The Mustard Seed

0:00 · You can say to this mountain, move here

0:02 · and go there and it will be done. So it

0:06 · is with the gospel seed. It falls in

0:09 · different places on different hearts.

0:12 · But the gospel seed is very small. It

0:16 · seems just a [music] little conversation

0:19 · with a friend, just a little witnessing

0:22 · moment. [music]

0:24 · It is very very small.

0:28 · >> [music]

0:30 · >> We're in this parable uh of this mustard

0:33 · seed this morning as we go through this

0:35 · series, the parables of Jesus. And I

0:38 · invite you to take your Bible and open

0:40 · it to Matthew chapter 13, just two

0:42 · verses, uh verse 31 and 32. Let's read

0:45 · it together. He he told them another

0:47 · parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a

0:50 · mustard seed which a man took and

0:53 · planted in his field. Though it is the

0:55 · smallest of all your seeds, it is yet

0:58 · when it is grown, it is the largest of

1:01 · garden plants and becomes a tree so that

1:04 · the birds of the air come and perch in

1:08 · its branches.

1:10 · uh as we've been going through these

1:12 · parables of Jesus and I've been uh

1:15 · listening online and attending some of

1:17 · our locations, I I've noticed that this

1:20 · is the first parable that we have

1:22 · studied in this series that does not

1:25 · have an explainer. Let me explain the

1:29 · other parables that you've studied thus

1:31 · far. Jesus tells a parable. He goes away

1:34 · from it for a little bit and then he

1:36 · comes back and gives this rather lengthy

1:39 · explainer or explanation of what the

1:41 · parable actually meant. But not this

1:46 · parable. It is two verses with no

1:50 · explainer.

1:52 · Now, I'm just saying that seems to be

1:55 · much easier preaching, preaching a

1:57 · parable in which Jesus provides all of

1:59 · the commentary for

2:02 · a parable with just two verses and no

2:05 · explainer.

2:06 · I I I I'm wondering who assigned me this

2:10 · passage,

2:12 · and it just seems like more difficult

2:14 · preaching. But that's okay. Leave it to

2:16 · the old-timer. I've got this.

2:18 · And it is also one of the shortest

2:21 · parables that Jesus shared. It is short,

2:26 · succinct, small, and did I mention with

2:30 · no explainer?

2:32 · Now, I'm fine with short. I've been

2:34 · short all my life. All right? I am good

2:36 · with short. And I'm also good with short

2:38 · sermons, short books, short movies,

2:43 · short car rides, short plane rides. You

2:46 · get the beef.

2:48 · I'm also fine with a short parable. Uh I

2:51 · remember several years ago a very

2:52 · popular book written by Tom Rener came

2:55 · out called Simple Church and it was 250

3:00 · pages.

3:01 · And I thought if it's that simple it

3:05 · shouldn't be 250 pages.

3:08 · It should be like a pamphlet, right? If

3:11 · it's simple it should be short. This

3:15 · parable of the mustard seed is more of a

3:18 · witty comment,

3:20 · a short proverb.

3:22 · So, in the honor of the brevity of this

3:25 · parable,

3:27 · and preaching it as it is written,

3:31 · I'm going to spend the next 40 to 45

3:34 · minutes

3:36 · explaining to you these two verses in

3:38 · this parable. What took Jesus 40 seconds

3:42 · to share, I'm going to make 40 minutes.

3:46 · All right, so let's jump in. The first

3:49 · thing you see in this parable is the

3:51 · reality of the kingdom. Verse 31 says,

3:54 · "The kingdom of heaven is like," and

3:56 · then he goes on. But don't miss those

3:59 · first few words, "The kingdom of heaven

4:03 · is like." It's one of the things that

4:06 · Jesus taught us to pray. Thy kingdom

4:09 · come, thy will be done on earth as it is

4:13 · in heaven. Wouldn't that be great? On

4:16 · earth as it is in heaven.

4:19 · Wouldn't it Wouldn't you love to have

4:21 · heaven in your home? Wouldn't you love

4:25 · to have a heaven-filled workplace or a

4:28 · heaven-filled community? A certainly a

4:31 · heaven-filled church.

4:33 · his kingdom on earth

4:36 · as it is in heaven. Well, for that to

4:39 · happen, I don't want you to miss this

4:41 · key thought. If you're going to have

4:44 · heaven in your home, in your workplace,

4:48 · in your community, and most importantly

4:50 · in your church, and in your heart, this

4:52 · key thought applies.

