Well, how many of you like growing things?
Few.
That's good.
It's good to see those whose livelihood depends on it.
Put their hands up there.
How many of you like baking things?
Yes.
Right on, Landon.
I see that hand.
How many of you have never watered a plant or baked anything in your life?
Okay.
Pretty much all of us have.
Maybe it's not all of our favorite things to do, but certainly we enjoy, I think all
of us, the things that come from baking and gardening, whether it's flowers or a tasty
loaf of bread.
Well, this morning we're going to be hearing from Jesus on the subject of gardening and
baking.
And some of you, when you hear that, might be wondering, did I come to the right church this
morning?
Don't worry.
This sermon is not titled, Five Pro Tips to Get Better Yields in Your Garden.
Jesus had a way of taking the ordinary and everyday stuff of life and using it to teach
important truth from God.
We've been doing a series on the kingdom of heaven and some of the parables that Jesus taught
on the kingdom of heaven.
And this morning, baking and gardening are simply the ordinary things that Jesus has chosen
to communicate that truth.
And so if you have your Bibles, please open them up to Matthew chapter 13, verse 31.
Matthew chapter 13, verse 31.
Jesus 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 seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants
and becomes a tree so that the birds come and nest in its branches.
He told them still another parable.
The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour
until it worked all through the dough.
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables.
He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet.
I will open my mouth in parables.
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.
So these are the parables that we're looking at this morning.
And even as we've read through them, you'll notice that they're quite different from the
ones we've looked at so far.
These are very short and sweet.
They go right to the point.
They're kind of mini parables.
And we also notice that there's no explanation given.
The last two that we've looked at, Jesus actually explains in detail what they mean to his disciples.
But here, whether he did or not, we don't know.
We're kind of, we're on our own here.
So we're going to have to look carefully at the details of each of these.
Because the big question is, well, how is the kingdom of God like that?
Like a mustard seed?
Like yeast?
So let's start with the parable of the mustard seed.
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 seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants
and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches.
So the first thing we notice is that Jesus is talking about a mustard seed.
Now, there's been all kinds of research and scholarly conjecture as to what species of mustard plant this was.
You know, of the seeds we know about today, there's consensus that it probably isn't the mustard plant that gets sown into farmers' fields here in North America today.
That much we're pretty sure about.
But of the other choices, which one is it?
You know, there's conjecture about the seed.
I mean, is it really the smallest of all seeds?
What exactly does that seed look like?
There's some good options.
There's the black mustard seed plant that apparently grows in the Middle East, and it gets to be about 8 to 12 feet high, a small tree.
Is that what Jesus was talking about?
There's another one called Salvadora Persica.
I'm sure that's its technical name.
But it apparently grows to be quite large, 20 to 25 feet, and it has these pungent berries that have a mustard flavor on it.
Is that the mustard seed tree that Jesus was talking about?
At the end of the day, we kind of have to admit this is 2,000 years after the fact, and we don't know exactly which seed and tree Jesus was referring to.
But the point here is not so much to look at the accuracy of the Bible or the archaeology of the Bible.
I mean, we could come to this to critique Jesus' use of metaphor.
I mean, is there really such kind of seed or tree?
Or are we here to hear from Jesus the point that he is trying to make about the kingdom of heaven?
I mean, Jesus was using common, everyday things to teach, and it's doubtful that he would have chosen something that a guy would be like,
well, a mustard seed doesn't grow into a tree.
So let's give Jesus the benefit of the doubt and assume that there was some species of tree grown in the Middle East,
typically in people's gardens or fields or near or around them,
that had a very small seed, smaller than all the other garden variety plants,
and yet it grew to be larger than all the other typical Middle Eastern garden plants,
large enough that birds could come and nest in it.
And so what are the details that Jesus highlights for us in this little parable?
The first thing that we notice is the size of the seed.
He says, though it is the smallest of seeds, the size of the seed compared to other seeds.
So in your mind, most of you probably like to eat fruits and vegetables, I hope.
Think about your seeds.
You've got your pumpkin seed.
It's pretty large.
You've got your watermelon seed, your apple seed, kind of about the same size, little black things.
Then you've got your cherry tomato seed.
Now we're starting to get small.
And then you've got your mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds.
