Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick opens with a light Mother's Day joke, then prays that the congregation would hear from God rather than any other voice. He says the church's year-long theme, Kingdom Come, has shaken him as he has studied Scripture, and he repents of a Christianity that pleases people or runs on hype rather than the kingdom. From there he introduces the day's text, Matthew 11, and its title, Come to Me, framing the message as an invitation from Jesus that changes anyone who receives it.
Most of the sermon lays a foundation for the invitation. Kirkpatrick walks through Isaiah 9, Mark 1, Luke 4, Matthew 6, Acts 1 and Acts 28 to argue that the kingdom was central to what Jesus preached, prayed, and taught after the resurrection. He contrasts two kingdoms with no gray area between them, defines the kingdom through Romans 14:17 as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and warns that wealth and pride can keep people from receiving it like a child. He also addresses the hard verse Matthew 11:12, honest doubt through John the Baptist in prison, and spiritual warfare.
The message turns toward application through the image of taking the kingdom by force: persistence in prayer and faith rather than force against people. Kirkpatrick points to the woman with the issue of blood, Jacob, Daniel, Elijah, and the early church, then reads Matthew 11:28-30: Jesus invites all who labor and are heavy laden to come, take his yoke, and find rest. He closes with an invitation for hands to be raised in surrender and repentance, a prayer for awakening in central Oregon, and a short prayer of commitment and relief from striving.
Take this with you
The kingdom is the center, not a side theme
Kirkpatrick argues from Jesus' preaching in Mark and Luke, his teaching on prayer and priority in Matthew 6, and the church's message in Acts that the kingdom should be central to Christian life. He challenges the church to ask whether its practices actually reflect what Jesus emphasized.
There is no gray zone between two kingdoms
The message insists there are only two kingdoms, light and darkness, and no middle ground of believing in Jesus while life stays unchanged. Reading Jesus' opening call in Mark 1 to repent and believe the good news, Kirkpatrick frames daily choices as opportunities to turn toward God's ways or to reject the kingdom, not as a contest between many valid paths.
The kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy
Using Romans 14:17, Kirkpatrick says the kingdom is not about things or religious activity but about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. He connects that peace to Isaiah's description of the Messiah and says people were not made to live stressed and burdened.
Pride and wealth can keep people out
Kirkpatrick warns from Matthew 19 and Mark 10 that consuming concern with worldly things can make the kingdom hard to receive, and that the kingdom requires childlike humility. He says worthiness comes from what God has done, not from personal merit.
Taking the kingdom by force means persistence, not aggression
Kirkpatrick interprets Matthew 11:12 as persistent faith and prayer rather than violence toward people, citing the woman with the issue of blood, Jacob, Daniel, Elijah, and the early church. He insists from 2 Corinthians 10 that the weapons of this warfare are not of the flesh, and that suffering is not the absence of the kingdom.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
You know, I did read a study just this week about Mother's Day. That today of all the days in the year is today there is the least crime recorded on this day than any other day of the year on Mother's Day. Can you believe that? That just goes to show you that the mothers are the ones doing the criminal activity. That's just a I'm just saying they're too busy with brunch on this day to go commit those crimes. So, well, okay. Okay. I stole that off Instagram. All right. Hey, let's hear from God today. Uh there's a really, really, very important message today for you. It's not my word, it's God's word. I want us to pray before we get into this book today.
Believing that if you would be willing to receive this, it will change everything. I mean, no exaggeration there. Uh God has a great message for you. So, uh let's prepare our hearts. Lord, we want to hear from you today and no one else. So, I just lay aside any agenda, any distractions, anything that the demonic would want to do, even sleepiness. May that just be removed from this time right now. We invite you, Holy Spirit, to speak through your living word that it would be active and alive that you would activate in us your kingdom come and your will to be done. Let us not wait for heaven, Lord. We want it right now. So, we just say, "Holy Spirit, invade this space. Jesus, be glorified. Father, may we know how great your love is that you can heal any person. You help us become who you created us to be. So now we just give you this time in Jesus name. Come on, somebody shout amen with me.
Amen. Hey, if you brought your Bible today, would you get it out right now? We're getting into this book because it is active and alive and we want to receive a word from the Lord today. Are you ready to receive it? This is a word from the Lord today. Even if you didn't bring your Bible, God has a word for you. So raise your Bible up in the air like you care. Everyone shout word on the count of three. Here we go. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word. So God's word gets into us today. I want to repent. I want to repent of a a Christianity that is not always doing what God designed us to do. I want to repent as the lead pastor of this house that for 16 years I' I've sought to be who God wants us to be. But
there are times that in the western world that we live in, we're doing things that are actually far from what we find in this book. And this year, our theme has been kingdom come. And as I've studied kingdom in the scriptures, my world has been rocked. It's not what I expected it to be. I've been rocked by the reality that there are many things that we do in church and what we call Christianity today that's not what Jesus has said. I've been shaken to my core that as I read these stories of Jesus, he warns us that there are a lot of people that think they have it that don't have it.
And it pains me to even like come to church that people can come and sing songs and bring their Bible and say they know Jesus and one day you may not be gifted into eternal life. Today I want to repent that I ever want to please any person because I want to please God. Journey Church. We're on the precipice of something great. I believe we're standing on the edge of holy and God is not holding anything back from us. We just have to receive what he's already given us.