4:55 · To have a kingdom, you have to first

4:58 · have a king. Amen. We sung wonderfully

5:01 · about that during our worship service.

5:03 · The Bible speaks often about that

5:05 · throughout the Old and the New

5:07 · Testament. In Daniel chapter 7 on the

5:10 · screen here, it says,

5:12 · "I continued watching in the night

5:14 · visions and suddenly one like a son of

5:16 · man was coming with the clouds of

5:18 · heaven. He approached the ancient of

5:20 · days was escorted before him. He was

5:22 · given dominion and glory and a kingdom

5:26 · so that those of every people, nation,

5:30 · and language should serve him. His

5:32 · dominion is an everlasting dominion that

5:35 · will not pass away and his kingdom will

5:38 · be that will not be destroyed. Can you

5:40 · say amen to that? Uh the Bible says in I

5:43 · believe in Ephesians it says uh he

5:47 · exercised this power in Christ by

5:51 · raising him from the dead and seating

5:53 · him at his right hand in the heavens far

5:57 · above every ruler and authority, power

5:59 · and dominion and every title given not

6:02 · only in this age but also in the one to

6:05 · come. Can you say amen to that verse? Uh

6:08 · the Bible says later in first Timothy or

6:11 · second Timothy it says in the presence

6:13 · of God who gives life to all and of

6:16 · Christ Jesus who gave a good confession

6:19 · before Ponteus Pilate I charge you to

6:22 · keep this command without fault or

6:24 · failure until the appearing of our Lord

6:27 · Jesus Christ.

6:29 · God will bring this about in his own

6:31 · time. He is the blessed and only

6:35 · sovereign. Say it with me. the King of

6:38 · Kings and the Lord of Lords. And then we

6:43 · find later in the New Testament in

6:45 · Hebrews, I believe, the Son is the

6:48 · radiance of God's glory and the exact

6:51 · expression of his nature, sustaining all

6:54 · things by his powerful word. After

6:56 · making purification for sins, get this,

6:59 · he sat down at the right hand of the

7:02 · Majesty on high. So he became superior

7:05 · to the angels just as the name he

7:07 · inherited is more excellent than theirs.

7:12 · He is the king. Amen.

7:14 · >> And in order to have a kingdom, you must

7:17 · first have a king. Much has been said

7:21 · recently about no kings the last few

7:24 · years and months. Maybe you've seen

7:26 · signs like this one behind me uh on your

7:29 · news fe or maybe even in person as I

7:33 · have as I've drove around the streets of

7:35 · our city. And while that may be true

7:38 · about local powers and authorities, it

7:42 · is not true when it comes to the kingdom

7:44 · of heaven. The truth is is that you

7:47 · desperately need to know King Jesus. Let

7:52 · me ask you, have you ever personally

7:55 · surrendered to Jesus as your king? Have

7:59 · you ever bowed your head and bend your

8:02 · knee and surrendered your life to him as

8:05 · the King of Kings, as the sovereign of

8:08 · your life as the Lord of Lords,

8:12 · not know Kings? The key is we need to

8:15 · know the King of glory. Now when it

8:19 · comes to any discussion about the

8:21 · kingdom, there are always several

8:23 · interesting questions. I wrote a paper

8:26 · about this way back in seminary. Uh the

8:29 · questions are these. Is the kingdom of

8:32 · heaven now or then?

8:36 · The answer is yes.

8:38 · Is the kingdom visible or invisible?

8:42 · The answer is yes.

8:45 · Is the kingdom external or internal? The

8:49 · answer is yes. It is now. Jesus came now

8:54 · and set up his kingdom. It is also then.

8:57 · There is a coming day when his kingdom

9:00 · will be established for all of eternity.

9:03 · Uh is the kingdom visible? Yes. One day

9:07 · the whole earth will witness it. But it

9:09 · is also invisible in your life. Is it

9:14 · external? Yes, read revelation.

9:18 · But it is also internal. God wants to

9:21 · set up his rule and reign inside your

9:26 · life. So when I ask you the question,

9:29 · have you surrendered to Jesus as your

9:32 · personal king? That is a now question.

9:35 · That is an invisible question. That is

9:38 · an internal question. But make no

9:41 · mistake, one day, either by compulsion

9:45 · then or now willingly,

9:48 · all people, every knee will bow and

9:51 · every tongue confess that Jesus Christ

9:55 · is king of this world.

9:59 · >> And so there is the

10:01 · reality

10:03 · of his kingdom. And to have a kingdom,

10:06 · you have to have a king.

