The Lord's Prayer

I was given the wonderful opportunity to talk to a crowd of about 500 people for a short time last night. I received several texts telling me you were praying for all of us...thankyou! This is the condensed version of what I dropped on them...

These thoughts are by all means not original with me, but just in case you feel they are heretical...kill me and not the brother who gave them to me:)

If these thoughts WERE original with me, I would probably be too proud to share them with you all:(

I would like to look at what I believe may be one of the most misinterpreted scriptures in our modern world….the Lords Prayer.

Many times the Lord's Prayer has been subconsciously edited to say: Our Father who art in Heaven…hallowed by thy name…thy kingdom come…they will be done… which is to take us to heaven when we die.

…some wonderful editing…but that's not what Jesus prayed

Jesus prayed: Thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!

He speaks of heaven’s will coming down to the earth and being done here just like its done in heaven….

Jesus showed up in a context where he said, Listen everybody…I want you to stop believing all the other stories…

That’s in part what the word REPENT means…. (It doesn’t only mean to feel guilty)…..it means to look at things in a completely new way….you see things in a new light....you start telling a completely new story....

Jesus says, There’s another story going on here…

Another word for story is "news"… (when you listen to the news you have story)

Jesus said, "I’ve got better news…a better story"…HE CALLED IT GOOD NEWS!!!

Citizens of the Kingdom of God…we ought to be living by Jesus story…not all of these other stories.

And Jesus is the firstborn of the dead… How do you become the emperor?? (by being the firstborn of the previous emperor)

Jesus is the firstborn of the dead so...Jesus has authority over all things and he makes reconciliation whether on heaven or on earth through his blood….He makes peace through the shedding of his own blood!

How did Caesar make peace? – shedding others blood on the cross

How does Jesus make peace? – shedding his own blood on the cross

This is a very different story…not the story that Caesar is in charge(and has the way to peace)…a story that Jesus is in charge and Jesus has the way to peace.

Now brothers and sister what does this mean….

This means that we need to recognize that life is full of crisis…and every child that is born into this world is part of these crisis…

This means that as youth workers…pastors…parents…and even teachers for Jesus Christ…we aren’t just recruiting people for heaven…

We are recruiting people to be agents of the Kingdom of God in relationship to the crisis of this world…

Tonight you will hear talk about planting seeds of truth…you will hear talk about how death is not an end…

above all…I hope that you see demonstrated by our lives…that we are agents in the Kingdom of God…responding to the crisis of our world.

Our father who art in heaven...hallowed by thy name...thy Kingdom come...thy will be done...ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!!!!