Sunday, July 26, 2026: "God's Realm is Here"

Watch the Sermon here

First United Presbyterian Church

“God’s Realm is Here”

Rev. Amy Morgan

July 26, 2026

Romans 8:26-39

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;

    we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46

Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Some moments are too deep for words. Some prayers can only be honest as a sigh or a groan. This is surely one of those moments. But as your pastor, for this one last Sunday, my task, the calling God extended to me through you, is to find the words. They may not be the right ones, but that isn’t what you’ve ever asked of me. You’ve never asked me to be perfect. You just asked me to be yours. 

And so I hope the Spirit will intercede for me as I share this final proclamation of God’s Word to us today. 

Jesus shares with crowds of people these little parables, these little picture stories, about the reality of God’s realm. The tiniest of things growing into an expansive place of hospitality; something nearly-invisible being the most essential ingredient; a hidden thing that is worth everything we have; giving up everything for one small, precious thing. 

These parables are not meant to instruct us on what we should do, how we should live. They are meant to open our eyes to where the realm of God already exists all around us. Hearing these parables, we are blessed to see the realm of God is right here and right now. We can hold it in our hand, share it with our neighbors, discover it with delight, and give up anything for it. 

Hearing these parables today, it’s so obvious that the realm of God is here in this place.

When I interviewed for this position nine years ago, the folks on the Pastor Nominating Committee affirmed that this church was “small but mighty.” Your ministry to the community far exceeded what most other churches could do with your human and financial resources. You were already that mustard tree, with branches that spread far and wide, offering a home to folks longing for shelter, community, safety, or unconditional love. 

Over the last nine years, that tree has continued to grow bigger and stronger and healthier. A congregation that once worried about paying 34 dollars for a website domain has grown a healthy endowment fund and raised money for hymnals and A/V equipment and new gardens. A congregation that only opened the building for church on Sunday and occasional church meetings has grown the use of the building by community groups to seven days a week. A congregation that didn’t know what to do with grant money for a failed soccer league grew an arts enrichment camp that connects us with families in our community.  Growth has defined this church, not just in numbers of members and dollars, but in hospitality and hope and imagination. 

Early in my tenure here, I met many folks in the community who didn’t know this church was here, or that it was open and operating as a church. I met folks who had walked by this building every day for years and never been inside. It was like this enormous stone structure was somehow invisible in the community. 

But that didn’t mean we weren’t having an impact. We housed folks who needed shelter. We advocated for and fed vulnerable neighbors. We visited folks who were isolated and lonely. We prayed and prayed and prayed. And when we started opening our doors more and more, welcoming the community in for Night on the Town, Downtown festivals, community meetings, and concerts, our neighbors started to notice that we were an essential part of what has helped Downtown Loveland develop over the past several years. We were given a grant from the DDA to repair our crumbling mortar, and keep capstones from falling onto the sidewalk, because we were seen as the yeast that helps this community rise. 

You all know that this church is a hidden treasure, a precious pearl worth giving your all for. I have witnessed you give so much for this church, not as an institution needing your support, but as an embodiment of God’s realm on earth inviting your residency. God’s realm is the place where God’s economy is active, where God’s politics are practiced, where God’s ethic is embraced, where God’s love infuses every aspect of our lives. And we have all experienced that here. And so we have given our whole lives to this. 

We have given our lives by celebrating Communion and singing Christmas carols with folks in assisted living environments; going on mission trips to Mexico and serving meals at the Community Kitchen; building community in Supper Squads and breaking ribs on softball teams and pulling muscles we didn’t know we had while losing pathetically at kickball. Sports aren’t really our thing, turns out. But hey, we tried. We have given our lives by holding each other through unspeakable grief and celebrating birthdays and milestones. We have given our lives by making art and music and casseroles and friends. 

This beautiful, precious thing that is the realm of God at First on Fourth has not gone unnoticed. Over the last nine years, 45 new members have been drawn to this incredible place, and many, many more visitors and attenders, here in Loveland and around the country online. You have never been a congregation that gathered only the easy, the familiar, the useful. You gathered the grieving and the doubting, the new attender and the ninety-year-old saint, the person living under the ramp and the visitor from out of state. People kept finding this treasure, this valuable pearl. 

And they will keep finding you. And you will keep welcoming them. Because the realm of God is here, right now. And it’s not going anywhere. It isn’t leaving with me. It belongs to you, and no one can take it from you. You’ve given everything for it. It’s all yours. 

Paul promises the Christians of Rome that nothing, nothing in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Not pastors coming and going. Not bank accounts filling and emptying. Not people joining or leaving. Nothing can separate you from God’s love. Nothing can take that treasure away. The love of God, the operating currency of God’s realm, is yours in abundance, and yours eternally. 

With that love, you will continue to grow, to lift up your community, and to be of immeasurable worth. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the Heart of Christ in the Heart of Loveland, to grow with you and to love with you. You are healthy and strong, you are vital and vibrant, you are a gift and a treasure, and you are loved - by me, by this community, and by God.

To Whom be all glory, now and forever. Amen.