Someone has said, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day."  The point is clear and unmistakable.  The testimony of a life lived in obedience to Jesus is worth more than a lifetime of speculation and preaching about Jesus' will.  Now the point of this message is not hypocrisy or being a good example.  I'm thinking about Jesus' thought in Luke 17:20-21: 
"Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say,' 'Here it is,' 'or' 'There it is,' 'because the kingdom of God is within you.'"  Now I do understand that Jesus was directing the Pharisees to focus on the intimate and immediate nature of the kingdom.  However, what I can see as an implication of this passage is that the Pharisees (religious experts) were in the habit of speculating about the nature and arrival of the kingdom.  But these same experts completely missed the coming of God's kingdom because they refused to recognize the signs of its arrival.  These signs were manifested in the changed lives of people all around Jesus.  We need to make sure we don't make the Pharisees' mistake.  We shouldn't become such "experts" that we miss the evidence of God's working in people's lives, in other words -- the kingdom's presence.  Start looking around y!
ou.  Search for examples of kingdom living in your brothers and sisters.  When you find clues that indicate the kingdom's presence in someone else, stick close to that person.  They will encourage you.  Praise God for his rule in their lives.  Finally, resolve to specialize in practice, not theory.  We can maintain the purest doctrine in the world, but if we don't live it -- well, you know the rest.  Grace and peace,

                      Ethan