Parable Of The Mustard Seed And Leaven (sermon)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed and Leaven Today, we are going to study about a topic that I believe may change your life. That’s why it’s so important that you take notes. Let’s start off by reading Matthew 13:31-33. Matthew 13:31-33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough. Jesus is speaking here about the kingdom of God, which is wherever Jesus is King. For example, the kingdom of God can be in our hearts or in our church if we submit ourselves to Him. Jesus says the kingdom of God always begins small, seemingly insignificant and even hardly noticeable. But, it grows, driven by a mysterious force. It grows gradually, relentlessly, at a constant pace, and powerfully so that it works around obstacles. Eventually, it will become like the largest of all garden plants, or will work through the entire bread dough. How do we see the kingdom? Like we said earlier, it can be seen in two places: in people’s hearts and in the church. The mysterious force that grows the kingdom is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in people’s hearts and in the church the same way. Philippians 2:13 … for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Colossians 1:29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. We may not even notice the work of the Holy Spirit sometimes, but God continues working nonetheless. In the end, when we become more mature Christians, we realize that if there are any lasting and good results, it has been God working all along. Furthermore, we realize that our own efforts apart from God yield nothing. Have you ever seen someone build a tree after planting it? Does the baker do

anything in the oven to make the dough rise? In the same way, we cannot claim any credit for the things that God does in us and through us. Mark 4:26-29 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. What is the point of this sermon? Once we understand how the kingdom of God works, how can we adjust our thoughts and actions accordingly? There are many implications to this principle, but today, I want to focus on the “mustard seed principle” and church-planting. Church-planting is essential to fulfilling the Great Commission. The idea is that you or I can move to another place and start a Christian fellowship that will grow into a church. In this way, the entire body of Christ grows according to the mustard seed principle, and each new church will grow according to that principle as well. The reason I’m so excited about it is because: 1. Church-planting, along with discipleship, is the way the disciples went about fulfilling the Great Commission, as we will see soon. 2. It doesn’t depend on our own effort, but on God, who makes the things of His kingdom grow by Himself. Remember, the church is also part of His kingdom when the church submits to Him. Let’s look at the Bible and see how church-planting follows the mustard seed principle. Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. It is very likely that Jesus said this to His disciples when He also gave them the Great Commission recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. The Great Commission is about making disciples of every nation. Acts 1:8 is about how to get that done.

Jesus tells the disciples to start in one city, then go to the surrounding area, eventually saturating the entire world. Does this sound familiar? Is it not like the yeast that the baker works throughout the dough, or the seed that starts small, but keeps growing till it becomes the largest of all garden plants? I want to emphasize that planting churches is essential to fulfilling the Great Commission. It is how we harness the principle of the mustard seed. Consider Paul, the greatest missionary ever. His work was not finished in an area until he had established local churches. Acts 14:21-23 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. Titus 1:6 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. The reason why church planting is essential is that churches make disciples, but all other methods of missions make converts. It is good to short-term missions, radio broadcasts, and crusades, but the biblical model is to take converts from these efforts and form a church where they can become disciples. A disciple is someone who follows Christ or imitates Christ, and eventually brings others to do the same. Moreover, church-planting enables multiplication, just like discipleship does. It is the principle of the mustard seed at work. A mustard seed has all the potential for the big tree inside of it, including the ability to produce more mustard seeds. Every church that understands and embraces the biblical concept of church planting can produce other churches. I hope you can understand this is our motive in expanding up north. Eventually, we would like to expand to other areas around the Puget Sound region to saturate the entire area. Consider this: A small church that embraces church-planting and encourages all its members to participate can have a great impact for the Great Commission. You could have a church with tens of thousands of people, but if that church doesn’t teach or train its members for church-planting, its role will be limited. Habakkuk 2:14

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. How can you get involved in church-planting? I believe that everyone can be involved in church-planting. How many people here have ever lived in another city, or moved here to Seattle from somewhere else? Church-planting can be deliberate moving or can happen as circumstances force us to move somewhere. Wherever we go, we can help to start a church. If you look at Pricilla and Aquila in the Bible, they had a church fellowship in their home in Corinth, in Ephesus, and in Rome—wherever they went. The church in Antioch started after some Christians were scattered by persecution in Jerusalem. Sometimes, you don’t even have to move! You can help to start a new church in the same city, just like we have with the north campus! Here are some practical things you can do: 1. Build your current local church. You may not have seen it this way, but you are building the body of Christ the same way whether you are working in this local church or overseas in another city. We should not think that working in one local church is more valuable than working in another. What we are doing with church-planting is expanding the same body of Christ. 2. Build your caregroup, or better yet, host a caregroup. Nothing prepares you for planting a church like planting and growing a caregroup. In many respects, you face the same challenges. 3. Ask God to give you a vision and direction. Pray for God’s work in other areas. 4. Read biographies of Christian missionaries, like Hudson Taylor. 5. Learn a foreign language. (Many of you already know two, three, or more languages!) 6. Reduce your personal debt and try to move into a career that will allow you to get a job in another city. Paul was a tentmaker, an occupation that probably allowed him to be employed pretty much anywhere. What I want to say to you, brothers and sisters, is that “from the time of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men and women take hold of it.” Now is not the time to be fearful. Now is not the time to delay. Let’s be deliberate about fulfilling the Great Commission in our lifetime. You have one go at your life here on earth—live it so that you will have no regrets.