Seeds and Trees

We are continuing on in our series on stories of the kingdom today.

But listen, I want to give a shout out to the RA camp kids who are here today.

So if you went to RA camp, would you wave at me like this?

There you go.

Would y'all stand up real quick?

Look, you can handle this.

I'm not putting you on the spot too much.

There you go.

Before we do anything else, is this everybody?

There's Blake.

What's that?

Someone went to children's church.

Oh, man, we should have done this earlier.

That's all right.

I didn't think about that.

Well, let's do this.

That means y'all who are standing are going to have to do this extra loud.

Ready?

One, two, three.

He is.

He is.

He is.

He is.

There you go.

Good job.

They did that before.

Yeah, give them a clap for that.

The speaker, Casey Allen, the leader of Cross Trail Outfitters, the Texas chapter, did that

before every time he got up there and they were just screaming at the top of their lungs.

It was awesome.

And some of those guys, some of the guys even here today gave their life to Jesus or

took a big step in their faith journey with Jesus during that camp time.

So that's an exciting thing.

We celebrate that.

Matthew chapter 13 is where we are today.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matt, I wore my R.A. t-shirt just for you, but I did have to put something on over it

to be up here, all right?

It just feels weird to be in front of y'all just a t-shirt.

But that's okay.

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

While you're turning there, we're continuing on in this series about stories of the kingdom

or the parables of Jesus.

These were illustrated stories that Jesus would use to make a valuable point, to leave an impression

on his hearers, to make it stick in their minds.

And we've been learning so much from this series.

I figure it's always safe to preach about what Jesus spoke about, right?

You're not going to go wrong going back to what Jesus himself talked about.

So while you're going to Matthew 13, I want to talk to you about Michaela Ulmer.

Does anybody off the top of your head know who Michaela Ulmer is?

I didn't figure so.

However, she had her 15 minutes of fame.

All right, what's going on here?

Is this thing working?

There we go.

There she is.

Anybody know what TV show that is?

Look at y'all.

You watch too much TV, don't you?

Shark Tank.

Yes, it is.

Anybody know who the guy on the left is there?

I'm seeing if you're a real nerd with Shark Tank.

He's one of the sharks.

His name is Damon John.

He started Fubo, the clothing company.

And he is a very wealthy investor.

And he's been on Shark Tank just about from the beginning.

But he gave this little girl a deal.

If you know anything about Shark Tank, these entrepreneurs come in to the tank or this set

of the TV show and they pitch their fledgling company to these investors trying to get them

to make an investment in their company to help it grow and all this.

It's on NBC.

I think they might be in their last season or just concluded their last season.

But they've been on for more than a decade.

And Mark Cuban's on there, the kind of former owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

But they've seen hundreds, if not thousands, of companies come through and pitch them to try

to make an investment.

Well, this girl was nine years old when she walked into Shark Tank to try to pitch her lemonade company.

Now, there's a back story there.

This little girl had been stung twice in one week by bees.

Anybody ever been stung by a bee?

How about twice in the same week?

I was going to say, did you really?

That's amazing.

Well, you should have started a lemonade company.

No, were you scared of bees after you were stung twice in the same week?

That's because you're a boy.

You can handle it, right?

Look, I don't mean to draw any gender lines there, but Michaela was scared, all right?

I think even though I'm a boy also, I would be a little hesitant to be around bees after

being stung twice in one week, especially when you're four years old.

Anything that she heard buzzing, her parents said, she would run terrified.

So her parents wanted to help her have a healthy understanding of bees.

So as she grew up, they had her go and research what bees are all about, why they're important,

why bee conservation is important, why they're necessary for our environment.

So she learned all about bees.

And in doing so, she decided to try to help bees and help prevent misunderstandings and

unhealthy fear of bees and all this.

And so as a little girl, she found an old recipe of her grandmother's for flax lemonade,

and she decided to add honey to it to represent the bees.

And so she started selling this around, and it started catching on.

And it started, of course, around the neighborhood, and then farmer's markets, and then local grocery

stores.

And then all of a sudden, down in near Waco, Austin, kind of central Texas area, her lemonade

started selling like wildfire.