10:08 · Secondly, we see in this short little

10:11 · parable the recipe for his kingdom. In

10:15 · verses 31 and following, it says, "The

10:17 · kingdom of heaven is here's what it's

10:19 · like. It's like a mustard seed, though

10:22 · it is the smallest of your seeds."

10:25 · Now, if any of you uh follow me on

10:28 · Facebook or social media, you know that

10:30 · I am sort of a master gardener.

10:34 · I have three prolific raised garden beds

10:39 · in my backyard

10:41 · that produce the most succulent

10:43 · vegetables that you can imagine. Often I

10:47 · am found being guilty of bragging on

10:50 · that just a little bit by placing

10:52 · pictures of my rich red tomatoes or my

10:55 · red hot peppers on Facebook.

10:59 · I will also say confession is good for

11:02 · the soul. Sometimes I just go to Safeway

11:04 · to the produce department and take some

11:07 · pictures and post them as if they were

11:09 · my own.

11:11 · That works too in in in droughts and

11:15 · seasons of bad gardening.

11:18 · But because I'm a master gardener,

11:20 · they've asked me to come in here this

11:22 · morning and give you some truths about

11:24 · seeds. Here's the truth. First truth

11:27 · about a mustard seed. It is small.

11:32 · Jesus said it is the smallest of seeds.

11:36 · And of course, that was exactly correct.

11:39 · When a man went out to sew mustard seed,

11:41 · he didn't reach in his basket and get a

11:43 · handful. He used his finger and his

11:46 · thumb and he got a little tiny seed and

11:50 · planted it in the ground.

11:52 · Rabbis in those days would use the

11:54 · terminology as small as a mustard seed

11:57 · to refer to something that was extremely

12:00 · small, very minute. Jesus used this

12:03 · figure of speech often in Matthew 17:20.

12:07 · He says that if you have the faith as

12:09 · small as a mustard seed, you can say to

12:12 · this mountain, "Move here and go there

12:15 · and it will be done." So it is with the

12:18 · gospel seed. And we've spent several

12:21 · weeks studying in these parables around

12:23 · the theme of this seed distribution and

12:26 · how it falls in different places on

12:29 · different hearts. But the gospel seed is

12:33 · very small. It seems just a little

12:36 · conversation with a friend, just a

12:39 · little witnessing moment.

12:42 · It is very very small.

12:45 · It is also

12:47 · significant.

12:48 · Uh the gospel seed may be small but it

12:52 · is s significant because of what it

12:54 · produces.

12:56 · Jesus said is the least of all the seeds

12:59 · but it is great when it is grown and it

13:01 · becomes the greatest among all the

13:03 · plants.

13:05 · You never know

13:07 · what one little seed of the gospel

13:11 · will do in a person's life.

13:15 · what one little conversation,

13:18 · what one little minuscule, seemingly

13:20 · minuscule verse of scripture can do in a

13:24 · person's heart.

13:26 · Uh Charles Haden Spurgeon is probably

13:28 · the most quoted preacher ever. As a

13:31 · matter of fact, in a group of preachers,

13:33 · if you want to sound smart, you quote

13:36 · Spurgeon.

13:38 · It's like it's almost in some groups

13:41 · more impressive than quoting Jesus. All

13:43 · right. Spurgeon preached to thousands.

13:48 · He couldn't build a church big enough to

13:50 · hold the people that came to hear him

13:52 · preach. He was going through a

13:54 · remodeling of his church and expanding

13:57 · the worship center. And by the time it

13:58 · was finished, it was too small and they

14:01 · had to build a build a bigger one.

14:03 · Spurgeon would have services on Sunday

14:06 · night. Get this. And he would ask his

14:10 · church members not to come

14:13 · so that others that did not know Christ

14:16 · would come and be able to hear the

14:18 · gospel. Spurgeon was seeker sensitive

14:21 · long before that word became popular in

14:24 · the 80s and 90s.

14:26 · And as a matter of fact, it got to the

14:28 · point that he would have to ask people

14:30 · to get a ticket in order to reserve a

14:34 · spot

14:35 · for church on a Sunday night.

14:41 · And yet Spurgeon's conversion story is

14:43 · an amazing one. He he was a young man

14:45 · and he was going off to the church that

14:47 · he was attending at the time and there

14:49 · was a vicious snowstorm in his city and

14:52 · he couldn't make it all the way to that

14:54 · church. So he ducked into a little

14:56 · Methodist chapel on the way. And it was

14:59 · there in that Methodist chapel that he

15:03 · didn't hear the preacher of the chapel

15:05 · preach because he couldn't make it due

15:07 · to the snowstorm that a layman stood up

15:10 · and he just read one verse and that was

15:13 · the sermon.

