Scripture Foundations | The Bible Verses Behind the Mission | Daniel Ziedins
The 33 Bible verses that shape everything Daniel Ziedins builds: Matthew 6:33, the Great Commission, love in action, lifting Jesus up in public, Kingdom business, marriage as one team, courage, and giving God all the glory. Each verse with why it matters and one way to live it this week.
The Word Behind the Work
Every festival, Friday night, brand, and app in this ecosystem traces back to a verse. These are the passages that shape the mission, why each one matters, and one way to live it this week.
Seek First
Everything starts here. Before the brands, the festivals, the outreach nights, and the apps, there is one command that orders the rest: put the King and His Kingdom first, and trust the Father with everything else.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Why it shapes the work: This is the verse the whole ecosystem is named after. Seek First: World exists to say it out loud, and SIX33 is literally Matthew 6:33 stitched onto a hat. It is not a productivity hack. It is the order of operations for a life, a marriage, and a business.
Live it this week: Before you open your inbox tomorrow, open your Bible. Ask the Lord what He wants first, then build your day around that answer.
Matthew 6:10
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Why it shapes the work: Jesus taught us to pray for heaven's reality to land on real streets. That is the prayer under every Friday night in Hamilton and every park we set a stage in. We are not building our kingdom. We are asking for His.
Live it this week: Pray this line slowly over your own city, naming one street and one household you want heaven to touch.
Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Why it shapes the work: Design work, payroll, sound checks, sandwich prep. None of it is secular when it is done for Him. This verse is why we refuse to do sloppy work in the name of ministry, and why a website can be an act of worship.
Live it this week: Pick the most ordinary task on your list this week and do it as if Jesus were the client. Because He is.
The Great Commission
Jesus did not leave a suggestion. He left a commission with a promise attached: go, make disciples, and I am with you. Every outreach group, map, and tool we build exists to help ordinary believers obey it.
Matthew 28:19–20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Why it shapes the work: The mission to help establish 100 consistent outreach groups around the world is simply this verse with a plan attached. Love on The World and Evangelize.World exist so that going is not a someday idea but a Friday-night reality.
Live it this week: Find or start an outreach group near you on Evangelize.World, then put the first date in your calendar.
Mark 16:15
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
Why it shapes the work: The whole world includes the corner of it you already live in. Hamilton was our whole world for twelve years before the Lord widened the map. Faithfulness in one city is how movements reach nations.
Live it this week: Write down the name of one person in your world who has never heard the Gospel clearly from you. Pray for an open door this week.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Why it shapes the work: Power first, then witness. We do not go in our own strength or cleverness. Every outreach night starts with prayer because the Holy Spirit does the convincing; we just show up and love people.
Live it this week: Before your next conversation about Jesus, stop and ask the Holy Spirit for power and words. Then trust Him with the outcome.
Matthew 9:37–38
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
Why it shapes the work: The problem was never the harvest. It is workers. So we built free tools for the workers: OikosMap to see your personal mission field, KingdomBase to follow up every conversation, and a starter kit to launch a group in thirty days.
Live it this week: Pray Matthew 9:38 every morning for a week. Then be honest about whether you are one of the answers.
Free tools for Kingdom builders · Outreach Group Starter Kit · The harvest has your name on it
Romans 10:14–15
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
Why it shapes the work: Somebody has to go and somebody has to send. Lion's Den Alliance exists because Kingdom businesses can fund the feet. Building companies that send is not a distraction from the Gospel. It is logistics for it.
Live it this week: Decide today whether you are a goer, a sender, or both. Then take one step in that direction: give, go, or invite someone.
Do Everything in Love
Love is not the soft part of the mission. It is the method. Sandwiches, prayer, showing up in the snow, remembering names. People can tell when they are a project and when they are loved.
1 Corinthians 16:14
Let all that you do be done in love.
Why it shapes the work: This is the line in the footer of this site and the standard for every gathering we run. If a plan is strategic but not loving, it is not a Kingdom plan. Love is why people came back to Love on Hamilton week after week for twelve years.
Live it this week: Do one thing this week purely because it is loving, with no strategy and no expectation of return.
John 13:34–35
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Why it shapes the work: Our apologetic is how we treat each other. Jesus said the world would recognise His disciples by love, not by our branding. That is why unity across churches at Jesus Festival matters as much as the set list.
Live it this week: Reach out to a believer from a different church or stream this week and encourage them. Let the city see the family.
1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Why it shapes the work: Talk is cheap on the streets. Deed and truth is a hot meal, a warm pair of socks, a real prayer, and the Gospel spoken plainly. Kingdom Response exists for the same reason: when disaster hits, the church should be first on the ground.
