SPEAKER_01 0:00

God from the beginning has been speaking this, and what you talked about in the message, I love. We're blessed to be a blessing. Yeah. We're, you know, in other words, every all the goodness of God to us is to flow through us. We talked about being a river, not a reservoir. Right, right. But what if we did that with vocalized blessing? Welcome to Beyond Sunday. Let's dig a little bit deeper into the theology and scriptures from the weekend so you can become a more fully devoted follower of Jesus. Well, we had a great message uh again this weekend uh on our series uh talking about the kingdom of God. Have our children's pastor Landon Sloan here to discuss this today. Welcome, Landon. It's good to be here. Welcome. And we actually had a great speaker this weekend, too, and uh someone you're very you know connected to. Yeah, yeah. I know him very well. Yes. So thanks. Uh it was such a joy to hear you know presenting the message this weekend. And I know it's not your first time preaching, but one of the first times uh for us, you know, to have the whole Sunday sermon at Calvary. And so looking forward to getting into this with you. Yeah, yeah, I'm super excited. But uh, one of the things, you know, we're we're talking about the kingdom of God, and we covered a lot of aspects of what it is to be in this kingdom, this kingdom that uh frankly it was Jesus' number one topic. When he spoke, he spoke about the kingdom of God more than anything. And so there's so much uh richness to the whole concept of what did he mean by kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God, and this idea, even in teaching us to pray, to pray that that that kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. Right. And then later, you know, in in that Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uh says to seek first this kingdom, uh, and that you know that reorders everything else in our life. Right. You talked uh this weekend a little bit more about the blessing aspect of that kingdom, what it means that God has been from beginning of creation and continues to be a God of blessings. So if the kingdom of heaven is a euphemism for God's own presence, yeah, wherever he is, blessing follows. Right. So let's talk a little bit about that. What does it mean that from the beginning God has been a blessing God?

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Yeah, I think for me it's just important to understand that blessing isn't just something we obtain, but it's actually something or it's something that is a part of God's nature. It's who God is. Um, I think it's so interesting how we live in a world and we live in a society in which, you know, even the conversation of blessing, or when we hear the term blessing, it's very me-centric. It's about receiving, it's about, you know, I need to be blessed, or I was blessed because I received something. Um and oftentimes, you know, we think of blessings as these really big, miraculous things. Where the truth is, you know, the coolest part, in my opinion, about this whole conversation is that blessing is not something that's actually hard to obtain when you are a believer of Christ, because when you're in God's kingdom, you receive his blessing. And I think oftentimes we kind of minimize the blessing that's in our lives and we try to look so far ahead for, you know, just something off the top or something so miraculous, like a blessing is winning the lottery. Yeah. Well, the truth is a blessing is being alive. The blessing is having clothes, the blessing is being able to drive to church, the blessing is having God install instill a purpose in your life and want to use you and want to be with you in this journey. I mean, there are so many aspects where when you take a step back, and that was kind of my thing yesterday was kind of at the beginning, I really wanted to hammer down this idea of like, hey, if you're sitting in here, you're blessed. Yeah. Like we seek so much for this blessing, but the truth is you are blessed by God just by sitting in your seat right now. Yeah. God has done such a work in your life. And so I think it's just so special to kind of pull back as far as when when we think of a blessing and understand, hey, where I'm at already, I'm blessed by God. But then the truth is God can do anything. Yeah. And you don't have to work for a blessing. It's something, it's like a gift. It's something that's given to you. And God is a God of blessing. It's in his nature. So the more you seek after God, the more you pursue after him, put him first, the blessing follows. And so that was kind of the conversation where it's like, hey, you want to bless life? Just seek after God's kingdom. Yeah. Seek after his presence because blessing follows. It's just they go hand in hand.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

So wherever he is, that is blessed. Right. There's no greater blessing than God's own presence. Exactly, yeah. And wherever he is, I often say this in our prayer times, you know, when we're praying for people's needs, whether it's relationship or or mental, physical health, uh, provision, guidance, wisdom, a spiritual transformation, a healing, a deliverance. I often talk about the fact that, you know, wherever God is, all the resources of heaven are present with him.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

And so we don't really need resources. We need the giver. We need the the one who owns the resource. And if he's there, then everything else he has comes with him. And that kind of flows along with the seek first the kingdom, and all these things will be added unto you. In other words, you know, walk in his presence daily, and you don't have to worry about you know being stressed. There was a phrase we used to use. People would say, I'm too blessed to be stressed.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

And what what do we mean by that? Well, we cast all our cares on him because he cares for us. It says he will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on him. He says, and then in Matthew 6, why do you worry about these things? Yeah. The pagans run after these things. Your father knows you need them. Yeah. And so we can not only in his presence have what we need, but in our understanding of his character, we can have peace that he is working on our behalf, that he's working all things for our good. And what a blessing just in recognizing that not only is God there, but he's good. Right. He's a rewarder. And so if he's present, then you know, even and you mentioned it doesn't mean you're not going to go through suffering or difficulty or challenge, but you know that he's working in those things. Yeah. And so, what does it mean to recognize God's goodness as blessing in our life?