15:15 · I could have made 50 minutes out of that

15:17 · if I'd been there.

15:20 · But he just read one verse and this was

15:22 · the sermon. But the one verse was, "Look

15:25 · unto me and be ye saved." And Charles

15:30 · Haden Spurgeon, the greatest perhaps of

15:33 · all the preachers, that one little small

15:37 · mustard seed of the gospel took root in

15:40 · his heart and it changed his lives and

15:44 · thousands and thousands of others to

15:46 · follow. A mustard seed is small. A

15:50 · mustard seed is significant.

15:54 · But we also must confess that a mustard

15:56 · seed is strong.

15:58 · There is a particular quality about a

16:01 · mustard seed that is nothing to the

16:04 · ordinary.

16:05 · There is strength. There is bite. There

16:09 · is fire. There is pugnancy to a mustard

16:13 · seed. It can be irritating and it can

16:16 · have a disturbing quality.

16:19 · Some of you that have been around here a

16:21 · little bit know that I grew up in a very

16:23 · small town in Oklahoma.

16:27 · Somebody told me uh before service that

16:29 · they're driving through Oklahoma uh this

16:31 · coming week and I said, "I'm sorry." Uh

16:35 · I I hate that for you. I'm going to

16:37 · Destin. Um

16:41 · but I grew up in this very small town,

16:43 · population 400.

16:45 · I remember distinctly the day that our

16:48 · church here became twice as large as the

16:51 · town I grew up in.

16:55 · And we had two restaurants in that town.

16:58 · We had the Big Blue,

17:01 · which is a little burger shop right

17:03 · across from the high school. And man, if

17:05 · you saved up enough money once a week,

17:07 · you could slip across for lunch at the

17:09 · Big Blue. And then we had the Beacon

17:12 · Cafe that was attached to the local gas

17:14 · station that my aunt and uncle owned and

17:17 · operated.

17:18 · What we did not have in my small town of

17:22 · population 400 was any Chinese

17:26 · restaurants.

17:29 · And I remember the first time I had

17:31 · Chinese food.

17:33 · I was at my wife's home. her sister, who

17:36 · was a big city girl, had gone to the

17:39 · town about 30 minutes away and bought

17:42 · Chinese food. And she brought it home

17:45 · and we unpacked it. And there was all

17:47 · the condiments that you associate with

17:50 · Chinese food. One of which was the hot

17:53 · mustard.

17:55 · Well, I got an egg roll. It looked kind

17:58 · of like a corn dog.

18:01 · And I like my corn dog with a lot of

18:03 · yellow mustard on it. So I dipped that

18:07 · bad boy into the mustard. I thought it

18:10 · was just mustard. They didn't say hot

18:12 · mustard at the time. That is just

18:13 · mustard. And I dipped that in there.

18:18 · Woo.

18:20 · As Jerry Clower would have said back in

18:22 · the day. I mean, my goodness,

18:26 · it set me on fire. I didn't eat Chinese

18:29 · food for another decade.

18:33 · Well, a mustard seed has an irritating,

18:36 · disturbing factor about it. That is

18:40 · exactly true of the gospel message.

18:43 · There is something exciting,

18:45 · agitating, and disturbing about the

18:48 · gospel. It is no mildmannered message

18:52 · preached by mildmannered preachers to

18:54 · mildmannered people urging them to go

18:57 · out and be more mildmannered.

19:00 · The gospel mustard seed should set a

19:04 · church on fire as much as hot Chinese

19:08 · mustard does to your mouth.

19:12 · It should ignite us and excite us to go

19:16 · and share this message with everybody

19:19 · and anybody we can.

19:23 · That's the recipe of the kingdom. And

19:26 · then finally, the results of the

19:28 · kingdom. The Bible says in verse 32,

19:31 · when it grows is the largest of garden

19:33 · plants and becomes a tree so that the

19:36 · birds of the air come and perch in its

19:39 · branches. Let me give you this key

19:41 · thought. There is an everexpanding

19:44 · effect of the kingdom of heaven in our

19:47 · world

19:48 · and in our lives.

