SPEAKER_00: Thank you for what you have been speaking to us over this camp, speaking to us as a church over the last kind of four weeks.
SPEAKER_00: And we just ask that you'd continue to speak tonight.
SPEAKER_00: And that we would all leave with what it is that you are wanting to leave in our hearts tonight.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: If you have um your Bible, Matthew 13, these are the two seed and the yeast is what we're going to be talking about this evening.
SPEAKER_01: These are the two, I think, shortest parables that Jesus gives us.
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, we're good.
SPEAKER_01: I think we're good.
SPEAKER_01: Are we good?
SPEAKER_01: You can hear me?
SPEAKER_01: These are the two shortest parables that Jesus teaches us in the scripture.
SPEAKER_01: We've had a little lead-in over the last 24 hours and last Sunday into what we're about to read, which is the parable of the seed, the mustard seed, and the parable of the yeast.
SPEAKER_01: Jake's actually got a small um uh a cup full of mustard seeds.
SPEAKER_01: And I've just asked him if he'll just hand it around.
SPEAKER_01: And when you when you get the the cup of mustard seeds, I just want you to just um put your fingers and have a feel, grab one out or a few out if you want to.
SPEAKER_01: I'd love it if you could.
SPEAKER_01: Try and put one on your fingertip.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want you to see how small they are.
SPEAKER_01: So these are genuine mustard seeds that I've prepared earlier for you to get a sense.
SPEAKER_01: So when we preach about the mustard seed, you you I want you to have had one in your hand.
SPEAKER_01: So take your time.
SPEAKER_01: You've got we've got 30 minutes for everyone to have a go, so you don't have to move quickly.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus is he's gonna give us this parable, but in the lead up to this parable, we've talked about a few other things.
SPEAKER_01: So who can let's do let's do a little, let's do a two-minute far no chat.
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's talk together about what we've already covered today and yes and last night.
SPEAKER_01: So just just just start throwing out what you can remember.
SPEAKER_01: The parable of the q-tips.
SPEAKER_01: Heart hands.
SPEAKER_01: I bought they got two q-tips here, light little heart hands.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this.
SPEAKER_01: Ten your own field.
SPEAKER_01: Who's that?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Rose wins wordle and has the best suggestion.
SPEAKER_01: Ten your own field.
SPEAKER_01: Yep, up here on this table.
SPEAKER_01: That was our illustration, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_01: What else we got?
SPEAKER_01: Keep going.
SPEAKER_01: Weed when we sleep, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Marijuana.
SPEAKER_01: Weed.
SPEAKER_01: The parable of marijuana and q-tips.
SPEAKER_01: How was camp?
SPEAKER_01: Mama was mean.
SPEAKER_01: We talked about weed and q-tips.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, cool.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: All these things were said.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what else?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good soil.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 4.17, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
SPEAKER_01: Is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: What else?
SPEAKER_01: Take a minute, right?
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, let's hand the mic around.
SPEAKER_01: Let's take a couple of minutes.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever wants to go, I'll give you the mic and then you can just hand it to the next person.
SPEAKER_01: No one wants that, okay, sweetheart.
SPEAKER_01: What is this, Tony Robbins?
SPEAKER_01: He's a motivational speaker, if you're old.
SPEAKER_01: Any other thoughts?
SPEAKER_01: Let's start with you then.
SPEAKER_01: How fast was Tyler out on the relays today?
SPEAKER_01: Holy that's the last thing we won.
SPEAKER_01: Crazy.
SPEAKER_01: Um, we should have got to do the press ups tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Did I just do did I just do the opposite of what Tyler said there?
SPEAKER_01: Is it did I just did I just walk right into that?
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, bro.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive me.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: This is good.
SPEAKER_01: This has got ugly, actually.
SPEAKER_01: This has become I don't like this Socratic method.
SPEAKER_01: Um what was the seed in the parable of the sower?
SPEAKER_01: Go one step back.
SPEAKER_01: It was the word.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, the Lord planted the word in the soil.
SPEAKER_01: What's the soil?
SPEAKER_01: It's our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Then once we've got the word in our hearts, what then does the Lord plant in the parable of the weeds?
SPEAKER_01: He plants us in his field.
SPEAKER_01: Did that speak to anybody?
SPEAKER_01: That you've been planted?
SPEAKER_01: That that he has planted you in his field?
SPEAKER_01: And tonight we want to talk about the mustard seed and the yeast.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus preaches here and he says these few things.
SPEAKER_01: And this is Matthew 13, this is verse number 31.
SPEAKER_01: It says, He told them another parable, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in the field.
SPEAKER_01: Though it is the smallest of all the seeds, when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree.
SPEAKER_01: So that the birds come and perch in its branches.
SPEAKER_01: He then told another parable.
SPEAKER_01: This is the shortest term ever from Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He then told another parable.
SPEAKER_01: He said this the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 60 pounds of flour.
SPEAKER_01: That's enough flour, enough bread, enough yeast to feed a banquet.