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Yeah, I think it's just important to sit back, kind of like I said, and understand just how good and faithful God is to us. And I think part of the problem today is I think we just overlook the blessing of God in our life. And we're looking for a blessing, if you will, to be a home run hit or a lottery ticket, or man, I need a blessing. Like, I need like an Oprah moment where you win something or just given something. But like even just being alive and having a purpose for your life, in my opinion, that's God's greatest gift to us. It's just the fact that He made us. And that's what's so interesting about He didn't even have to do that. And you talk about God's blessing being a part of the beginning of creation. How special is that that the God of the universe, the Almighty God, the most powerful being there ever has been, ever will be, creates mankind and then immediately blesses them. And that's what we talked about, you know, before sin, before the curse, before anything else, even before Jesus. I mean, God creates and blesses. Yeah. Just right there. God creates and blesses. And so he didn't even have to create you.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

But not only did he create us, he wanted to be with us, but he blesses us right after that. So I think it's just simply, I think myself included, I think one of the things I was working on, you know, with this message this past week as I was preparing and just kind of reading it and working through it, it was like, man, I need to be more grateful.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

I need to be more grateful. As I was looking, I'm so blessed. Just the fact that I'm here, I'm blessed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Yeah. I've I've noticed this uh very often. I talk about, you know, sermon preparation. Of course, I I I teach uh uh students, uh aspiring ministers, and we have a cohort here of of preachers that we we regularly work on, you know, being more effective in our communication of God's word. And I also often talk about the fact that the messages that are working on me, yeah, you know, the more it speaks to me, yeah, the more I think it's able to speak to others. Like I've rarely prepared a sermon for any audience that God has called me and given me opportunity to speak his word to, to be an encouragement and you know, you know, a guide to his blessing in life, whatever he has for them. I never always know his purpose, I just know the assignment. Yeah, but I've rarely had that situation that in preparing the message, God didn't also challenge me. Right, yeah, and speak to correct me. And yeah, you know, and I'm a few decades into this now. Yeah, and it's still true. Like every single message, it doesn't matter what I'm I'm speaking on, uh talking about blessing, talking about the kingdom, talking about trust, talking about obedience, uh, you know, faith, what whatever it is, it feels like the Holy Spirit first convicts me.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

And and then I I share that, you know, with other people. But just let's get behind the scenes a little bit. Let's let's let people in just a little bit. Uh when you're preparing a message and you had this message and you knew the topic, but God had to give you the direction that topic would go. We knew the series, but then the specific week is really up to you and the Holy Spirit. Yeah. And you're preparing that and you're thinking about the audience, you're thinking about who you're going to be talking to. Yeah. Um, how does that, what was it and and what was it that the Holy Spirit was bringing to you as you prepared this message for Calvary Church and the people that would be out there on this back to school weekend and Sunday, how did that impact what we heard from you?

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Man, well, I think I think there's a lot that went into it. I think I did just a lot of deep diving and reflecting and praying in my own time. I also think, too, that I had a little bit of an idea. I mean, I was prepared before the message, but I had a little bit of an idea before your message the previous Sunday. But then hearing your message, and it's funny how that works, like hearing your message actually stirred something new. And so I was actually probably almost finished before you preached. And then after you preached, it was like, oh, I gotta go back. Like I gotta, I gotta kind of reframe this whole thing. And I think that's why I really at the beginning, too, wanted to kind of recap your conversation because I think it's important, and I think this was kind of the big revelation that I kind of had. We live in a world today, us ourselves, we are so good at seeking out things, at pursuing after things. We oftentimes think about individuals having a pursuit problem or they're not trying to go after something, but we all do. It's actually built in our nature to seek out and to be drawn to things. And especially with back to school, I feel like there's so many things that are changing for kids, for students, for parents, for teachers, it's a lot of new. And in that, we always try to seek out amongst newness, like a root or something to cling to, or something to where can I life is spiraling around me. What do I hold on to? And so we have no problem seeking after something and chasing after something. But the big conversation is what are we seeking after? And it's like we're sitting here looking for all the answers at once. Us as human beings, us as mankind, we just want everything at once. We want to be protected, we want provision, we want purpose in our life, and we go and seek that else everywhere. We go everywhere else for that. But the coolest part that kind of revealed to me this past week was just simply the fact that when you actually pursue after God's kingdom, every answer you could ever want is answered. Yeah, and you are cared for and you are protected, you're given provision, you're given purpose. And it's just so interesting how I mean, it's almost like we're made in God's image, and that's the natural tendency and draw with mankind is we always have these tendencies that actually point us back to the Creator, back to something. But it's like we spend all this time kind of running in circles searching for purpose, searching for provision, searching for protection, searching for what I need, what I desire. And I feel like God is just sitting here, just saying, Man, if you just enter into my presence, if you enter into my kingdom, I have everything. Yeah, I know your needs before you even need them. And so I just think it's it's very easy for us to kind of rely on our own strength when things are easy, when we're in summer, when we're on vacation mode, when we're coasting around. But you come to this back to school conversation, it just brings up a lot of new. And I think in newness, we get like flustered. We get kind of antsy. We get, okay, what do I hold on to? What do I cling to? And so I think it was actually a perfect timing of both because in the calmness and in the antsiness, it shouldn't change who we cling to. It shouldn't change who we prioritize. And the beautiful part about it is just when you prioritize the kingdom of God, every single thing you could ever want, desire, seek out, search for, or need is met. And it's like if we could just make that connection, it's not that we have an effort problem, it's not that we have a pursuit problem, but it's we're pursuing after the wrong things.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

