This past Sunday, we concluded our Kingdom Foundations sermon series with a message titled “On Earth As It Is In Heaven.” Over the past several weeks, we have been laying the foundation for what it means to be a Kingdom-centered church. We have talked about the King who builds His Church, the importance of seeking His Kingdom first, understanding our identity in Christ, and developing a culture that reflects His righteousness, peace, and joy. But all of those foundations lead us to an important question. What are we going to do with what God has entrusted to us?
In Matthew 6:10, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We have probably repeated those words hundreds of times throughout our lives, but have we really considered what we are asking? Jesus was teaching us to desire something greater than our own plans, preferences, and circumstances. He was teaching us to seek the will of the Father being accomplished here on earth, just as it is in heaven.
That prayer is at the very heart of Kingdom living. It reminds us that the Kingdom of God is not just a future promise we are waiting to experience. It is a present reality that should be shaping the way we live today. Jesus came announcing that the Kingdom was at hand, and through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection, He opened the way for us to become part of that Kingdom.
But there is something we must understand. When we pray for God's Kingdom to come, we must also be willing to participate in what we are praying for.
We cannot sincerely ask God to bring His peace into our communities while refusing to become peacemakers ourselves. We cannot ask Him to reveal His love to a hurting world while withholding that love from the people around us. We cannot ask for souls to be saved while remaining unwilling to share the Gospel. Kingdom prayer should lead to Kingdom participation.
This was one of the central truths of Sunday's message. The Church does not exist just to gather. We gather to be equipped so that we can go and advance the Kingdom of God.
Jesus made this clear in Matthew 28:19 when He instructed His followers to go and make disciples of all nations. In Acts 1:8, He promised that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and that they would become His witnesses. The early Church understood that the Gospel was never intended to remain within the walls of a gathering place. They carried it into their homes, their communities, their cities, and eventually throughout the world.
That same assignment belongs to us today.
Sometimes we become so focused on what happens inside the church that we forget about the people outside of it. We can spend our time planning services, organizing ministries, and maintaining programs while overlooking the very mission Jesus gave us. Those things certainly have their place, but they are meant to serve a greater purpose. The Church is called to prepare believers to carry the message, character, and power of the Kingdom into the world.
Every believer has a part in that mission. You do not have to stand behind a pulpit, lead a ministry, or travel across the world to make a Kingdom impact. Your mission field may be your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, or the people you encounter in everyday life. God has positioned each of us with opportunities to demonstrate His love, share His truth, and make a difference in the lives of others.
Jesus called us the salt of the earth and the light of the world in Matthew 5:13–16. Salt makes a difference wherever it is applied, and light changes the environment wherever it shines. In the same way, our presence in a community should make a difference because the presence of Christ is working through us.
I believe this is especially important for us at Kingdom First Church. As we continue planting and establishing this ministry, we have to remember that our purpose reaches far beyond growing a congregation. We are not here to compete with other churches, build a reputation, or establish another religious organization. We are here to participate in what God is doing in our community and to help people encounter Jesus, discover their identity in Him, and grow into mature disciples who will carry His Kingdom forward.
I want our community to be better because Kingdom First Church is here. Not because of a building, a program, or a particular personality, but because God's people are living out their faith. I want families to be strengthened, marriages to be restored, children to grow up knowing the Lord, and hurting people to discover that there is hope in Jesus Christ. I want us to be known as people who genuinely love, serve, and care for others.
That kind of impact will not happen overnight. It requires faithfulness, patience, and a willingness to invest in things that may take years to produce visible fruit.
One of the things I have been reminded of throughout this season is that planting requires a different kind of faith. When you plant a seed, you do not immediately see everything that seed is going to become. Much of the early growth takes place beneath the surface, where no one can see it. But just because the growth is not visible does not mean nothing is happening.
The same is true in the Kingdom of God. Every act of obedience, every person we disciple, every family we encourage, and every seed of truth we plant has the potential to produce fruit far beyond what we can see today. Some of the things we are building now may become a blessing to people we will never personally meet.
That is why we cannot measure Kingdom success by immediate results alone. We must remain faithful to what God has called us to do and trust Him with the harvest.
As we conclude this series, my encouragement is that we take these foundations beyond Sunday morning. Let the Kingdom influence the way you think, the decisions you make, the relationships you build, and the way you respond to the needs around you. Let your faith become visible through your actions, and let the love of Christ be evident in your everyday life.
We have spent these weeks talking about the foundations of the Kingdom. Now it is time to build upon them.
We are not just planting a church. We are planting Kingdom seeds.
Seeds of truth, faith, worship, love, discipleship, and service. Seeds that we believe God will use to produce a harvest in our community and in generations yet to come.
The Kingdom of God is greater than any one church, ministry, or individual. We have simply been given the privilege of participating in what our King is building.
May we remain faithful to that assignment, always seeking His Kingdom first and allowing His will to be accomplished through our lives.
On earth as it is in heaven.
With faith for the harvest,
Pastor Chris Tullis
Kingdom First Church
“Seek First The Kingdom”