And now there's some conjecture here.
Is he talking about all seeds everywhere in the world?
Probably not.
The orchid seed, people have been quick to say, oh, that's smaller, so Jesus is wrong.
But when he talks about plants, the word he uses is the word that typically describes garden or herb kind of plants.
Okay, so this is probably referring to the smallest of seeds that would go into the garden.
So you've got your mustard seed, this tiny seed.
Think of a peppercorn, but even that shrunk down into just a little black speck.
The smallest of all seeds.
The next thing he emphasizes is what that seed grows into.
It grows into the largest of all garden plants.
You can imagine a garden.
Maybe they planted it at the edge of the garden and kind of a tree, a large plant.
Everything else is smaller.
It's the largest.
In size.
Even though it started as the smallest, it became the largest.
And, of course, Jesus is not just comparing seeds and plants.
The point he's trying to make is look at how it started and how it ends.
It started as the smallest.
And it grew and became the largest.
And that's the first truth that we really see coming through here about the kingdom of God.
It's a kingdom that has surprisingly humble beginnings.
But it grows to be the greatest and largest kingdom of all.
It's a kingdom that has surprisingly humble beginnings.
Think of Abram.
A nobody to the world.
A guy from Ur of the Chaldeans.
A shepherd.
A nomad.
A guy who lived in tents and rented.
Who was he to the world?
By the end of his life,
he'd finally earned the respect of the people in the land in which he lived
enough that they let him buy a place to bury his wife.
He owned nothing except his flocks and his household.
The kingdom of heaven has surprisingly humble beginnings.
Think of a baby in a feeding box.
The son of, as far as it would seem to the world, a carpenter.
Born in Bethlehem.
A nothing town in a backwater region of the Roman Empire.
He grew up in Nazareth.
Can anything good come from Nazareth?
It's a kingdom with surprisingly humble beginnings.
Yeah, there's a guy named Jesus out there at the lake with a bunch of fishermen and a tax collector and some others.
Pretty pathetic movement, if you ask me.
I mean, three years after it started, their leader was executed.
Executed.
And it all came to nothing.
To some.
It was a kingdom of surprisingly humble beginnings.
And yet, the point that Jesus is making.
There's an element of surprise here.
Because even though that's how it started, it ends as the greatest and largest and most glorious kingdom of all.
This is not the first time that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, has been compared to kingdoms.
If you remember back to the days of Daniel.
Daniel was in exile.
He was one of the king's wise men and advisors in the Babylonian Empire in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar.
And God gave Nebuchadnezzar two visions to remind him that even though his kingdom was great and glorious,
it was not the greatest that this world would yet see.
The first was of a statue.
Nebuchadnezzar had a vision or a dream from God of a great statue.
And various parts of the statue, Daniel interprets this vision, represent various kingdoms that would follow.
And none of them compare to the splendor of the first, which is the head of gold.
Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian Empire.
A great and glorious kingdom.
And then the vision takes a turn.
And a rock comes and smashes the whole statue to pieces.
And the rock grows and becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth.
Daniel interprets the vision for King Nebuchadnezzar.
He says that the rock represents how the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will in self endure forever.
A kingdom that will be far greater and fill the whole earth.
God gave a second vision to Nebuchadnezzar.
I guess he needed the reminder.
He didn't get the point of the first vision.
He was thinking to himself,
Oh, I'm so great.
Look at what I have done in my kingdom.
It's the greatest kingdom this world has ever known.
So God gave him another vision.
And interestingly, this time in his vision, he sees a large tree.
I looked and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land.
Its height was enormous.
The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky.
It was visible to the ends of the earth.
Its leaves were beautiful.
Its fruit abundant.
And on it was food for all.
Under it, the wild animals found shelter.
And the birds lived in its branches.
From it, every creature was fed.
And Daniel interprets the vision for him.
This vision also takes a turn for the worst.
An angel of the Lord comes down in the vision and calls for the tree to be cut down.
Daniel says that the tree represents you, King Nebuchadnezzar,
and your kingdom, your dominion, which is spread out on the earth.
And until Nebuchadnezzar was willing to acknowledge that God was the true King of Heaven
and that He rules, He would be humbled for a time.
