These are some of my most favorite “Kingdom of heaven parables.” Our Spiritual like all ventures in life has a beginning. The beginning may start with a little faith and curiosity. However, if we take the initiative to plant our faith like a tiny mustard seed and work work into our life like the yeast, we produce exponentially more than we can imagine.
Jesus was always honest with his disciples. He informs us that the cost of our discipleship is everything. Both subjects in the last two parables sold everything they had to buy the field with buried treasure and the pearl of great value.
It is our job to plant and search. When we do the work we discover the hidden treasure and pearl of great value is US! Then when we live in that treasure we create a beautiful world around us.
The Beginning
•The spiritual journey starts off with the smallest amount of curiosity, Faith.
•It takes faith to start the journey. The seed had to be planted. The yeast had to be mixed into the flour. These are everyday activities.
The Cost
•Discovering the hidden treasure.
•That treasure is in all of us!
•The discovery is within us. Not outside of us.
•The treasure is you.
•Along with performing your everyday tasks you also commit yourself to this treasure.
•You do what ever it takes! That is different for all of us.
The Kingdom of Heaven is You!
•This is where we discover the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is you, your most authentic self and God, revealed to us in Jesus and his teachings, living and working together.
•We are the seed, the yeast that produces way beyond its original state.
•We are the treasure in the field no longer hidden!
•We are the Pearl of Great Value!
•The Kingdom of Heaven becomes real to others because it has become real within us.
Call to Celebration
God of All, we celebrate the surprises that show up in our lives.
You show up extraordinarily in our ordinary lives.
Your wisdom teachings expand our understanding of you.
Your stories of weeds and seeds remind us that you are present in the details.
Our growing edges have been valuable resources to help us become closer to actualizing our truest self.
God of surprises, we lift our hearts and hands in praise for all the ways our lives intersect in the sacred and the secular. Amen
Offertory
Holy Creator, thank you for breaking into our lives with transformative power and truth. You create abundance out of the smallest things. Thank you for the gifts that lie within us to produce miracles. Open our eyes to the opportunities in front of us to make something new. Amen
Bringing in the Light
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Scripture & Sermon
Taking the Light into the World
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
A Prayer for Peace and Restoration
God of Peace, you do not use fear as a tactic to transform our lives. You meet us where we are
to speak truth and healing. There are days when it feels like that wisdom is hidden; however, we
pray that as we continue on our journey to wholeness, we will unearth wisdom, truth and
healing. Remind us not to give up on ourselves in the process.
Amen
Rev. LaTrell Harrison