Confirmation Instruction Lesson 9

The Lord's Prayer

The Heavenly Kingdom

Eternity begins now, as we allow the kingdom of God to live in our hearts and to transform this world according to God's will.

Our eternal life with God in heaven does not begin with our deaths, but with the acceptance of Jesus and the Spirit of the Living God in our hearts today.

John's description of the heavenly kingdom in the Book of Revelation was a physical cube, centered on the isle of Patmos (where he was living in exile when he wrote the book), which encompassed all the living Christians of the known world of that time. Heaven, as well as being a glorious life after death, was a real presence for John on earth, dwelling in the heart of each living Christian.

Certainly we are assured of a place in the heavenly kingdom of life after death, but our prayer, "thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven, " is a literal prayer for the here and now. We ask God to change the earthly world into a heavenly world through us - what happens if we really mean these words and God begins to work through us right now?

We make suncatchers in the shape of John's heavenly city to remind ourselves of what God has in store for us.

What a good day, with the pastor's help, to write the prayer of the church, in the certain knowledge that God hears our prayers and answers them.

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