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Good morning, Grace Church.

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Good morning.

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I'm Pastor Rob. I get to serve here as the adult ministry pastor. It's a great privilege privilege to do that. I've got a question for you this morning. Do you ever feel insignificant? I know I have. Maybe you feel that way right now. Maybe you look at your life and you compare it to others and you think, well, I'm not as bold as that person, or I'm not as smart as that person, or I'm not influential, or I don't have a lot of followers on social media. And quite frankly, when you look at my life, I'm just pretty ordinary. If you ever feel that way, I have a story that is meant to encourage all of us this morning. In 1858, there was a Sunday school teacher by the name of Edward Kimball. And he felt extremely burdened by a young man in his Sunday school class. That young man's name was Dwight. And Dwight lost his father at a very young age. He grew up in poverty, and Dwight worked at his uncle's shoe store in Boston. It's recorded that Kimball felt God was calling him to share the gospel with Dwight. And so he goes into that shoe store and nervously and awkwardly shares the gospel with Dwight. And on that day, Dwight gives his life over to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Now when we look at Dwight's life, we find out that he was able to preach the gospel to over 100 million people. Think about that number for a minute. I'm kind of leaving one part out of this story, that Dwight was better known as DL, otherwise known as D. L. Moody. Some of you may have heard of him. DL also founded the Moody Bible Institute and led massive worldwide revival efforts, which can only be described as God's sovereign plan. And I love this because it shows God's grace and also his sense of humor. Moody was able to have a meeting or meet with Kimball's son and lead Kimball's son to Christ. So the Moody Bible Institute has had over 250 million people attend it over its over over how long it's existed, including our very own pastor Dan. So what began as a small, almost awkward conversation in a shoe store became a gospel movement that spread across continents. All because God used a seemingly insignificant Sunday school teacher to share the gospel with a seemingly insignificant young man. And that, and that's how the kingdom of God works. A tiny seed that grows into something far bigger than anyone expected. And that's exactly what Jesus is going to teach us in the parable today. So if you have your Bible or your Bible app, please open with me to Matthew 13, and we're going to read 31 through 32. Matthew 13, 31 through 32. Jesus says this. So that the birds come and perch in its perch it uh perch in its branches, sorry. This parable is just two verses short, but packs an enormous amount of truth in those two verses. Jesus starts by saying, the kingdom of heaven is like. So the kingdom of heaven, it's important to understand what Jesus is saying here, because the kingdom of heaven is so vast, so complex, so enormous, that Jesus has to take these picture stories, these stories, these parables that we've been reading, that we've been hearing these past few weeks, and he explains it to us. How do you take the infinite and explain it to the finite? And that's what parables are meant to do. When we're talking about the kingdom of God, theologians have used this concept before. It's called the already but not yet kingdom. Maybe you've heard that term before. Personally, I love these type of paradoxes. It's two things that are seemingly kind of against each other but are both true. Jesus teaches that the kingdom is already here. And we see that in Matthew 4.17. From the time that Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent for the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But at the same time, Jesus also preached that the kingdom of heaven is not here yet. Matthew 6.10, he says, when teaching us how to pray, he says, Your kingdom come, your will be done. While the kingdom of heaven is at hand, there's also this truth that it's not quite here yet. So both are fully true. The kingdom of heaven has begun, but has not fully arrived. And that's what this parable teaches us to understand. Something small like a mustard seed now can grow into something massive later. And Jesus' day, proverbally, I almost didn't use that word because I knew I was gonna stumble on it. Jesus, people knew during that time, because many were farmers, that the mustard seed was one of the tiniest, tiniest seeds that could be planted. So to help us remember this biblical truth and to encourage you, if you're feeling insignificant, at the end of the service, we're gonna hand out little mustard seed packets. What starts off as an incredibly tiny seed, like the seeds in those packets, can grow into a plant that reaches about 10 to 12 feet tall. It grows so large, and as it grows, it's it's it starts spreading out and its branches grow wide and birds come to perch in it. So one plant can produce over hundreds of seed pods. Something so small and easy to overlook results in growth, transformation, and ongoing multiplication that only God can produce. So this morning we're gonna walk through the three truths that we see in this parable. The first truth is how this parable is true for the kingdom of God. The second truth is how this parable is true for its king. And the third is how this is also true for his servants. So our first point is this: how this is true for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God often begins in a small, what almost seems insignificant way. And when we look at Scripture, we see this pattern over and over again. Think about the promise God made to Abraham. God says in Genesis 22, 17, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and in the sand on the seashore. When this promise was given, there was nothing noteworthy, nothing important about Abraham. There was no nation yet. There was no visible kingdom yet, just one man and one promise. Yet from that one promise, God began something that would grow into an entire nation, an entire people. That would be so numerous that you couldn't even count them. They'd