The kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus's preaching. Yet in spite of the centrality of the kingdom in Jesus's ministry, the kingdom of God is far from a dominant theme in most mainline Protestant pulpits and churches. Preaching and teaching about the kingdom have been supplanted by such great themes as personal salvation, heaven and hell, faith, sin, the church, missions and evangelism, justice issues, stewardship, and moral living. So where is the kingdom?
In A God-Shaped World, author and pastor Steve Langford shows how the kingdom of God grows out of and is an expression of the character of God. The kingdom of God is the realm in which the divine character shapes the way we live so that we do the will of God in every dimension of our lives. A God-Shaped World identifies the four central characteristics of the kingdom of God, how out of step the ways of the kingdom are to the fear-based, self-serving ways inherent to the human condition, and the implications of the kingdom for followers of Jesus today.
The Lord's Prayer teaches us that the kingdom of God is inseparably tied to God's character and will. The kingdom of God is where life is patterned after the merciful, gracious character of God, where the ways of God are lived, and where the will of God is done?here on the earth
