Bible Text: II Samuel 23:14 ; John 18:33-37 | Pastor: Lynn Thompson Bryant |  What does it mean to anticipate being a member in the Kingdom of God? There was a time in my early ministry that my friends and I really struggled with that phrase. Some of the terms Jesus used in his day just aren’t relevant for us today. We don’t live in a Kingdom. I remember some of our modifying efforts shifted to using words like “Kingdom,” or “God’s Heavenly Realm,” trying to reflect the kind of relationships God wanted us to establish for our connections to one another and to God. That seemed satisfactory …, for a while. But I have actually looped back to believing Jesus actually used the phrase “Kingdom of God” with intentionality, indicating that in ALL our relationships: Religion, Social, Education, Health Care, even Politics, Jesus intends for us to live every aspect of our lives as if he is first and foremost, King of all our avenues of decision making.