And today, I don't want to woo any person through emotionalism. This is not about hype. This is not about theatrics. This is about the kingdom of God. And no matter where you are in your journey of faith, if you're new to church, you're new to faith, you're new to the Bible, or maybe you've been coming to church a long time, I invite you on this journey. And I want to just warn you in advance. This is an adventure. And adventures aren't always easy. They're filled with unknowns. It's an adventure of following the eternal God who's always been, is, and will forever be God. He is the waym makingaking God that when you don't know where to go, he's the God that will provide a way when you couldn't see away. He is the
miracle worker that when you don't know where it's going to come from, he's always been the provider. He is the helper, our healer, our counselor. He is the God that shows up when we need him most. He's the one that promised, "I'll never leave you, never forsake you. I'll be with you always to the end of the age. So if you feel like you don't feel God, that's a lie of the enemy. He's there when you don't even know it. He's with you. He loves you. And the kingdom advances not in passivity, not in sitting back or shrinking back. It it happens when we believe it and we take God at his word. When we let it happen in our core, when we let the kingdom come in the our hearts. And when I I study scripture, it's the message Jesus preached.
And the one thing that kind of just it strikes me, why don't Christians talk more about the kingdom? Why is kingdom not more of a central theme of what we talk about, what we do, what we pray, what we put into practice. Kingdom is not just meant to be a spiritual phrase that we just use in this Christian language. It's not meant to be some place we go to one day. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom is meant to be the core of who we are. The title of today's message, if you want to write this down, I've changed it many times, so write this down so I don't change it again. Here we go. The title of today's sermon is come to me.
Come to me. It comes from the teachings of Jesus that we're going to look at today in Matthew chap 11. Jesus gives an invitation. Come to me. Not just for some people. He's given you an invitation today that if you would receive this, you absolutely cannot stay the same. If you'll receive this invitation from Jesus, come to me. Before we get to this invitation, I want us to have the same understanding of kingdom. The prophet Isaiah wrote some 700 years before the birth of Jesus that a Messiah would come, a Christ, the anointed one of God. And he says in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." This is for you, my friend.
And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. What a God. Of the increase of the government, and of peace there will be no end. This is kingdom language. We have a God that governs. We have a God that governs. And in his kingdom, it doesn't doesn't stay the same size. It increases. And with his kingdom comes peace. Come on, somebody. It's what you need. It's what I need. It's what your family needs. It's what this world needs right now is peace. And it comes with kingdom.
And it's not found through the governments of this world. is found through a person that Isaiah is speaking of on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold with justice and with righteousness from this time forth. Come on, somebody. You don't have to wait for this. And forever more. It's not going to end. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this. God keeps his promises. The Lord of hosts is a phrase you'll often see in the scriptures. It means like the Lord of armies. He He's the Lord of the angel armies. And the government is on his shoulders because he rules. He governs. We're speaking of a king unlike any other kings. I'm talking about the King of Kings, Jesus.
And every day, I mean, no exaggeration with this. Every day, you're faced with an opportunity to embrace the kingdom or reject the kingdom. Every day and every thought you do, every deed you do, when you wake up, you have an opportunity to experience the kingdom of God. That is to trust Jesus, to turn to Jesus, to abide in him and obey his word or to choose to reject the kingdom. For the Lord told us that there are only two kingdoms. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth. That is there is the kingdom of light. That is Jesus is the king of kings, the light of the world, and there's the kingdom of darkness. There's no third kingdom.
There are not many different ways in this world. There there's only two ways. The way of Jesus and not the way of Jesus. So many today are living in what looks like a gray area. It's like, I've got Jesus, but I've also stuck in my sin and the ways of this world. I I I believe in Jesus. I know I'm forgiven of my sins, but my life's really not that changed. And it looks gray, but I just want to warn you, there is no there's no gray in the kingdom. There's the light of the world, and there's the light of darkness. And Jesus stepped into this world so that we would know his world. It's the very first message he preached. May this never get old. This is his priority is that you as a person would experience the kingdom. Markapter 1
verse 14 and 15, we're told this. Now, after John was arrested, this is John the Baptist, not John the disciple that followed Jesus. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. Gospel means what? Shout it out. The good news. So, he's proclaiming good news. Hallelujah. Our God doesn't preach bad news. He preaches good news. Here's the good news. Verse 15, Jesus was saying, "The time is fulfilled. It's here. No more waiting and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Repent means turn to God. Turn to God. That's what repent means. It means quit doing things your ways. Turn to God's ways. And Jesus says when you turn to
God, you get the kingdom of God which is gospel. This is good news. This was his purpose. Luke 4:43, Jesus said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God." Do you see how emphatic Jesus is? I must I cannot not preach the good news. Jesus said, he couldn't stay in one place. He said, "I must also preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose. to preach the kingdom of God. You know, the word kingdom is used more than 150 times in the New Testament.
It's pretty important to God and it should be significant to us. Jesus taught us to pray the kingdom. Matthew 6:9 and 10, pray then like this. Here's your model of prayer. Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come and your will be done. Not only did Jesus tell us to pray the kingdom, he said, "Seek first the kingdom of all the things that you could prioritize in your life." What should you be going after first? The kingdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. You know, he was saying this in the context of stress.
of worry of what you're going to eat and drink, your work and taxes and all of the stuff that comes with it. And Jesus says, "Actually, if you focus on the kingdom, if you put the kingdom first, all these other things will be aligned." Now, Jesus didn't just preach these things and teach these things. Not only did Jesus put these things into practice, but after he died on the cross for every single one of your sins, he was buried in a tomb on the third day by the power of the Holy Spirit, he rose from the grave. And of all the things he said resurrected, of all the things he could talk about after he was resurrected, before he ascended into heaven to give us the gift of God himself, the Holy Spirit, what do you think he talked about? Come on.