SPEAKER_01: That would have fed us this evening of flour until it is worked through the whole dough.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables.
SPEAKER_01: He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
SPEAKER_01: This man is like Ted Lasso, always speaking in riddles.
SPEAKER_01: So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet.
SPEAKER_01: I will open my mouth in parables and I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we just ask that you would speak to us tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Father, as we've come this evening to just um really sit under your ministry, Holy Spirit, we want you to pour out your presence.
SPEAKER_01: Everything that we do, Father, today, all the fun and all the connectivity that we've had, all the laughs, all the tribal wars, all the get-togethers, all the conversations, Father, they're all little seemingly insignificant little um little micro activities that have taken place, little exercises, little conversations, little dialogues.
SPEAKER_01: But all of them, Father, they they they fulfill the purpose of um performing and and creating a massive canvas, a tapestry, Lord, that is your kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: That vine that works throughout us, Father.
SPEAKER_01: And you're bringing us together, Lord, as a church.
SPEAKER_01: And Father, we pray tonight that you would continue, Lord, to speak to us.
SPEAKER_01: And we pray uh of this word this evening, Father, from Matthew 13, that you would speak, that you would move, that you would do something powerful.
SPEAKER_01: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 4.17 says, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came, and we now know and believe in our hearts that we have relationship with Him, that He was that Messiah, that He was the prophesied one that would come through the line of David, that He would turn up and do something for us that we now look back and realize that His kingdom is a kingdom of humility and a kingdom of service.
SPEAKER_01: It's a kingdom of healing, it's a kingdom of uh servanthood type leadership where the where the greatest become the least, and the first shall be last.
SPEAKER_01: And we come low and we come submitted to his presence, and we're humble and we're believing for him to do great things in our life, and we then perform those acts in the world.
SPEAKER_01: He came, he said, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
SPEAKER_01: People were expecting coercive leadership, aggression, violence, political activism, coercion, even militant.
SPEAKER_01: I was watching these press ups this evening.
SPEAKER_01: With the fists, bro?
unknown: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: That was straight army vibes, bro.
SPEAKER_01: That was that's plus five on the press up count.
SPEAKER_01: They were expecting him that he would come militant.
SPEAKER_01: But the first thing we read about Jesus is he comes as a baby in a manger, he comes helpless and small.
SPEAKER_01: And that's how he comes in our life.
SPEAKER_01: And then he begins to preach this passage.
SPEAKER_01: He says, this, he says, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.
SPEAKER_01: The smallest seed, it says.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jesus, with maybe some hyperbole, says, it becomes the largest tree.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you've ever seen a mustard seed, but you're going to get a chance this evening.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you've ever seen a mustard tree, but uh it's probably about the size of a reasonable Bahutakawa.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, a large tree that you can get shade under and that birds gather.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, the kingdom of heaven is like a seed, and then he goes on to say, Oh, and the kingdom of heaven is like yeast.
SPEAKER_01: I grabbed some yeast tonight, but I just don't think it had the same impact if you had it in your hands.
SPEAKER_01: Because it was like flaky yeast.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever had yeast on toast?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, every yeast, bro.
SPEAKER_01: That's good.
SPEAKER_01: That's some vibes.
SPEAKER_01: There was some good butter under that and some vocals double toasted quality.
SPEAKER_01: But I think you would have got it and gone like, what is this?
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's the thing about yeast.
SPEAKER_01: Yeast ferments.
SPEAKER_01: Yeast, if you don't have you ever had bread without yeast, unleavened bread, it's like a brick.
SPEAKER_01: And it's heavy.
SPEAKER_01: But when you put yeast in it, it's light, it's fluffy, it's wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like this tiny seed, and then he said the kingdom of heaven is like yeast.
SPEAKER_01: The two things that immediately stand out for me from the parable is this the kingdom of heaven is like a seed which is very small, but becomes very big.
SPEAKER_01: So it starts very small and becomes very massive.
SPEAKER_01: The first thing I think I want us to think about this evening is that the kingdom of heaven in your life will always start small.
SPEAKER_01: Think about right now the interactions you've had at this camp.
SPEAKER_01: What the Lord has done in your life at this camp, what he's been doing in your life and the lead up to you being here tonight, this weekend, last weekend, and the months in the lead up to this moment, small.
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom will always start small.
SPEAKER_01: I love hearing from families in church and they come up and say they're pregnant, the baby on the way, or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Always small, always, always these tiny little moments, then this little bump.
SPEAKER_01: And then before you know it, Malachi, chubby cheeks.
SPEAKER_01: Kids running around, but it always starts small.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, and not only is it small, he then goes on to say it's like yeast which is hidden.
SPEAKER_01: When you have like bread that's been baked, and you open it up, you can't find the yeast.
SPEAKER_01: I used to work in a bakery and I did deliveries every morning at 5 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: for three hours.
SPEAKER_01: Arrow bake, Tower Wellington, best bakery in yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01: And K, great job tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Just leadership, man.