be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand in the sea on the seashore. As you continue to read through the Old Testament, this seed, you see it start growing into the people of the nation of Israel. Geographically, it's a tiny little place in the Middle East that's pretty easy to overlook on a map. But even today, pretty much can't watch the news without hearing about it. So it became, it remains one of the most significant places in the world. That alone should pause and help us to recognize that God also, God often works through what seems with the small things that oftentimes seem insignificant, but carry an enormous amount of significance in his plan. Throughout all of history, from Genesis 1-1 until Jesus returns, we see God faithfully, faithfully accomplishing his plan. Amen? We see this truth more most closely and most clearly when we see the growth of the early church. What began with just Jesus and 12 disciples, 12 ordinary disciples, people who were ordinary by the world's standards, they were not impressive or influential, but Jesus tells Peter in Matthew 16, 18, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Today, right now, there are over 2 billion people who call themselves Christians in the world right now. What's even more remarkable are the areas of the world where this gospel, Christianity, is taking off. There are places that you wouldn't expect. It's not in places of comfort and freedom like here in the United States. It's countries like China and Iran, where Christianity is restricted and oftentimes persecuted. In China right now, there are already tens of millions of Christians. And probably within the next few years, China could become the largest Christian nation in the world. In Iran, where conversion, where becoming a Christian often entails being kicked out of your family, persecution, or jail, or death. It's considered one of the fastest growing nations. Christianity is considered one of the fastest growing, it's fastest growing in the world in Iran, with hundreds and possibly over a hundreds and possibly over a million believers in recent years. Governments try to suppress it. Laws try to contain it, but nothing stops that seed from growing. Nothing will prevail against it. The reason for this is simple. Jesus himself said this in John 18, 36. My kingdom is not of the world. Earthly kingdoms, empires, rulers gain power and lose power. But God's kingdom operates completely differently. It grows steadily, it grows quietly, it grows powerfully, and nothing can stop it. One of our greatest promises is that one day what we see now growing will become fully revealed to us. Because right now we're living in that already but not yet reality of the kingdom. What has already begun will not remain partial forever. When Jesus returns, his kingdom will come in its complete and final form. Revelation 21 gives us this picture of this reality where every tongue, every tribe, every people group will come and worship Jesus. What began as something small will then be seen in its full glory. What Jesus is showing in this parable is that this mustard seed, like the kingdom of God, may start small or may seem small, but it does not stay small. It grows into something far greater than anyone would expect. And when Jesus talks about the birds of the air coming to perch in its branches, he's really hearkening back to Ezekiel 17 and Daniel 4, which those birds actually represent the nations. So, in other words, people from every tribe, every nation, every language would be drawn to the kingdom of God. And all of this, every bit of it, started with something as small as a mustard seed and seemingly insignificant. This moves us to the second point, how this is true for our king. What is true for the kingdom is also true for its king. When Jesus came, he didn't arrive the same way that people expected. Even though the prophets had talked about this coming Messiah, many during Jesus' day were looking for a military or a political leader who would overthrow Rome. They were looking for somebody with power and authority and strength. They were expecting a Messiah that was powerful and big and established this earthly kingdom. But that's not how Jesus came, is it? Over seven hundred years before Jesus took on flesh, it's prophesied in Isaiah 53.2. He grew up before them like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. In other words, there was nothing outwardly impressive about Jesus. For his birth, he wasn't born in a palace, he was born in a manger. He didn't he didn't surround himself with royalty, he surrounded himself with the outcast and with sinners. He never built an army, he just had a ragtag group of twelve guys that were following him around. And throughout his life and his ministry, he was misunderstood. He was rejected, he was opposed, and eventually he'd be betrayed by those by one that was closest to him. Isaiah says in verse 3, he was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain, like one from whom people hid their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. I love some translations that say he was acquainted with grief. I think that's a vivid picture. From a worldly perspective, it didn't look like the beginning of this great and powerful kingdom, this eternal kingdom. To those who totally missed who Jesus was, he looked small, he may have looked weak, and he may have looked insignificant. And then came the cross. And let's be honest, like after the cross, it kind of looked like a failure. Jesus did not die a celebrated king, he died the death of a criminal. In between two criminals, he was beaten, he was mocked, he was crucified with everyone watching. It just looked like the end of every other self-professed Messiah during that time. And the story appears to be over, and whatever started with Jesus seems to have come to an extremely disappointing end. But Jesus had already told the disciples something, something really important. We see this in John 12, 24. Jesus says this unless a grain of wheat, grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. What looked like the end was actually just the beginning. Because three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. The seed that had been buried had come back to life. And that that changes everything for us. Because Jesus died