Live it this week: Turn one good intention into an action before Sunday: a meal, a visit, a bag of supplies, a phone call.
Matthew 25:40
And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
Why it shapes the work: The man on the bench, the mom at the shelter, the guy who has not eaten since yesterday. Jesus says serving them is serving Him. That reframes a Friday night from charity into worship.
Live it this week: Serve someone this week who cannot pay you back, and do it as unto Jesus Himself.
Lift Jesus Up
Why put a stage in a public park? Because Jesus said if He is lifted up, He will draw people. Public worship is public witness. The city should not have to walk into a building to encounter Him.
John 12:32
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
Why it shapes the work: This is the verse behind Jesus Festival in Gage Park and Niagara. We do not draw people. He does. Our job is to lift Him up in the open air, preach clearly, and get out of the way.
Live it this week: Find a way to honour Jesus publicly this week: a testimony, a post, an invitation, a song sung out loud.
Psalm 96:3
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
Why it shapes the work: Every testimony shared from a festival stage is Psalm 96 in action. We tell what He has done so more people trust what He can do. Media, film, and the Jesus Festival app exist to carry those declarations further.
Live it this week: Tell one person this week a specific thing God has done in your life. Be concrete, not vague.
Psalm 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
Why it shapes the work: Worship is evangelistic. When a city hears a new song rising from a park, people stop, watch, and many put their trust in the Lord. We have watched it happen.
Live it this week: Sing to God this week where someone else can hear you. Let your praise be a witness.
Isaiah 12:4
And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted."
Why it shapes the work: Make known. Proclaim. Exalt. That is the job description for every stage, story, and screen in this ecosystem, from I Am Reborn testimonies to SIX33 Legends storytelling.
Live it this week: Share one story of God's faithfulness publicly this week, online or in person.
Build With the Lord
We build a lot: brands, platforms, businesses, gatherings. These verses keep the building honest. If the Lord is not in it, it is vanity. If He is, even small beginnings matter.
Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
Why it shapes the work: Every launch in the Kingdom ecosystem gets measured against this. A beautiful brand He is not building is a waste of a life. So we pray before we plan and hold every project loosely.
Live it this week: Take your biggest current project to God in prayer this week and honestly ask whether He is building it.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.
Why it shapes the work: Committing the work is not a one-time dedication prayer. It is a daily surrender of the roadmap. When we commit it, He establishes what should stand and lets the rest fall away.
Live it this week: Open your task list and pray over it line by line. Let the Lord reorder your priorities.
Nehemiah 2:18
And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, "Let us rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
Why it shapes the work: Nehemiah shared a testimony of God's hand, and a people rose to build. That is the Thy Kingdom Network model: tell what God is doing, and Kingdom builders find each other and get to work.
Live it this week: Share what God is doing in your work with one other builder this week. Watch what it stirs.
Zechariah 4:6
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
Why it shapes the work: Documenting the SIX33 build from zero taught me this on repeat. The breakthroughs never came from hustle alone. They came when the Spirit moved and we were faithful enough to be in the room.
Live it this week: Identify one place you have been relying on effort instead of the Spirit. Repent, and ask Him to move.
Proverbs 3:9
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
Why it shapes the work: Kingdom business is not just clean business. It is business that gives first. Lion's Den Alliance builds companies designed to fund the harvest, because profit that never sends anyone is a wasted seed.
Live it this week: Give the first part of what comes in this week before you spend the rest. Firstfruits, not leftovers.
Matthew 25:21
His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."
Why it shapes the work: Faithful over a little is the only path to much. Sandwiches before stages. One outreach group before a hundred. This verse is why we celebrate small obedience and refuse to despise humble beginnings.
Live it this week: Be fully faithful this week in the smallest responsibility you have. Do it as your audition for more.
One Table, One Mission
Katie and I do not have two competing callings. We have one mission, one table, and one King. And none of this is a solo act. God gives the growth through a whole body of planters and waterers.
Joshua 24:15
But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Why it shapes the work: Marriage and ministry are not rivals in our home. Our house serves the Lord together, on the streets, at the festival, and at the dinner table. KD-Ziedins.com is our shared story of that one decision.
Live it this week: Gather your household this week and decide together one way you will serve the Lord as a family.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Why it shapes the work: This is still the strategy. Outreach groups, not lone rangers. Alliances, not empires. Every tool we build assumes you will do this with someone, because Scripture assumes it too.
Live it this week: Do not go alone this week. Invite one person into the thing God has put on your heart.
