Matt. 13:33-35-3/13/15

This parable is similar to the one we looked at last week and you could draw the same lesson from it. God’s kingdom starts small, grows big, and invites people.

So let us dig here and see what Jesus is getting at. So we got dough here and we got yeast. Yeast turns bread dough into something it wasn’t before. In other words, it transforms it. It changes it from flour to human food.

It is similar in our lives as Christians, both individually and as a body, the church. See dough does not naturally have yeast contained within it, the yeast has to be added to the flour. It has to be put in.

None of us were sinless before we came to Christ, yet when we put our trust in Jesus, a divine trade happens. God takes our sins and our brokenness, and then gives life, peace, righteousness, and holiness. Remember the story with the King and the new robes He gave to His subjects?

God takes away our old life and gives us eternal life. He gives us all we need to live holy lives, and it is our responsibility every day to say “Jesus work through me today”

Just like the yeast is gifted to the dough to make it what it was meant to be, God’s amazing grace is gifted to us to make us who we were meant to be…mirror images of His Son.

Although the yeast looks like a minor ingredient, it works its way through the whole loaf.

This speaks to us on two levels. The dough goes through a transformation. Likewise, when we accept Christ, we are a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come.

When we make Him our King and our Savior, Lord and Master, He gives us a new heart that seeks to obey Him.

So if we have a new heart that wants to obey God? Why do we still sin? Well, God’s grace is like the yeast. It is working its way through you, perfecting you day by day. Remember, you and I are God’s masterpieces, and just like the best of artists, God wants to take His time, one step at a time.

Pray, “Lord, make me more like you”. Be patient, and have joy that His work in you is not done yet :).

So, with God’s grace working as leaven in the bread of our lives as individual believers, what does it mean as a group?

This is the main thrust of the parable: the leaven may not start very big, but it grows bigger, gets into everything, and you can’t stop it.

Likewise, the Kingdom of God did not start very big, but it grew bigger and bigger into everything and you cannot stop it.

And it did not just become another social club, but instead, an entirely new way of living and thinking and looking at the world.

This world is the dough, and we as Christians are to be the yeast, the leaven. We are to be the Kingdom of God that exercises influence, that brings about change.

Let me wrap this up with some encouragement. The Gospel of Jesus Christ changed the world in the way that we view everything today.

Where slavery was once accepted as necessary and normal, the Gospel changed minds about that. Where sexual immorality is celebrated, the Gospel shows a way to holiness. Where poverty is a problem, the Gospel challenges the world to do something about it.

Gladiator games were once the pinnacle of entertainment, until God used the church to stop it. Women and children were once seen as helpless and property, then god used believers to remind them that they had worth and value.

Hunger, sickness, even war, the gospel speaks to all these things, and when the world tries to silence us, it is up to us to ask God to give us the courage to continue to be Christ’s body in the world…as agents of reconciliation, bringing holiness, healing, and hope.

In short,

As individuals-We are the dough and Christ’s grace is the leaven, the yeast, which works its way into every area of our lives, transforming us into being more like Christ every day. It is our responsibility to not harden ourselves, but to make time and allow the Holy Spirit to mold us, through prayer, Bible reading, service, and more.

As a church-We are to be the yeast in the dough that is the world. Acting as Jesus’ hands and feet and heart to show the world what the kingdom of God is truly like, in our workplaces, in our homes, everywhere.