The Expectancy of the Kingdom (Hebrews 12:28)

On January 5, Pastor Jeff invited River Corner Church into a year of expectancy, encouraging our growing church community to come expectant for God’s transformative work in their lives, communities, and worship. As we looked at Hebrews 12:28, our message highlights the importance of unshakable faith in God’s eternal kingdom, urging believers to renew their spiritual "batteries" and trust in God’s promises despite life’s challenges and disappointments.

Who we are together.
River Corner Church is a growing church community of everyday people who gather to worship God, follow Jesus, and journey through life together.

What we practice together.
Our small church community is uniquely caring, simple, laid-back, and intergenerational. As a church, we want to be a welcoming, safe, and healing community for those who are seeking, hurting, or need a place to belong. Our practices are contemplative (reflective) charismatic (Spirit-driven), conversational, and informative. The times we share together are intentional and intimate, and a mix between modern and traditional. We want to be a place in which love and honor are lived out, where humility is central, and where hospitality is woven into the threads of our community. There is room at the table.

When we gather together.
River Corner Church gathers weekly on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM to worship and experience God, study the scriptures, journey through life together, and partner with the Holy Spirit. We meet in a simple worship meeting house at 524 River Corner Road in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. You are welcome as you are, just be yourself. There are other times that we hold small groups, events, and more.

Our Pastoral Leader.
As the pastor of River Corner Church, Jeff McLain leads our church community and helps others to think differently about Jesus, life, and everything in-between. Jeff also serves as the Director of Pastoral Ministries at Water Street Mission, where he works with those facing homelessness and poverty. Jeff, Katie, and their three wander-filled daughters look to lead quiet lives. Committed to lifelong learning, Jeff is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry at Kairos University and completing a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Executive Leadership at City Vision University. These academic pursuits complement the two masters he completed earlier at Fuller Seminary. Jeff has a passion for baseball, boardwalks, beaches, bays, and books, but above all, his greatest joy lies in spending time with his family and guiding our church community on our journey of faith together.

Learn more about us at rivercornerchurch.com.

Transcript

THE EXPECTANCY OF A KINGDOM

OPENING

Thank you for being with us today as we have gathered to worship and experience God. We gather as a way of being committed to journeying through life together. However, we also gather to study the scriptures to learn how to follow, live, and love like Jesus. Studying the scriptures is not only for our benefit, but also because we want to know how to partner with the Holy Spirit to bring healing and peace to the places we live, work, and play.

Let’s Pray.

“God, we thank You for being here with us. Your scriptures are living and powerful, and we ask that You speak to us today as we open them. Fill this place and our hearts with Your Holy Spirit, empowering us to see You at work in our lives, church, and in each other. We ask that You break the hold of anxiety and distractions that we may have at this moment, helping us focus on You. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts open to Your truth. Help me to get out of the way, so that all we see and hear is Your scriptures and Holy Spirit guiding us to where to look, where to listen, and how to respond to your calling and truth. Amen.”

KEY THEME

As we head into 2025 at River Corner Church, I want to invite you into a year of expectancy. In 2025, I believe that God is calling us to carry a sense of expectancy in our hearts this year. Expectancy is the passionate and eager anticipation and belief that something good, transformative, and significant is going to happen as we gather, and in our future. This year we are practicing to be expectant about how God the Father will grow our intimacy with the ways of God as we study and live out the scriptures. We are expectant about the work the Holy Spirit wants to do in the places we live, work, and play - but also here in the times we gather to worship. And we are expectant about how God will empower us to live and love like Jesus in new ways, empowering us to bring God’s healing and peace in greater ways wherever we go. This year, we anticipate meeting with God here on Sundays, receiving from God as we declare Jesus as Lord, and trusting that God will meet us in powerful ways.

KEY VERSE

2025 is not only a year of expectancy but also a year of immersing ourselves in a new scripture. In 2023, we focused on Psalm 90:12, a prayer that says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." This verse highlights the importance of accountability as we take account of our time to grow in spiritual wisdom. In 2024, we turned to 2 Corinthians 3:17, a reminder of the freedom that God's Holy Spirit brings from sin, brokenness, and the religious spirit, with the declaration, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." As we continue to embrace wisdom and walk in the Holy Spirit’s liberation, we are also growing in our understanding of what it means to be expectant. Throughout 2025, we will focus on Hebrews 12:28 as our key verse for the year. Hebrews 12:28 reads, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”  I believe, and we will explore, how this verse not only invites us into a life of expectancy but also offers a guiding principle for how we are to live as followers of Jesus in the year ahead.

