Pray that we, Heartland, in our jouney towards "Familyship" will be watching
for where God is leading us and that we would follow His lead,
since we have never been this way before. Joshua 3:4

Dear Heartland Family,

I’ve been back from our summer Sabbatical now for a month, already, and it’s been great to be back with my Heartland Family. I thank you once again for this tremendous sabbatical gift you gave to my family and me. And now, after a summer apart, our journey continues together.

We’ve been talking a lot about the Kingdom of God, which isn’t a common topic in church. As a reminder: the kingdom of God is God’s realm, His sovereign reign where His will is done. It’s not a geographical or political entity, but wherever the Lord is obeyed in heaven and on earth. Therefore, on earth God’s people are a primary expression of God’s Kingdom, where His will is done.

Jesus ushered in this Kingdom through His announcement and subsequent actions. For example, His driving out demons was proof that the reign of God had come to a person through Him (Luke 11:20). Jesus went about announcing the arrival of the Kingdom, teaching on the nature of the Kingdom, and demonstrating the power of the Kingdom through healing, driving out demons, feeding and forgiving people. God’s Kingdom has come through the life, death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.

What does all this mean for us? Jesus reigns as Lord of Heaven and Earth right now, and we are here to live out His Kingdom justice, mercy, love and righteousness on Earth, together. Thus, He taught us to pray, “Our Father…Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in the heavens!!” To live this out requires a radical reorientation and reordering of our lives, putting Christ at the center of all we are and do.

This is a challenging journey because we easily get caught up in our busy, chaotic, distracted, self-centered, consumer-oriented and mind-focused world. In addition, since the main purpose of our faith seems to be going to heaven when we die, a lot of what we know is left in our heads, rather than affecting our hearts and lives. So how can we stand and grow against this flow, to get beyond the normal to the radical, life-changing Christian life Jesus spoke of? We jump in with both feet, and the rest of our body, along with the Body of Christ.

What might this look like? I suggest that the foundation and starting place for this spiritual journey together is the foundation of our Familyship Commitment:

• Seeking Christ and His Kingdom by becoming Devoted Worshippers of Christ (Mt.6:33;22:37-39)

­ Making daily, personal worship, & weekly, corporate worship a priority.

­ Setting regular time aside for prayer, and participating in Heartland prayer gatherings.

­ Allowing the word of Christ dwell in and among us richly on a daily basis.

As followers of Christ, we are first and foremost worshippers of God which must be expressed and practiced on a daily basis. We hear this call clearly from the lips of Jesus: seek God’s Kingdom first and love God most; deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me! I believe that if we will physically and practically put Christ at the center of our lives, that He will guide us the rest of the way on this journey. This is His promise for all those who choose to follow Him: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8)

When the entire church community begins to live this life of worship together, I expect that we’ll see a spiritual dynamic of the Spirit among us that is both powerful and transforming. It will not be an easy journey, but it will be a life-changing one, that will bring great honor and praise to God.

Pastor Ralph