May Your Kingdom Come
A Prayer to Pray Every Day
What if we prayed The Lord’s Prayer every day for the next five years?
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
May your Kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
— Matthew 6:9-13
Looking Back So We Can Look Forward
(This is a sermon I preached on August 16, 2026, as I shared our 2030 Kingdom Come Vision for our church.)
I don’t know about you, but I love our story as a church. You can see the timeline on a wall in the lobby. We created that display and unveiled it in January 2025 to celebrate our first forty years as a church and also to honor Ronnie Norman, whom God used in a wonderful way to help establish and build up God’s church here in this place.
The First Colony Church of Christ started in 1985.
Many of our founding members are still a part of our church today.
Our church began on June 2, 1985 when we had the first worship at Settlers Way Elementary School, just a few miles from here. Not too long after that first worship, we had our first baptism on Aug. 16, 1985.
By June 1, 1986, we were ready to break ground on our first Church Building at 3119 Sweetwater Blvd. That location would serve us well. Then, on July 7, 2002, we made the move to this location and had our first worship here in the Gym at 2140 First Colony Blvd.
Then, on April 5, 2009, we had our first worship as a church here in this room.
Fast Forward to 2026.
How many of us have been blessed by this church?
How many of us are blessed because of those who came before us in this church?
How many of us have been blessed because 41 years ago a group of people had a VISION for a church in Sugar Land, TX and had the FAITH to PRAY for God’s Kingdom to come here in this place, SEEK God’s Kingdom above all else, and PARTICIPATE in God’s mission to build up His Kingdom in every way?
Today, we want to look BACK so we can look FORWARD.
41 years ago, someone prayed.
41 years ago, someone sacrificed. Someone gave.
41 years ago, someone invited someone to come to church.
41 years ago, someone believed God could do something amazing here in this city.
41 years later, thousands of lives have been changed.
41 years later, countless people have been baptized into Christ.
41 years later, missionaries and churches exist today that did not exist before in different places around the world.
41 years later, how many children have come to know about the great love of God, how many marriages have been restored, how many lives have been changed, how many families have been saved?
What if, 41 years ago, no one prayed?
No one gave?
No one dreamed?
No one had a vision?
What if, 41 years ago, no one had the courage to step out in faith?
I probably wouldn’t be standing here right now.
And you probably wouldn’t be here either.
What Is a Holy Discontent?
While we are deeply grateful for those who came before us, for the 41 years of faith, sacrifice, contribution, sweat, hard work, love, and dedication of those who came before us… and I really mean that, I’m fully aware today that I, that we, stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, we are GRATEFUL… yet, at the same time, we want to have a HOLY DISCONTENT.
What does that mean?
To have a Holy Discontent does not mean that we are dissatisfied. It does not mean we are critical. It does not mean that we wish things were different or that we are unhappy in some way. Instead, to have a Holy Discontent means that we have a burden for God’s Kingdom to come, and His will to be done, and we are fully aware that there is more work to do!
It’s the realization that God is not done with us. We are not going to rest on our laurels. There are people all around us who have not heard the Gospel. There are people all around us who are lost. There are people all around us who do not know Jesus and are not living in relationship with Jesus. And we have a burden for them.
GOD: It’s remembering, God’s church doesn’t have a mission, God’s mission has a church! (Ed Stetzer).
We are called by God to PRAY FOR and PARTICIPATE IN God’s Kingdom because we are citizens of the Kingdom of God! (Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 3:20).
What If?
Today, I want to simply ask the question, WHAT IF?
What if… We prayed for God’s Kingdom to come here in this place, in us, through us?
What if… We had the FAITH to PRAY for God’s Kingdom to come here in this place, SEEK God’s Kingdom above all else, and PARTICIPATE in God’s mission to build up His Kingdom in every way?
Would would happen in the next 5 years, what would be true 41 years from now, if we PRAYED FOR and PARTICIPATED IN God’s Kingdom?