And she got on Shark Tank as a nine-year-old girl.

She got that day a deal with Damon John, one of the sharks.

He gave her $60,000 in exchange for 25% of her company.

Two years later, at age 11, Michaela Ulmer did an $11 million deal with Whole Foods.

So what started as getting stung by bees and selling lemonade to help educate people about bees ended

up with her becoming a multimillionaire very young in her life.

Now she's 20 years old.

She's written a book.

She's a national speaker to young entrepreneurs.

And Michaela Ulmer is very, very successful at a young age.

Can I tell you that big things often have small beginnings?

Big things often have small beginnings.

And there's another side to that.

Big things take time.

From the time she was four to the time she was 20, 16 years there,

how long of a road and how much changed over that time in her life.

She never could have predicted as a child what would eventually happen with this little lemonade stand that she started.

So if you want to try her lemonade, I don't know where we can find it around here.

You might have to go up to Wichita or maybe even Dallas.

I don't know.

But she is around and I kind of want to try her lemonade.

But as we dive into the scriptures this morning,

let's take with us that principle of big things often have small beginnings and big things take time.

So Matthew chapter 13, would you go with me and let's look at verse 31.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

We're going to talk about seeds and trees this morning.

We're also going to talk about bread and leaven, yeast.

But seeds and trees rhymed so well I wanted to keep us there for the title.

So seeds and trees, Matthew chapter 13, verse 31.

Matthew 13:31

He presented another parable to them.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

It's the smallest of all the seeds, but when it's grown, it's taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree

so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.

Verse 33.

He told them another parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven or yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until all of it was leavened.

At first glance, you're probably looking at this like, what is Jesus saying here?

What is his big point?

What is his big takeaway?

Because the very next verse says Jesus told the crowd all these things in parables,

and he didn't tell them anything without a parable.

He didn't want to make it just easy for them.

He wanted to think about it.

He wanted them to ponder it.

He wanted them to turn it over in their brains,

put it in context of the scriptures that they already knew,

and start to understand little by little.

He couldn't reveal it all at once, all about his kingdom.

He had to reveal it bit by bit.

His time was coming, but it wasn't there yet when he would give his life for our sins.

But there is a principle here.

We talked about it just a moment ago with Michaela Ulmer,

but there's a principle that we can learn from both of these parables that Jesus told back to back,

seemingly on this same theme.

And the first principle is,

in God's kingdom, big things have small beginnings.

In God's kingdom, big things have small beginnings.

He mentioned the mustard seed.

Anybody know anything about a mustard seed?

Just yell it out if you know.

It's small, right?

It's tiny.

And you know what the crazy thing is?

He talks about a grain of a mustard seed.

He tells his disciples at another moment, he says,

if you have faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed,

not even a whole seed, just part of it.

I mean, we're talking about a microscopic seed,

and then an even smaller part.

He said, if you have that much faith,

you can move mountains.

You can do amazing things.

Now, you can drive to the nearest mountain.

Is there a mountain?

Let's not pretend like the dirt hill in Wichita is a mountain, okay?

Is there a real mountain around here anywhere?

I guess for, yeah, outside, yeah, all right.

So you could go to that, and you could say, move!

Move!

Now, do you think that's what he meant?

No.

Good.

I want to make sure we're all on the same page here.

What he meant was,

God can do something impossible through you

if you have the belief that he can.

What it does not mean is,

he always will do the impossible thing that you wish he would.

Number one, our wishes, our desires are not perfect.

They're not without flaw.

So we might want something that is not good for us,

not good for someone else.

We might be convinced it's the best thing,

and we believe that if God would just do that for us,

that impossible thing,

that everything would be better.

Usually it has to do with more money.

However, that is not how God works.

God knows exactly what is best,

and he says,

if you believe that I can do impossible things,

then I will do impossible things in your life.

They will be according to my will,

because I know what's best for you.

We get to taste that a little bit

when we parent our kids, fathers, on Father's Day.

Have you always given your child

everything that they ever asked for?

I hope not.

I really hope not.

Because kids ask for things

that are not good for them all the time, right?

Let's be real, adults do too.