Kingdom. Acts 1:3 Jesus presented himself after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days. For 40 days he revealed himself to more than 500 people resurrected. And what did Jesus do? Speaking about the kingdom of God. This was his priority before the cross, after the cross, the kingdom of God. This is what Jesus decided to focus on. This is what we ought to focus on. After Jesus ascends into heaven, the Holy Spirit comes upon believers in Jesus, the church is now born. And as the church
starts to thrive and grow and multiply and experience persecution, the very message they preached, and you can read about the early church in the book of Acts, is they preached the kingdom. And in the very last chapter of the book of Acts, which tells the earliest story of how the church got started, we read of a guy named Paul who preached about Jesus. He preached about the kingdom. He was beat up. He was whipped. He was persecuted. put in prison. And the very last chapter in the very last book of Acts, it says this guy Paul did not stop talking about the kingdom. It says he went proclaiming the kingdom of God. Hallelujah. Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
Come on. Can you see how important the kingdom is? Listen, I I I I could go much further what the Bible has to say, but I want to just lay the foundation today that if you want a biblical Christianity, it cannot be without the kingdom. And it's not about the comforts of what we want in this world, it's not about, oh, I want this worship music, I want this type of preaching. We don't see that Christianity in the Bible, one that's filled with programs and ministries. We see one of the kingdom of God that advances that if you call yourself a Christian, you want what God wants. And what God wants for you to have today, my friend, is the kingdom of God. And if this is a new message for you, like forgive me and all the pastors out there that have tried to tickle your ears
to somehow please you to come back because it's exhausting. And the Bible warns Timothy at the uh Paul tells Timothy at the very end of his life. He says, "Beware in the last days there will be a form of godliness without power." You can't have God without power. But he warns before Jesus returns again, there will be a church that calls themselves a church. They'll talk about a God that has power, but there'll be no power. And I got to tell you, I've been a part of that church. that sings songs, that studies the Bible, but people are still stuck in sin. Marriages still get divorced. Kids grow up and they don't want anything to be a part of the church because there's no power. And then we blame that generation and say, "Oh, that
generation's leaving the church." That's not the church. They've been duped by the devil to think somehow that Christianity can have Jesus without the power. With the kingdom of God comes power. Romans 14:1 17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking." What the writer Paul means is the kingdom of God is not about things. Things are not the kingdom. Singing uh songs, coming to church, that's not the kingdom. Here's what the kingdom is. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is what you're destined for. Righteousness. This is what you're destined for. Peace.
How do you get that peace? Do you remember Isaiah, the one that talks about the government will be on his shoulders? Remember what he's called? The prince of peace. We're talking God's perfect peace. You are literally made not to be stressed out, not to be so busy, not to bear the burdens of this world. You're meant to have righteousness, peace, and finally, what else are you supposed to have? Joy. Hallelujah. Let me just tell you, if you got a church without joy is missing the kingdom of Jesus, you are meant to have joy, not just a little. Jesus said, "I want to give you joy to the full." He wants you to have the fullness of his joy. You get this joy from the king of all kings who is the one that governs and rules. That's why we call it kingdom. He has a way.
It's his kingdom. But Jesus warns, please do not miss this here. He warns that many people will actually miss it. How could you miss the kingdom of God? If it's if it's righteousness, peace, and joy, who could miss this? Here's what he says. Matthew 19:23 Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven." Now the disciples when they heard this culturally speaking, they thought wealthy people were more loved by God because they got wealth. So they must have been blessed by God. So if wealthy people have a hard time getting the kingdom of heaven, how much harder is it going to be for the rest of us? And Jesus is trying to teach them something. The kingdom is not the way you think it is. It's it's available for all. He didn't say it's impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
It's not wrong to be rich. But wealth is not kingdom. Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking. So if you are so consumed with the things of this world, a bigger house, paying off your car, your student loans, if you're concerned about the things of this world, Jesus said it's going to be hard for you to experience kingdom. It's not impossible, but it's difficult. We live in the wealthiest place in the world. Not just Bend, Oregon, I'm talking about, but the the great nation of America that we live in. And Jesus warns those of us here, it's going to be harder for us to really experience kingdom.
Please have the humility to identify that Jesus didn't just say this for some people. He said this for you. Jesus keeps his promises and he said Mark 10:15, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." See, there's a lot of teaching about the kingdom, but there's also a lot of warnings about the kingdom, warnings about who may not get the kingdom. The kingdom requires humility. And the moment you have humility, you get hope because the burden is no longer on you
to figure it out. The burden is not on you to be smart enough or strong enough or talented enough or good enough. You know, you can never be good enough for the kingdom. You don't get the kingdom because you're worthy. It's because he's worthy. And the fact that you're not worthy doesn't mean you're worthless. But it's identifying that what God has done for you is what gets you into the kingdom. And the very thing that got Satan kicked out of heaven is the very thing that will stop you from experiencing the kingdom of heaven. I'm talking about something that's so subtle that hardly anybody repents and acknowledges they have it. Pride.
Thinking you don't need God. Not wanting God. Not pointing other people to God. And lest you think that there's all these bad things that are happening on earth keeping us from how good God is. Let me just tell you, Satan was in heaven where there was no sin. He was in the presence of God and still had enough pride not to surrender his life to God. So don't think that you need the right circumstances for you to believe in God. Well, here's my life is tough and this thing has happened. Well, let me just tell you, if your life was perfect, you would still have to recognize you have to submit and surrender your life to God. Adam and Eve were in a garden that had no weeds in it. Everything was glorious.
and they still got deceived and duped by Satan. He deceived a third of heaven. Don't think that he can't do it in the church as well. He's a great deceiver. It's what he does. Jesus said it's it's his native language. He he lies. And so the first recognition of the kingdom is you got to be like a child because without a child, you have pride. Because you need humility to understand your desperation and need for Jesus. The kingdom is all about the king. And then when you get the kingdom, it just it'll wreck you. Like last week when we had pastor uh pastor Montel Jordan. Come on. He gave a message that was so hard, but it wasn't his message. It was the kingdom message of Jesus.
