Lessons About Supernatural Kingdom Expansion from the Parable of the Mustard Seed

If you're just a guest with us, we're in a year

of supernatural expansion of the kingdom of heaven

on the earth. And part of that is Operation Andrew,

in which we're asking everyone who attends the

gathering and even those that don't but want

to jump in to come up with the list. We challenge

everyone with the list of 10 people that are

unsaved in your life. If you don't have 10 people,

then just start with what you have. It's not

too late. Begin to pray for them. I mean, newsflash,

if you're tired of this, we're not going to stop

praying until they're all saved. So you better

just, you know. But I know you don't have to

make a magnet, but, you know, it's a good visual

for us, a good reminder. You know, keep things

on our heart. You ought to have a list on your

mirror, in your car, on your phone. for the people

we've been praying for. We have moved past just

the prayer portion, and if you haven't, I would

encourage you to go to each member on your list

and say, hey, I've been praying for you. Is there

anything specific I can pray for you about? We've

kind of moved. We're supposed to have already

done that, but if you missed the boat on that,

it's okay. Jesus hasn't come back yet, so it's

not too late. So just reach out to them, say,

the Lord put you on my heart. Is there anything

specific I can pray for? Write down those specific

prayer requests and start now praying for those

specific requests. And we're going to just believe

that God's going to answer those and open a door

for us to share the love of God, the gospel of

Jesus Christ for them to be saved. All right.

Also part of spiritual, supernatural expansion

of the kingdom of heaven. We've been in the holidays

for the last couple weeks, so I just want to

bring you back to your remembrance. We're challenging

every person that attends the gathering to either

go on a mission trip or send someone financially

on a mission trip or support a mission trip in

some way. Alright? So we're seeing the kingdom

expanded. I mean, we're seeing... We built a

church in India two years ago. 2025, we built

a Bible college in Pakistan. We got Nathan, Gary,

Brad, Bronson, Tiffany. I mean, and we got people

going all over the world sharing the gospel.

And there's plenty of opportunities to go on

a mission trip. I don't think we've even gone

on our first one this year. We have seven or

eight planned. So you can go on our website.

click on the Supernatural Expansion page. It'll

list all the trips. And Pastor Tiffany has so

kindly volunteered to head up that, so if you

have any questions, she can get you answers.

But don't give up on kingdom expansion. The kingdom

is expanding. You want to be a part of it because

our King is worthy. Amen? Alright, we're going

to return back to Matthew chapter 13. Anybody

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

like the Bible? Anybody like the Bible? I love

the Bible. Matthew chapter 13, we've been looking

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

at the parables about the kingdom. If we're going

to set ourselves about the business of expanding

our king's kingdom on the earth as it is in heaven,

he did teach us to pray that way. then what better,

in my mind, what better way than to go to Jesus'

words when he's teaching his disciples about

the kingdom. So we've looked at the parable of

the sower, we've looked at the parable of the

weeds and the wheat, and today we're going to

be looking at Matthew chapter 13, verses 31 and

Matthew 13:31

32. Brief passage, full of power. Chapter 13,

verse 31, 32. Do you mind following along? as

I read. He told them, he being Jesus, them being

the disciples, 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 the 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. Alright, let's

pray together. Father, we submit ourselves to

Your Word. Holy Spirit, our Teacher, guide us

into all truth, teach us all things. Like Pastor

Braston said, we don't want the words of a sermon,

but we want a demonstration of Your power through

this passage. And we surrender our lives to you

and ask that you radically and permanently change

us right now through your word. In Jesus' name,

do you agree? Let's say amen. All right. So today

we're just looking at lessons about supernatural

kingdom expansion from the parable of the mustard

seed. Pretty simple. Lessons about this expansion

from the mustard seed parable. All right. Let's

jump right into it. Number one. Some truths out

of this brief passage. Number one lesson. The

kingdom of God was created to expand exponentially.

