Kingdom of God
Throughout the Bible we find texts about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven. In these studies, together we will look at why this is the most important message of the Bible. Before and after His death, Jesus often spoke to His disciples about the Kingdom. People who followed this group of disciples, with Jesus as their leader, often heard parables about the Kingdom, but also saw very striking miracles.

The purpose of this study is to show very practically how you can live in the Kingdom of God. In addition, this study will show you how you can tell others about that Kingdom, and how you can help them to start living in that Kingdom.

Follow
The first three parts of this series on the Kingdom of God are intended to help you understand God’s Kingdom. Who is the God of that Kingdom? How can you get into that Kingdom and who are you in that Kingdom?

We have called this first development phase of the study “Follow.” Follow simply means to follow. Many people followed Jesus after meeting Him. Jesus often spoke of the Kingdom. People thought His stories were so special that they went after Him. They wanted to hear all that Jesus taught, and they were impressed by what He showed by his actions. The people who followed Jesus reflected on what He told and taught. Some thought the miracles were special, but found His lessons too tough. For that reason, they decided to stop listening to Him. Others made a choice to live in the Kingdom.

This development phase called Follow is for you to discover if you want to follow this God in your life. At the end of these three parts you can make the choice to make Jesus your king and also to live in his Kingdom. It is of course possible that you may want to opt for this much earlier. You are completely free to do that. If you come to the conclusion that you want to live in this Kingdom, then you move on to the second stage of development entitled Disciple.