Small to Great

Whenever you get there, please stand and then drop. Down to verse 26.

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Jesus said, the kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow. He does not know how the earth produces of itself. First the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe at once, he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come. He also said, with what can we compare the kingdom of God?

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Or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables, he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

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You may be seated.

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Jesus talks a lot about the kingdom of God. And if you don't know what the kingdom of God means, then you can get pretty confused, especially in today's reading. And, you know, before studying it last time, I really thought that the kingdom of God was heaven. It seems to make sense, considering that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are used interchangeably. And, you know, it does have the word heaven in it.

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But when we look at the actual context around the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, we get into the deeper meaning of it. The first thing I want to say about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is that Jesus is not talking about heaven. He's not describing physical aspects when he speaks about the kingdom of God. Instead, it is meaning is a little bit closer to home. The kingdom of God is God's reign on earth, which, of course, he reigns over everything.

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But how can we spread the kingdom of God if he already rules everything? Well, to understand that, we have to understand that you can reject the kingdom of God. Rejecting the kingdom of God leads to sin, while accepting it leads to a relationship with God and to heaven. When we are saved, we enter into the kingdom of God. We can't be a part of the kingdom of God without being a follower of Jesus.

00:02:43

We also have to understand the difference between spreading the gospel and spreading the kingdom of God. Many people often talk about spreading the gospel, but not as many people talk about spreading the kingdom of God. Well, we should spreading the kingdom of God is something Jesus talks about a lot, actually, so we too should be kingdom oriented. Of course, Jesus kingdom is not a physical kingdom with knights and regiments of Calvary. Instead, it is a spiritual kingdom.

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It is seen through the eyes of faith, not by sight. There is a king in this kingdom, and he is the king of kings. Jesus. There are also servants in this kingdom. We are the servants of the king, serving under his rulership.

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So back to the original question, how can we spread the kingdom of God? It's by spreading the word of God. It is by teaching people about the gospel and by bringing them to Jesus. Now we understand what it means by the kingdom of God. But what about parables?

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What are they? And why does Jesus teach in parables? Parables are stories that teach something both morally and spiritually. St. Mark, believe it or not, actually, the person who wrote the Gospel of Mark actually discusses Jesus use of parables in these verses.

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In verse 34, he says, in fact, in his public ministry, he never taught without using parables. But afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. So why did he only teach in parables? Well, one reason is that p