Why would we settle for anything less in our

lives? The kingdom of God was created to expand

exponentially. Why would we settle for anything

less in our lives? Let's read again verse 32.

Jesus said, though it is the smallest of 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.

Some of you virgins say, come and make a nest

in its branches. All right, now think about this.

I know for some of you, you've been... reading

these parables for longer than some of us have

been alive, okay? Don't become so familiar that

you let the power pass you by. In Mark and Luke,

you know, Jesus, this parable of the mustard

seeds in the three synoptic gospels, they call

Matthew, Mark, and Luke the synoptic gospels,

meaning they're the same synopsis of what Jesus

has done in teaching, and then the Gospel of

John's written in a different format. It's more

relational than detail -driven. So the three,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all have this parable.

What's different in Mark and Luke, and it's not

like a huge deal, but I mean, it's just their

perspective on, when Jesus is teaching this parable,

he starts out the parable like this. He says,

what can I compare the kingdom of God to? What

is it like? So Jesus is, he's a man and God.

He's operating as a man filled with the Spirit

in relationship with God. God has sent him to

establish the kingdom of heaven on the earth.

That was his first sermon. That was the forerunner.

John the Baptist said about him, and it was his

first sermon, repent, change the way you think

because the kingdom is at hand. And Jesus is

saying, How am I going to relate what's in my

heart and in my mind about the kingdom of heaven?

Think about that. Jesus, the Word in flesh, saying,

God, here, you've given me these disciples. You've

put this kingdom. these thoughts, these understandings

in my heart and my mind. So he asked the question,

what is the kingdom of heaven like? What can

I compare it to? How can I relate it to these

people? He's like this. Yes, the kingdom of heaven

is like the tiniest mustard seed. I got a mustard

seed in my pocket. Can you see it? I don't have

one. I'm just kidding. I had a whole bunch. It's

on the counter in the kitchen. I had fully intentions

of bringing them. But it wouldn't matter. You

can trust me because it's that small, right?

This is the tiniest seed, but when you plant

it, it says when a man takes it and plants it

in the field, it grows to be the largest of the

plants in the garden, even to be a tree. You

get it? You say, how can I help you to understand

what the kingdom of heaven is like? It's like

this tiny seed. But if you'll be faithful to

plant it, it supernaturally and exponentially

grows to be the biggest. Can I do a Trump impersonation?

The biggest, the best. That was dumb, sorry.

And I was doing a little research on this. There's,

you know, there's the mustard plant, okay? The

mustard plant grows to be about this tall. It's

an annual, you know, it's like any other annual

plant. It grows, it dies, it comes back the next

year. It's not that big, okay? That's the mustard

plant. But in the Middle East, okay, the mustard

plant, the scientific name is Brassica nigra.

That's the mustard plant. Two, three, four foot

tall at the max, grows, seeds, dies, does it

again next year, okay, in a cycle. But the tree,

the mustard tree, the scientific name is Salvadora

persica. It's only found in the Middle East.

It's salt resistant. because it can be planted

by the seas and still grow. It's the roots that

they use and turn into the toothbrush. In fact,

it's called the toothbrush plant in the common

language, all right? But this tree, found in

the Middle East only, has a gnarly trunk, kind

of like a wild plum tree, like an asymmetrical

trunk, and it grows. And I was just doing a little

research. It says that this tree can grow to

be 20 or 25 feet tall. What do you think these

sidewalls are? Are these 20 foot sidewalls, Brad?

Think 20 foot sidewalls? All right, that's 20

feet. That's what the mustard tree can grow to

become. From this tiniest of seed to the mustard

tree. And what, if you're reading it for what

it is, Jesus, who's... who's tasked with helping

the church understand what the kingdom of God

is like, he's like, guys, I need you to understand

this thing grows supernaturally. It may start

small, but it gets huge. God didn't create His

kingdom to be insignificant or secondary or selective.

Can I say that again? God didn't create His kingdom

to be insignificant, secondary, remember it has

preeminence, seek first His kingdom, or selective.