But kids have even less of a filter usually,

and so they'll ask for things

that they certainly don't need

and often are not good for them.

So, faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed.

It can be very tiny, is the point.

God isn't necessarily always looking for

those who act like they have faith

the size of a mountain.

He says your faith doesn't have to be

the size of a mountain.

It can be the size of a grain of a mustard seed.

How small is that?

Well, we have a little picture here for context.

So, if this is a whole mustard seed,

very small,

it grows into a mustard tree.

And that's just one picture.

They can grow much larger than that.

But I love how side by side

you can see the scope

of something that has such a small beginning

and could grow into something so large.

What is Jesus talking about?

He's talking about the kingdom of God.

Do you understand that this is how God works?

It's not how the Jewish people wanted him to work.

It's not what they were hoping for.

This isn't what they wanted their Messiah to be.

They wanted him to ride in on a great white horse,

leading a powerful army to conquer Rome

and free them from Roman occupation

and make them their own mighty nation

and conquering the world and all that.

That's kind of what they were hoping

their Messiah would be.

Instead, he started small.

He started as a baby.

But that's always how God works.

Think about it.

God always starts small

and then goes big.

What was David?

David was a little shepherd boy, right?

The least of his father's family

before he became a giant killing king.

Gideon was a coward

before God made him a conquering general.

Joseph was a prisoner

thrown in a dungeon, rotting away.

Before that, he'd been a slave

before God made him ruler of Egypt.

Elisha and Amos were farmers

before God made them powerful and mighty prophets.

Esther was an exiled orphan

before God made her queen of Persia.

Peter was a hot-headed fisherman

before God made him a powerful preacher.

You could say that similar things

for so many of the disciples.

And Jesus himself was a little baby

lying in a feeding trough in Nazareth

before God made him savior of the world.

God starts small before he goes big.

So, let's look at 2 Kings.

Would you turn with me to the Old Testament, 2 Kings?

Anybody want to guess

what 2 Kings comes right after?

You're a smart crowd.

2 Kings chapter 4.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

Just want to make sure y'all are with me,

you're still listening.

2 Kings chapter 4.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

1 and 2 Samuel.

1 and 2 Kings.

1 and 2 Chronicles.

So, if you find one of those,

you're close to 2 Kings.

2 Kings 4:1

Chapter 4, verse 1.

One of the wives of the sons of the prophets

cried out to Elisha.

We just mentioned him a moment ago.

He was a farmer

before God turned him to a prophet.

And the successor of the mighty prophet Elijah,

who was caught up to heaven.

Man, it's this whole big thing.

He's now arguably the most important person

for God's people.

Their prophet, the spokesman for God.

And he says,

one of the wives of the prophets

studying under him

to become a prophet.

Kind of an early form of seminary type deal.

One of the wives says,

your servant, my husband, has died.

The prophet studying under you,

great Elisha, he's died.

You know that your servant feared the Lord.

Now the creditor is coming

to take my two children away

as his slaves.

How awful is this?

So what happens?

Elisha asks her,

what can I do for you?

Tell me.

What do you have in the house?

She said,

your servant has nothing in the house

except a jar of oil.

Then he said,

go out and borrow empty containers

from all your neighbors.

Don't get just a few.

Then go in and shut the door behind you

and your sons

and pour oil into all these containers.

Set the full ones to one side

and she left.

She shut the door behind her and her sons

and they kept bringing her containers

and she kept pouring.

And when they were full,

she said to her son,

bring me another container.

And he said,

there aren't any more.

And then the oil stopped

and she went and told the man of God

what happened.

And he said,

go sell the oil and pay your debt

and you and your sons

can live on the rest.

This is a crazy miracle.

But before we dive into that whole miracle,

think about how it started.

How did it start?

What did she have?

She had just a little bit of oil.

Just a little bit.

She did not have enough.

She didn't have what she needed.

But she had a little bit.

Do you see what God can do

if you give him the little bit you have?

Say, I can't afford to.

This is all we've got.

The principle of the kingdom of God

is you can't afford not to.

Because God can take

the little bit you have

and do so much more with it.