SPEAKER_01: Leadership just directed the Lord's people.
SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: And Aro Bake, and I delivered from Arabake, and they had the and I always used to, they said you could take two things on every shift.
SPEAKER_01: And I would always take the things that Nadia liked and bring them to her house.
SPEAKER_01: But none of the bakers, if I'd asked them, I said, excuse me, baker, can you show me the yeast once it's been used?
SPEAKER_01: You couldn't open bread and see the yeast because it works through the whole dough.
SPEAKER_01: So the kingdom of heaven is small, and the kingdom of heaven is invisible.
SPEAKER_01: But the kingdom of heaven will never stay small, and the kingdom of heaven will work through the whole dough.
SPEAKER_01: We'll start small and invisible and work through the whole dough.
SPEAKER_01: In this world, and I think particularly as I was praying tonight, I wanted to talk to this is funny, isn't it, to the young people.
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to talk to the young people.
SPEAKER_01: And I wanted you to know, and all of us, all of us understand socials, if we're on or not, but most of the young people, you were born into the internet age.
SPEAKER_01: I'm 42, was born in 1983.
SPEAKER_01: The internet came out in the late 90s.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to understand that I've lived some of my life without the internet.
SPEAKER_01: They don't care.
SPEAKER_01: Cell phones, Nokia, Alcatel, early 2000s.
SPEAKER_01: And if you still had one, it would still be indestructible.
SPEAKER_01: And yes, I will beat your score on Snake 2.
SPEAKER_01: These things, these things when when the but but for all of our young people here, you were born into an age where you're you're born into the internet age, technology age, born into cell phones, that everything you do through socials, whether it be TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, whatever, we look at these things and what's been projected to us, the best kind of content is impressive content.
SPEAKER_01: Like no one's jumping on any of no one's promoting and being successful on these platforms with content that's not impressive.
SPEAKER_01: We were laughing the other day, last night, about iShow Speed.
SPEAKER_01: This guy, how tall is he, you reckon?
SPEAKER_01: Five foot seven, young African American guy, uh Kai Sanat.
SPEAKER_01: These guys sit at home and they stream live on YouTube and they stream live on Twitch and they have millions of followers and millions of dollars, their platform's massive, and now iShow Speed is a bit like Uncle Snoop Dogg, just does side quests.
SPEAKER_01: He just goes overseas and just races athletes and just does backflips.
SPEAKER_01: And he was in Auckland recently, which is what we talked about the other day when I was talking with Thomas and the boys, and thousands of people turned up at Sky City.
SPEAKER_01: Is iShow Speed, is speed impressive?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Is what he does impressive?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, yeah, like this clickbait, we just love it.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't mean to say, I don't want to use him as an illustration to say he's not a Christian, he's not the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: That's not my point.
SPEAKER_01: But my point is this Jesus didn't say that the kingdom of heaven is impressive.
SPEAKER_01: He said the kingdom of heaven is small and the kingdom of heaven is invisible.
SPEAKER_01: We were doing the dishes tonight.
SPEAKER_01: And I asked Naz, what's your highlight?
SPEAKER_01: And then she asked me, and Anna Dixon was there.
SPEAKER_01: And Anna, and they said, What's your highlight?
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Oh, that's really hard to find the highlight of this camp.
SPEAKER_01: And I stopped for a moment and I said, My highlight of the camp was probably when I was behind the coffee machine making coffees for everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Was that Zeke from here?
SPEAKER_01: Really good.
SPEAKER_01: So take it a bit far, Paul, sometimes that was a bit nasty, Paul.
SPEAKER_01: And I was I was making coffees, and Jake and Paul came over.
SPEAKER_01: Paul Howard and Jake Pine.
SPEAKER_01: We're just talking and chatting, coffee, yeah, sweet, having a good time.
SPEAKER_01: And then Paul says to Jake, he says, I heard you're quite the fisherman.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sitting there, I'm standing there with these coffees, and then then Jake's like, Yeah, you fish.
SPEAKER_01: What kind of boat do you have?
SPEAKER_01: What do you fish when you go out?
SPEAKER_01: And the boys just talked, as fishermen do, for 10-15 minutes, about fishing.
SPEAKER_01: And that is my highlight of this camp.
SPEAKER_01: Because in our church, boys have been coming for a couple of years.
SPEAKER_01: Boys have been coming for a couple years.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it was my highlight.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, boys have been coming for a couple years, and maybe have yet to connect at that level.
SPEAKER_01: But it's it's their favorite thing to do, and to watch two fellas, and I think you probably had an experience like that sitting on a park bench in front of the fire last night, during tribal wars, just having a little interaction, just a little conversation, seeing our kids connect, just seeing little things, little invisible moments.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, those moments, the kingdom of heaven is like that.
SPEAKER_01: That he's not looking at large, impressive things in our lives or in the world and saying that's the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus wants us to like train our eyes to see the smallest, most insignificant things that's happening in our life.