1 Corinthians 3:6–7
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
Why it shapes the work: Nobody in this ecosystem is the hero. One church plants, another waters, a Friday night team follows up, and God gives the growth. This keeps us grateful, humble, and generous with credit.
Live it this week: Thank someone who planted or watered in your life this week. Then go plant or water for someone else.
Courage That Keeps Going
Twelve years of Friday nights includes a lot of cold, tired, discouraging evenings. These are the verses that got us back out the door. Fear is not from God, and the harvest belongs to those who do not quit.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Why it shapes the work: Wherever you go includes the corner nobody else wants to stand on. Courage in outreach is not the absence of nerves. It is going anyway because He is already there.
Live it this week: Go to the place or person you have been avoiding this week. He goes with you.
2 Timothy 1:7
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Why it shapes the work: Anxiety gets loud when you build in public and preach in parks. This verse is the answer I return to: fear is not my inheritance. Power, love, and a sound mind are.
Live it this week: When fear speaks this week, speak this verse back out loud. Then take the next step anyway.
Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Why it shapes the work: Movements are built by people who kept showing up in the years nobody was watching. Love on Hamilton was sandwiches and prayer long before anyone called it a movement. Due season is real. Do not give up.
Live it this week: Recommit this week to the good work you have been tempted to quit. Set the next date and show up.
Isaiah 6:8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me."
Why it shapes the work: This is the prayer that started everything and the one we hope you will pray too. Not send someone else. Send me. The Lord is still asking the question.
Live it this week: Pray Isaiah 6:8 honestly this week and write down the first thing He puts in front of you.
All Glory to God
If anything on this site points at Daniel instead of Jesus, it has failed. Every brand, festival, tool, and story exists for one reason: that His name would be exalted and He would get all the glory.
Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why it shapes the work: A personal website is a dangerous place to lose this. So we say it plainly: not to us. Every baptism, every meal, every changed life is His faithfulness on display, not our strategy.
Live it this week: Before you share a win this week, give God the credit first, out loud and specifically.
1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Why it shapes the work: Whatever you do covers apparel, apps, sound systems, and spreadsheets. There is no secular corner of this ecosystem. It is all for His glory or it is not worth doing.
Live it this week: Choose one everyday activity and do it deliberately for God's glory this week. Notice how it changes the work.
Philippians 2:9–11
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Why it shapes the work: This is where history is going. Every knee, every tongue. We lift Jesus up in parks now because one day every knee in every park will bow. We are just early.
Live it this week: Bow your knee to Jesus in private this week, on purpose. Let your body agree with your confession.
Revelation 4:11
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
Why it shapes the work: He is worthy. That is the final answer to why we do any of this. Not because it works, not because it grows, but because He is worthy of a city's worship and a life's work.
Live it this week: End every day this week with one sentence of worship: He is worthy. Then rest.
The verses, explained
What does “seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33) mean?
Matthew 6:33 is Jesus' instruction to make God's Kingdom and His righteousness the first priority of life, trusting the Father to provide everything else. For Daniel Ziedins it is the ordering principle behind Seek First: World, SIX33 Outpost, and every business and ministry decision: God's agenda first, then work, money, and plans fall into place under it.
What is the Great Commission?
The Great Commission is Jesus' command in Matthew 28:18–20 to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them, with the promise that He is with us always. It is the mandate behind Love on The World, Evangelize.World, and the mission to help establish 100 consistent outreach groups around the world.
Why is the brand called SIX33?
SIX33 stands for Matthew 6:33, “seek first the kingdom of God.” SIX33 Outpost is the rugged, mountain-tactical faith apparel brand inside the Seek First: World ecosystem, designed to carry that verse into everyday culture and help fund missions.
What Bible verse is Jesus Festival built on?
John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus Festival takes worship into public parks in Hamilton and Niagara because when Jesus is lifted up publicly, He draws people to Himself. Psalm 96:3 and Psalm 40:3 shape the emphasis on testimony and public praise.
Which verse is behind Love on Hamilton and Love on The World?
1 Corinthians 16:14, “Let all that you do be done in love,” together with 1 John 3:18 (love in deed and truth) and Matthew 25:40 (serving the least of these is serving Jesus). Twelve years of Friday night street outreach in Hamilton grew from those verses into a global movement.
Which Bible translation is quoted on this page?
Verses on this page are quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV), used by permission of Crossway. References are given so you can read each passage in full in your own Bible or translation.
How can I start living these verses this week?
Pick one verse, pray it daily, and take the “live it” step listed under it. Then take a practical next step: download the free Seek First Field Guide at danielziedins.com/field-guide, use the Outreach Group Starter Kit, or find an outreach group near you on Evangelize.World.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.