19:51 · Uh first of all, there is an

19:52 · everexpanding effect in our world. You

19:56 · think about Jesus came into this world

19:57 · in a small unassuming way. Born in a

20:01 · Bethlehem stable much like a small

20:03 · mustard seed. He was born on in in a

20:07 · borrowed stable. He preached his first

20:09 · sermon on the back of a borrowed boat.

20:11 · And when he died, he was laid to rest in

20:13 · a borrowed tomb. It is true, the son of

20:15 · man had nowhere to lay his head. And yet

20:18 · the work of Jesus in this world started

20:21 · small will end big. Revelation tells us

20:26 · the end of the story in Revelation 5-7.

20:28 · Here's what it says. And from Jesus

20:31 · Christ, the faithful witness, the

20:32 · firstborn from the dead, and the ruler

20:34 · of the kings of the earth, to him who

20:36 · loves us and has set us free from our

20:38 · sins by his blood and made us a kingdom

20:41 · priest to his God and father. To him be

20:43 · glory, dominion forever and ever. Amen.

20:45 · It goes on, look, he is coming in the

20:48 · clouds, and every eye will see him, and

20:50 · even those who pierced him, and all the

20:53 · tribes of the earth will mourn over him.

20:55 · So it is to be. Amen.

20:58 · >> Amen. Revelation 17:14 tells us this. It

21:02 · says, "These will make war against the

21:04 · Lamb, but the land will conquer them

21:06 · because he is the Lord of Lords and King

21:10 · of Kings." Somebody help me here. Those

21:12 · with him are called chosen and faithful.

21:16 · And listen to this last verse in

21:17 · Revelation. It says, "He wore a robe

21:21 · dipped in blood and his name is called

21:22 · the Word of God. And he has a name

21:24 · written on his robe and on his thigh."

21:27 · Get this. Jesus is tatted.

21:32 · You deal with that later at lunch and

21:34 · your small group.

21:38 · But here's what it says on his tattoo.

21:41 · King of kings

21:44 · and lord of lords. Say that with me.

21:46 · King of kings and lord of lords. Say it

21:50 · like you're saying it with your mouth

21:51 · and words are coming out. King of kings

21:55 · and lord of lords.

21:59 · Now, here's a question I don't want you

22:01 · to miss in the passage. What do we make

22:04 · about the birds?

22:07 · So,

22:09 · that the birds of the air come and perch

22:12 · in its branches. Well, theologians will

22:14 · tell you there's possibly four different

22:16 · interpretations of these birds. Some

22:18 · believe that the birds of the air

22:19 · actually represent Satan and his work in

22:22 · the church. If you lean to a strict

22:25 · dispensationalism, that's where you

22:27 · would land.

22:29 · Others believe the birds represent

22:31 · shelter for kingdom citizens, you and I.

22:35 · Others believe that birds of the air

22:37 · represent the nations coming to the

22:39 · kingdom. And then there are some people

22:42 · that think the birds of the air mean

22:43 · nothing. They're just an insignificant

22:45 · part of the story.

22:47 · I I prefer prefer interpretation number

22:49 · three. Jesus is suggesting that what

22:52 · started as a small obscure

22:56 · primarily Jewish movement in Bethlehem

23:00 · will one day result in all the peoples

23:02 · of the world coming to know him.

23:08 · >> There's an everexpanding effect in our

23:10 · world. But quickly there's an I'm

23:13 · running out of time. It's just two

23:14 · verses. I'm sorry.

23:17 · There is an everexpanding effect in our

23:20 · lives.

23:22 · Listen to what the Bible says in 2 Peter

23:24 · 1:5-8.

23:25 · It says, "For this very reason, make

23:27 · every effort to supplement your faith

23:28 · with goodness, goodness with knowledge,

23:30 · knowledge with self-control,

23:32 · self-control with endurance, endurance

23:33 · with godliness, godliness with brotherly

23:36 · affection, and brotherly affection with

23:38 · love. For if you possess these

23:40 · qualities, what? Watch this little

23:42 · phrase. in increasing measure. They will

23:47 · keep you from being useless or

23:49 · unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord

23:50 · Jesus Christ. There ought to be an

23:53 · everinccreasing

23:55 · measure

23:57 · of his work and his activity in our

24:01 · lives. And and it brings us to this

24:03 · closing question, if you will.

24:06 · Do you have faith?

24:09 · And is your faith growing?

24:14 · Do you have faith? And is your faith

24:18 · growing?

24:21 · Um,

24:23 · some of you know that I'm an upland game

24:25 · hunter. That means that I sometimes like

24:27 · to kill your quail,

24:30 · have them for dinner.

