully trust in God.

MY TESTIMONY

Like many of you, I grew up in a Christian home in northern Argentina. My parents were believers, but when I was about seven, something changed. They got serious about their faith. They started seeking God deeply—attending conferences, traveling to retreats, and stepping out of their comfort zone to grow spiritually. That hunger for God impacted our whole family. I accepted Jesus into my heart very young, and actually many times at camp like many of you have done.

As I got older, life got full. Sports, which I loved, school, which I took very seriously, and music, which was my passion—began to take center stage. I dreamed of being a professional musician, a drummer one day, play in big stages, make a living out of playing drums.

And to add to everything, I had my first girlfriend. I was very serious about it. I was in love.

On the outside, I looked like a "good Christian guy." I never stopped going to church. But inside, my life was being shaped by things that were not helping me connect with Jesus.

Then, suddenly, like a wave crashing down, it all fell apart. My relationship ended. My plans and dreams for my life fell apart. I got burned out on all the activities I was doing. I felt lost, and broken. All the things I had placed at the center of my life—my own little throne—crumbled, just like that.

I fell into a deep depression. I felt hopeless; I couldn't understand why bad things were happening to me. Why is this happening? And like many of us do, as. Christian, I went to God only when I had no answers, demanding help. Reproaching God, why did He let all this injustice in my life? And I lock myself in my room, asking him why this is happening. I remember praying madly. God, why did you let this happen? You don't understand what I am going through. I feel lost.

And like a child throwing a tantrum, I said… God...You don't understand because.… You never had a girlfriend! It was then that God showed up in a powerful way. In a way, I never expected it.

You are here for a reason, and that reason is that God has a plan for you.

Whether you are here for the first time, with doubts about faith, or even if you are not quite sure if God is real. Let me tell you, God has a plan for you. My first challenge is “Open up your hearts this week”

Or you are here, because you love Summer Games, you have been coming year after year, you are a commited Christian, you are a huddle leader. Let me tell you, you are also here for a reason and God has a plan for you. This week. Open up your heart and be open to what God wants to speak to you. Because, regardless of who you are. A tech, a leader, somebody who just showed up, not even knowing what SGU is. You are here because God wanted it that way. But now it is up to you to open up your heart and receive from God this week.

THEME OF THE WEEK “HEAVY IS THE CROWN”

The theme of the week, “Heavy is the Crown,” you might think, what does that even mean? The Crown represents kingship. Kingdom Royalty, prestige. Glory.

To be able to dive deeper into this week’s theme, I want to invite you to go with me to the theme passage.

So if you have a Bible, go with me to Revelations, or if you are taking notes, write it down and follow on the Screen.

Revelation 4:9-11

For Context.

The book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible, written by John while he was stuck on an island called Patmos for following Jesus. It’s packed with wild and powerful visions—dragons, beasts, angels, battles—all pointing to one big truth: Jesus wins. All these symbolic dreams and Visions that John has point toward one thing. The Victory is ultimately God’s. He wins.

Revelation 4:9–11 takes place in a powerful scene where the apostle John is given a glimpse into heaven. In chapter 4, John sees the throne room of God, and everything in the scene is meant to show God's glory, majesty, and holiness. It is a picture of the Ultimate KING.

Revelation 4:9–11 NIV

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

God is seated on His throne, surrounded by 24 elders and four living creatures (theologians believe the elders represent the church, and when we say church, is us. The people that decide to put their faith in HIM.

Every time they worship, the 24 elders fall down before God, take off their crowns, and lay them at His feet (verses 9–10).

In verse 11, they say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power...” — because God created everything, and everything exists by His will.

This shows us that the only one worthy of all the Glory in this universe is Jesus. The Ultimate King.

But the World will tell you otherwise…

But something common in Kings throughout History was that Kings were never satisfied with the kingdoms they had. It seemed that they always wanted more Kingdoms, to conquer more lands, to expand their power, to receive more glory… It was never enough.

But now in the 21st century in America, the story has changed. We are not used to real kings anymore. Perhaps we are now more accustomed to GOATS. Correct. The idea of the king of a specific sport. The greatest of all time. And there are debates. For example ,in soccer. Who is the GOAT?

Who thinks Ronaldo is the GOAT? But we all know the real GOAT is Messi? OF course, the King of soccer is Messi— No discussion about that.

What about Basketball? Who is the Goat? I was born in the 90s, so I grew up as a little kid watching Michael Jordan. I wanted to be like Him, then I realized I had no chance and moved on.

But now we know that LeBron James is an awesome player, and some people even have the audacity to say that He is better than Michael Jordan. If we are fair, we can't compare because the game has changed a lot. What we can acknowledge is that He is the KING of Basketball now. OF course, we cannot avoid talking about the queen of basketball. Catling Clark. She gets all the glory.