Jesus said, "You don't need to just love people that love you." He said, "Love your enemies." I'm going to find a new church because if we don't put this into practice, we're not putting into practice the kingdom. So, the kingdom can be hard. The kingdom says you don't just leave when you don't get your way. You don't just give up. You don't just quit. You don't shrink back. You don't give up on God when you don't have it figured out. You go to his word. You draw nearer to God. You come to Jesus. I like how pastor Noah started this year when he was referring to the kingdom. I'm not crazy. I'm kingdom. Because it does sound a little crazy when you start taking Jesus at his word. People will start to think you're a little bit crazy when you hear the teachings of Jesus. You got to lose your life to get it. The last will be first.
The humble are exalted. It's the children that get the kingdom. One of the ways you can miss the kingdom is simply not seen the kingdom. Jesus said, "You will be blessed if you're pure in heart, for blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Now, this is just this is a heart check here. If I can't see God, the problem is in God. The blessing comes when I have to surrender and say, is are there things in my life that are diluting the kingdom? That are stopping me from seeing the kingdom that are stopping me from seeing God for who he really is. Because the Bible teaches us God is perfectly good, always true. He'll never stop. So if something's off in that,
it's not God. I've got to see God more clearly. So to experience the God is to say something in my heart needs to align with God's heart. And when I align with God's heart, I experience the kingdom. When I experience the kingdom, I experience the ways of God. And I gotta tell you, they're so good. The more I experience the kingdom, the less of what I want happens in my life, the more of what God wants in my life. And the quicker I run to God. This is this is the key to marriage. Not to learn to fight harder, to win more, figure out how to hurt that other person more. Surrender quicker. Yep, I screwed up again. And let me just tell you, I shouldn't have done that.
Let me look you in the eyes and say, "I love you and I'm going to learn from this. I'm going to be who God made me to be." When you screw up with God, the more you understand who he is, the quicker you run to the father because you realize the promise of Romans 8:1. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God loves you. He's ready to liberate you from your mistakes. Those don't define you. He defines you. So when you run to the father, you get embraced by the father who lavishes you with kisses, lavishes you with identity, reminds you who you are. That it's not the bad decisions you've made. It's who he is and who he is shapes who you are. This is the kingdom. So I come to Jesus. I don't run from Jesus. But if I don't believe he provides, if I think that he's going to shame me or guilt me, if I take the ways
of this world, the kingdom of earth, and I apply them to God, I don't want to go to God. I do what Adam did in the garden. I hide from God that actually sees everything. You know, you actually can't hide from God. But it's your guilt that starts to lie to yourself that you start to perceive God in a way that's not accurate because something is wrong in your heart. And when you have the kingdom, you start to realize that suffering is not the absence of God. Suffering is actually an opportunity for the intimacy of God. So if anything's wrong in my life, anything, health, wealth, relationships, job, when someone dies and I didn't want them to die, I I if I have the kingdom, I
don't give up on God. I go to God and I start to ask questions of God because he's a father that loves me enough that he's going to show me the way. He's going to show me the truth. He's going to show me life. That life is not found in eating or drinking. That's not the kingdom. So the kingdom is not everything works out perfectly. It fits perfectly in my box and as long as I'm comfortable, God is good. That's not the kingdom. The kingdom is when the whole world seems to be collapsing. My God meets me. He walks on the water to get to me in the middle of the storm. My God is the one that suffered on my behalf with joy set before him. He endured the cross. Listen, my God shows us that suffering is not the absence of the kingdom. It's the opportunity for intimacy to know Jesus even greater.
So what is the kingdom? Matthew 11:12. Jesus is right in the middle of this incredible text. This is to me one of the most underused Bible verses. One of the most underqued. It rocked my world a few years ago. I'm like, "Wait, this is in the Bible? I never knew this. I've been following Jesus for how many decades? What what does this actually mean?" Jesus said this. I quote from Jesus. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force. If you come to hard scriptures, you don't need to ignore them. You just got to get to know them. You got to get to know God greater. So, there's going to be scriptures and there's going to be people that try to lie to you. Oh, don't believe the Bible because of genocide or because of this thing or that thing or or look at how it oppresses women here or does this here. Let me just tell you,
you get to know God. Nothing will contradict who God is in this book. We just all have to grow in our knowledge of it to understand the full context of it. This was not written last year and printed in digital form on Kindle and audible so that we can just enjoy it. This is God's eternal word guided by the Holy Spirit so that you can get to know God even greater. Now we come to this verse. Let me just read it one more time. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. So what do the violent do? The violent take it by force. Now to to to understand a verse of the Bible, you always got to read the full context. What I mean by that is the pretext and the postext.