Today, I want to share a Vision with you for the First Colony Church of Christ for the next 5 years. Today, we are launching our 2030 Kingdom Come Vision. But before I do, let’s begin in God’s Word. This vision is rooted in God’s Word. It begins and ends in God’s Word.
We believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God for our lives. We believe all Scripture is inspired by God.
Did you know, in the New Testament alone, the Kingdom of God is referred to over 160 times? You may have noticed this year we have spent a LOT of time in the Gospel of Matthew. That’s because we’ve been working our way to this moment all year, and Matthew talks more about the Kingdom than anyone else! Everything in Matthew’s Gospel, and the NT, is about the arrival of God’s Kingdom, God’s rule and reign in His Kingdom, and our citizenship in the Kingdom.
Beginning with Jesus in Matthew 6
So let’s begin in Matthew 6 and let’s begin with Jesus.
One of the things the disciples wanted Jesus to do for them was to teach them how to pray. When we get to Matthew 6 and we get to this prayer, we often call it the Lord’s Prayer. This is the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray. We’re not going to work through the whole prayer, we’ve done that before, and we’ll probably do it again. Today, I simply want to remind you how Jesus began this prayer. And I wonder what would happen if we began every prayer we prayed in this same way.
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…”
Let’s pause there just for a moment.
Jesus teaches His disciples to call God Father. This isn’t childish talk, it’s family talk. It’s intimacy. When I call my earthly father on the phone, I still say, “Hey dad!” Jesus invited his disciples to pray with a sense of intimacy. God is our Father, we are His children. When we pray, we can call on the God of the Universe, the LORD of Heaven’s armies, the Great I AM, as Father. Don’t miss that. That’s important.
But with that sense of intimacy, we still hold the name of our Father in reverence. His name is holy.
Our God is a HOLY God. There is no one like Him, no one beside Him. He is God and He is God alone. And He is HOLY. And we should not forget that He is a Holy God. And, that He has called us to live holy lives. The prophet Isaiah said it this way…
Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.
He will keep you safe.
— Isaiah 8:13-14a, NLT
Our God is a holy God. And we should live holy lives that please and honor Him.
The Call to Repent
So let’s pause right there for a moment. Before we cast vision, before we pray bold prayers, before we set God -sized goals and dream God-sized dreams, we need to pause and reflect: Am I living a holy life? Are we living holy lives? The Triune God is the One we fear, and the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). He wants us to live holy lives that bring glory and honor to His name.
We begin with the holiness of God because Jesus taught us to begin with the holiness of God and called us to live holy lives.
Not only do we pray,
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…”
But when Jesus came preaching the Gospel, do you remember what Jesus said?
He said,
“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” — Matthew 4:17
Jesus called people to repentance! What does it mean to repent of your sins? To repent doesn’t just mean you feel bad about what you’ve done. It’s not feeling sorry about it. It’s not even just regretting it. To repent means to turn around. Make a U-turn. 180 degrees in a different direction! To repent means life change. It means you step out of one kingdom, the kingdom of this world, and into an entirely different kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven!
So before we pray this prayer, before we cast this vision, before we dream God-sized dreams and set God-sized goals, can I call us to repentance this morning?
Maybe no one has ever told you that you need to repent. That following Jesus means life change. That you have sinned, that we all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. But we have. That’s the truth. It’s the Gospel truth. But let me tell you the rest of the story.
God in His mercy, God in His grace, sent Jesus His Son into this world. The cross stands at the center of our story. And the cross is the place where God the Son bled and died for us, sacrificed His life for us, became the atonement for our sin so that we might enter in to the Kingdom of Heaven!
The Apostle Paul said it this way…
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) — Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT
After three days in a borrowed tomb, Jesus Christ, our resurrected King, was raised from the grave never to die again. When you repent of your sins and turn to God, confess Jesus is Lord, He is mighty to save you and resurrect you to new and everlasting life! When you repent of your sins, put your faith in His name, when you are baptized into Christ, your sins are washed away and you enter into the KINGDOM!
