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Heaven is like mustard seed and yeast
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Bible verse : Matthew
13:31-33 (NIV)
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."
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Wherever Jesus went, many people
always followed him.
They gathered to hear the precious words of Jesus.
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When
Jesus spoke to people about the mysteries of the kingdom of God, he gave
examples (parables) that people could easily understand.
Today, He told them what secrets the kingdom of God has through two parables.
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This
is the first story Jesus told people. There was a man who owned a field.
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One
day, the man planted a seed in his field. The seeds planted by this man were
mustard seeds, the smallest of all seeds. Looking at this mustard seed, which
is as insignificant as dust, it is difficult for people to expect that the
seed will grow into a large tree.
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After
some time, the mustard seeds planted in the ground began to sprout.
Another small stem sprouted from the large stem, and leaves sprouted from the
small stem. The seedlings grew rapidly and without a break.
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Surprisingly,
a fully grown mustard seed has become a large tree.
Many birds flew to the tree and made nests in it. The mustard seed, invisible
to the naked eye, was planted in the ground and grew into a large tree.
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Jesus
said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed growing into a big tree.
The country seems to begin very small and insignificant, but when the time
comes,
he told a parable that God will complete it into a very large and great
kingdom.
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First,
Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God through the story of the mustard seed,
and continued to speak about the kingdom of God through the second story.
This is the second story Jesus told.
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There was a woman who tried to
make bread. This woman prepared two large bowls for flour and dough. And she
began to knead the flour there.
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While
kneading, she sprinkled leaven little by little into it. Compared to flour,
leaven is applied in very small amounts.
When she finished her dough, the woman put her bowl of dough by her window.
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The next
morning came. The flour kneaded yesterday had swelled much more than the
original kneaded size.
The dough was several times larger than the original amount of dough.
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This happened because of the
leaven that the woman added little by little while kneading the dough. A very
small amount of yeast was put into the flour, but yeast has a leavening
property that makes it much larger than the original dough.
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The
story of leaven that Jesus told is also about the kingdom of God. This tells
us how big the kingdom of God is growing.
He told people that the work of the kingdom of God is like leaven, which
makes the whole dough rise greatly with a small amount.
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Our
appearance as children of God may seem insignificant to people, like mustard
seeds and small amounts of yeast that are invisible to the naked eye.
But today, those of us who know the secret of the mustard seed and yeast need
not worry or be discouraged about it.
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Because
Almighty God plans and accomplishes His great work through us, who are small
and feeble.
God allows us to bear amazing fruits that we cannot predict. Therefore, let's
not be disappointed or give up just by looking at our current appearance.
Rather, let us become the blessed children of the Lord who live only by His
Word, expecting God to use us like mustard seeds and leaven.
As long as we use our talents for the kingdom of God, God will allow us to
reap very abundant and good fruits.
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(This
is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the
conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)
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