The Slow Grow

Praise and Worship:

Offering and Prayer:

Introduction: The Instant Society

We live in a world that hates to wait. If you want dinner, you hit the drive-thru on Broad Street or pop it in the microwave. If you want to buy something, you click a button and it’s on your porch tomorrow. We want instant results, instant success, and instant fixes to our problems.

Because we’ve spent so much time living at that "Old Address" of instant gratification, we expect God to work the same way. We get saved, or we face a major problem, and we expect God to zap us and fix everything by Tuesday morning. When He doesn’t, we get frustrated. We assume our faith isn’t working, or that God isn't listening. But when "We Moved" into the Kingdom, we moved into a completely different environment. The Kingdom of God doesn't operate like a microwave; it operates like a garden. Today, we're talking about why the best things God does in your life usually start small and take time.

Scripture:

Matthew 13:31–33 NLT

31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.” 33 Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Title, Prayer:

The Slow Grow

Application: The Order of Operation (Faithfulness over Fast Results)

The way we navigate life this week is: Trust the small steps of obedience instead of looking for shortcuts. Most of us want the massive breakthrough without the daily walk.

We apply the Gospel by realizing that the Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out, quietly and over time. We stop demanding that God fix our circumstances instantly and start asking Him to change our character daily. In this church, we practice Endurance—one of our core principles. We don't pack up and quit just because the seed hasn't sprouted into a tree yet.

When you bake bread from scratch, you don’t finish mixing the dough and then eat it. You still have to bake it. And it takes the right temperature, for the right amount of time, depending on the type of bread you are baking.

Point One: The Mustard Seed (Don’t Misjudge Small Beginnings)

In Matthew 13:31–32, Jesus says the Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. If you’ve ever seen one, it’s tiny—like a speck of dust. If you didn't know any better, you’d throw it in the trash because it looks useless. But Jesus says when it’s planted in the dirt, it grows into the biggest plant in the garden, big enough for birds to build nests in it.

The "Strategic Struggle" for plain people like us is that our daily efforts feel too small to matter. You read one chapter of your Bible, you say a five-minute prayer, or you drop a few dollars in the offering, and the flesh whispers, "What good is that going to do? Your problems are huge, and your effort is tiny." But the Gospel changes the "Source Code." When you put your tiny seed into the King’s hands, He multiplies it. The biggest transformations in your marriage, your finances, and your habits start with tiny, boring choices to obey God when nobody is looking.

Life Application: Plant the Tiny Seed.

The Routine Check: What is one "small seed" of obedience you’ve been neglecting because you think it doesn't matter? (e.g., being kind to a difficult coworker, praying with your spouse, or showing up to church when you’re tired).

The Action Step: Stop waiting for a "giant sign" and just plant the seed today. Do that one small thing with Endurance, trusting that the King is working under the dirt where you can't see yet.

Point Two: The Leaven (The Quiet Takeover)

Right after the seed, Jesus gives another example in verse 33. He says the Kingdom is like leaven—yeast—that a woman hides in a massive lump of dough until the whole thing rises. If you watch dough rise, you can’t actually see the yeast working. There’s no explosion, no noise, and no drama. But if you walk away and come back later, the entire batch of dough has been completely changed.

This is how the Gospel impacts how we interact with our neighborhood and our own hearts. God’s Kingdom doesn't come with a loud political parade or a bunch of hype. It works by "infecting" the culture quietly. When you live out your faith at your job, when you love your family well, or when we help families in transition in Pataskala, we are acting like yeast. We are quietly changing the flavor of the community. You don't have to be loud to be powerful; you just have to be consistent.

Life Application: Be the Yeast.

The Atmosphere Test: When you walk into your house or your workplace, what kind of "flavor" do you bring? Do you bring the world’s flavor (complaining, gossip, anger) or the Kingdom flavor (peace, encouragement, patience)?

The Pivot: Before you walk through the door of your home or job tomorrow, stop and pray: "King Jesus, I am yeast in this place. Use my quiet consistency to change the environment around me today."

Conclusion: Let It Grow

The Gospel is proof that God plays the long game. He didn't send Jesus to fix the world with a magic trick; He sent Him as a seed that died in the dirt so we could have life.

You don't have to stress because your life isn't perfect yet. You’ve moved into the Kingdom garden. If you are staying close to the Word and staying submitted to the King, the growth is happening—even if it feels slow.

Will you stop pulling up the seed every five minutes to see if it’s growing, and finally just trust the Soil? The King is faithful. Keep doing the small things, and let Him handle the harvest.

Benediction/Invitation:

The Waiting Game: What is one area in your life right now where you are losing patience because God seems to be moving too slow?