KEY IDEA

There is a notable expectancy in Jesus' teaching, we don’t have time to look at all of them today. However, consider a few, like how Jesus tells His followers, “ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7-8). In Matthew, Jesus tells his followers that even the smallest amount of faith, a mustard seed, can move mountain-like obstacles. Jesus also tells us that we can expect God to answer. As we saw in Mary’s song and the teachings of Jesus, there is both a physical and spiritual expectancy that the hungry and thirsty “will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Jesus also assures us that if we “seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness,” all other things will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). We seek because we expect God to organize our lives when we prioritize the Kingdom of God. When we are weary and burdened and respond to Jesus' invitation, Jesus promises to give us “rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus tells us to expect rest if we ask. Jesus also said that what you ask for in prayer, “will be yours” (Mark 11:24). He is saying, we can expect Jesus to answer our prayers. 

These passages are just a small sample of the many ways Jesus calls us to live with expectancy. The rest of the New Testament echoes this theme of expectancy. Paul tells us that all of creation is “in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19). Paul himself operates out of this expectancy, declaring, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will have sufficient courage, so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20). In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that as we wait for the return of Jesus, we “do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait” or as we expect Jesus return, we can expect that we will not lack any spiritual gift. James, the brother of Jesus, gives us similar encouragement, urging us to be patient in our expectancy as we wait for the coming of the Lord (James 5:7-8). Hope and expectancy in the New Testament share this idea of beginning to receive now, while we wait for that which will be fully realized at Christ's return (1 Peter 1:13).

The scriptures speak more matter-of-a-fact in expectancy than many of us believe. Sometimes, because we feel this doesn’t add up to our experience of faith, we explain what Jesus means away. Other times we believe it with our heads but not our hearts. 

LIFE HAPPENS

Most things we have, even our own bodies, wear out over time in little ways we don’t always notice. When our kids were small, they had this firetruck toy that, as the batteries would wear out, would literally go off in the middle of the night. It was one of the creepiest things. We lived in the city, and occasionally, it would just yell out in the night from their room, “Engine 36, rolling,” and the lights would flash and sirens would go. As the batteries wore out, it would get a warped, haunted sound to it. However, new batteries would refresh the whole thing.

In many ways, most of us are in need of a new set of batteries in our expectancy. Life is hard. It plays us hard. It drains our batteries. Each disappointment, each letdown, each time we expected God to show up, and it feels like He doesn’t - it drains our faith, our energy, our "selves" a little more. We say, "Yes, we believe God can do anything, desires to love us, meet us, answer our prayers, and bring healing," but we also know sometimes things don’t happen, and that feels more like the norm. We should be all “Engine 36, rolling” with our faith, but sometimes our confession is quiet or warped. Sometimes, I would get so annoyed with the toy that I would just take the batteries out. It still sits in our house with the batteries out. Our faith sometimes sits with the batteries out. We believe what faith is capable of upstairs, but we aren’t practicing what we were made to do.

Reflection Questions:

Have you ever felt like your faith was losing its power, just like a worn-out battery? Where have disappointments, unmet expectations, or personal struggles affected your expectancy for God to move in your life?

I am sure thoughts and reflections came up for you, just as they do for me. This is why we are looking at 2025 as a year of expectancy, and it is a year of studying Hebrews 12:28.

HEBREWS 12:28

Let’s read Hebrews 12:28 again. Though, throughout 2025, we will focus on Hebrews 12:28 as our key verse for the year and I will try to integrate it into various sermon messages. I thought it would be good to wrestle with here at the start of 2025 together. Hebrews 12:28 reads, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” If Hebrews is a type of sermon, which many scholars think it is, this is certainly one of his major points. 

What happens before Hebrews 12:28 is important. The long sermon that is Hebrews builds intensity up to the 11th chapter, where the author begins to explain what faith is. Hebrews ends in the next chapter. This is a huge highlight for me anyway. It is a declaration of bold confidence in what we hope for. Likewise, Hebrews explains, those forefathers of the faith, in their imperfection and failure to fully reach the promise on this side of the grave, all point to a bold faith we should want, the pursuit of something greater the author says that God is doing, a full sense of faith and yearning towards perfection. Then the author speaks of faith being made perfect. Jesus offers the consummation of salvation.

That foundation lays the expectations and workings of Hebrews 12. In Hebrews 12, now that faith has found in fullness in the salvation that Jesus offers, the sermon continues and tells us in Hebrews 12 to throw off all things that are keeping us back from a full, abundant, and obedient life of faith. Because Jesus has offered this fullness of salvation, we should run with a sense of perseverance the race that God has marked out for us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the way to God, life, and salvation. A few verses before Hebrews 12:28, you will see the author beginning to talk about the shaking of the earth.