He's wanting everyone in His kingdom. The reality

is, the world needs to see and experience the

kingdom of heaven on the earth. And we've got

to stop settling for the religion of man. You

think the kingdom is a church service in these

walls? If that's the extent of your religious

experience, you're missing the kingdom of heaven

on the earth. We've got to stop settling for

what the culture says is Christianity. And we

have to come back to what Jesus said. He says

this. He said, man, the kingdom is like this.

If you'll just take this tiny thing and plant

it in your life, I will do more than you ever

dreamed. Isn't that what the Bible says? More

than we ask or imagine. Yes? More than we ask

or imagine. And I feel like in many ways in the

church today, the kingdom of heaven is not being

established. on the earth because we're dreaming

too small. We're thinking too small. We're using

our finite human brains to try to understand,

plan something that's infinite. The kingdom of

heaven. Are you with me? Yesterday, My oldest

son's girlfriend's family invited us to a crawfish

bowl. I've never been to one before. So I was

pumped, had on my stretchy pants, didn't eat

all day yesterday. Went to the crawfish bowl.

There was 13 of us, including my family. 13 people,

okay? Two, four, six, eight, ten. Okay, like

this many people. All right, so I'm thinking,

crawfish boil, okay. I mean, I'm thinking, yeah,

let's have some crawfish. We get there, and Ross

is Adam's girlfriend's dad's name. And so we're

hanging out, and he's like, hey, let me show

you how this works. And he has like a jet engine

and the biggest pot you've ever seen in your

life. And he's like, actually, we can't fit it

all in this. And I'm thinking, what? It's like,

yeah, we have to do two batches. I'm thinking,

there's 13 people here. What are we? And so he

gets the water boiling. So got the boil going.

Then he adds spices and more spices and more

spices that you got to really watch out for the

mushrooms. They soak up all the spices, the corn

on the cob too. And I'm thinking, all right,

all these spices. And then go in the potatoes.

And then the corn. And the okra. and the mushrooms

and then he crawfish okay he opens up a cooler

and i'm talking like the big daddy cooler it's

full of crawfish i'm like who's gonna eat this

there's 13 people here and he's like oh that's

not all and he brings a muck bucket full of crawfish

he's like oh yeah and i went i got shrimp i got

clams or Not clams. I got correct. I got oyster

mussels and shrimp and Cajun sausage. He puts

all that in this boiling pot. We have this huge

table with the plastic. And he's just dumping

this turn after turn. And I'm just looking around

like, is there another army coming? Because I

had never peeled crawfish. It's a labor of love

to get that much meat out of a crawfish tail.

And so we all just sat around, you know, gorging

ourselves, and there was so much left over. And

I tell you that story just because here's what

I want us to do. I want us to start thinking

bigger about the kingdom. Jesus said, what can

I teach you that the kingdom is like? It's like

this tiny seed that grows to be the biggest plant.

Lord, this kingdom, so big, so powerful, has

been entrusted to people like us. I'm thinking

there could be a better plan than that. But that's

the plan he went with. An infinite kingdom freely

given to the men and women of God for the whole

world to experience. Like we talked about on

Palm Sunday. What are you doing? With the things

God has put in your hands. To see this infinite

kingdom being released on the earth. Could we

just stop right there. And let's just let the

Lord deal with us on this. Because I have a feeling.

that if we begin to think about the kingdom like

Jesus thinks about the kingdom, we're going to

have a lot more expectation, a lot more ridiculous

faith about how crazy big God wants to blow the

kingdom up in our lives. So let's just take a

moment. If you, like me, have settled... For

a small and powerless kingdom of heaven on the

earth. Would you just repent? Just tell God I'm

sorry. I want to think like you think regarding

the kingdom. God, I'm asking for myself and my

friends, would you give us bigger dreams? I'm

asking if you would take off the limitations

of our minds to begin to see the way you see.

Father, I pray. That You began dropping into

our hearts things that we never thought of before.