and rose again, our sins are forgiven. We're made right in our relationship with God. And we're brought into his forever, his eternal, and his growing kingdom. This, my friends, this is the gospel message. This is what we get to celebrate two weeks from now at Easter. A response to the gospel is very simple. Turn from your sin and trust Jesus. Not just know about him in some intellectual way, but actually have a personal relationship with him. Have a personal relationship with him. Surrender your life to him as your Lord and Savior. Now, almost immediately after Jesus' resurrection, things began to change. Like things didn't just became things didn't just start changing, people were being transformed. In Acts chapter 2, after the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, we see Peter, the same one who denied Christ, preach and 3,000 people put their faith in Jesus. And then a couple verses later, not that long later, we see that number grow to 5,000. Nothing could stop the growth of the gospel. Not jail, not beatings, and not persecution. Nothing stopped it. What began with one man and one small, very impressive, unimpressive group of followers suddenly began to multiply and multiply. And it hasn't stopped to this day. Today, Jesus is worshipped all over the world. Today there are churches all across the world who are praising Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And every tongue, in every language, everywhere. Philippians 2 tells us that God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. What began in humility now reigns in glory. And one day every person will recognize what is already true, that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of Lords. So, what does all of this mean for us personally? Gets us to our last point. What is true for the kingdom and what is true for the king is also true for his servants. So we shouldn't be surprised that God works the exact same way in our own lives. Many of us struggle with maybe seeming insignificant or small, and we look at our lives and we wonder, am I is what I'm doing even matter? Does it even matter? Maybe you're thinking, I'm just a kid or I'm just a youth. I don't have a lot of experience. What do I have to offer? Or maybe you're older and you're thinking, you know what? I came to Christ so old in my life. I I don't have anything to offer. My best days are behind me. What difference can I make now? The truth is, God has never been limited by age, by your age, or by your stage in life, or your ability. He specializes in taking ordinary people in ordinary moments to accomplish extraordinary things. Scripture reminds us that God delights in using what seems small in the eyes of the world. In 1 Corinthians 1 27, Paul says, But God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong. In other words, God's not looking for the most impressive and most gifted, the most influential. God is simply you looking for people who are willing to be faithful. And that begins an understanding that growth is actually a process. And this parable says, uh in this parable, Jesus says that the seed is planted, then it grows. That growth doesn't happen instantly. We don't put the seed in the ground. Anybody who's ever planted a garden or flowers, you put the seed in, you water it, and the next day it just sprouts up. That doesn't happen. It happens over time and in stages, and that's how God works in our own lives. We call this sanctification. And what that is is a fancy word for us growing in Christ-likeness every single day. We become more and more and more like Jesus. And this is where we struggle the most. We like the idea of transformation. We just don't like the process of transformation. Amen? We go from wanting to be that seed to being this tall tree overnight. And it's like, it doesn't happen that way. That's not how God works. He grows us steadily, faithfully, sometimes painfully, and in ways that we don't often see or we don't often understand because it takes time. But just like that mustard plant, growth is not the end of the story. There's also multiplication. One plant produces hundreds of seed packets that contain hundreds of seeds. The kingdom of God is designed to multiply. That's why Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples. Not just to grow personally, we're supposed to do that, but to also multiply. We should be a people who follow Jesus and also teach others how to follow Jesus, to pour into others' lives boldly and to share the gospel with them, to live in such a way that how God, what God is doing in us and through us, starts impacting those around us, which brings us back to our own lives. How do we grow? God has given us, I believe, three very practical ways of growing. These aren't the only ways. These are just three. I'm going to quickly touch on three. The first is we grow through reading our Bible and through prayer. We grow through spending consistent personal time with God in his word and in prayer. This is where our relationship is formed and strengthened when we go to his word to hear what he has to say, to grow closer to him. To quiet ourselves, which is so hard for us to do, to just quiet ourselves, to pray, and to listen to what God has to say to us. When we read the Bible, we're not just gaining information, we're actually hearing from God. We're being shaped and corrected and encouraged. We're reminded of what is true. 2 Timothy 3, 16 through 17 says, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And when we pray, we're not just kind of praying into the air where our words aren't heard. We're actually speaking to the God who created the universe. We're speaking to him. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And look, this doesn't happen by accident. It takes intentionality on our parts. We have to make time to do it, even when we don't feel like it. Over time, those small, consistent moments, like the seed, will grow. And what grows in your heart is that your thoughts start changing, your desires start changing, your attitude starts changing. It's that growth that happens in our life. Relationship with God, when we spend time with Him, becomes more real and more personal. Second growth way of growing. We grow through the church. Being part of a body of believers and sitting under God's teaching, sitting under God's word, worshiping together, and being reminded week after week of who God is helps us grow. It's great to be reminded of who he is and what he's done. Hebrews 10, 24 through 25 says, and let us consider how we may spur one another towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. That day approaching that's being talked about there is a day when Jesus comes back. And when his kingdom is fully realized. Now, as one of your pastors, I want to lovingly and encouragingly and kindly say something. Coming to church once a month isn't enough. I want to encourage you to come to church weekly. Because, and please hear me, I'm saying this as kindly as I can. Church isn't about you. Amen? We come to church to worship God, first and foremost. Not only do we come to church to worship God, we come to encourage one another. And if you're not here, you can't be an encouragement to somebody. So again, lovingly, kindly say to you, encourage you. Get to church every single week. Okay. Amen. Thirdly, we grow through intentional Christian community. We grow through relationships where we're challenged, encouraged, and sharpened. Proverbs 27, 17 says this as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another. We sharpen each other. And that sharpening happens when you're in smaller discipleship environments, whether it's groups or discipleship or one-on-one discipleship, where you can open up God's word together, challenge one another, hold each other accountable, be transparent with each other, and apply what you're learning. Growth rarely happens in isolation. It happens when you're walking closely with others who are helping you follow Jesus and who you are helping to follow Jesus. So I want to talk a little bit about our spring trimester, which is kicking off in a couple weeks. We have five new groups launching. And there's five groups that are all very different, and you can find out more about them. There's three ways to find out about groups. We get a lot of feedback in terms of I don't know how to sign up for groups. I'm gonna help you right now. There are three ways. Download the Church Center app and go to signups. And under signups, you'll see spring trimester. If you click on that, you'll see all the groups. The second way, and this is a new way, the uh text number that Pastor Dan mentioned, 97,000, text Grace Groups to 97,000. So if you're interested in a spring trimester group, you could do it right now. Pull out your phone, text Grace Groups to nine one word, to 97,000, and we'll send you a link. The third way, maybe you're like, I don't like technology, or I don't have the church center app. Please stop by the next steps area right after service. Myself or somebody else will be there to help you. We'll get you, we'll get the church center app downloaded. We can register for you right there. We even have some flyers that talk about the next uh spring trimester's group. And not only that, we're gonna be spending intentional time this summer to get more group leaders so we actually have more groups when we kick off the all-church journey this coming fall. All of this, these acts of obedience, point us to faithfulness. At the end of the day, God is not asking us to be bold and impressive, although his spirit can empower us to do that. He's simply asking us to be faithful. And this is how the kingdom of heaven works. This is how the kingdom of God works. God takes ordinary people doing seemingly insignificant small things and uses them in extraordinary ways. And what happens? He gets the glory. The question is whether you're willing to be faithful and obedient to do what God is calling you, to do what God has placed right in front of you. Because when you are, God can take even the smallest seed of obedience and grow it into something you could never ever have even imagined. So let me to close up, I'm gonna ask this question. What is your mustard seed? What is your mustard seed? What's the small thing God is placing in front of you right now so you can step out in obedience and do it? Maybe it's maybe it's talking to somebody. Like you have a burden, I like like Edward Kimball did, to share the gospel with somebody. You just need to act in obedience and do it. Maybe it's inviting your one to Easter so they can hear that gospel message. Step in obedience and invite them. We have cards for everybody to hand out to invite them to Easter. Maybe it's an area of sin that you know the Holy Spirit is convicting you of and you need to say no to. Find a trusted friend and confess that sin and be held accountable to it. Regardless of what it is, act in obedience. Edward Kimball had no idea what the outcome from one awkward conversation would be. And here's the thing: we're not responsible for knowing the outcomes. We don't need to know the outcomes. We're not God. And the truth is, it's not our responsibility. Outcomes are not our responsibility. Obedience is. In the kingdom of God, like a mustard seed, small acts of faithfulness don't stay small. They grow and they multiply, and God uses them in ways that you would never fully see on this side of eternity. So as you pick up that mustard seed packet on the way out today, let it be a reminder. Put it somewhere you can see it. That God does his greatest work through things that seem small. Put it somewhere where it'll remind you and ask God, God, what is that next step of obedience you want me to take? Don't wait till you feel ready or you feel significant. The same God who grew Abraham from one man into a nation can grow your humble act of obedience into something powerful for his kingdom and for his glory. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, Lord, you are calling us to obedience to you. Lord, I pray, I confess, Lord, there are times where we don't want to be obedient, where it's inconvenient, Lord, or we're sometimes embarrassed or ashamed and we don't do what you've called us to do, Lord. Lord, we we confess those things and we turn from those things, Lord. And we pray that you would give us a holy boldness, Lord, to do what you've called us to do. That you would take that small seed of obedience and grow it into something great and everlasting for your kingdom and your glory, Lord. We love you, Lord, and pray these things in your Son's name. Amen.