And as a son, a daughter of God, you can pray…
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…”
and then you can pray…
“May your Kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.” — Matthew 6:9-10
And this brings us to the question I want us to consider today. What does it mean for us, for this church in this time in this place to pray:
May your Kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.”
A Vision for the Next Five Years
A little over a year ago our administrative elders came to me and asked me if we could start praying, dreaming, and talking together about the next 5 years for our church. If you don’t know, we have wonderful elders serving this church. We have 29 shepherding elders who are praying for you and here to encourage you, help you, challenge you, and pray with you. We have five elders who serve as Administrative elders who help serve our church through helping to manage the operations of our church and making important decisions for our church.
So we began talking and praying and dreaming about what could happen if we had the FAITH to PRAY for God’s Kingdom to come here in this place, SEEK God’s Kingdom above all else, and PARTICIPATE in God’s mission to build up His Kingdom in every way?
Today, I want to share with you where we believe God is leading us as a church over the next 5 years. I’ll share each point of the vision and give you a few thoughts, but over the next few weeks will go deeper on each part of this vision and talk more about it.
Kingdom Come Vision
We believe God is calling First Colony Church of Christ to step boldly into the next decade with faith that outpaces our own abilities. Our 2030 KINGDOM COME VISION is not just a list of goals, it is a Spirit-led vision to see lives transformed, disciples multiplied, and the name of Jesus lifted high in our city, our nation, and the world. Together, we will gather more people in worship, grow deeper as followers of Christ, and go further in mission than ever before.
These goals are tangible and measurable, yet they are God-sized, requiring prayer, sacrifice, unity, and an unwavering trust that the One who began a good work in us will carry it to completion. We want to lean in, dream big, and join God to see His Kingdom Come!
Gather (Local) — Seeing God’s Kingdom Come in Our City
- A Baptizing Church: Baptize One Every Week – Celebrate 230 lives transformed by the gospel, averaging one baptism into Christ weekly. What if we were a church that, on average, baptized one person every week? Just think about that. Fifty-two baptisms every year. If we started doing that now, in August 2026, by the end of 2030, we will have seen some 230 people baptized into Christ!
- An Inviting Church: Grow Church Attendance to 1500 – we know there is nothing better than gathering with God’s people in God’s presence to learn, grow, and worship Him! Yet, the heart behind this God-sized goal isn’t growth for growth’s sake. We want to be an inviting church. Some of Jesus’ first words were, “Come, follow me.” Jesus was an inviter! In the same way, we want to invite people to come and follow Jesus.
- A Discipling Church: Commission100 Mentors – Train and launch 100 one-on-one mentoring and discipling relationships, equipping believers to help others grow deeper in Christ. What if over the next five years, we mentored 100 people through Christ-centered, discipleship relationships? When it comes to discipleship, our calling from Scripture is clear: Be one. Make one.
Grow (National) — Raising Up Kingdom-Minded Disciples and Leaders
- An Evangelizing Church: Plant 5 Evangelistic Small Groups – Establish five new neighborhood-based small groups committed to outreach, each doubling in size through gospel conversations and hospitality. The early church often gathered in homes in the first century. This is where the Gospel was shared, and people often came to faith (Acts 2:46-47, 20:7-12; 10:1-48). Not only do we see this modeled in the life of the early church, but Jesus clearly taught us to love our neighbors, and that includes our literal neighbors!
- A Caring Church: Hospitality House – Provide a place to offer free lodging and Christ-centered care for Christians traveling here for medical treatment. When the Good Samaritan famously helped the injured man in Jesus’ parable, he not only felt compassion for him and helped him, but he also took him to an inn and paid for his stay so he could get well (Luke 10:33-35). We believe we are uniquely positioned to help people coming to Houston for physical help and healing, and we want to help!