Things that we never thought possible. Things

that were more creative than our brains can create.

So that Your kingdom can be rightfully established

on this earth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. The

mustard seed. Number two, in order to produce

fruit, the seed of the kingdom must be taken

a hold of and planted in our life with intentionality

and continual care. In order to produce fruit,

this seed of the kingdom must be taken a hold

of and planted in our life with intentionality

and continual care. Let's read verse 31 again.

He told them another parable. The kingdom of

heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man, what?

Which a man took and planted in his field. Which

a man took, the word took in the Greek there,

lambano, means to grasp with the hand, to take

hold of. You can't plant what you don't have

in your little hands. Right? If the seed stays

in that little shelf that Diller's feeding seed,

it's not producing any fruit. It has to go into

the ground, but before it can go into the ground,

a man and a woman have to acknowledge the value

of the kingdom and expend whatever is necessary

to take hold of the kingdom. Does that make sense?

Why do you think Jesus had to talk about the

kingdom so much? Theologians say that the kingdom

is the number one subject that Jesus taught about.

Why do you think he had to do that? Because we

had to get through these thick skulls that the

kingdom of heaven, 2 ,000 years later, is not

about a religion. I can have a packet of seeds

in my pocket. And I can carry it all day, every

day. Put my grubby little hands on it and rub

those seeds. Like, oh, the seeds of the kingdom.

Oh, the kingdom's so big. The kingdom's so powerful.

But as long as it remains a theology, a concept,

a religious construct, it produces no fruit.

A man has to take a hold of it. A woman has to

take hold of it. They have to value it enough

to grab it and say, for me, this is the kingdom

and it is now. It is for my life. It is the purpose

of who I am. And I will plant it into the soil

of my life because I value it. Because it has

preeminence. Does that make sense? It doesn't

produce fruit as a religious concept. It has

to be taken a hold of and then planted into our

lives. That's why Jesus was continually teaching

about the kingdom. The kingdom is a real spiritual

realm in which to dwell and that needs to be

expanded. One, to honor our King. And two, because

we love the world and they need it. It has to

be grasped. Let's talk about planting a seed.

That's what it says. It says, the kingdom of

heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took.

Do we just need to pause right there? Let's just

pause right there and deal with the passage.

Jesus said you have to seek first. The kingdom

of God and His righteousness has to be the primary

effort of your life. And some of you have allowed

the kingdom to remain on the shelf. And today

is your day to take hold of it and say, no, it

will be the preeminence of my life. Some of you

are really dealing with purposelessness. and

insignificance. And it's not because God doesn't

love you. It's not because you're not important.

It's not because you're extremely gifted. But

it's because you have not taken a hold of the

kingdom of heaven. You're still operating in

an earthly realm and wanting to tack Christ's

name on it and call it Christianity. So, Lord,

if anybody... including my own heart. You know

I've already repented on this, Lord. But if there's

anyone here that has not taken a hold of your

kingdom as the primary purpose of their life

on this earth, would you grip our hearts right

now? Begin to change the way we think. Open our

understanding to know this is the reason we're

alive. You're worthy of that, Jesus. Amen? Alright,

and then planting a seed. It says that man has

to take that seed and has to plant it. Planting

a seed requires a few things. Number one, soft,

broken, weed -free soil. Right? If you're going

to plant a seed and you want it to produce a

harvest, you're going to have to go in there

and break up the hard soil. Make sure it's soft.

Make sure it's fertilized. Make sure it's watered.

And that's the kind of soil that produces fruit.