The point, in Hebrews 12, finds itself in a comparison between the story of Mount Sinai and heaven. The earth shook when God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Later, Jewish Tradition said that this act “shook the world.” Quoting from Haggai, the author says God will shake the earth once more. A shaking that will even shake the heavens as well. That will be the end of time, the consummation of God’s plan. And though this earth, and what we see, can be shaken, that which we are receiving as followers of Jesus cannot be shaken. All around us can and will be shaken. So, we are looking to what we are in the process of receiving, something unshakable and eternal. The Kingdom. This is what should embolden our faith like our forefathers. This part of the Hebrews passage is largely underpreached in my experience.

For the author of Hebrews, the Kingdom is this anchor of expectancy in our daily lives. It is something we are in the process of receiving. Even when everything else is shaken and fades away, there will be something that remains. It is something eternal. It is a Kingdom - a spiritual reality that is the embodiment of stability in this passage, that has physical implications. What we are receiving, this Kingdom is meant to be an expectancy that keeps us pushing on at all costs despite the obstacles. We are expectant because we have part of it in our hands now and part of it that is yet to come that will outlast everything else.

Receiving

The Greek word to receive means to take and receive in a way of hospitality that you to have something you take along with. In the New Testament, this word means to take or receive something or someone - but not wealth or finances. It can refer to physically taking a person with you or accepting ideas, teachings, or traditions - or even bringing a person with you. In this way, we are bringing God’s presence with us. At the root of the word, “para,” implies a community and coming along “with.” In this passage, we are being handled, and we are receiving, a Kingdom that that is guiding and protecting us, that is bringing us a way of hospitality, that is taking us somewhere.

However, what is that kingdom we are receiving? 

The Kingdom is at the core of Jesus’ ministry. When we talk about the gospel, it would be good for us to talk about what Jesus’ gospel was. Jesus is described as bringing the gospel, or the good news, of the Kingdom of God. Listen to Mark’s words in Mark 1:14-15, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” Luke 8:1 describes it the same way, “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him…” 

Jesus himself said that he came preaching this Kingdom. In Luke 4:43, Jesus “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because that is why I was sent.” The reason Jesus was sent was to proclaim the gospel or the good news of the Kingdom. The Kingdom that Jesus is proclaiming is what we are receiving. 

Throughout the gospels, it is referred to as the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. In Hebrews, it is just described as the “Kingdom.” Though it is missing the descriptor of heaven or of God, it is the same word used for the Kingdom in the teachings of Jesus. The term used kingdom means a kingdom, realm, or area of rule. It is the place in which a leader has the right to rule and reign. In the New Testament, it represents both God’s current spiritual rule and the way it is breaking into our physical reality, and it represents God’s future physical reign. It is reflective of God’s power and authority, his right to rule and reign in this world, and it represents the reality that followers of Jesus live into. 

In the world of the reader, it represents the lands ruled by way of a king or emperor. For the Jewish people, it also represented the promise of the messianic kingdom that the prophets and God promised in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God were different from what people expected; rather, they came subversively and not all at once. Jesus was proclaiming it was here. It was at hand. It was within reach. Jesus also told us that we can begin to experience it by repenting. The Kingdom of God, which is marked by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit that is coming, is also here and now. That is the same thing the author of Hebrews writes. 

We are already beginning to receive the hospitality of the Kingdom. This is called inaugurated eschatology. A kingdom has been inaugurated. The rule and reign started. It is a slow kingdom coming. It is beginning to make all things new and bringing about its fullness, that moment when God shakes the earth again as it says in Hebrews. 

Inaugurated eschatology is described as the kingdom being here and now but yet to come. Sometimes it is called the “both-and” of the Kingdom. It is both here and still to happen. We have a foretaste, an appetizer, but the whole meal is yet to come. We have experienced the trailer of the movie, but the movie is still to be seen. God's Kingdom has already begun through Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection but will be fully completed in the future. Jesus declared it in the present when he read from Isaiah, declaring, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” These are messianic expectations of the Kingdom. They are both physical and spiritual realities. Jesus himself says, Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Today, Jesus declares, the expectations of the Kingdom is here, because the Kingdom is here. This is why in the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for the Kingdom to come more. Through Jesus, the physical and spiritual realities of the Kingdom are coming into reality. God is in the process of making all things new. This is the kingdom we are receiving, this is the Kingdom Jesus declared was within reach, and this is the kingdom that brings about samples of God's rule and reign through healings, miracles, and the spirit-empowered life of the follower of Jesus. We are receiving a kingdom which means followers of Jesus begin to experience part of God's promises now, which is the hospitality of the Kingdom, while still waiting for their complete fulfillment when Jesus returns. Hebrews wants us to understand this kingdom has set up shop and it is taking over slowly.

This Kingdom is described as eternal, unshakable, and immovable. The word describes something that is form, stable, and cannot be moved. It is set in the truest reality. Such a word is used to describe God’s promises and reliability. 