There's like I watched the fights last night. Anybody else watch fights? They were so good. Uh and a a lot of UFC fighters, they get uh one particular Bible verse tattooed on their chest. Not just one guy, but many of them have the same verse. Does anybody know what it is? Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through him who gives me strength. I will win and sometimes lose, but I can do all things through Jesus who gives me strength. But you know the context of that, if you look at the pretext to that is whether I have little or whether I have a lot, I've learned to be content. I can do all things through him who gave. So we always have to understand the whole pictures, right? not not just take what we see celebrities do or athletes do. We got to look at the whole text. So, let's look at the whole text. Who is John the Baptist? Well, the whole chapter starts
off with John the Baptist. He's so important that Jesus really writes a whole sermon revolving around this guy. He actually says, "There's been no one on earth like John the Baptist." Wouldn't you like Jesus to say that about you? There's no one on earth like John the Now, he's not just saying that because it's his cousin, which he was. He was a relative of Jesus. But he's actually saying it because of John the Baptist heart and he lived out the kingdom. Now remember what we read in Mark chapter 1. Now after John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus preached the kingdom of heaven is fulfilled or at hand. Do you remember that? Now why was John the Baptist arrested? Well, I watched TMZ. He got a DUI riding a donkey and uh just kidding. That's what the world would say. He was arrested because he was preaching the truth. And
the truth is not always accepted. So just because you suffer for teaching the truth, that could be the kingdom. For the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. John the Baptist was arrested because he called out Herod for sleeping with his brother's wife because God has a good design for sex, a good design for marriage, and we can't take matters into our own hands. So as he talked about the truth of God, he actually got arrested and put in jail. Now, he wasn't just in jail for one day or a few weeks or not even a few months. He was there for a long time. That's John the Baptist. The guy was incredibly unique. He was not an ordinary man. He wasn't polished. He wasn't building a brand. In fact, he was the one that preached this message before Jesus preached it. Matthew 3:2, "Repent." That means turn to God.
Everyone shout. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When he preached this, there was some violence. And I don't mean physical violence. I mean some spiritual violence. He decided not to do it in the synagogue in the city. He did it out in the wilderness because there's hope not just for some people. There's hope for everyone. As he said repent, people actually took him at his word and something started to shift in their hearts and they were baptized. They left their life of sin and all of a sudden the light started to increase and the darkness started to decrease. There was such a movement happening with John the Baptist preaching repentance that even the spiritual leaders had to come out and see it because when the kingdom happens, people are curious.
Not everyone will submit to it. Not everyone will surrender to it, but they will be curious and the religious systems start to shake because of the kingdom. So he ends up in prison for several years. And while in prison, Matthew tells us 11:2, go to the beginning of this chapter. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent word by his disciples. Now, I need you to picture this scene. He's stuck in prison while he's hearing about Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons, but he's still stuck in prison. Can anyone be honest enough to say that you've found yourself in a place you don't want to be when God is still good? is the ultimate why question. Why am I stuck here? Why am I in this place? Why is this still high? If God you're able
to deliver, cast demons, heal the s if you can do all these things, why? So this is what he does. Verse three, he's he asks Jesus this question by the way of his disciples. Please go ask Jesus this question. Really simple question. Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? Now, if you've ever doubted in your life before, John the Baptist, who's considered the greatest man that's ever lived, except for the least of these, which can be greater than John the Baptist, same chapter, same story. But if he doubted, let me just say, there's permission and room for your doubts in the kingdom. Not to give up on God, but to actually go to him and ask him. Because the response from Jesus, he quotes from the book of Isaiah. Jesus said in verse four via the way of his
disciples, Jesus answered and said, "Go and tell John what you hear and what you see." Verse 5, "The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them." This is kingdom. He's fulfilling what God prophesied through Isaiah about the Christ. It's happening. But listen carefully. Verse six, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. When things don't go your way, don't give up on God. The kingdom suffered violence for many years. And now Jesus says, "There is a time that you're going to recognize that although the kingdom has suffered
violence, the violent take it by force." That was going to be the title of today's sermon by force. I was going to yell at you and uh I know I've been yelling. If you're new here, I'm not yelling. I'm excited. Uh I told my wife on Friday, I'm worried about the sermon this Sunday because I don't want to preach with a chip on my shoulder and I don't want to preach to people who aren't here anymore. And the Holy Spirit just wrecked me all weekend. What does taking it by force look like? Don't stop loving. Don't stop praying. Don't stop serving. The violent taking it by force does not mean I use the tactics that have hurt me by force. It
means I use the tactics that he's given me. So that means if I've been hurt by people here on earth, Jesus isn't say, "Okay, now you got permission. Go hurt them, too." That's not what Jesus says. For the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. They're not like everyone else." So if the flesh has hurt you, your parents, a spouse, your friend, you don't do what they did to you. For our weapons are not of the flesh, but they have divine power. Come on, somebody. There's some power in the kingdom of Jesus. There's divine power to destroy strongholds. This idea of a cozy, comfortable Christianity just isn't true.
The church has got to realize we are at war and we've got to use the weapons of warfare that God has given us. And if you want that in your personal life, you've got to let Jesus be the king of your life. He's got to be supreme overall. So, you've got to learn from Jesus that when the enemy advances, you don't stop. Actually, that just means there's breakthrough about to happen. The kingdom's going to advance. So when you're wondering why you're praying and you're praying and you're praying and you're not seeing it, don't stop one prayer short of the breakthrough. The kingdom suffers violence. We learned a principle at the marriage conference. I want to make sure that everyone hears and it was really interesting and I I know it's true and that is Satan is not clever or creative because he is a created being. So he's not the creator.
Satan and Jesus are not equal. We are at war with a real enemy. And what the devil will do is he'll use the same tactics he's always done. He'll go after your area of weakness. And if you don't know that Satan's going after your area of weakness, you'll actually give into it and you'll actually blame God and not the enemy. So if the if the enemy knows that you've got issues of abandonment, guess what he's going to keep bringing back up in your life? Abandonment. And if you're not so clever as to know that God will never abandon you, you'll actually abandon God because other people have abandoned you. I mean, this this could be passed down generationally. When someone a few years ago came to my office getting ready to have a divorce because there was infidelity. The first question I asked them, "Was there any
infidelity in your parents' lives?" Both of them looked at me and said, "Yes." Both of our parents' marriages had adulterous relationships. And now the problem was perpetuating. In just a few minutes, we had deliverance and generations changed from that day forward. That couple's still ma married and experiencing the kingdom of God today because they were just perpetuating the problem that the devil knew and was just trying to do the same thing. So you got to start recognizing what is your area of weakness. And I'm telling you, the devil's going to try to bring that into your life. So the kingdom of God is not given into those things, but actually going to Jesus. The kingdom of God actually has everything to dying to your ways and completely surrendering to his ways.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." Jesus said, "Come to me. Not some days, but when." Daily. When you wake up every day, you've got to determine, am I going to follow the kingdom of God or the kingdom of this world? And it's backwards. Matthew 10:39, Jesus said, "Whoever finds his life, you think you actually found your life without Jesus, you actually just lost it. But whoever loses his life and says, "I'm all in for Jesus." Now, Jesus says, "For my sake, you found it." Greatness doesn't come from living your life. It comes from dying to your life and embracing the life in Christ. I was thinking about this, how all of history proves this is true.