SPEAKER_01: We had the tailors this morning, eh?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: But man, just like the little things, eh?
SPEAKER_01: It was that Layla had a mic, not just an instrument.
SPEAKER_01: It's that Judah was on the cajon.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was that Audrey was here.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just mum and dad and the older kids, just to see the little, just those little things.
SPEAKER_01: Because maybe the hardest thing for them to do is to wrangle, bro, to jump on the cajon.
SPEAKER_01: But he was like, yo.
SPEAKER_01: He jumped on.
SPEAKER_01: It's the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: That was the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Seeing Audrey there on the mic.
SPEAKER_01: That's the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: I had a conversation with Grady.
SPEAKER_01: Yesterday he said, um, he said I had a like an interview at school, had a conversation at Tepuke Primary.
SPEAKER_01: And he said the conversation that he had was with a teacher he really respects.
SPEAKER_01: Like an HOD or a DP or something.
SPEAKER_01: He really respects.
SPEAKER_01: That him and his wife in that school are pervasive in their influence.
SPEAKER_01: He's sitting there having a good conversation, and then the teacher looks at Grady and says, Oh, by the way, tell me about your baptism.
SPEAKER_01: And Grady didn't know this guy was a believer.
SPEAKER_01: Grady had no idea.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, Oh, yo, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: That was awesome.
SPEAKER_01: And in his own way, he told him his whole testimony, the whole story about coming to our church, about Corbyn having an influence on his life, and about getting baptized.
SPEAKER_01: And then the guy's like, Yeah, me and my wife are believers.
SPEAKER_01: And then Grady's like, Wow, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01: And he was able to see the invisible small impact that this man and his wife had had through the school and the whole community, not through fanfare and impressiveness, but through small, little kingdom type things.
SPEAKER_01: I think Jesus wants us to retrain our eyes and our ears to see the small things at work.
SPEAKER_01: If you read your Bible today, if you prayed, if you last night looked at the stars and whispered under your breath, Thank you, Lord, if you took a moment at the blue lake and just looked, man, Jesus, this glassy water, this wonderful weather, if you went for a run and enjoyed nature, if you laughed at tribal wars, if you just had a great time watching the kids, if you saw Max Tudor, two years old, Stephen Curry jersey, holding on to that rope, and watching adults jump in and saying, now we got you, my bro, these little following in his dad's footsteps, these little kingdom moments.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to uh point them out, but Luke, the Suzette's nephew, turn up today.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice to meet you, my bro.
SPEAKER_01: You want to play some basketball?
SPEAKER_01: Grady, would you mind if he jumped and played volley with you?
SPEAKER_01: Thing I love about volleyball, I'm not good at it, but what I love about it is it's a lot of people involved in a sport and it's rotating and fun and it's all ages, all heights.
SPEAKER_01: Especially love when people are good, invite the least to come and play on their team because it's the smallest of these.
SPEAKER_01: It's the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: As I read these parables, a few things stand out for me.
SPEAKER_01: The first thing is this the kingdom does not begin with spectacle.
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom begins with seed.
SPEAKER_01: The main emphasis on the seed in this passage is the size of it.
SPEAKER_01: Where did those seeds end up?
SPEAKER_01: Do they make their way around?
SPEAKER_01: Is that them there?
SPEAKER_01: May I?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: The main emphasis Jesus is making the size.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, bro.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Please do for the boys.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: As long as they don't shout out nonsense.
SPEAKER_01: Zero guarantees.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' point is this is that we in our lives want trees.
SPEAKER_01: We want trees.
SPEAKER_01: Do you check your bank account?
SPEAKER_01: You can keep it, but keep the seats.
SPEAKER_01: Be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: Do you check your bank account?
SPEAKER_01: Your personal bank account.
SPEAKER_01: Or your work bank account, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone's here.
SPEAKER_01: Do you check it thinking that there might be more money in there than the last time you checked it?
SPEAKER_01: Do you do you open the fridge?
SPEAKER_01: Do you walk away from the fridge and then walk back to the fridge and reopen the same fridge on the same day thinking that there might be something in there that you didn't see before?
SPEAKER_01: Do you do you jump in your car and check the petrol gauge?
SPEAKER_01: Do you get out and jump back in, that's a strike, and check your and check your petrol gauge and think that there might be more hopefully than the last time you checked.
SPEAKER_01: Do you have people in your family that use the car that you drive hoping that they might put gas in it when you get in, maybe the Lord will bless you?
SPEAKER_01: It's not E for energy, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: Like that E stands for empty.
SPEAKER_01: Here's my point.
SPEAKER_01: We want trees.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus doesn't give us trees, he doesn't ask us to plant trees.
SPEAKER_01: I think he promises trees, but he gives us seeds.
SPEAKER_01: We want trees and we want to plant trees, but Jesus doesn't give us trees, he gives us seeds.
SPEAKER_01: For every young person here, like your attention that you offer Jesus is a seed.
SPEAKER_01: And so small the vacuum cleaner will pick it up.
