The Kingdom Man

Countdown

Something fun (eg. Game, video, etc.). It is not necessary for this to have a tie in to the lesson, but it can.

Introductions

This is culture

Basic Opening Statement: We are glad that you are here with us at bcsm and we want you to know, more than anything, that you have a community of people here that love and care about you. This is a safe space to process your faith and ideas, to ask questions. You have a purpose or a place within this community which means we are better off with you than without you and you have a mission outside of this community. All of that rests on this one foundational truth that we want you to hear and want you to share: God wants to have a relationship with you.

You have community. You have purpose. You have a mission. You have truth.

I am _______________ and before we start, let me pray.”

*Pray for God to use what you have to say to move someone further along in their journey towards Jesus.*

Story Time

Stories are important. We tell them to each other all the time through TV Shows, Movies, Books and just plain old conversation. We ask people to tell us stories when we say, “What’s new?” or “How are you doing?”. We even tell each other our dreams. We are like, “This didn’t really happen to me but I feel you need to know that last night I thought I was being chased by my pajama pants because they wanted to wear me.”

Scientists say that our brains are wired for stories. That a fact wrapped in a story is more memorable than a fact stated plainly. That the emotional connection we can feel with characters and their struggles can help us deal with the struggles we face.

The Bible is a giant storybook. Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of this book that are not straight up narrative, but this is not a Reference Book. Some people say that the word Bible is an acronym for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (point right to left) like it is the instruction manual for life and all of that. And yes, there are instructions on how to live in there, but they are usually found in the context of a story.

This is the story of us and of God and how, through history God loved us, revealed himself to us and equipped us so that we could reveal his kingdom all around us. This is the story of a man named Jesus who died and rose from the dead.

So, in light of all of that, I want to focus on just telling you a story today. Is that ok? Are you guys good with that?

We are continuing our Kingdom of Heaven series where we will are exploring the very first book of the New Testament, Matthew, a couple chapters at a time. Matthew is one of four biographies of Jesus that we have in the Bible, we call them the gospels, or good news.

Now we can not cover everything. But if you want to dig a little deeper, you can go to thebcsm.com for our daily devotions that follow along with what we talk about here.

Now my English teacher in high school told me that the beginning is the most important part of story telling. They said that Once upon a time is a really bad way to start a story. But the best beginnings, are written by people who already know the story they are going to tell. Once upon a time tells you nothing about what is going to come in the story. The best beginnings aren’t just beginnings. The best beginnings are beginnings, middles and ends all at the same time. They transport you into the story immediately and make you ask questions that the rest of the story will try to answer. So as I start my story, you may have some questions. Hopefully I will answer them as we go along so, if you would, please bear with me. I might mention someone and you might think, who is this guy and why is he significant? If that happens, just jot down a little note on your phone or something and keep listening for the answer.

Anyway, you guys ready for a story?

Seeing their struggle He came to them. He was looking out over the moonlit lake and He saw them, smack dab in the middle still trying to move through the headwind to the other side. They had been struggling against the wind all night. Pushing the oars through the water, hoping to gain some traction. Focused on the task. Rowing with all their might.

We tend to focus on the struggle that is in front of us. The physical pain of muscles moving wood through water. The waves crashing outside, spraying us as we strain.

I really want you to picture this scene because it is really important. I am going to turn this off real quick. Alright now Close your eyes real quick. You won’t miss anything here I promise. Imagine the darkness covering the water as it is not quite dawn. There is the sound of the storm. (fade in sound: This is the Spotify Link) Listen to the creaking of the boat as it struggles to stay together. The smell of water. The waves crashing outside, spraying us as we strain. (water bottle). (Fade out sound) You can open your eyes. Did you feel it?

I saw you guys falling asleep there and I couldn’t resist.

Anyway, we tend to focus on the struggle that is in front of us (the person that just sprayed us with water) but it is often the inside struggles that are deeper, more profound, and harder to deal with. We focus on what our eyes can see and our bones can feel. We tend focus on the oars : the outside stuff. We focus on that one test, getting into college, getting out of student debt, finding a job, finding our soul mate, the daily grind of work day in and day out, our addiction to our phones, the internet and technology, other kids at school, etc.

But inside there is that pain, regret, disappointment, depression, the fear of not being loved, that we are useless. We can say life is a struggle and point to the outward things. We can point to the oars. It is much harder to talk about what lies behind the surface in the mind and the heart of the one struggling.

But Matthew tells us that while these twelve men are struggling with the boat and the oars, they were also struggling with something else. Something that they did not quite understand.

Because, you see, it had seemed like everything had all built to this crescendo of emotion. There was revolution wafting through the air. Like incense, it had started slow. Little whispers here and there. But something was happening.