No one is more valuable in their life until after they die. Vincent Van Gogh had more than 200 pieces of art that he created before he died. 900 paintings. And in his lifetime, he tried to sell his paintings. He only sold one. He sold one painting in his lifetime. It was called the Red Vineyard. Doesn't mean he was a bad artist in his lifetime. It means he only sold one painting. He had such a poor view of himself and what he was experiencing in his life emotionally and spiritually and relationally. He committed suicide before the age of 40. Today his paintings are worth millions. One went to auction for 117 million.
Now nothing changed in his paintings but he's dead now. So there's more value. Gucci. People wear the Gucci logo. Mauricio Gucci is dead. The fashion designer is not even here to approve what has his name on it. But yet it has great value. Now apply this to the kingdom for just a moment. You give up your life, you actually get your life. You see your inheritance. I am more valuable dead than I am alive. Paul put it this way. I have been crucified. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
I've got to die." Now, for some, it's it's physical. Stephen was the first martyr, and he didn't die having a pity party. Why did I believe in Jesus? He had great joy as he entered into the kingdom of heaven dying for his faith. Peter was crucified. And when they told him he'd be crucified, he said, "I don't deserve to die like my Lord. I'll go ahead and die, but flip me upside down." Every one of the disciples was a martyr in their own right. Even John the beloved was cast out on an island. But God didn't give up on him. He got the apocalypse, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus in his own hometown, lest we think that things will be different for us.
Meaning with the people that should have been closest to him. Luke 4:29 says, "They rose up, drove him out of town, his own hometown, where they could throw him off a cliff." Now, I'm not saying you have to suffer to experience the kingdom, but what I am saying is suffering is not the absence of the kingdom. It's an opportunity drawn near. Paul, who had it all, said, "Indeed, I count everything a loss because the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I suffered the loss of all things. I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. This is all out war. War for what matters most. Paul says to the Ephesians in chapter six, whatever you do, don't give up. Finally, be strong in the Lord. Put on the whole armor of God. That you can stand against the ste schemes of the devil because they are just that. We don't wrestle
against flesh and blood. We wrestle against the rulers, authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We battle not against flesh and blood. He'd go on to list the pieces of armor and then also list the superpower we have called prayer. So I say to you this day, armor up and pray it up. Because if you're in the kingdom, you will suffer violence, but you don't shrink back, you don't sit back, and you don't quit. The Bible says very clearly in 1st Chronicles 16:22, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm." The enemy does not listen to God's word. He goes after the anointed. He goes after the prophets. When Elisha was surrounded by an enemy, the servant said, "We're
outnumbered." But Elisha said, "Oh, my friend." Second Kings 6:17, Elisha prayed and said, "Oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see." So the Lord opened up the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Too many believers want what they can see. But we walk not by sight. We walk by faith. Oh, I tell you, if you could see in the heavenly what's happening right now, Satan just wet his pants. He's a coward. He's a He's no good. We can crush his head with the kingdom of God, but we've got to press in by force.
There was a woman in the Bible that had an issue with blood for 12 long years. Doctors couldn't fix her. She lost all her finances trying to fix her issue, but she was determined to press into King Jesus. Mark 5 says, "She came up behind Jesus in the crowd. She touched his garment for she said, "If I touch his garments, I will." See that language? This is kingdom. I will be made well. Listen, violence came against her, but she went by force. She fought shame. She fought the crowds. She fought through disappointment. And she said, "Everything I've experienced, my God is greater." And Jesus said to her, and so he says to you today, "Oh women of faith, daughter, your faith has made you well." Faith is an aggressive pursuit where we find the kingdom of God. Jacob wrestled for this breakthrough. When he met with God, he didn't do a polite little prayer. Oh Lord, bless me and keep me.
He wrestled with Jesus all night long and said, "Do not let go unless you bless me." God's looking for some people that will press in, pray, armor up with persistence. Daniel prayed for 21 days before his breakthrough came. Elijah, when he prayed for rain, he was the one that stopped the rain. He didn't pray one time, two times, three times, or even four, five, or even six. He prayed seven times before he got the rain. The early church was told to go to Jerusalem and wait and pray. Jesus revealed himself to 500. There was 120 in the upper room. What happened? They had to press into prayer. Acts two says, "God honored it. The Holy Spirit fell upon the church." When Peter found
himself in prison, they didn't say, "Well, we might as well give up. We're all going to end up there. No, they prayed for him and an angel showed up and set him free. When Paul and Silas ended up in jail after being beaten, stripped naked, what did they do? They prayed and they worshiped. That's kingdom. And the walls came down, my friends. The kingdom is not a matter of eating, drinking. It's a matter of righteousness, joy, and peace. It's yours right now. Not because of your circumstances, but because of Jesus. I turned back to Matthewap 11 and whenever the numbers go red backwards with a negative, it's not good for the preacher. Matthew 11:20, then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works have been done. He did many mighty works that they had been done, but he renounced them.