Over and over again,

we see this principle

in the kingdom of God.

And that's what Jesus was teaching us

with this seed

that becomes a great mustard tree.

God can take something little

and make something great from it.

Big things have small beginnings.

But there's another principle here.

And we get it from this story

in the Old Testament

of Elisha, 2 Kings,

this woman with her oil.

The first principle,

little things have what?

I'm sorry,

big things have what kind of beginnings?

Little beginnings,

small beginnings.

But there's another principle

and that is,

with God,

little can become much.

There we go.

With God,

little can become much.

We see it happen.

God can turn that little thing

into something big,

into something powerful,

into something mighty.

So you might feel insignificant this morning.

But God can take you

and turn you into something great.

Look at the story of the girl

with the lemonade and the bees, right?

She's just a little four-year-old girl

getting stung by bees.

What's significant about that

other than you feel bad for her, right?

But her parents thought it through

and said,

let's educate her about this.

And then that little girl

took it upon herself.

I want to educate everybody about bees.

And what can I do to help that happen?

And before you know it,

she's a multimillionaire

and speaking all around the country

and impacting people with her mission.

Little can become much.

If God wants to take little old you

and make you something greater,

something more impactful,

He can do it.

But usually the problem is

we don't turn over the little we have to Him.

We don't think about

what He can do

with our little bit of energy,

our little bit of time,

our little bit of money,

our little bit of emotional capacity.

Any of you feel like you just run out

of emotional capacity?

Like, I just can't right now?

Just leave me alone.

Stay out of my way.

I can't with the world right now.

Okay?

You ever hit that place?

Don't look at me like that.

Maybe it's just me.

It's not just me.

The little bit you have,

you give that to God.

He can multiply it.

Multiply it.

What this does not mean

is that if you put a dollar

in the offering plate,

God's going to make you

a multimillionaire tomorrow.

If that's what you're taking away from this,

then you're not paying attention.

All right?

There is no promise

of earthly riches on this earth.

If you ever hear a preacher

telling you otherwise,

he's lying to you.

He's lying to you

and he's trying to get you

to give him money.

Now, I'm not going to turn down

if you want to give me a dollar

because, man,

you can't buy anything

with a dollar anymore.

I was going to say,

you can go out of the dollar menu.

They don't have dollar menus anymore.

Even dollar tree

is now a dollar 25 tree,

so that's all right.

Never mind.

Keep your dollar.

But little can become much,

and that is the second principle

that Jesus is trying

to teach us here.

In God's kingdom,

little can become much.

Big things have small beginnings,

and little can become much.

Look at that second part.

Back in Matthew 13,

she puts the leaven in.

She puts the yeast in the dough,

and it works all the way through.

Right?

What do we mean by this?

Anybody know what this stuff is?

Bread?

Well, it's dough.

It's dough.

It hasn't quite yet become bread,

but it's dough.

They're making bread, right?

So do you see on the left,

you see those top and bottom pictures?

You see on the left,

that's when they put it in the bowl,

and then on the right

is after it's been what?

It's been sitting there for a time

doing this thing called

resting, proving.

Maybe I just watch too much

like baking TV

because my wife is into that stuff,

but I know all the technical terms

of what it's called, all right?

It's called proving or proofing.

You know what I love about that concept?

is that's what God does to us sometimes.

He lets us sit and prove.

And you know what happens to us

while we're proving?

We rise, we grow in our faith in Him,

and as we grow,

we're filled up more with His Spirit.

Now, if you're a child of God,

you have the Holy Spirit of God.

You've got all access to Him,

but it doesn't mean

you're filled up with Him, right?

Because a lot of times

we fill ourselves up with other stuff.

But the idea

is that God works His Holy Spirit through us,

lets us sit,

often in a waiting time of life,

while He prepares us,

we prove ourselves,

and then at the right moment,

we're ready to bake.

We're ready to go out and nourish others.

We're ready to do whatever He has for us.

I can't begin to guess

or tell you what God has for you.

Again, that's another thing.

If a pastor or faith leader

tells you what God's will is for your life,

he's lying to you.

He doesn't know.

That's between you and God.

Now, you can be advised by someone.