And eventually, Nebuchadnezzar did just that.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, at the end of that time, raised my eyes toward Heaven
and I praised the Most High.
I honored and glorified Him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion.
His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
The kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven, is the greatest.
And when it comes in its fullness,
will very obviously be the greatest, the tallest,
the most glorious kingdom that this world has ever seen or known.
But it doesn't start that way.
It's a kingdom that grows, just like a tree grows,
from the smallest and most humblest of beginnings.
One of the things that Jesus said in His teaching,
He said,
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west
and will take their places at the feast
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven.
The kingdom of Heaven has been a long time in the making,
all the way back to the days of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
It's not something that just,
and it's here,
like a flash of lightning.
It's something that grows
over a period of time.
The last detail that Jesus mentions about this mustard plant
is that it becomes a tree
and the birds come and nest in its branches.
What does that mean?
It's kind of a weird thing.
What does it mean the birds come and nest in its branches?
I think the most helpful place to go
to get Jesus' meaning
is right back to that vision
that we were just talking about of Nebuchadnezzar.
Some striking parallels there.
The tree that Nebuchadnezzar saw,
under it the wild animals found shelter,
and the birds lived in its branches.
From it every creature was fed.
This is a positive thing.
This is a good thing.
Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom,
his dominion was one in which
people,
people groups,
found a home to live in,
a place to take refuge.
And that was a good thing.
It's a very positive image.
And if the tree represents the kingdom,
then the birds in the tree represent the citizens
who come to live in the kingdom.
I got to thinking about that this week.
What is a bird?
What is a tree to a bird?
I mean, you could even back up a step.
Where will you find birds?
Here in town,
I notice it right away
when I'm going down Hamilton,
kind of towards,
what is it, railway?
or the beginning of Washington,
there's kind of those huge
kind of canopy of trees
over top of the streets there.
Those streets,
they're covered
with little birds
dancing around
and flitting to and fro.
Other streets
that have
almost no trees
have none.
What is
a tree
to a bird?
One of the details
that Mark mentions
in his gospel
when Jesus
told this parable
is that
it grows into a tree
and it has large branches
that give shade
under which the birds
can nest.
We can kind of
go off of that
a little bit.
A tree
is a place
for a bird
to find shelter
from the elements,
shade
from the heat
of the sun,
a hollow
to nest in,
to be out of the storm,
branches to
hold fast to
when the wind
is blowing crazy
and it's not safe
to be flying out
in that.
It's a place
high up,
safe
from the predators
on the ground.
It's a place
of refuge,
a place of shelter
and protection.
It's a many-perched
thing,
numerous perches
and sometimes
I just saw this
the other night,
a whole bunch
of wax wings
perched
in my neighbor's
tree
together.
In the winter
in Edmonton
we often saw
them,
just hundreds of them
would descend
on some of those
trees that had
little berries.
It's a perfect place
to find some fruit,
some berries,
some seeds
to eat,
to find some
leaf-eating insects
for a meal
or to get some
vantage point
down on where
they might find
food on the ground
or find materials
to build a nest.
it's a perfect place
for a whole flock
of birds
to perch
and sometimes
I just wonder
what are they
doing there?
They're hanging
out.
They're singing
together.
They're making
music.
It's the ideal
place for a bird
to carry on
its life
to find
its need
the place
where it'll find
its needs met
a place
to build a nest
and a home.
So too
is the kingdom
of God
to the citizens
of the kingdom
of God.
It's the ideal
place
to build a home
to live in
where all of our
needs are met
a place that's safe
where we have
no fear of
danger or threat.
Such will be
the kingdom
of God
for the citizens
of the kingdom
especially when
it comes
in its fullness
as Jesus
is talking about
with this parable
of the tree.
So to sum up
this parable
the mustard seed
the kingdom
of heaven
will be
the greatest
and most
glorious kingdom
that this world
has ever known
a perfect place
to live
for its citizens
but surprisingly
a kingdom
that came
from the smallest
and most humblest
of beginnings.
the next parable
that Jesus
tells
changes things
up a little bit.
We go
from outside
into the kitchen
baking
and this time
it's a woman
rather than a man.
The kingdom
of heaven
is like yeast
that a woman
took and mixed
into about
60 pounds
of flour
until it worked
all through
the dough.