- A Planting Church: Church Planting – Launch a new gospel-centered church that will ignite growth, multiply disciples, and expand God’s Kingdom in new communities by prayerfully identifying and partnering with Spirit-led church planters.
Go (International) — Expanding God’s Kingdom Among the Nations
- A Sending Church: Send 230 on Mission Each Year – Send 230 members on short-term mission trips annually, becoming a church that is constantly sending. What if we could send 230 people every year on a mission trip? Generally speaking, nothing has a greater impact in a person’s life than going on a mission trip. Jesus called us to love God and to love others (Matthew 22:37-40). Mission trips give us an unparalleled opportunity to put His commands into practice! We want to be a sending church and we want to see more and more of our members have an opportunity to go on mission with Jesus for Jesus.
- A Reaching Church: Launch a New Mission Point – Establish one new international mission partnership in an underserved, affordable, and easily reachable location, expanding our global reach. What if we could go to a place we’ve never been, help people we’ve never met, and reach people that have yet to hear the Good News about Jesus? Our church has been blessed to be deeply invested in five incredible mission points: Columbia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, and Uganda. We will continue to be actively involved in those places. At the same time, we feel called to add a new mission point where we can go, serve, and see the light of Christ shine.
Kingdom Come Culture — Cross-Category Goals
- A Praying Church: Prayer Movement – Mobilize 230 people in the church to commit to a daily or weekly prayer rhythm for revival, missions, and the lost, sustained through 2030. What if we were able to mobilize and raise up 230 prayer warriors in our church? People committed to praying weekly for our 2030 vision, for the lost, for our church, our city, and our world?
- A Giving Church: Generosity Challenge
- Increase overall church giving to fund vision, aiming for at least 20% of the church budget going outside the walls by 2030.
- Create an Endowment to fund and fuel the ministry of the First Colony Church of Christ for generations to come!
What if we became people of uncommon generosity, giving in a radical way toward the mission and vision of God’s church here in this place? This year, we became a debt-free church! What a blessing. But there is much work to do. Our church is located in a place where we believe God can shine His light through us for generations to come.
Who Will Be Blessed Because of You?
All of us who are here today have been blessed by God and by those who came before us. Here’s the question I want you to consider:
Who will be blessed by this church in the days ahead because of you?
Who will be here next year, or in 5 years because of you?
Who will be baptized into Christ within in the next 5 years because of you?
Whose life will be changed in the days to come because of you?
Because you prayed.
Because you gave.
Because you went on that mission trip.
Because you invited them into your home.
Because you helped give them a place to stay when they came here for treatment.
Because you had the FAITH to PRAY for God’s Kingdom to come here in this place, you were willing to SEEK God’s Kingdom above all else, and you found a way to PARTICIPATE in God’s mission to build up His Kingdom in every way.
One Brick at a Time
My grandfather, Lucian Trevathan, was a brick layer by trade. He was also an elder in the church. He was a master craftsman. One of the hardest working men I’ve ever known. He was a part of the crew in the 1950s that built the wall surrounding Graceland in Memphis, TN. Graceland, as you may know, is the famous mansion where Elvis Presley once lived. My grandparents lived in the Memphis area. My grandfather didn’t build Graceland. He was building FOR Graceland, one brick at a time. He wasn’t the architect. He wasn’t the master builder. He was just a brick mason doing his job, putting one brick in place at a time.
In the same way, we are not building God’s Kingdom. We can’t do that. Only God can build God’s Kingdom. He’s the architect. He’s the Master Builder. Jesus is the Cornerstone. And His Spirit fills every part of it. But we do have a part to play! We have been invited to participate in building for God’s Kingdom. And our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58)!
What if we joined hands and built for God’s Kingdom together!
When God’s Kingdom becomes our priority, God’s mission becomes our purpose.
An Invitation
Jesus calls us to… “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” — Matthew 6:33
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