You might consider this.

You might pray about this.

But I can't come and say

God's will for you

is this specifically in your life.

That's a lie.

But He does have one.

And it's moment by moment,

day by day,

God has a purpose for you.

But we're not always ready for that purpose

while He's molding and shaping us.

This isn't an exact illustration.

Otherwise, it'd be all through the Bible.

But He does mention it here.

He does use this idea

that the kingdom of God

is like this yeast

that this woman puts into her dough

and it spreads all through

and then it rises.

It's just a little bit of yeast,

but she works it all through.

And you know what happens then?

It becomes much.

It starts small

and it becomes big.

How many of you ever heard the old song,

little is much when God is in it?

Labor not for wealth or fame.

There's a crown

and you can win it

if you'll go in Jesus' name.

They tapped into that idea

that there is a little bit that we have,

but God can turn it into much.

All it takes is a little bit of faith.

You don't have to be a giant of faith.

You don't have to be a superstar of faith.

You don't have to get your name in the Bible

or your name on the wall at church.

You could just have a little bit of faith

and God can grow it.

Now, real quick,

before we move on from this,

and we'll be done in just a moment,

don't get the idea in your head

that God wants your faith to stay small.

That is the excuse that people use.

We've been trying to disprove

some really commonly misused scriptures.

Last Sunday, was it last Sunday,

the one before it was,

no, last Sunday,

I had my friend Phillip Nation up here preaching,

but recently we hit the verse,

judge not lest ye be judged.

Remember that one?

And usually how people use that

is not what it was intended to be used as.

We're not going to take time on that today.

It's on YouTube if you want to go back and watch it.

But this verse is,

tiny little bit of faith can move mountains, right?

So people will take that

and they'll make it say what they want it to

and say, well, I believe, you know,

I believe in God.

That's all he really needs,

just a little bit of faith

and I can move mountains.

No, that's how it starts.

That's a little bit of leaven.

It's a little bit of yeast,

but it's supposed to grow.

No.

The disciples actually caught on to that

and they said,

they came to Jesus and said,

Lord, increase our faith.

We've been walking with you,

been seeing you,

been learning from you.

Increase our faith.

Make it bigger.

And he taught them how to do that.

Taught them how he would do that.

But little can become much

and little is supposed to become much.

But it starts with something small.

Now, if you have the Holy Spirit in you,

you have all you need.

You have all you need.

You're not lacking anything.

By contrast,

if you don't have the Holy Spirit of God in you,

then you're missing everything you need.

You can have a lot of money in the bank.

You could look good on the outside.

Your life could be ordered just how you want it to be.

You could be faithful in church.

You could be a good-looking person on the outside.

But we're not in the business of making Christianity.

We're in the business of making disciples,

followers of Jesus,

not followers of church.

Now, we're a church.

We want you to jump in with us

as we strive to follow Jesus.

But it's not all about church.

It's not all about a set of rules.

It's not all about living a certain way.

It's about it being real.

It's about it being alive inside you.

And if it's not,

then you're missing it.

You're missing it all.

And I'm so afraid

that so many people

who faithfully attended church for years

are going to get to God someday.

They're going to look at Him and say,

man, I'm one of yours.

I lived that life.

He's going to say,

no, you're not one of mine.

It was never real for you.

It was never alive inside you.

But the Holy Spirit

is like a seed

that will grow.

You know a fascinating thing?

Back in 2005,

scientists successfully germinated

a 2,000-year-old Judean date palm seed

found at Masada in Israel.

A 2,000-year-old palm tree seed.

They germinated it.

Means they made it start growing

and it produced.

How crazy is that?

2,000 years old.

Why?

How did that work?

How did they find a 2,000-year-old seed

and watered it

and gave it...

I'm trying to think back.

It was sunlight, water, chlorophyll.

I got kids, elementary kids.

You got to help me here.

It's been a while

since I learned all that stuff.

They did all the things

that you're supposed to do, right?

And they made it grow.

2,000 years old.

How in the world?

Because it contained

the principle of life inside it

and that life never died.

Now listen to me real quick.

If you don't hear anything else

the whole time, hear this.