Jill, she's in childcare today. She's a great

gardener. She really is. She can make anything

grow. It's pretty impressive. And years ago,

she said to me, Jesse, I want a canoe. but I

don't want a canoe for the river. I want a canoe,

and I want to plant stuff in it, all right? So

we went down to Rochelle's, and they had some

canoes that were past their ability to take someone

down the river. Bought one, hauled it home, put

a fence around it so everything wouldn't eat

it, and she planted stuff, and that was years

ago. And then, you know, life happens. And so

for several years, she hasn't planted anything

in the canoe. And this year, she's like, you

know what? I'm going to plant the canoe. And

she, I mean, you can ask her about it. She literally

spent two, two and a half days reworking that

small canoe. Because you know what happens in

two or three years, you don't plant anything

in Texas. Like every weed in the world takes

over. And that, you know, that thing just becomes

like it's just a yard, you know. And so she had

to dig all that out. And then she went down to

Clear Fort Materials and got some organic sand

with lava rock, I don't know, all that stuff

in the back of the truck. And then she and I

shoveled it out. We had to prepare the soil.

And see, Christians think like, oh, look, here's

the seed of the kingdom. And there's no honor

and respect towards it. And they're like, man,

I'll just throw this wherever I want. You throw

any seed wherever you want. You know how much

fruit you're going to get? Well, maybe by the

miracle of God's mercy, something might come

up later. But it's not going to be productive

as if you honor that seed for what it is and

you take time and effort to prepare the soil.

And many Christians want a fruitful life and

they have no honor for the seed. Does that make

sense? I've lived that. I'm like, yeah, God.

I want to produce fruit. I want the kingdom production

in my life. But when it comes to prepping the

soil, I'd rather take a nap. I'd rather watch

my favorite show. Yeah? And it's a lack of honor

for the seed. I'm just telling you. And so, don't

be frustrated by that. Instead, let that become

an invitation to you that this seed, what's contained

in it, is worthy of the preparation of the soil.

And let the Holy Spirit begin to work the hard

places of your heart. Does that make sense? Softening

up the soil. And then once you get the soil ready,

there has to be a moment of intentional planting.

How dumb would it be To spend two and a half

days preparing the soil and keep the seed in

your pocket. It's dumb. It's ignorant. And here,

I know we've talked about this. I want to challenge

you. Take a hold of the seed and plant it. It's

actually a moment of action in your life. And

where you purposefully say, Father. Today, I'm

surrendering the soul of my life to the kingdom

of heaven. I'm taking a hold of this seed you

have given me. What does the scripture say? The

kingdom of heaven is a matter of power, not of

talk. It says the kingdom of heaven is not a

matter of eating and drinking in the natural,

but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy

Spirit. It says the kingdom is unshakable. The

scripture says, Jesus says, and when you go and

you heal the sick and you cast out demons, then

you'll know the kingdom has come. And there takes

a moment in a Christian's life in which you stop

becoming a Christian by name and you take hold

of this kingdom and say, this is the purpose

of my life. Today I plan it. I don't know what

I've been doing with my life as a Christian.

I've been pursuing lots of other kingdoms. But

today I'm making the choice. I receive the planting

of the kingdom of heaven in the soul of my life.

And my life from this point forward will be about

producing its fruit. At some point you have to

stop talking about it and just do it. Right?

And then the last thing on planting a seed requires

continual weeding, pruning, protecting the plant.

I told you about, you know, setting free the

blackberry bushes, you know, the back of my property

from the grapevine. And I've been working on

it, you know, quite a bit lately. But I found

out that there's another kind of vine living

in there. And the leaves look a lot like a blackberry

bush's leaves. They're just a little shinier.

Yeah, so I'm recovering from some poison ivy

that I got into clearing out the blackberry bushes

from the grapevines. I'll live. I know you were

really sad about it. I felt that in your laughter.

It makes me feel very cared for. But in Texas,

if you have anything that produces a fruit, either

you embrace some kind of pesticides or you live

with the plant 24 -7 to be doing this. Because

everything wants to eat the fruit. Everything

in Texas wants to kill your fruit. It's true.

And in the same way that we honor these... These

trees that we plant and we water and we love

the fruit of. In the same way, for kingdom production,

there has to be a continual care. Does that make

sense? There has to be a continual pulling up

weeds. I don't know about you, but just because

I surrender my life to the kingdom, there's still

lots of stuff trying to grow in there. Constantly.