But going back to LeBron, a couple of years back there was an Nike ad for the Olympic games where LeBron said the following Quote “Being a winner is a curse; it doesn't matter how much you've won before, you're not a winner until you win again. Let's go and again and again, nothing is enough, no one understands, and you never want it to stop.” LeBron James

Nothing is enough! The crown the world will give you will never be enough. The glory the world will give you will never satisfy you. Heavy is the Crown is about the story of two Kingdoms. Two Kingdoms that collided. Two kingdoms that promise ultimate satisfaction. But only one of those Kingdoms will fulfill you. And I think you can guess what kingdom that is.

THE TWO KINGDOMS

The kingdom of this World has no problem giving you the biggest Crown. The biggest Hype, tell you that you are worth it. Tell you that you even deserve a bigger crown. But the Kingdom of God says. That crown is too heavy for you, that glory is too hard to carry. That crown won't satisfy you, because you were created to do something different. To surrender that Glory, that crown, that burden, to God.

The Kingdom of this World Says / The Kingdom of God says:

“Follow your heart.” / “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”Luke 9:23

“Live your truth.” / “I am the Truth.”John 14:6

“You do you.” / “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”1 Cor. 6:19-20

“Be true to yourself.” / “Put off your old self… be made new in Christ.”Eph. 4:22-24

“You only live once (YOLO).” / “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it… but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.”Matt. 16:25

“Chase your dreams.” / “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”Matt. 6:33

Although these phrases sound so positive and nice, the reality is that they go against the grain of what Jesus came to bring.

Don’t worry, this is not a new problem for Humanity. It is actually the Problem of Humanity since the beginning.

If we go way back to the beginning of human history, and everything began. Scripture narrates the story of Adam and Eve, two people who represent humanity. God made them in His image. they were born out of love, and not necessity.

In

MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE

Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, In the image of God, he created them; male and female, he created them.

First, God makes Adam in His own Image. We are the only creatures in the universe created in the image of God.

You were created to reflect God's character. You were designed to be a mirror of His goodness, love, and justice to the world around you. You were created to represent God to others. to live in such a way that when people see your life, they catch a glimpse of who God is. You were created to rule under God, the ultimate King. To be pert of God’s royal family, to enjoy His glory for ever— and to steward this world just as He does.

But what happened in Genesis? Adam and Eve are enjoying the beauty of work, of ruling over nature with God alongside.

THE FALL

But then, Genesis 3, the serpent appears, the Devil, the evil one. Presenting a different alternative. Did God Really Say?

Genesis 3:1–7 NIV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Did you ever ask yourself, what was the thing that brought the separation between humans and God?

Was it just the action of disobeying God and breaking his rule? Well, yes, that was part of it,

The real sin was humanity’s decision to replace the Ultimate King—taking His crown and placing it on themselves.

I can imagine Adam and Eve, desiring all the power that God had, all the glory, distrusting God, thinking. Maybe he is right. God is not good; He is just hiding something good from us. We can be our own bosses, our own kings, we can create our own kingdom. Yessssss!

And the rest is History.

We all belong to one of these two Kingdoms. And even though I might have grown up in church. or claim to be Christians, go to church. We all participate in the Kingdom of the world. And the story that you will discover this year at camp is that it is a constant battle between these two Kingdoms. But Spoiler alert.

God already won. We know who gets the ultimate crown, and we know that His church, represented by the 24 elders, will surrender their crowns to the feet of Jesus. Because we are co-heirs with Christ, under God, adopted by His love.

Finish testimony:

To finish my story… God showed up in my life in a way I never expected. Even though I was angry at him, angry at my life and my circumstances. I can vividly remember God’s presence in my room when I was all broken up. I felt the Holy Spirit giving me an embrace. And for that moment, all pain and suffering were gone, it was like God was embracing me. It was as if I could taste the love of God, and I didn't want to leave it.

But at the same time, in a loving way, he convinced me. meaning He showed me the picture of my life to help me realize that although I was claiming and acting to be like a good Christian guy, I was not putting Him first. Jesus was not the most important thing in my life; first, I had my relationship, then my dreams, and activities, then my plans and dreams. And I realized that God was probably 3rd or 4th in my life. I was trying to wear the crown of glory.

And in a very gentle way, He presented to me two options. I could follow my own dreams and plans for my life, and keep on living the life I wanted. fighting for my dreams. and maybe succeed, maybe get all the glory, maybe become a famous drummer. Or I could follow God’s plan for my life, put Him first in everything, and my future would be uncertain me, but always with God by my side. And right away, I knew that no matter what happened in my life, after tasting and seeing that God is good, and knowing His presence was in my life, I didn't need anything else.

This week I have a similar challenge for you? Will you keep living according to your own plans, dreams, and glory? Or will you open up your hearts to be ready to receive what God has for you in life? ..

...because in God’s Kingdom, the King of kings is always enough!