We're trying to put everything on Lannon's back or on Sean's back. But it's like the moment you just give it up and seek after God, everything is cared for.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

That's so good. I I love hearing that. And just it's a timeless message. Yeah. These words were written 2,000 years ago. Jesus gave that first sermon. We just are re-preaching this same sermon. Yeah. And it's an unchanging truth for constantly changing times. And we are the latest iteration, if you will, of humans trying to live this thing out, figure this thing out. But the reality is that the truth hasn't changed at all. Right. That when we put him first, seek him first, all these things are added to us. And he created us for blessing, and he created us to bless. One little piece, we got just a couple minutes. When we talk about blessing, there's two aspects of it. One is the is just you know to bless in some way, but there's a verbal aspect of it as well. When when Jesus He gives thanks and then He blesses and then He breaks. And in creation, the God made and then He blessed. And very often that's actually a spoken blessing. And every Sunday we end with a blessing that God gave to Aaron and the Levites that this is how you're to bless my people. It was with phraseology. Yeah. The Lord bless you and keep you. And we we sang the song this week, the blessing. And we're announcing, we're vocalizing now blessing. And so God from the beginning has been speaking this. And what you talked about in the message, I love. We're blessed to be a blessing. Yeah. We're, you know, in other words, every all the goodness of God to us is to flow through us. We talked about being a river, not a reservoir. Right, right. But what if we did that with vocalized blessing? What if we recognize that we actually have a responsibility not just to be present, but to vocalize blessing over these things, to speak good over our school, over our home, over our workplace, over our kids, over our spouse? What if, over our boss, over our government? What if we recognize that we're not just to pray and be present and do good, but to speak life? Words that, you know, in the life and death is in the power of the tongue, scripture says. And so what if, what might it look like for us to speak blessing in this back to school season? You're our children's pastor. What might it look like for parents to speak the blessing of God over their family and over their home and over their kids' school?

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Man, yeah, I think that's that's powerful. And again, I think that kind of ties back into the conversation of understanding, to your point, the two-folded side of a blessing. It's it's for you, but it's not just about you, it's for others. And I love too the idea that God gives us the ability to speak life into hopeless situations, into empty situations. And yes, God can fix everything, can solve everything, but there's something so brilliant and beautiful about the fact that He invites us into that process. And so that's kind of where I was talking about, you know, like with parents, and I kind of touched on the fact that, hey, parents, you know, you might think that you're taking kind of a back seat in this season, or hey, you're going back to school, you're sending your kids, so you're kind of just back, you're picking them up, you're dropping them off, that's kind of it. But it's like, no, no, no, actually, your presence matters and the kingdom influence that you bring about your home matters. You need to speak life over your kids, you need to speak life into your household. It's okay to not have all the answers, it's okay to not be perfect, but it's important to seek out God in those moments. And I just love that God creates such a brilliant, beautiful picture for us to just talk back and forth and actually gives us, in a, in a way, power and responsibility and the ability to bring blessing about through words. And so it's like if your kid is struggling, pray blessing over them, speak blessings, speak life into your kids. If you're a teacher and you're in your classroom is struggling or you have other teachers, speak blessing over those individuals. God gives us the ability to do that. And it's not us that's blessing anything, but like you said, there's the power of the verbalizing of God's blessing. And it's actually an instruction that, to your point, he gives us to do. And so if you're sitting in darkness, don't just wait on God, but bring him into those moments. And that's where it's kind of the conversation about not just waiting on heaven, but bring heaven with you. It's not that we're doing this magical appearance, but what I mean by that is like God is wanting you to invite him into spaces. He's wanting you to invite him into that moment. Hey, I'm bringing God to this moment. I'm speaking life into this moment. I'm gonna speak life over you. I'm gonna speak life into my household. And that, in my opinion, is how, for a lot of situations and in a lot of ways, that's how blessing is brought about. You see that in scripture. There's a moment, there's an action, there's a blessing. In order to be blessed, there's a blessing moment. And so that's why we do a blessing. To your point, that's why we end on a Sunday service with a blessing. That's why Pastor wanted to bless the kids. That's not just a cute thing to make us feel good. Right. That's a moment of bringing God into that space and saying, you know, we now bless you in the name of Jesus, or bless you for this, bless you for that. And so that is the power.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

There is something to it. Yeah. Word goes forth and it accomplishes what the giver of the word intended to accomplish. His words never return void. Right. Speak life over your family. Landon, thanks so much for sharing with us on the kingdom of God and what it is to be blessed to be a blessing. Love it. Thank you guys for joining us. You be a blessing wherever God sends you this week. We'll see you back soon.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

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