Aug. 21, 2026: SURRENDERING YOUR KINGDOM FOR HIS

BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives.

Reading:
Philippians 3:7-11
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Mark 8:34-36
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?’”

Devotional:
The book of Jonah ends without telling us whether Jonah repented and fully surrendered.
That open ending is intentional.

The author — Jonah himself — left the conclusion unresolved so that every reader across every generation would be forced to write their own ending.

The question is not only what Jonah decided. The question is what you will decide.
God’s greater purpose is not a program or a mission statement. It is a Person. It is Jesus Christ, whose body was broken and whose blood was poured out so that every lost and wandering soul — every Ninevite, every reluctant prophet, every person wrestling with their own heart — could be found.

Surrender your kingdom.

His is infinitely better.

Reflection:
What specific area of your life are you still holding back from God, unwilling to place fully under His authority and purpose?

Practical Application:
Using the language from the sermon, pray through this surrender specifically and out loud:

“My children are Yours."
"My marriage is Yours."
"My finances are Yours."
"My plans are Yours."
"My time is Yours."
"My future is Yours."
"My life is Yours.”

Then sit in silence and allow God to respond to that prayer with His presence.

Song of the Day:
From the Inside Out