SPEAKER_01: For families that have kids, and being a parent is like being in a whirlwind.
SPEAKER_01: And every now and then you find some stability and you stop and go and then you tap back into the mission that is raising kids.
SPEAKER_01: But when you put them to bed at night and you stroke the hair off their forehead and you say, Lord, thank you, Lord, for another day.
SPEAKER_01: Bless them as they sleep.
SPEAKER_01: Seed.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray like yeast, Father, you would just go through the whole dough of their life.
SPEAKER_01: That you would just bless them and fill them with your presence.
SPEAKER_01: It's just a seed.
SPEAKER_01: That when you stop and say to someone in our church family, in your neighborhood at your cafe on your street at your work, how was your weekend?
SPEAKER_01: And you show an interest and you make eye contact.
SPEAKER_01: Seed.
SPEAKER_01: And the kingdom of heaven is like this.
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom doesn't Start impressive, it starts as see, Jesus is trying to help us take privilege and honor in the fact that it's small in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Tiny input, disproportionate output.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, this is what I'll say is this the kingdom grows large enough to shelter others.
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom grows large enough to shelter others.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 13, verse 32 says this.
SPEAKER_01: Birds came and perched in its branches.
SPEAKER_01: That the kingdom of heaven starts so small, but grows so big that other people can take shelter in the size of.
SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the things I love about small things, starting things, is that if you can just get your mind off at being impressive and having a wow factor and just embrace what it is.
SPEAKER_01: This box drum's a good example.
SPEAKER_01: People might come in and go, oh, it'd be great to have a big drum kit.
SPEAKER_01: It would be great, but we don't have one.
SPEAKER_01: We've just got this.
SPEAKER_01: But if you just embrace what it is, I think this is Judas Drunk box drum.
SPEAKER_01: If you just embrace the fact that it's small, and you can be excited about the fact that it's small.
SPEAKER_01: Because if I believe that the kingdom is small, I'm now taking my eyes off what it could be, and I'm just thankful for what it is.
SPEAKER_01: Because this is a seed that one day might become a tree, which is a drum kit, but I'm not concerned about that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just concerned about taking care of what I have right here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just blessed that I have this.
SPEAKER_01: But if we believe this kingdom principle that we would honor and thank God for the small things, we believe that it will grow so big that others can find shade underneath the tree that is the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: That there will be people that come to your house and abuse your boundaries.
SPEAKER_01: How come they won't bring anything?
SPEAKER_01: They won't do any work, they'll leave a mess, they won't thank you.
SPEAKER_01: There might be family, might not be, they'll turn up, and you'll feel used and abused, but you actually, without realizing, have become a tree that people are finding shade under.
SPEAKER_01: How many times do we feel abused by others?
SPEAKER_01: But if you put yourselves in their shoes, they might be driving away thinking that was the most life-changing experience of my life.
SPEAKER_01: And we're at we're at home cleaning down, saying, I hope they never come back.
SPEAKER_01: But maybe we've become that tree that others are taking shade under.
SPEAKER_01: That the kingdom of heaven grows so large that it shelters others.
SPEAKER_01: That the kingdom of heaven is not fragile, that it becomes a refuge.
SPEAKER_01: The third thing I say is this: if you're taking notes, the kingdom is not always externally obvious.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus shifts his metaphor from a man in a garden to a woman baking bread in a kitchen.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus changes from seed to yeast.
SPEAKER_01: And the whole concept of what he's talking about with the yeast is that it's not externally obvious, it's hidden.
SPEAKER_01: That yeast works invisibly, it disappears into the dough and it works internally.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, if you look at the seed and the yeast, the seed grows disproportionately, but the yeast works inwardly.
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom is working inwardly and over time grows outwardly.
SPEAKER_01: That for us, our main job with the kingdom of heaven is to be patient about what the Lord is doing in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom does not sit on the surface, sit, it transforms us on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: The parable teaches us that the kingdom grows outward and works inward.
SPEAKER_01: The next thing I'd say is this if you're taking notes, is that we need a new set of eyes to find the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: We need to keep our eyes on the small things.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be perceptive about the things that we cannot see.
SPEAKER_01: Attentive participation with the kingdom of heaven is what it is that we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: The mustard seed helps us see that the small acts of obedience they compound.
SPEAKER_01: The yeast helps us see that hidden obedience permits through our life.
SPEAKER_01: Kingdom fruit is slow, is what Jesus is teaching us.
SPEAKER_01: But it is inevitable.
SPEAKER_01: Moneyball, newsroom, the West Wing, the Social Network.
SPEAKER_01: This guy's he's a beast.
SPEAKER_01: He's got this character in my favorite show called The West Wing.
SPEAKER_01: And the character's name is Charlie Young, young black guy.
SPEAKER_01: And he's having a conversation with a guy who's a key staff member for the president, and he's trying to teach him what his job will be: being a body man for the president.
SPEAKER_01: Not a bodyguard, not a PA, but like a mixture of both of those roles.