Why? Because they did not repent. I say this with all conviction and truth. God has done a mighty work here. Do not see that mighty work and not repent because there is a curse that comes upon you where you welcome the wrath of God because you receive not the kingdom of God is here. So Jesus goes on and he prays, "Father, verse 25 of Matthew 11, I thank father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children." Can we take a time out there? Did Jesus really say God has hidden these things? Well, who did he hide them to? Those who have so much pride, they don't receive it. Because he
said, you've got to be like a child to receive the kingdom. Listen, you you can come here and miss a mighty move of God because it's hidden from you. But today, if you would be like a child, let me skip down to verse 28 through 30. Here's the invitation. This is the text of the title of the sermon. All of that that I just gave you was the introduction. Here we go. Come to me. Jesus said, "Come to me. Come to me." Everyone shout, "All." All who labor and are heavy laden. And Jesus promises you today, if you come to me, here's what I'm going to give you. I will give you rest.
So the kingdom of God is not a burden that any of us have to bear. Oh, we don't have to try harder, be better, we don't have to do more. Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." A yoke is still used today to connect two animals. So they they work together with a synergy. But if you get a stubborn animal with an obedient animal, it's not good. If one goes too fast, it hurts the one trying to go too fast. If one goes left, it hurts the one going left. If one's too slow, it hurts the one going slow. But when they work together, they will experience more together. And Jesus said, "If you would just connect with me, I promise you, I'm not going to beat you down. I promise you, I'm not going to make you bear the burden. I did it for you on the cross. I rose from the grave. The devil's defeated. Death is defeated. Sin is
defeated. Oh, I'll tell you today. Every offense has been defeated. Shame has been defeated. Guilt has been defeated. Addiction has been defeated. Oh, come to me, my friend. All I want to give you is what you really want. Marijuana is not going to give it to you. No popping a pill will give it to you. Alcohol ain't going to give it to you. No sex, no matter how much you get it, will give it to you. But Jesus can give you what you need. It's called the kingdom. For he says, "My yoke is easy, verse 30, and my burden is light." So I say to you today, the kingdom of God is all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. If you get one thing today, there's an invitation. Come to me. And that invitation is from Jesus.
So I ask you, this is where it gets personal. Some marriages just won't work. Some addictions won't break. Some prodals won't come home. Some breakthroughs will never happen. But here's where it gets very, very personal for you. If you want it, it's yours. I give you not a formula where you if you pray these three prayers, if you do these things, if you sign up for this Bible study, this is going to switch. Listen, it's not a conference. It's not a book, it's not even a preacher. It's the very word of God. If you would get in this book and abide by what it has to say, if you take it seriously, and I know you have a fear that if you take this seriously, you're going to be a Jesus freak. And you will be. And I give you permission today that the world needs some more people taking Jesus so
seriously that if we end up in prison, what we do is we pray and we worship. And walls come down. And the very man that wanted to commit suicide in that story gave his life to Jesus. His whole family was baptized. So what the enemy intends for evil, God's going to use for good in his kingdom. But today, if you've never believed in Jesus, this is your moment. With eyes closed, with hearts open, if you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, this is your invitation. I say the kingdom of God is for you, my friend. The good news of God is not go get your life cleaned up and then come to Jesus. The good news of God is not go fix what's wrong and then believe in Jesus. The good news of God is that if you believe in Jesus today, from this day forward, you're in his family. You're a child of God. You are redeemed. You are righteous. And you receive his peace.
Not someday, but today. This joy of the Lord can be yours today. No matter how long you've been following Jesus, I want you to know there's more grace today. If you want to start following Jesus for the first time, I'm just going to ask for a simple surrender. Would you throw your hand up in the air just as a surrender? Say, "Yes, from this day forward, I want to believe in Jesus. I want the kingdom. I'm tired of doing it on my own. I'm tired of listening to the lies." If that's you, just throw your hand up there. There's no shame in this. From this day forward, some of you may have even called yourself Christians, but now it's time to start living like a Christian. If you're ready to repent today of a false religion, of a false life, and receive today by faith the kingdom of God, would you slip your hand up?
Praise God. See, Jesus says there's so much joy in heaven when one sinner repents. There's not a burden. There's no guilt. There's no shame. Repentance turns you to God. And God is a God of grace. Yes, he knows everything in truth. He washes you a new today. There's a burden on anybody's heart today that maybe you've been missing out. Maybe you've been doing things on your own strength and not the strength of the Holy Spirit. That that's a powerless Christianity today. You've already believed in Jesus, but you're you're done struggling on your own. You you want the kingdom of God in your life, no matter what it costs.
You're ready to receive from the Lord Jesus today. If that's you today, and maybe there's something that comes to mind, your marriage, your finances, your health, maybe it's just even your spiritual life, it's been a little dead or cold lately. If you're ready to receive the kingdom, and you have believed in Jesus, and you just want to repent of that and turn to God today, would you just raise your hand just as as an act of moving towards God? I tell you, God honors obedience. That woman with the issue of blood, she was healed because she pressed in. Press in today, my friend. Press in. It's yours. Praise God. Praise God. Appreciate that boldness. Even if it's only a few, God can change the world with just a few. So Lord, today in this sacred moment of hearing your word, now we just say you are the one that did it. You're worthy
of it all. We thank you for the kingdom of God. And now we just pray for a massive movement. That which you've begun, you promised you would complete. We pray for a great awakening. We say central Oregon organ shall be saved. That God, you're going to align our heads and our hearts, our actions, our words, our deeds. That what we do would be what you would do, Jesus. That we would love like you, Jesus. And today, if you gave your life to Jesus and believed in him, I want you just to pray a short prayer with me. All of those who have ever believed, would you just join with those new believers, the new brothers and sisters today? Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Forgive me of my sins. I repent today. I receive the Holy Spirit. Let your kingdom come and
your will be done in my life as it is in heaven. God, I'm I'm asking that you would relieve this church from the stress of having to try harder. And when things don't go our way or someone hurts us, I I'm asking, Lord, that we would turn quickly to you, trust in you. If someone's going through something on this very day, I say today, would you turn it around where you'd give them joy? That Holy Spirit, you've just spoken to their hearts. May they go to sleep content tonight that you've heard their prayers.