Yeast
is fascinating
stuff
and I didn't
even realize
just how
fascinating
it was
until this week
when I was
trying to
figure out
what exactly
it is.
Most of us
probably just
know it
as that stuff
that you get
in a jar
from the store
and then you
put that
into your baking
and it rises
and it is
that
but there's
so much
more going
on with yeast.
It has
some surprising
characteristics.
You just
put a little
bit in
and it
can affect
a lot
of flour
a lot
of dough.
Why is that?
Why is it
so potent?
There's
just something
about it.
The first
thing I learned
this week
and I'll
give the
disclaimer now
I am not
a baker
or a biochemist
but yeast
is actually
alive.
It's a
single cell
living organism
and
essentially
what it does
is it eats
sugar
and then
produces
carbon dioxide
and those
become little
bubbles kind
of entrapped
in the dough
and it's
those bubbles
that cause
the dough
to actually
rise.
Apparently
in one
teaspoon
of active
dry yeast
there's
an estimated
amount of
40 billion
yeast cells.
cells.
And so
you can
imagine
when you're
mixing
even just
that little
bit
all of
those cells
you can't
see them
but they're
going all
throughout
the mixture
so that
once you
have this
lump of
dough
it rises
you put it
in the oven
you bake
it
it comes
out
and you
look at
your bread
and you
wonder
where did
all those
little holes
come from?
that's
where they
came from.
So next
time you
have a
freshly
sliced
piece
of
bread
don't
look at
the
bread
but look
between
the
bread
look at
the
holes
each
one
of
those
holes
when you
take
them
all
together
are
evidence
of
just
how
thoroughly
that
little
amount
of
yeast
worked
through
the
whole
dough
leavened
the
whole
lump
it's
potent
stuff
so too
is the
kingdom
of
God
the
stuff
from
heaven
the
stuff
from
God
it's
powerful
stuff
and it
only
takes
a
little
bit
to
make
a
huge
difference
a
surprising
difference
we could
talk about
this in
terms of
the
number
of
people
we
started
with
just
a
little
bit
Abram
Isaac
and
Jacob
one
family
and
over
time
from
generation
to
generation
as
Nebuchadnezzar
said
the
kingdom
has
been
rising
and
growing
so
that
at
the
end
when
Jesus
returns
and the
bread
comes out
of the
oven
and the
world
will go
whoa
where did
that come
from
there's
millions
of them
not
holes
in the
bread
but
citizens
of the
kingdom
this
thing
is
huge
where
did
this
come
from
just
from
that
little
bit
that
God
sowed
in
at
the
beginning
you
could
talk
about
this
in
terms
of
one
person's
life
I
mean
we
all
want
to
have
to
be
I
hope
live
godly
moral
Christian
lives
we
wrestle
with
sin
we
want
to
do
better
all
it
takes
is a
little
bit
of
God's
power
little
word
that
he
speaks
and
it
can
do
amazing
stuff
in
the
life
of
one
person
and
bring
great
change
but
as
with
the
yeast
and
as
with
the
tree
it's
not
something
that
happens
in
an
instant
the
dough
takes
time
to
rise
it's
a
gradual
process
you can
stare
and look
at the
dough
as much
as you
want
but you
won't
see
anything
happen
because
it's
gradual
so too
is it
with the
kingdom
of God
this is
a kingdom
that is
very
gradually
rising
so much
so that
to
many in
our world
it's
totally
imperceptible
it's
invisible
they
can't
see
it
there's
an
invisible
quality
to
the
kingdom
of
God
just
like
yeast
you
can't
see
it
in
the
mix
and
if
you
didn't
know
that
it
was
in
there
you
wouldn't
expect
that
when
you
came
back
to
look
at
that
dough
it
would
be
twice
the
size
that
thing's
growing
how
because
of the
yeast
in
it
I
see
this
when
I
look
at
my
kids
you
know
every
day
I
see
them
and
every
day
they
look
just
the
same
as
they
did
the
day
before
but
then
I
go
back
