Message Notes
There is a word Jesus mentions 105 times in the gospels, and Jesus spent his final days teaching about this one topic. The word is kingdom.
Jesus Sees The Work Of The Church Operating Inside His Kingdom – Matt. 16:16-19, 28:19, 20
In a 10-Mile Radius of Concord
- 976,167 people
- 405,384 homes
- The percentage of unchurched in St. Louis County:
- The percentage of unchurched in Jefferson County:
- The percentage of people who rarely/never attend church:
Current Spiritual Landscape – Between 1/2 to 2/3 of all the people you meet have no consistent connection to the body of Christ, or there are 531,942 people in a 10-mile radius of Concord who are away from God and/or the Church.
So if we are to work for the kingdom of God inside the Church, then “What is the Church?”
Our working definition of Church is: Church is a movement of people on mission for God with a message of salvation.
1. The mission of the kingdom happens through the voice of Spirit-filled people – Acts 1:1-8
Key Word: μάρτυρός (mar-turp-ros) – a judicial term meaning one who bears public witness of an experienced event; one who testifies in court or in a public hearing
What does D.R.I.V.E. mean? Debt Reduction Increases Vision Expansion
Why do D.R.I.V.E.? We can do more when we owe less
Who benefits from D.R.I.V.E.?
Our church community – Special Needs Ministry
And our greater community – Donate to Local Non-profit Organizations
Discussion Questions
MAIN TEXT
Matthew 16:16-19; Acts 1:1-8,14
TALK IT OUT
- Jesus used the word “kingdom” over 100 times in the gospels. What do you think of when you hear the word “kingdom”? Read Acts 1:3-6. From these verses, what kind of kingdom would you say the disciples seem to be envisioning? Now read Luke 17:20-21, John 18:36 and Romans 14:17. What do these passages tell us about the kingdom Jesus was talking about?
- Pastor Rusty mentioned that there are almost one million people living within a 10-mile radius of Concord, over half of whom are away from God and/or the Church. How does that reality impact you as a believer?
- Read Acts 1:8. In this verse, Jesus refers to his followers as his “witnesses.” In a courtroom setting, what does a witness do? How does being a witness for Jesus compare to that?
- Look at Acts 1:8 again. Where did Jesus say his followers would be witnesses? Translating that into modern language, we could say that we are to be witnesses beginning in our own neighborhood, then moving out into the surrounding areas and eventually expanding globally. In what ways do you (or could you) do each of these personally? In what ways do we (or could we) do each of these as a church?
- At the end of his message, Pastor Rusty talked about our D.R.I.V.E. campaign (Debt Reduction Increases Vision Expansion), noting that paying down our debt will enable us to do more for the kingdom of God. As our debt is reduced, what types of ministries and local non-profit organizations would you like to see us support as a church? Why?
LIVE IT OUT
- Take a few minutes right now to ask God to bring someone across your path this week who is currently away from him, so that you can show them his love in a meaningful way.
- Set aside some time this week to ask God how he would like you to participate in our D.R.I.V.E. campaign.