SPEAKER_01: A guy that would hang around the president and just kind of like be strong enough to kind of like get in the way if he needs to, but sharp enough to like do some work nine to five.
SPEAKER_01: He's not brawn as per Aaron's game this evening.
SPEAKER_01: He's a bit of brawn in brains.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to hear what he, what Josh says to Charlie Young through the concept of the kingdom, even though what they're talking about is entirely unrelated.
SPEAKER_01: He says this someone is suggesting that you, Charlie, should have the role of personal aid to the president.
SPEAKER_01: He says, you must be invisible when necessary.
SPEAKER_01: But in the next moment you must be an unstoppable force for the president between him and those who want to take more from him than we are willing to give.
SPEAKER_01: They'll often be kings or queens, dignitaries or ministers.
SPEAKER_01: And then Josh says this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, There will be a lot of waiting around.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, and then there will be a lot of moving very quickly.
SPEAKER_01: He says, there'll be a lot of waiting around, and there'll be a lot of moving very quickly.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but in my experience, being a believer in the kingdom of heaven, there is a lot of waiting around.
SPEAKER_01: But then there is a lot of moving very quickly.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of waiting and a lot of nothing and a lot of uncertainty, and then there's a lot of transition.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of small and invisible and what looks like nothing's happening, and then there's a lot of promotion really quickly.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of daily grind and routine, there's a lot of habits, there's a lot of things that seem insignificant, and then there's a lot of something.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You must be invisible for the president, but at the same time be ready to step in and engage.
SPEAKER_01: When I first got saved and I heard the gospel and I heard the good news, it changed my life forever.
SPEAKER_01: But then what happened was there were people in my life, Naddy's brother Q was one of them.
SPEAKER_01: My first small group leader, Sean, was another one.
SPEAKER_01: He became a, he was in my bridal party in my line, a few years older than me.
SPEAKER_01: And these men in my life started to sow small seeds.
SPEAKER_01: Because I got saved and I was excited about the Lord, and I went to school and told my friends about Jesus, and a few of my mates got saved, and I was excited about that.
SPEAKER_01: And I just was kind of like, I think maybe that seed that was um received the word with joy, and I was trying to cultivate the soil and cultivate that seed in my life.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, when you have a um, I think when I think about some of the men in our church who have businesses and they employ young people, especially the trades, and you employ a young fella, and he comes along, he doesn't know anything, but he just he just he just gets stuck in.
SPEAKER_01: A bit like those servants of the farmer who um they were like, oh, we found weeds, so we just get stuck in and you know, a bit like that.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, and I think I was a bit like that.
SPEAKER_01: Just just, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was excited, and I was making mistakes, I was making as many bad decisions as I was good decisions.
SPEAKER_01: So then what happened was, and I think this is different to our illustration about by the way, when I stood on this table, I was afterwards, I was like, that was tapu, so I won't stand on it, um, because I fully can, but I won't.
SPEAKER_01: Umber, but I won't, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Um that when when we talk about our field, I don't think Jesus is talking there about relational discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he's talking about that.
SPEAKER_01: I think he's talking about judgment.
SPEAKER_01: We were too Ruth and I were laughing today.
SPEAKER_01: Because you know, in the in the kitchen when you line up for a meal, the lines are funny.
SPEAKER_01: Because like two lines, but like it's you know, one could, you know, and then no one knows, and there's no leadership, and it's fine.
SPEAKER_01: Then that's on me.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Ruth, come over here, there's there's uh it's better.
SPEAKER_01: But then Stacy and Leilani were chatting for ages in where the line would be, and I think people were thinking they were in the line, so they were walking and then realizing they weren't moving, and then they were like this, and they were walking around them, and then you know, and then a classic, it's beautiful, kingdom, kingdom, and then Ruth like snuck it in.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, just just just skip the line, and she's like, she goes, I skipped the line.
SPEAKER_01: Like she's like, I'm so nervous, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Like I would judge someone who did that so much.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Yeah, like little darts, you know, from your heart hands, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: Like just we would just judge people.
SPEAKER_01: That's what I think he's talking about.
SPEAKER_01: What he's not talking about, I think, is in our Christian maturity bringing people in on the journey.
SPEAKER_01: And so I was a wee, I was a wee little um wheat stalk.
SPEAKER_01: Just, you know, I got a picture of my mind of like um inside out, those little emotion, these little characters.
SPEAKER_01: I was like that little flame guy.
SPEAKER_01: I think he's anger.
SPEAKER_01: I was happy, but it was just like, you know.
SPEAKER_01: You guys are like this.
SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden I go, and you guys are like fully embarrassed.
SPEAKER_01: You guys are embarrassed.
SPEAKER_01: And then there was these big wheat stalks that lovingly saw something in me, a small invisible seed of the kingdom, and they helped me.
SPEAKER_01: And they encouraged me.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes they said things to me that were very challenging.
SPEAKER_01: But every time they invested in me and discipled, there was a little bit of yeast and seed in my life, and they and they saw that.
