This weekend in worship we continue our parable series with Jesus’ short, surprising pictures of the Kingdom of God. The mustard seed and the leaven look small and ordinary. Yet Jesus shows that His reign grows in ways we can’t always see and in ways that become unmistakable over time. The Kingdom does not depend on our strength or our scale. It depends on the King who is at work. We’ll also connect these parables to the ways Jesus continues to build His Kingdom through ordinary means today. God’s Word, the font, and the life of His Church can look simple on the surface, but they carry the power and promises of Jesus. And as we receive His gifts, we’re freed to reflect His light and love in small, faithful moments. Words that point to Jesus, quiet prayers, and everyday mercy that God uses to bless others.

• Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45
• Colossians 1:3-6
• Matthew 13:31–33

In this parable about the weeds and the wheat, the good seed being planted and the bad seed seed being planted, something happens that we all experience. Good seeds grow up together with the bad seeds. Good seeds mature with the bad seeds. And it is hard to tell them apart. But it isn’t our job to tell them apart. That is up to Jesus, who is patient beyond any type of patient we can imagine. His WORD is the good seed that grows to be stored up safely. Satan tries with all his might to sow as much evil into the world as he can. It’s his mission. Lies and deception are what he is about. Jesus is about grace and mercy. This grace and mercy leads to salvation, His work, not ours. On the Last Day, He will do the sorting. Believers be assured of being stored safely with Him in His new creation forever and ever.

• Malachi 3:16-4:2
• 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

• Isaiah 55:6–11
• 1 Corinthians 3:5–9
• Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23