The Kingdom Way – Part 1

Introduction

Recap

• 1 Corinthians 1:10–13 (NKJV): ¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
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• Psalm 133:1 (ESV): ¹ Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
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• Psalm 133:2 (ESV): ³ . . . .For there the Lord has commanded the blessing. . . .
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New Blessings Require New Thinking

• Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV): ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
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• Ephesians 3:20 (AMP): ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
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• Ephesians 3:20 (NIV): ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
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• Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV): ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
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God’s Thoughts Need a Place to Land

Repentance.

The Message of the Kingdom Requires that our Minds be Prepared for It

• • Matthew 3:1–2 (ESV): ¹In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
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  • Matthew 3:3 (ESV): ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
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  • The way of the kingdom is the way of the Lord, and The way of the Lord is the way of the kingdom.
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  • John 6:66 (ESV): ⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
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Bracing Yourself for What God is Going to Do Next

How Do You Explain Our Church to Other People?

• We are a black multiracial church
• Proverbs 20:14 (NIV): ¹⁴ “It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer— then goes off and boasts about the purchase.
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© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2025