24:33 · They're scrumptious.

24:37 · The reason your house cat likes those

24:39 · little quail that I hope he lets stay

24:41 · alive is because they're scrumptious.

24:47 · On the screen is uh the world famous Mr.

24:51 · Nash.

24:52 · That's my bird dog.

24:55 · He's um made popular by my wife on

24:58 · Facebook many times posting him on top

25:01 · of our counters

25:03 · other places when he gets a little

25:05 · bored.

25:08 · But uh yesterday I took Mr. Nash to his

25:11 · trainer.

25:13 · I this trainer is the same guy I bought

25:15 · him from a little over six years ago and

25:18 · I've been taking him once a month in the

25:20 · summer because

25:22 · summer

25:24 · vacation for your dog when it's a German

25:27 · shorthair is really good. Our house was

25:30 · so peaceful last night. I almost

25:32 · overslept this morning. I put swim

25:35 · trunks on on the way to church. Man, I

25:37 · was so groggy. Uh

25:40 · so we get a month in the summer where he

25:43 · goes to be with his family. He met some

25:45 · of his puppies. He he uh was used as a

25:48 · stud dog last year there. And there's a

25:50 · couple of his little dog his little

25:51 · puppies there just as crazy as him.

25:55 · But while I was there outside of Yuma, a

25:57 · little town called Welton, Arizona,

26:01 · I had the opportunity to talk to Rashan,

26:05 · whom I known for now a little over six

26:08 · years. Rashan's had some serious health

26:11 · problems. He just got out of the

26:12 · hospital a couple weeks ago.

26:14 · And I put my hand on Rashan's shoulder

26:17 · and I said, 'Ran, I I don't believe I've

26:20 · ever asked you this question, but I've

26:21 · got a question I've been meaning to ask

26:23 · you.

26:25 · Ha. Have you ever come to a place in

26:27 · your life that you know for certain that

26:30 · Jesus is in your heart and that if you

26:33 · were to die that you go to heaven?

26:38 · He said, "Well, sometimes I think I made

26:40 · it and I'm just not sure." His words,

26:43 · exact words were, "I'm just not sure I'm

26:45 · worthy enough."

26:48 · And I was able to explain, "Man, none of

26:50 · us are worthy." [clears throat]

26:52 · But we're made worthy through the work

26:53 · of Christ on the cross. And yesterday,

26:56 · Rashan

26:59 · prayed and asked Jesus Christ into his

27:01 · heart as Lord and Savior.

27:03 · [applause and music]

27:10 · what started as a little small mustard

27:13 · seed [music] conversation

27:16 · is going to grow in his life [music]

27:19 · until he spends eternity with Jesus in

27:21 · heaven.

27:23 · [music] So, let me circle back to that

27:25 · closing question.

27:27 · Have you ever started a faith walk with

27:29 · [music] Jesus?

27:32 · And is your faith growing?

27:36 · >> [music]

27:36 · >> Some of you in this room, if I ask you

27:38 · the same question I asked Rashan

27:41 · yesterday morning in [music] Welton,

27:44 · Arizona,

27:47 · have you come to a place in your life

27:48 · that you know for certain that you have

27:50 · eternal life and that if you die today,

27:52 · you'd spend eternity [music] in heaven?

27:54 · Some of you in this room, if you were

27:55 · honest, would have to say, as Rashan did

27:57 · yesterday,

27:59 · no.

28:01 · [music]

28:02 · But that doesn't have to be an eternal

28:03 · no.

28:05 · You [music] can say an eternal yes to

28:07 · Jesus. And in just a moment, we're going

28:10 · to give you a chance to do that. [music]

28:12 · But once you do that, that's not the

28:15 · end. There's an ever expanding effect of

28:18 · the seed of the gospel in [music] our

28:21 · individual lives. God wants you to grow.

28:24 · I'm so excited about some of the things

28:25 · Pastor Andrew and the rest of our team

28:27 · across all of our locations is going to

28:28 · be [music] unpacking as we get to the

28:31 · end of the summer about a spiritual

28:33 · [music] development pathway for you to

28:36 · give you some clear guidance [music] and

28:39 · direction on how to continue to grow

28:42 · ever increasingly grow in your faith.

28:44 · It's going to change our church. It's

28:47 · going to change your life.

28:50 · [music]

28:51 · But you need to not just stop where you

28:54 · are. You need to [music] continue to

28:56 · grow in your faith.

29:01 · [music]