and
I
look
at
a
picture
of
Callie
when
she
was
one
year
old
and
I'm
starting
to
look
at
everything
else
in
the
picture
like
where
was
this
when
was
this
because
is
this
Callie
when
she
was
one
or
is
this
Laura
when
she
was
one
I
can't
even
recognize
the
kid
in
the
picture
anymore
that's
how it
is
with
the
kingdom
of
God
the
change
is
happening
and
it's
drastic
it's
going to
surprise
us
but
when
we
try
to
look
right
at
it
and
see
it
we
don't
see
it
it's
something
that
God
is
growing
and
bringing
gradually
over
time
Jesus
once
had a
little
bit
of
a
conversation
with
the
Pharisees
and
I'll
read
this
for
you
it's
interesting
once
on
being
asked
by
the
Pharisees
when
the
kingdom
of
God
would
come
Jesus
replied
the
coming
of
the
kingdom
of
God
is
not
something
that
can
be
observed
nor
will
people
say
well
here
it
is
or
there
it
is
because
the
kingdom
of
God
is
in
your
midst
I've
always
found
that
to
be
funny
in a
sense
you know
you're
the
Pharisees
when's
it
coming
Jesus
is
like
it's
here
it's
already
in
your
midst
but
you
can't
see
it
just
like
the
yeast
and
the
dough
you
can't
see
it
has
an
invisible
quality
to
it
begins
with
something
small
and
insignificant
and
it
rises
gradually
over
time
but
at
the
end
it
will
be
undeniable
and
it
will
take
the
world
by
surprise
what
God's
power
has
done
and
so
what
are
there
in
these
parables
for
us
today
I
mean
this
is
interesting
learn a
little
bit
about
yeast
and
a
little
bit
about
trees
and
what
is
there
for
us
today
in
it
why
did
Jesus
tell
these
parables
as I
think of
the
Pharisees
and
their
question
I
wonder
if we
kind of
think
the
same
way
the
kingdom
of
God
kingdom
of
heaven
like
that
that's
all
future
when
will
it
come
what
difference
would
it
make
in
our
lives
if
we
really
embrace
the
reality
that
Jesus
is
teaching
here
and
that
he
says
to
the
Pharisees
that
the
kingdom
is
here
it's
now
it's
not
just
a
future
thing
that
you
know
our
faith
is
a
ticket
to
get
into
that
kingdom
someday
and
in the
meantime
we
just
go
about
our
lives
no
the
kingdom
is
here
it's
now
it's
been
in
the
works
all
the
way
back
to
Abram
should
it
not
should
we
not
be
able
to
say
that
through
us
those
of
us
who
belong
to
Christ
and
believe
in
him
to
our
world
that
the
kingdom
of
God
is
in
your
midst
I
was
trying
to
think
what
analogy
can
I
give
to
describe
this
and
the
only
thing
that
rider
nation
I
have
always
liked
that
term
rider
nation
even
though
the
fans
of
the
riders
are
mostly
from
Saskatchewan
rider
nation
is
bigger
than
that
it
allows
for
fans
from
all
over
the
country
from
any
province
you
could
be
of
rider
nation
even
if
you're
living
in
Quebec
and
surrounded
by
Alouette
fans
I
think
that's
what
the
kind
of
thing
that
Jesus
is
driving
at
here
the
kingdom
of
God
is
in
your
midst
a
nation
within
the
nation
and
at
the
end
a
nation
from
among
the
nations
which
means
that
we
are
citizens
we
are
sons
and
daughters
of
the
kingdom
those
of
us
who
believe
and
belong
to
Jesus
today
right
now
we
got
thinking
about
this
in
terms
of
sports
do
you
wear
your
favorite
colors
to
your
team's
game
proudly
do
you
wear
them
proudly
even
when
you're
not
at
the
game
whenever
the
conversation
turns
towards
that
do
you
take
the
opportunity
to
remind
people
about
how
awesome
your
team
is
and
what
they
did
right
in
the
game
does
your
heart
swell
with
pride
whenever
they
score
a
goal
whenever
they
win
a
game
that's
just
sports
and
recreation
how
much
more
should
it
be
with
our
belonging
to
the
nation
of
God
the
kingdom
of
heaven
do
we
wear
our
colors
proudly
because
we
belong
to
Jesus
nation
do
we
take
the
opportunities