The word for “let us” is important. It is the word echo. It is a matter of having hold, possessing, and accepting. The way of taking hold of the hospitality of the kingdom that we are receiving is something for us to possess it for ourselves, to make use of it. To enter it and use it to strengthen our weak arms.

RECEIVING

• In Hebrews 12:28, we are receiving the presence of God.
• We are recieving good news. This is the good news Jesus proclaimed. That healing is breaking into the world. The lame walk, the blind see.
• We are also receiving God's rightful authority to rule and reign in our midst, God is making all things news - busy at work around us and in our lives . 
• We are also receiving a destination, a focus that directs our thoughts toward God's eternal promises, keeping our hearts set on what lies ahead - eternity. We have a target in mind. 
• We are also receiving a community. The Kingdom has a church. It is a place to belong.
• We are receiving a taste of heaven and God’s goodness. The bad stuff doesn't have the last say.
• We are receiving direction, a way of justice.

To receive the Kingdom is to understand and receive expectancy on what is possible. And because of all this, and more, we are compelled to respond with awe and worship, overflowing with gratitude and drawn into a deeper intimacy with God. This divine encounter stirs us to live with reverence and closeness to the Creator.

FOUR POINTS

In Hebrews 12:28, the author highlights two key ways we live our faith with expectancy. First, we live with a deep sense of thankfulness, recognizing all that God has done and continues to do in our lives. This gratitude shapes how we look at God, and how we see that God is active in our lives which reignites our expectancy. It helps us to know that every good thing truly does come from God’s hand. Second, it calls us to worship with awe and reverence. In worship of the awe and reverence of God, we come to understand how big God is, and just how thorough his ways and works are. We come to appreciate the greatness of God's presence and power. God’s presence is also a byproduct of worship. So, in this way, the more we experience God in worship, the more we are expectant to experience more of his Kingdom every time we do. This kind of worship isn't merely a ritual or obligation, but an active response to the awe-inspiring reality that we are in relationship with the Creator of all things - and as the scriptures say, his presence is enthroned in our praises. Both thankfulness and reverence cultivate a faith that expects God to move, speak, and act in powerful ways, both now and in the future.

I offer four ideas on how to grow your expectancy in this new year.

1. Pray for expectancy.
   Simply ask for it.
2. Learn stories from outside your spheres of influence.
   Challenge yourself to learn how God is moving in theological circles, cultural backgrounds, and other spheres of influence that you are not normally part of.  Make talk with someone over coffee. As you are driven into gratefulness and worship for what you are learning, the more we also learn what God is capable of the more we know what to expectant in our own life. 
3. Follow the simple promptings. When God puts someone on your mind or heart, when a fleeting thought in the diner happens about someone, act on it right there and then. The more we step out in faith the more we will see God move and this will grow our expectance. We will see the hospitality of the kingdom and we will grow expectact of that in which we are recieving.
4. Practice a form of the Daily Examen.
   Reflecting on our day helps us become more aware of God's presence and guidance. If we pause to inventory our lives and see where God is at work, when we see it, we will become more expectant of what he wants to do in and through us.
   Bible Verse: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." – Psalm 139:23-24
   
   

I believe that these practices help us live more intentionally and align our hearts with God's work in our lives. They have helped me in the past, and I am trusting them to help me in 2025.

LAST REMARKS

As we close today, don’t forget how life can drain our expectancy, just like the batteries in that old firetruck toy. However, just as new batteries can bring that toy back to life, the scriptures and God’s Spirit can and will recharge us, renew our faith, and reignite our expectancy. It won’t happen overnight. With us, it is not as simple as putting in new batteries but upping our pursuit and discipline with God. I think 2025 is a year in which God is inviting us - individually and as River Corner Church - to be expectant with our prayers adn actions once again. As we journey this way together, I expect God to show up in ways that exceed what we’ve come to believe is possible. May we no longer sit with the batteries out, but may we step forward with faith working the way it is supposed too.

Consider:

As I enter 2025, what would it look like for me to live with the expectancy that God's kingdom is unfolding right here, right now, and that I am a part of the Kingdom of God’s redemptive plan?

Friends, “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

CLOSING

Thank you for being with us today as we studied the scriptures to learn how to follow, live, and love like Jesus. May these scriptures and any whispers of the Holy Spirit that you may have heard this morning stick with you. You can listen to this sermon or past messages through our app, website, or any podcast platform.

In a moment, we will close out with one last song to worship and experience God.  First, I want to give us time to share, because we are committed to journeying through life together.  We have a microphone, and if you slip up your hand, we will bring it to you. Please share where you long to see God move in your life and situations, offer praise for where you see God working in your life, or offer any announcements or reflections for the good of our church community.

(pause)

As we leave here, we recognize that we are going back to partner with the Holy Spirit to bring healing and peace to the places we live, work, and play. “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”