SPEAKER_01: And I think for me, this illustration that we gave today, I was nervous about preaching the weeds because I think it's a challenging scripture.
SPEAKER_01: But I had about 15 people today say, yo, that was right, that I needed to hear that.
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, okay, people want to be challenged.
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's spiritual maturity.
SPEAKER_01: That there is probably the first step.
SPEAKER_01: But then as I read this, I realize that the kingdom of heaven is about me staying in my lane.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: But I can't be just responsible for my walk if I'm gonna be a spiritual leader in the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to be making sure that there's fruit in the lives of those grass seeds around me.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to be looking at other wheat, not judging if there isn't fruit, but coming alongside to make sure that there is.
SPEAKER_01: That we are all interconnected.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the church is.
SPEAKER_01: And I just wonder, maybe if I'm preaching this right now, I wonder if actually what I'm talking to is is specifically the older people in the church.
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's quite funny that like there's like uh millennials in the middle, you know, young fellas over here, you know, well done to Ruth, etc., if we're jumping in that side.
SPEAKER_01: And then this side, you fellas are old ass over here, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Kelda, cut all over there.
SPEAKER_01: But I just wonder, I just wonder if maybe that we're maybe this is what's happening.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is encouraging us on the Pie Pie to make sure that we look and can see small seed on this side that's just growing and sprouting up.
SPEAKER_01: And man, come alongside.
SPEAKER_01: Fuck today, man.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, a green tribe.
SPEAKER_01: I was so nervous about my tribe.
SPEAKER_01: I was nervous about the whole tribal wars.
SPEAKER_01: Were you nervous?
SPEAKER_01: You had no idea.
SPEAKER_01: Came out and I was like, We're on here, and I got together with my tribe, and you know who the first person was that spoke up to um bring some leadership?
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't Krista, it wasn't Grady, at least not the moment that I was there.
SPEAKER_01: They were coming alongside, supporting, doing a great job.
SPEAKER_01: And Chloe Colpin.
SPEAKER_01: She goes, Oh yeah, this is what we'll do.
SPEAKER_01: We'll come and we'll whisper it.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: You know, we'll whisper it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, keen as a beam, strong as a machine, you know, and whatever it was we said, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, in your garden, can't get rid of us.
SPEAKER_01: Trampoline, whatever, you know.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone was like, we you know what we looked around and we go, because you know we love, man.
SPEAKER_01: We know we love.
SPEAKER_01: And here, we know we love.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we love leadership.
SPEAKER_01: When people show up, we go, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And so everyone's like, Chloe, and then he hire how jumps in, and all like, bro, what do you think?
SPEAKER_01: And he's just like, yes.
SPEAKER_01: And then dad was lifting him up, and we were running around, and we won.
SPEAKER_01: We won the chant, and then we run the race.
SPEAKER_01: Grady beat Scott, which I thought was a powerful moment.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about the green tribe, it's not about that, it's about the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And I saw Chloe and I was like, yes, and I just wonder, maybe someone in our tribe, maybe an older woman, maybe someone in the camp saw that and it's like, man, I wonder, I wonder if there's someone in her life.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if someone that could come alongside and see that beautiful seed that the Lord has planted.
SPEAKER_01: See that wonderful yeast that he's growing, seeing it go right through the bread and just say, I want to come alongside.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if we think about the people that are laughing over there, these bloody islanders, eh?
SPEAKER_01: These fellas, eh?
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if people see, I wonder if people see that in our church, it's been so mint to have more young people come through the church.
SPEAKER_01: Not just the teenagers, man, but these young adults.
SPEAKER_01: Bit of brown skin, hey, thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: How good's that, you know?
SPEAKER_01: It's been good, man.
SPEAKER_01: It's a prayer, you know.
SPEAKER_01: But I wonder if there are older people in the church going, oh, that's a great opportunity for me to come in.
SPEAKER_01: And as I tend my flock to make sure young fellows have got someone to look up to.
SPEAKER_01: And I I didn't realize that this was going to be the direction that the Lord wanted to take tonight, but I think it is exactly what He wants to do.
SPEAKER_01: So I think what we'll do is this.
SPEAKER_01: On the opening night, we said that I gave the illustration, I just said, look, every year our family goes camping, and on those camping trips we have family chats.
SPEAKER_01: And when we have family chats, those are chats that we might not have when we're at home, but thus specific for when we're away.
SPEAKER_01: And I think this might be one of those moments.
SPEAKER_01: And so I think what the Lord wants us to do is I think He's wanting us to make a decision if we would like to be a part of that process.
SPEAKER_01: So, in order to identify who you are in that process, we need to figure out if you are an established plant or if you are a brand new seed.
SPEAKER_01: Little sapling, looking for support, but that you don't realize you need it.
SPEAKER_01: So we need two groups of people to be identified so that we can figure out if there will be partnership.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if all that happens tonight is this, is we we have a moment, rose is playing, brilliant, Holy Spirit's clearly here.