What did Jesus say? The parable's like, the kingdom's

like weeds and wheat. And the devil goes in there

planting the weeds while you're trying to grow

the wheat. Right? And so there's a continual

process in our own lives of just weeding out

what is not productive for the kingdom, protecting

the fruit from pests. And that's what demons

are. Defeated little pests. Yes? And so you have

to be committed to some continual care. You know

how to do that? Living a repentant lifestyle.

As a lifestyle. I love when we come together

on Sunday morning and we repent together. That

is so valuable. But you know what's more valuable

than that? Repentance as a lifestyle. I don't

know if you know this, but it's meant to be a

lifestyle as we continually... continually live

with God. We're continually letting his thoughts

invade our thoughts and say, no, I want to think

like you think, God. I repent for the way I see

that. I repent for the way I've let that produce

a lie in my life. I repent for the way that that

fruit is not matching your kingdom fruit. And

it's a constant lifestyle of repentance. And

that's how we continually care to be productive

for the kingdom. Does that make sense? And one

of the In my experience as a pastor, one of the

most devastating pests to kingdom fruitfulness

is offense, lack of forgiveness, bitterness.

The Bible says, be careful, leaders. Leaders

of the church, be careful that the root of bitterness

doesn't grow up because it will defile many.

And one thing the Holy Spirit specifically pointed

out, to me to share with you today is you have

to protect the vine from bitterness, offense,

and unforgiveness. It will not only rot your

own fruit, it will take over the people sitting

next to you. That's what the Bible says. You

say, man, what I do in my life is about my business.

Not if you believe the Bible. Because what you're

allowing in your life actually has great impact

on the body of Christ as a whole. Yeah? So, let's

pause right here, and then we'll close with number

three, which I think will be brief. But before

we move there, let's commit. To living a life

in which the Holy Spirit has permission at every

moment to weed our lives. Yes? So would you just

deal with the Lord about that? If you're struggling

with unforgiveness, bitterness, an offended spirit,

would you just receive forgiveness? Give that

to the Lord. Jesus, you said when any two agree

on anything in my name, I'll do it for them.

I just pray for the hearts that are beginning

to rot due to bitterness and offense and unforgiveness.

I know that feeling. I just pray for their hearts,

Lord, that they would listen to the whisper of

your voice, would open their hands, would put

those offenses on your shoulder, Jesus, and not

carry those judgments anymore. I pray that you

would set them free. So that our church can be

healthy for your kingdom. Amen. Alright, last

thing. You okay? Number three, the whole purpose

of the kingdom is that we mature to the point

that others can find a home in the salvation

and freedom of our God. When we read the second

part of verse 30, or just 32, it's brief. 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 the branches or nest in the

branches. I just did this, you know, for some

of us like, you know, words in the original meanings,

but that word for perch or nest is a Greek word,

kataskanao, and it means... to fix one's abode

to dwell. And Jesus said, hey guys, listen, the

kingdom of heaven is like this. It's like this

tiny seed that's so filled with power and potential.

And if you'll take a hold of it, and you'll plant

it in the soul of your life, it will grow to

be so big and mature that others will be able

to come into it and find their home. Yes, the

kingdom is good for you. Anybody love being in

the kingdom? It's righteousness. It's peace.

It's joy in the Holy Spirit. It's unshakable.

It's healing. It's freedom. I love being in the

kingdom. But the kingdom wasn't made just for

us. It's a home. And don't you know that this

world is so desperately looking? for a place

to call home. I mean, it is so blaringly obvious

as you walk with them, talk with them, struggle

with them, they're looking for a place of safety,

of identity, a place where they can be themselves

and be real and be accepted. And they can't get

that in the world. But they can get it in Him.

They can get it in Him. And so we have this responsibility

to seek first the kingdom, not for our own good,

even though we will reap great benefits of it,

but we have to dig deep roots, work the soil,

and mature to the point that now everyone in

our sphere of influence can come to our lives

to find the kingdom. And they begin to taste

the fruit. Do you know what I'm talking about?