Jesus Christ,

the Holy Spirit,

God the Father,

God is the principle of life

that is inside you.

If you are his child,

if you have invited him in,

then he is inside you

and he contains the principle of life.

Maybe you haven't been walking with him

like you should,

but that principle of life

is still in there.

And that is what Jesus

is trying to teach us.

The kingdom of God

is like that.

This world is wicked,

but the kingdom of God

is here.

And it can grow.

And it can take over.

And someday,

we'll see how that happens.

Right now,

we don't have to worry

about taking over.

Right now,

we just have to worry

about nurturing

that spirit of life

inside of us.

nurturing that seed of life

inside of us

and not running from it,

not squandering it,

not ignoring it.

The gospel of Jesus Christ,

the good news about Jesus,

that contains the spirit of life.

That contains the principle

of life inside us.

You can't stop that.

You can try,

but you can't.

It will win.

It will grow.

You can't make it die.

I study a lot of different preachers

in closing.

I study a lot of different preachers.

I study two different ones

specifically preaching

about this passage.

One was a pastor

I've referenced before

down in Georgia,

Eric Hayes.

and he said,

Jesus began a good work in you,

but you're depending on yourself

to complete it.

I thought that was an interesting quote.

Jesus began a good work in you,

but you're depending on yourself

to complete it.

You know what he's referencing?

He's referencing Philippians 1.6.

Being confident of this,

that he who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion

until the day of Christ Jesus.

Do you understand what's inferred here?

When you are saved,

when you give your life to Jesus,

he begins a good work in you.

But then his promise is,

I will carry this good work on

until Jesus comes back,

we all go to heaven,

it's all great.

Until then,

I'm working on you.

There's another old song.

He's still working on me

to make me what I ought to be.

And he's going to keep doing that

until we go home to heaven

because none of us

are going to get all the way there

until he gives us

perfect bodies and all that.

But the problem is,

it takes time.

It takes time.

And we get impatient.

So we try to take over.

Jesus, through the Holy Spirit,

is working on us.

He's completing the work

that he started in us

so we don't need to take over

and say,

I got this from here.

You got me off to a good start

with the whole being saved

and forgiving me and all that,

but I got it from here.

I will take over the rest of my life.

No, no, no.

Jesus is still completing the work in you.

So, another pastor that I heard of

preached on this

and I was actually there when he did it.

Let's move on past that.

There we go.

Anybody know that man right there?

His name is Joel Gregory.

In Texas Baptist life,

he's one of the prominent preachers,

pastored

at very impactful large churches in Texas

and he teaches preaching

down at Truett Seminary in Waco.

Preached the most powerful sermon

on the kingdom of God I've ever heard

and it was from Matthew 13

and I wanted to share

a couple of thoughts he had.

The kingdom of God is a gift.

We don't build it.

It builds us

through its inherent power.

Just like those seeds

that were germinated 2,000 years later,

they contained inherent power within them.

It just needed to be unlocked.

That is like the kingdom of God in us.

God gave us a gift

which is his son,

his kingdom on this earth.

It is allowed now for us to come into it.

We've been invited in

and we don't build that kingdom.

It builds us.

God builds his kingdom

as he's building us.

You understand the difference there?

You got all these people are like,

man, I got to build my church.

I got to make it bigger.

I got to build my business

or I got to build everything.

We're all builders, right?

God says, let me build you.

He's more worried about us.

He can impact others

as he has more access to us.

But when we get so focused on our agenda,

say, no, no, no.

You're not going to complete this work in me.

I've got my own work

I'm going to complete in myself.

Then he doesn't build us.

We build ourselves.

And the results we get from that

are what you would think they would be.

And then the second thought,

the kingdom of God is invisible.

It's here, but it's just not seen.

It's already, but not yet.

You understand what I mean by that?

It's very confusing, right?

I'm not going to take you to seminary today.

We've got like two minutes left.

I'm not going to take you to seminary today

because it would be a long time

to try to figure out this concept

of already, but not yet.

But I'm going to take you to Luke 17.

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus,

when will the kingdom of God come?

How would y'all like to know that?

When will the kingdom of God come?

Yeah, me too.