when
the
conversation
comes
up
to
tell
people
about
the
nation
the
kingdom
that
we
belong
to
ah
but
there's
the
rub
the
kingdom
that
we
belong
to
is
invisible
it's
seemingly
imperceptible
many
people
deny
its
existence
we
don't
necessarily
want
to
make
much
of
or
sing
the
praises
of
something
that
people
don't
believe
in
can't
see
or
oppose
don't
agree
with
the
values
of
Peter
described
it
this
way
in
his
letter
1
Peter
2
verse
9
he
said
but
you
are
a
chosen
people
a
holy
nation
God's
special
possession
that
you
may
declare
the
praises
of
him
who
called
you
out
of
darkness
into
his
wonderful
light
and
he
wasn't
talking
to
the
Israelites
he
this
letter
was
written
to
the
churches
in
Asia
Minor
whole
mixture
of
believers
different
nationalities
you
are
a
holy
nation
you
belong
to
a
nation
that
doesn't
have
geopolitical
boundaries
just like
rider
nation
this
is
Jesus
nation
do
you
wear
your
colors
proudly
and
it's
not
easy
when
many
in
our
world
don't
see
it
just
like
with
the
east
don't
see
it
Peter
also
said
this
in
2
Peter
3
above
all
you
must
understand
that
in
the
last
days
scoffers
will
come
scoffing
and
following
their
own
evil
desires
they
will
say
where
is
this
coming
he
promised
ever
since
our
ancestors
died
everything
goes
on
as
it
has
since
the
beginning
they
don't
see
it
they
don't
see
the
kingdom
but
as
Peter
says
the
day
of
the
Lord
will
come
like
a
thief
it
will
take
the
world
by
surprise
and
on
that
day
which
side
do
you
want
to
be
on
whose
kingdom
do
you
want
to
belong
to
the
kingdom
of
heaven
is
not
like
any
kingdom
this
world
has
ever
known
if
you
could
spend
your
life
for
one
cause
what
would
it
be
if
you
can
sing
the
praises
of
one
thing
what
would
it
be
for
you
are
a
chosen
people
a
holy
nation
God's
special
possession
why
that
you
may
declare
the
praises
of
him
who
called
you
out
of
darkness
into
his
wonderful
light
and
so
let's
not
be
discouraged
I
think
this
is
one
of
the
things
that
we
really
get
here
from
Jesus
because
it's
easy
to
be
discouraged
we
want
change
to
happen
now
we
want
to
see
justice
now
we
want
the
laws
in
our
land
to
change
now
oh
it's
coming
the
kingdom
of
God
will
come
in
its
fullness
that
tree
will
be
fully
grown
it
will
be
the
greatest
and
most
glorious
when
it
comes
but
we
need
to
be
patient
we
need
to
be
patient
and
wait
or
maybe
it's
that
person
in
your
life
I
just
wish
that
they
would
change
but
it
doesn't
always
happen
in
an
instant
with
God's
kingdom
he
often
does
things
gradually
over
time
oh
the
change
will
be
obvious
at
the
end
and
it
takes
faith
and
trust
that
God
is
truly
at
work
and
that
the
stuff
of
his
word
his
power
is
powerful
enough
to
leaven
that
whole
lump
and
so
I
asked
it
last
week
but
I
want
to
ask
it
again
this
week
are
you
a
son
or
daughter
of
the
kingdom
are
you
a
child
of
the
king
which
side
of
this
are
you
going
to
come
down
on
because
the
day
is
coming
when
the
tree
will
be
fully
grown
when
what
is
invisible
will
become
visible
when
the
son
of
man
comes
in
glory
the
world
will
be
taken
by
surprise
which
side
will
you
be
on
God
is
building
his
great
and
glorious
kingdom
and
it's
going
to
be
the
perfect
place
for
his
people
to
live
in
to
nest
to
build
a
home
and
so
repent
and
believe
the
good
news
let's
pray
father
in
heaven
thank
you
for
your
word
we
see
the
unseen
reality
and
we
believe
we
trust
in
your
word
and
we
ask
that
you
would
help
us
to
carry
on
to
persevere
and
to
live
like
true
sons
and
daughters
of
your
kingdom
here
and
now
today
this
week
no
matter
who
we're
with
help
us
to
wear
your
colors
proudly
we
ask
this
in
Jesus
name
amen