At first, it's from a distance. They'll pluck

a fruit of the kingdom from your life. usually

when you're in your worst days and they see the

kingdom produced, they'll pluck that and they'll

taste it. Oh man, that was good. But then the

world will snatch them away. And the next time

they're a little closer, they'll pluck that fruit

from your life, they'll taste it. Oh man, that's

good. But eventually they begin to realize they

can't find that anywhere else. And they get closer

and closer. And before you know it, they're making

their abode in the kingdom of God that's evident

in your life. And they're getting saved. And

they're getting set free. And they're getting

delivered. And they're walking in righteousness.

And they're clothed in white. And then guess

what? They have an entire sphere of influence

that starts going, wow, that fruit looks good.

And that's how the kingdom of heaven is expanded.

And you think the church is going to do it? The

church is you, bro. You're waiting for your church

to expand the kingdom for you? You're missing

it. You're plan A and there's no plan B. It's

not your pastor's job. It's not your house church

pastor's job to advance the kingdom in your sphere

of influence. There's people in your life that

will only get fruit from you. Yep. The six of

us tunnels, there are six of us, right? Six of

us tunnels and a weenie dog. Lived in our 31

-foot Winnebago for 18 months. Jill can tell

you the days and hours while we were building

our metal house in Mineral Wells. Six of us and

a weenie dog. No, we didn't have the weenie dog

then. Never mind, just six of us. So, my two

daughters, Their room was the king over cab bed.

That was their room. Then my two sons had the

mini bunk beds, two by six foot. That was their

room with their little curtain they could pull

over. I'm going to be by myself. We have one

-sixth of a bathroom, if that's what you call

that thing. That shower that you might as well

just spit on yourself. And people will come over

to our house and they're like, oh man, we love

your house. Why isn't it finished? Like there's

no inside ceiling. It's just foam up there. Baseboard's

missing. Things unpainted. I'll tell you why

it's unfinished. We could not get out of that

Winnebago fast enough. When that house was livable,

it's go time. Let's get in there. Just like last

month, I finished out the guest bathroom. Like

we've lived there five years now. That happened

during COVID. I'm telling you, people are tired

of living in a place where there's no rest. There's

no foundation. Everything's always shifting and

moving. You ever lived in a motorhome with five

other people? Thing never stops moving. I don't

care how good your stabilizers are. In the middle

of the night, somebody gets up, goes to the bathroom.

That's how you live. And the world is looking

for a permanent home. And don't you know that

our Father wants to be it? And His plan to bring

the kingdom of heaven to the earth is us. It's

us. If He was going to do it another way, it'd

be done. He didn't, and He's not. The next time

He brings the kingdom, it's too late for everybody.

It's us. It's now. It's our responsibility. And

it's fun. It's exciting. Does that make sense?

They need to witness it. They need to find it

in us. An unshakable kingdom of righteousness,

peace, and joy where they find healing, deliverance,

and purpose. So here's... Your closing encouragement.

Take a hold of the kingdom, plant it in your

life, and give it away. Give it away. Let it

mature in you. Let it be the primary purpose

of your life because there are so many people

in your sphere of influence that want to taste

it. And even if they don't know they want it,

they want it. Right? Alright, could we stand

up together? Could we just close with this commitment

that we want to receive what Jesus said about

the seed of the mustard. So Jesus, we commit

ourselves to take a hold of the seed, to plant

it, to weed it, to live the repentant lifestyle.

And Father, we surrender ourselves that we would

become the trees filled with your life, your

protection, your kingdom, so that others can

make their home in it. I pray for my friends

this week and myself that we would not miss one

opportunity to release your kingdom. Help us

to see it. Help us to have the boldness of your

Holy Spirit and the courage to do it in the moment.

And may your kingdom be released in us. for your

glory and their good. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.