Jesus replied,

the kingdom of God can't be detected

by visible signs.

You won't be able to say,

here it is, or it's over there.

For the kingdom of God is,

what does that say?

Already among you.

He's saying, here I am.

I am here.

And my kingdom is beginning.

And my kingdom will grow through all of you.

For his children.

For those who will say,

God, use me.

Build me.

Build your kingdom as you're building me.

So there's a principle here.

The kingdom of God is already here,

but it's also not yet.

You understand what we mean by that?

Read the book of Revelation.

You'll see how the end happens.

That's confusing.

It's hard to totally wrap our heads around

because that's probably intentional.

We don't need to know exactly

how everything's going to happen,

but we get the idea.

We understand and have confidence

that God's going to win.

God's way is going to prevail.

We're all going to be in heaven forever.

It's going to be great.

We're going to love it.

But it's not here yet.

So God's kingdom will be eternal and everlasting,

and it's already here and started,

but it hasn't yet fulfilled.

So here's my question for you.

Has God started his kingdom in you?

And what has happened since then in your life?

Big things have small beginnings,

but are you still back at the small stage

or has God done anything through you?

There's no limit to what God can do through you

if you unlock the door.

If you quit resisting,

if you say, God, I am yours.

You take over.

Build your kingdom in me.

You build me,

and then build others as a result of it.

And that's our takeaway today.

There are no limits to what God can do through you,

what God in you can do.

Say, God, do this in my life.

And God says, no, I'm interested in working in you.

I'm interested in changing you.

You know, we always want him to change everything outside, right?

We want him to make everything better.

We want him to fix all these things,

all these problems that come up in our life.

God, change this.

Fix this.

Make this different.

Make her different.

Make him different.

God says, no, no, no.

I'm more interested in you.

I want to change you.

I want to build you.

Y'all, that's what I'm working through in my own life.

I promise you.

That's what I'm,

me in my private quiet time with God,

I'm saying, God, change me.

Do a work inside me.

There's all kinds of things in my life,

in my career,

in my vocation,

in my relationships.

There's all kinds of things

that I wish were different.

I wish were better.

But instead,

I've got to take it to Jesus and say,

Jesus,

you change me.

I'm opening up the door.

You work on me.

Because there's no limit

to what God in me can do.

Would you pray with me now?

God, I pray right now

that you would impact us.

We've heard your word.

We've understood the principles from it.

God, there's nothing you can't do

can take something small

as the little bit of faith

that we in this room have.

Can take something as small

as the little bit of faith

that we had when we gave our lives to Jesus.

But God, you want to grow it.

You want little to become much.

You want to take something

with a small beginning

and make it world-changing.

There are no limits

to what you and us can do.

Move in your church right now, God.

Teach us what we need to learn.

Take lessons

and just bury them deep inside us.

So as we wake up tomorrow morning,

it's the first thing we're thinking about.

Church, right now in that spirit,

I'm going to ask you

just a couple of questions.

How many of you would say

there's something in my life

that I need to turn over to Jesus?

Would you slip your hand up right now

and I'll pray for you?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just something in my life

I need to turn over to God.

Thanks.

How many of you would say

I haven't grown as much as I should.

I've got that little seed of faith

that I put in Jesus when I was saved

and I just haven't grown it

and I want God to grow in me,

to change me.

That's what I'm praying about right now.

Would you slip your hand up

and I'll pray for you too.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All around.

Thank you.

It's awesome.

You put your hands down.

Final question.

How many of you would say

I've got to get it started?

I've got to get my life

with Jesus started.

I've been putting it off

for whatever reason.

I want to get saved today.

I want to give my life to Jesus today

for the first time.

Would you slip your hand up

and I'll pray for you too.

Thank you.

Whatever you raise your hand for,

whatever is on your heart and mind,

would you do business with God right now?

You can keep your seats.

Jared's going to lead us in singing.

We'll be dismissed in just a moment.

If you'd like somebody to pray with,

I'll be right down here.

If you want to come pray at these steps,

if you want to turn around

and pray at your pew,

just stay seated.

Whatever you want to do,

you do business with God right now.

Let him work.