This was THE moment. It seemed so much more significant than the ones that had come before, like it was finally time, at last to throw off the cloak of mystery, for the true king to gather his troops and storm the gates of the city. There was, after all, a murder, a martyr to avenge. This is for John! Send up the rallying cry. 5,000 men, 20,000 people all together were there, ready, at his disposal. And in the middle of this emotion, Jesus did something simple that seemed so profound. He went up the side of a mountain and he fed the crowds. He gave them bread.

This looked like a story they had heard about from their parents and grandparents and Rabbis. And in an instant the smoke of revolution was thick. You could feel it, choke on it. Nearly everyone came to the same conclusion like it was obvious. Like how could they have missed it before? They shouted nearly in unison, this man must be the Prophet King. The one like Moses who brings bread from heaven. The one who reestablishes Israel.

And the party was just starting… when he sends them away.

What?

He tells the crowd to disperse. He tells his disciples to go across the lake. He goes further up the mountain, alone and prays. He spends most of the night praying before looking up at the lake, as the storm picks up, he looks at the boat and the disciples pushing their oars in the water. They are hoping their physical labor could distract them from their spiritual distress and seeing their struggle, he came to them.

While wrestling with the winds and the water, the disciples were wrestling with who was this man that they had been following. Who is He? What did they miss?

John the Dunker, the one who had been killed, he had been going around telling everyone that this man was the Messiah. The one that was promised at the beginning. (echoey)

In the beginning God created from nothing, everything that is. The spirit of God hovered over the chaotic water and made it order and placed mankind there in the middle of this perfect order. Mankind rebelled with the urging of a serpent and threw the perfect order back into chaos, but God, seeing their struggle, He came to them because He loved them. Now, He told them the truth, that things would not be easy from here on out but He promised to send someone to crush the serpent of chaos, disorder and lies.

John the Dunker was claiming that his cousin, this Prophet, the bread- maker, the Moses man, was the Messiah. But now John was dead. Murdered by the so-called king, Herod. Politically, John’s death was bad news for Herod and he knew it. The only reason he did it was because his wife forced his hand. It was injustice and cruelty and if ever there was a time for the Messiah to lead a rebellion, now was the time. The people would not leave this Messiah alone. They had just asked Him to be the king, to take His rightful place. They were willing to fight and die for this man.

And he simply refused. Who was he?

And as the men in the boat scraped away at their disappointment and pain with every stroke of the oar, the questions kept coming. If they did not know who He was, how could they know who they themselves were? They were there because they had followed this man to this place. They were asked by Him to follow and to tell other people about Him. To become fishers of men. Maybe they thought they were destined for political greatness at the right hand of the king. To become the twelve new tribal leaders of the new nation of Israel. The fulfillment of the promises made in the prophets. But now?

Seeing their struggle, he came to them.

In the same way that when God saw the first man and woman struggle with shame and guilt at the end of the beginning, He came to them and made them clothes to cover their nakedness, their shame. Not because he had to. They earned their guilt by rebelling. They brought chaos into God’s perfect order. But God clothes them because he loved them.

In the same way that God saw the twelve tribes of Israel struggle in bondage, in slavery in a foreign land and to he came to them. He revealed himself to Moses through a burning bush and tells Moses his name: IAM. .. then Moses takes a step out on faith and goes to rescue the people from Egypt.

In the same way that God saw their struggle as they fled from the powerful Egyptian army and he came to them in fire and cloud and led Moses and the people to walk on dry ground through the middle of the Red Sea to a land of Promise. To establish the 12 tribes of Israel in His Kingdom as His people.

In the same way that when He saw their struggle in the wilderness, He came to them and provided bread from heaven.

And then through the wind and the water, the disciples saw Jesus approach and they did not recognize him. They thought He was a ghost. Because what else could He be. He did not have a boat and yet here He was walking in the middle of a lake. Walking on water.

I don’t know what this would actually look like because I have never seen anyone walk on water. I have seen magicians on tv walk on a plexiglass platform in a pool, but this was different. This was pure terror. The foundational laws of nature being bent.

Sometimes it is easier to focus on the oars. Sometimes it is easier to focus on the questions and the uncertainty, rather than to acknowledge that there is an answer. We know that there is an answer to our questions, but the questions get so comfortable. Many times in the midst of our struggle, we become afraid of the solution.

Remember, at first Moses did not want to go back to Egypt. He made excuses and put up barriers because he was more comfortable living in exile as a nobody shepherd. This was a guy that was so distraught at the cruelty of the Egyptians towards the Israelites that he actually murdered a man. But then he grew comfortable in exile, in the wilderness, in the separation that sin always creates, than the uncomfortable assignment that God was giving him. Moses was passionate about easing the oppression of the people of Israel, at one time. But now he was hesitant. But seeing his struggle God came to him and revealed himself to him and equipped him to lead his people to the Kingdom.

