# The Mustard Seed Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise. Series: Parables Date: June 28, 2026 Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/the-mustard-seed ## Summary What if a tiny mustard seed could change everything? Ever wondered how something so small can have such a profound impact? Join us as we explore the power of faith and the kingdom of heaven. Are you ready to let your faith grow? Let's dive in together! ## Transcript 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]