You are with them. And God, if you're for us, who could be against us? I say hallelujah in Jesus name.
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Why the Kingdom Matters
The sermon argues that the kingdom was central to Jesus' preaching, his model prayer, his post-resurrection teaching, and the early church's message. This section invites reflection on whether the kingdom holds that place in our own life and church life.
Mark 1:14-15 · Matthew 6:9-10 · Acts 1:3
- Kirkpatrick says the kingdom is rarely central in what Christians talk about and pray. Where do you see that in your own habits?
- Which practice in your life most reflects seeking the kingdom first, and which competes with it?
Two Kingdoms and the Gray Area
The message insists there is no neutral ground between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, and it challenges a Christianity that claims Jesus while life remains unchanged. This section examines how daily choices reveal which kingdom we are trusting.
Mark 1:15
- Where are you tempted to live in what the sermon calls the gray area?
- Kirkpatrick defines repentance as turning to God's ways. What would turning look like in one specific area this week?
Peace, Joy, and the Pull of Wealth
Kirkpatrick describes the kingdom as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, then warns that wealth and worldly concerns can make the kingdom hard to receive. The invitation is to humility rather than self-sufficiency.
Romans 14:17 · Matthew 19:23 · Mark 10:15
- How does the sermon's definition of the kingdom differ from what you assume a kingdom would be about?
- Kirkpatrick says a church without joy is missing the kingdom. Where have you seen joy or its absence in your own community?
- What does it mean practically to receive the kingdom like a child rather than like someone with something to prove?
Doubt, Suffering, and Pressing In
John the Baptist asks from prison whether Jesus is the one, and the sermon treats that doubt with room rather than shame. Kirkpatrick reframes suffering as an opportunity for intimacy and calls for persistent faith that keeps coming to God.
Matthew 11:2-6 · Luke 9:23
- What makes it hard to bring your doubts to God rather than around God?
- Kirkpatrick encourages continued prayer and faith when answers have not yet come. Where do you find it hardest to keep coming to God?
- How does the sermon's claim that suffering is not the absence of God sit with your experience?
Come to Me and Find Rest
The sermon's text is Jesus' invitation to the weary to come, take his yoke, and find rest. The closing application is surrender and repentance, presented as good news rather than a formula or a program.
Matthew 11:28-30
- What burdens are you carrying that Jesus invites you to bring to him?
- The image of a yoke pairs two animals working together. Where do you need to move with Jesus rather than ahead of or behind him?
- What would it look like to stop striving and actually accept Jesus' promise of rest?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What did the sermon mean by the kingdom of God?+
Kirkpatrick defines the kingdom through Romans 14:17 as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and insists it is not about eating and drinking, nor about programs, music, and ministries. It is God's rule and reign through Jesus, something available now rather than only in the future. He draws on Isaiah 9 to describe a government that rests on the Messiah's shoulders and increases endlessly, bringing peace. The message frames the kingdom as present, personal, and rooted in Jesus rather than in circumstances or religious activity.
Which of the three marks, righteousness, peace, or joy, feels scarcest in your life right now?
Why did the pastor say the kingdom is so central to Jesus' teaching?+
Kirkpatrick traces the kingdom through the arc of Scripture: Isaiah foretold a governing Messiah, Jesus opened his ministry in Mark 1 by proclaiming the kingdom is at hand, he said in Luke 4 that preaching it was his purpose, he taught his disciples to pray for it in Matthew 6, he taught about it during the forty days after his resurrection in Acts 1, and the early church proclaimed it to the end of Acts. That pattern is why he challenges Christians to make the kingdom central rather than peripheral.
Where in your own life has the kingdom been treated as a side topic rather than the main thing?
What did John the Baptist's doubt teach about asking hard questions?+
In Matthew 11:2-6, Kirkpatrick notes that John was in prison while hearing about Jesus' healings and deliverances, and he asked through his disciples whether Jesus was the coming one. The sermon calls this the ultimate why question and says John, described by Jesus as uniquely great, had room for doubt. Rather than presenting doubt as disqualifying, Kirkpatrick says there is permission to bring doubts to God and ask, and he points to Jesus' answer from Isaiah's signs as evidence the kingdom was arriving.
What question would you most want to bring directly to Jesus this week?
What does it mean to take the kingdom by force?+
In Matthew 11:12, Kirkpatrick reads the phrase as a call to persistent faith, not aggression toward people. He says taking the kingdom by force means not stopping in prayer, service, and love, and using the weapons God gives rather than the tactics that hurt you. He cites the woman with the issue of blood pressing through the crowd, Jacob wrestling through the night, Daniel's twenty-one days, Elijah's repeated prayer for rain, and the early church waiting in prayer, describing faith as an aggressive pursuit of God.
What would persistent faith look like in one area where you have stopped praying?
What was the pastor's invitation at the end of the message?+
The sermon closes with Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28-30: all who labor and are heavy laden are invited to come, take his yoke, and find rest for their souls. Kirkpatrick describes the yoke as a connection with Jesus where he does not beat down or make people bear the burden alone. He then invites people to raise a hand in surrender, repentance, and faith, and ends by praying for awakening in central Oregon, joy, contentment, and relief from the stress of trying harder.
What burden would you most like to bring under the yoke of Jesus today?