Here the twelve were struggling to move their boat through the wind and the waves to get it to move an inch all night, wrestling with the question of their identity and the identity of the man they had been following, they had become used to this struggle and were surprised and terrified when the solution just comes up alongside of the boat like its a beautiful day for a stroll.

As they watch with amazement and terror, it looks like He will pass them by, like God’s glory passed by Moses on the mountain, like the prophet Amos says God will not pass by the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 men in the boat, start to realize something. Slowly they are putting the picture together.

He calls out to them to not be afraid. Seeing their struggle he came to them and revealed who He was. What he says translates basically to It is I in our Bibles. But the language actually indicates something bigger, deeper, stronger. Something that gets past the oars and into their inner questions. Who is this man? That is when Jesus says I AM.

Seeing their struggle He came to them to reveal himself to them.

Then the floodgates broke open. We thought He was Moses come back. We thought He was an earthly king and prophet. But He is not Moses. He is IAM. He is the voice from the Burning Bush. The Cloud and Fire. The true provider of Bread from Heaven.

He is God hovering over the chaotic waters here to bring order.

You see the best beginnings aren’t just beginnings. They are beginnings, middles and ends all at the same time.

This man, Jesus, was God in skin. As He saw their struggle he came to them because he loved them. As he saw their struggle he came to them to reveal Himself to them. As he saw their struggle he came to them to equip them to reveal what His Kingdom looks like.

Peter, one of the 12 calls out, “Jesus, if it is you,” If you are who you just said you are, you can call me out on the waters and lead me like you led Israel through turbulent Seas so, “tell me to join you.”

Jesus told him to come and Peter, suddenly willing to leave the boat, to take a step out on faith because he sees a God in skin who loves him, reveals himself to him, and wants to establish something in him, Peter was confident that Jesus would equip him with the means of approach.

So Peter hopped out of the boat. His eyes focused on the one and only God. He took a step out on the waters like the Israelites crossing the Red Sea but the water did not part, it felt solid and held his foot up. He slowly took his hand off the side of the boat and moved towards Jesus. One step at a time. Eyes focused. Heart pounding. One more step.

The waves were raging, he felt the spray against his face and it was hard to keep his eyes forward. He glanced to the side and took his eyes off of IAM and started to fall. He cried to the Lord in his distress.

Seeing his struggle, Jesus came to him. He lifted him out of the chaos and back into the boat and suddenly they were at the other shore. After all of the struggling through the night, after all the questions and chaos, there was God hovering over the waters bringing order with Him.

Seeing their struggle Jesus came to them.

Seeing your struggle, whatever it is, He has come to you because He loves you. Seeing your struggle He has come to you because He wants to reveal Himself to you. Seeing your struggle He has come to you because He wants to equip you to reveal what his kingdom looks like with your story.

So what is your struggle? What is the real thing that you are wrestling with? What is the thing that keeps you awake at night? And I am not talking about the symptoms of our struggle, I am talking about the struggles that lie behind the oars. For you is it a lack of acceptance? Do you do everything you can to be accepted by your peers, by the crowd around you? Is it a lack of hope? Like are you so consumed and overwhelmed with the pressure of your future, your job, your college, your grades that you have no hope? Are you afraid that no one loves you? Are you afraid that you won’t measure up somehow? Are you afraid that you have no significance, like this world is too big for you to matter one bit? Are you afraid that God is not who He says He is?

Listen. God sees your struggle and He is here because He loves you, He accepts you, He reveals to you that he is your hope and that, if you would only submit to him, He will promote you to a life of great significance, one where you get to tell this very same story. That seeing your struggle He came to you..

We all have struggles. But with Jesus you also have a story of someone who loves you, reveals Himself to you and equips you. So get out of the boat and move towards Jesus. One step at a time. Eyes focused. Heart pounding. One more step.

Response

We respond every week with an invitation to baptism and communion.

Right now, we are going to take communion together. This is something we do every week to remember exactly who Jesus is. Who he revealed himself to be. We eat the bread that reminds us of his broken body. We drink the juice to remember the blood poured out for our sakes. I am going to play a song and I would just ask you to feel free to move to grab communion, or if you want to talk with one of the adults, if you want to make a different decision today or you want someone to be praying for you, that is what we are here for. Just let us know. If you don’t want to move and just want to listen to the lyrics of the song, or pray, or read the Bible you can do that as well.

Song

Pick a song that centers around the main theme of the lesson.

SONG

Discussion

Start with Prayer

Question 1

Question 2

Read Scripture

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5