SPEAKER_01: And if all that happens is one person says, Yes, I am here to find a young person to disciple, this whole camp, in my opinion, will be worth it.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because that would be a seed.
SPEAKER_01: When I used to preach at camps in my prime, it would be a win for the people who wanted me to come to that camp to have those two and a half thousand people.
SPEAKER_01: Biggest crowd I've preached in front of, I don't know, five thousand people.
SPEAKER_01: The win for them in my mind, and they might even tell me, is to have all of those people by the end of the camp on the altar.
SPEAKER_01: And so then I would, everything in me would want to see that done to be successful in their mind, so that we could be impressive.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm sure that the Lord planted many seeds in many hearts at many camps during that time of my prime.
SPEAKER_01: But if just one seed is planted in good soil tonight, if just one piece of yeast is in our hearts, it might not be impressive tonight.
SPEAKER_01: But man, I just wonder if it'll just be something significant another day.
SPEAKER_01: And so I've given you enough lead up, I think.
SPEAKER_01: I've been I've been rambling for a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: And I just wonder if in your heart you know, yeah, I need help.
SPEAKER_01: You think it's hard identifying that you need help.
SPEAKER_01: I tell you what's even harder is identifying that you might help.
SPEAKER_01: There are people here and you're saying, I could help.
SPEAKER_01: And there are people here you're saying I need help.
SPEAKER_01: What we're gonna do is just identify those two groups and allow the Lord to do something great.
SPEAKER_01: So why don't you close your eyes?
SPEAKER_01: Because we're Kiwis and we don't like things in public.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: No, I don't want anyone looking around.
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you, I want to ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here and you're in a position that you're saying, in this season of my life, I might not be time rich, I might not be wealthy, but I do have some battle scars, and Levi, I am available to at some point somehow build a relationship and help a young sapling.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you, no one is looking around.
SPEAKER_01: Just raise one hand and keep it up.
SPEAKER_01: You can put it down.
SPEAKER_01: If you're saying, Levi, I'm here and I need help.
SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, you've got blind spots, you might not know it, but you do.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're like, I think I need help, I I think I'm new to this thing, I think I don't quite have the answers.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you, if you're humble enough to admit that, with no one looking around, could you throw your hand in the air?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is what we'll do.
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't gonna do that because what I don't want to do right now, you can look at me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just trying to hear what the Lord wants to do.
SPEAKER_01: What the Lord doesn't want to do is isolate anybody who didn't lift their hand.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: I didn't lift my hand, I forgot.
SPEAKER_01: But if I'm 42 and I've got four kids and I'm feeling like stretched and I can't help anyone young, I don't want this moment to make that person feel that they're not contributing to the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Because they are.
SPEAKER_01: And so what we'll do is this in a moment, I'm gonna invite the team up and we're gonna sing some songs of worship.
SPEAKER_01: And I think like um uh um Kay and um and James, those last couple songs you guys were jamming tonight were just right on what right on what the Lord is doing.
SPEAKER_01: Let's have a time of worship.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna debrief with the Holy Spirit and with Nards, and we're gonna open a time of ministry and prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And then at the end of the service, now this is key.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the service, once we wrap up, and uh the reason why I say it's key is because right now it feels holy.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, feels holy, but it won't feel holy in about 15 minutes because we'll wrap up and everyone's like canteen.
SPEAKER_01: Tell me I'm wrong.
SPEAKER_01: I'm wrong.
SPEAKER_01: The tongue out is crazy.
SPEAKER_01: That's fair.
SPEAKER_01: This is what will happen.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to end the service, but I want two groups of people to stay.
SPEAKER_01: I want to.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Don't lose me.
SPEAKER_01: Don't stay with me.
SPEAKER_01: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_01: I want two groups of people to stay.
SPEAKER_01: I want the people to stay on this side who want to be discipled.
SPEAKER_01: And I want the people to stay on this side who are prepared to do some discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want you to just peer off.
SPEAKER_01: Is there any other way that mature Christians can just face a moment and just go, oh yo, yep, you look like someone that I could help?
SPEAKER_01: But we're going to do it at the end so that anybody who didn't raise their hand can just kind of just chat and hang and talk and hit the road.
SPEAKER_01: But if you did lift your hand, I want you to stay, because I think that that moment for us will be crucial.
SPEAKER_01: This is kind of not sexy and it's a few instructions, but I think it's the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah?
SPEAKER_01: Is that okay?
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
SPEAKER_01: Why don't you stand up to your feet?
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we thank you for your presence.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we ask for your Holy Spirit, God, to move in our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: God, in these few moments as we sing and worship and ask for your presence to pour out.
SPEAKER_01: God, that you would just do something in our hearts, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You would plant a seed in our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, we lift our hands to you and believe that you are going to pour out.
SPEAKER_01: And you're going to start a process of discipleship chain reaction in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Provide young people with help.
SPEAKER_01: Provide old people with something to do.
SPEAKER_01: We pray that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.