SMALL SEEDS, HUGE RESULTS (CC)

Rev. Jim Sherod's Children's Message Sunday, June 24, 2012 Zion - Torrance, California ALMOST FORGOT THE PURPLE BAG. SO ... WHO WANTS TO LOOK INTO THE PURPLE BAG THIS MORNING? WE'RE GONNA ... WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING HIDDEN OKAY. YOU WANNA LOOK AT IT? GO AHEAD. WHAT DO YOU SEE? OKAY. YOU WANNA LOOK AT IT? GO AHEAD. WHAT DO YOU SEE? WHAT IS THAT? [INAUDIBLE] HUH? IT'S A LITTLE BAG. IS THERE ANYTHING INSIDE THERE? YOU WERE LOOKING INSIDE THERE. IS THERE ANYTHING INSIDE THAT LITTLE BAG? [SOPHIA LOOKS INTO THE LITTLE BAG AND SHRUGS] [SOPHIA LOOKS INTO THE LITTLE BAG AND SHRUGS] NO? LET'S SEE. WE'LL TAKE A REAL CLOSE LOOK INSIDE. SEE IF WE CAN FIND IT. THERE IS SOMETHING IN THERE. IT'S SO SMALL, EVEN I CAN'T FIND IT! IT'S SO SMALL, EVEN I CAN'T FIND IT! [REV. JIM CONTINUES TO LOOK IN THE SMALLER BAG] IT MAY HAVE FALLEN OUT. OH, IT DID ... HERE IT IS! IT'S SO SMALL, WE DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT FALL OUT. WHAT IS THAT? JUST PASS IT ON ... DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? [A SEED?] YEAH, IT'S A SEED! THIS ... IS A SEED FROM A SEQUOIA TREE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A SEQUOIA TREE IS? A SEQUOIA TREE IS A HUGE, HUGE TREE. IN FACT, THE BIGGEST LIVING THING ON EARTH IS A SEQUOIA TREE. LOOK AT THE PERSON THERE. CAN YOU SEE THAT LITTLE PERSON? COMPARED TO THAT TREE? CAN YOU IMAGINE A BIG TREE GROWS FROM SUCH A SMALL SEED. AND IN OUR GOSPEL LESSON THIS MORNING, JESUS TALKS ABOUT A SMALL SEED, A MUSTARD SEED. AND FROM THAT MUSTARD SEED, GROWS THE BIGGEST TREE ... BIGGEST PLANT, IN THE WHOLE GARDEN. SO BIG THAT BIRDS CAN NEST IN ITS BRANCHES. AND JESUS USES THAT AS AN EXAMPLE OF HIS KINGDOM. HOW HIS KINGDOM GROWS FROM A SMALL SEED, AND GROWS AS WE PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL, INTO A HUGE KINGDOM WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH CAN COME AND NEST IN ITS BRANCHES ... TAKE SHELTER IN ITS SHADE. YOU KNOW JESUS HAS BEEN OUR REFUGE AND OUR FORTRESS. WE TAKE SHELTER IN HIS SHADE FROM THE BLISTERING SUN OF THE DEVIL, AND HE TRIES TO SCORCH US AND KILL US. AND JESUS IN HIS GOSPEL GIVES US LIFE, AND HE GIVES US REFUGE. SO ... THIS LITTLE SEED SHOULD REMIND US OF THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD WHICH CREATES FAITH IN OUR HEARTS AND CAUSES HIS KINGDOM TO GROW THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD INTO A HUGE, HUGE KINGDOM. ALRIGHT, WE CAN TAKE OUR SEATS AND WE'LL JOIN, UH, IN THE GOSPEL. WE'LL CONTINUE WITH THE GOSPEL LESSON.