The Kingdom of Heaven is Like Leaven

Written By Adam Dragoon

Sermon Summary

Pastor Gadsden reflects on his journey from the inner city of Jacksonville, Florida, where a challenging environment influenced him. Despite having a supportive family, he found himself entangled in a lifestyle of crime and rebellion. During this tumultuous period, a persistent Christian witness reached out to him, planting a seed of faith that eventually led him to a transformative encounter with Jesus Christ. This pivotal moment occurred not in a church but in the solitude of his bedroom, where he surrendered his life to Christ, marking the beginning of a new chapter filled with purpose and hope.

The essence of the message is encapsulated in the parable of the leaven from Matthew 13:33. Jesus uses leaven as a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven, illustrating how the church is meant to grow and expand. However, this growth must be rooted in genuine spiritual transformation rather than superficial numbers. The church is not merely a community or a building; it is the body of Christ, called to uphold God's truth and reach the lost with the gospel. Actual church growth is about conversion and discipleship, where individuals are transformed by the gospel and equipped to live out their faith. This involves a commitment to evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, ensuring that the church remains focused on its mission to spread the love and truth of Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, meant to permeate and transform the world through the power of the gospel. Our hope is not in perfect buildings or programs but in the presence of Jesus Christ within us. As we embrace this mission, we are called to love others and share the gospel's transformative power, believing that God can save and change lives just as He did for Pastor Gadsden.

“I said, ‘I don’t know everything about God. I don’t really understand religion, but what I do know, what I do believe is that God is real.’ And that night, it wasn’t a church service. It wasn’t anything like that. But in my bedroom that night, I bowed my knees, and I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Amen. That was June 7, 2008. Sixteen years ago, God saved my life. My life has never been the same since.”
— Pastor Chris Gadsden

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Key Takeaways

  1. Transformation through Christ: The journey from a life of crime to faith in Jesus highlights the transformative power of the gospel. True change begins with a personal encounter with Christ, leading to a life of purpose and hope. [04:43]

  2. The Church's Mission: The church is called to grow not just in numbers, but in spiritual depth. This growth is rooted in evangelism and discipleship, focusing on reaching the lost and nurturing genuine faith. [09:39]

  3. The Danger of Superficial Growth: Churches must avoid the temptation to grow by attracting members from other congregations. True growth comes from evangelizing the lost and fostering authentic discipleship. [22:36]

  4. The Role of Discipleship: Discipleship is essential for sustaining church growth. It involves teaching and equipping believers to live out their faith, ensuring that the church remains focused on its mission. [37:20]

  5. The Power of Evangelism: Evangelism is the foundation of church growth. By sharing the gospel and leading others to Christ, we fulfill our calling to expand the kingdom of heaven and transform lives. [40:18]

Bible Reading

  • Matthew 13:33 NKJV - Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

  • Exodus 12:15 NKJV - 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

  • Galatians 5:9 NKJV - A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Observation Questions

  1. What metaphor does Jesus use in Matthew 13:33 to describe the kingdom of heaven, and what does it signify about the nature of the church? [09:39]

  2. According to the sermon, how did the speaker's personal encounter with Christ differ from previous religious experiences? [04:43]

  3. What are some of the negative connotations of leaven mentioned in the Bible, and how does this contrast with its use in Matthew 13:33? [14:10]

  4. How does the speaker describe the problem with some modern church growth strategies? [25:33]

Interpretation Questions

  1. In what ways does the parable of the leaven challenge the church to focus on genuine spiritual transformation rather than superficial growth? [09:39]

  2. How does the speaker's testimony illustrate the transformative power of the gospel, and what role did persistent Christian witness play in his journey? [04:43]

  3. What does the sermon suggest about the importance of discipleship in sustaining church growth, and how does this relate to the concept of leaven? [37:20]

  4. How does the sermon critique the focus on attracting members from other congregations, and what alternative does it propose for true church growth? [25:33]

Application Questions

  1. Reflect on your own spiritual journey. Have you experienced a transformative encounter with Christ similar to the speaker's testimony? How did it change your life? [04:43]

  2. In what ways can you contribute to the spiritual growth of your church community, focusing on evangelism and discipleship rather than just increasing numbers? [09:39]

  3. Consider the metaphor of leaven. How can you ensure that your influence in your community is positive and transformative, like the leaven in the parable? [14:10]

  4. Are there areas in your church or personal life where you might be focusing on superficial growth rather than genuine spiritual transformation? How can you address this? [25:33]

  5. How can you actively participate in discipleship within your church, helping to equip others to live out their faith? What steps can you take this week to engage in this process? [37:20]

  6. Identify one person in your life who is not yet a believer. How can you share the gospel with them in a way that is genuine and loving, similar to the persistent witness in the speaker's testimony? [04:43]

  7. Reflect on the role of the church as described in the sermon. How can you help your church maintain its focus on its mission to spread the love and truth of Jesus Christ? [22:36]

  • And I told you guys this morning that I would share my testimony this evening, so here it is.

    So like I told you guys this morning, I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, 1990. I'm a '90s baby. In the inner city of Jacksonville, Florida, some of you guys know Duval County. If you watch football, Jacksonville Jaguars, Duval! That's where I'm from.

    So inner city Jacksonville is notorious for a horrible crime rate, so I was raised in that environment. I wasn't really a bad kid. I had a mother, I had a father. They were not married. They did the best they could, but they tried their best to raise me right. So I wasn't a thug, I wasn't a gangster, but I was under that influence. My friends in the neighborhood, people that I met at school, my cousins, brothers, things of that nature. So I was just a follower. I began to follow the crowd.

    At the age of 15 years old, I found myself smoking weed, going to parties and clubs, drinking alcohol, immoral relationships, so forth and so on. And then it got to the point where I was carrying guns and just involved in all types of crime.

    At the age of 17 years old, I was a senior in high school. Like I said, I wasn't a bad kid, so I had never failed a grade. I had never gone to summer school. I thought I was kind of smart, but some people might think differently. But nevertheless, I was doing the best I could in school, but I still had that street life behind me because I was following the crowd, being involved in the wrong things.

    So at the age of 17 years old, my senior year of high school, I was expelled from all Duval County public schools for having a loaded .357 Magnum with hollow tips in it in a school locker room.

    And for me, I got arrested, and I got out some time after that, and I still didn't change. I still had this hard head, this stubborn mindset that I was refusing to change my lifestyle, so I kept doing the same things. I continued to get incarcerated for drug charges and missing court, different things of that nature.

    But during that process of time, a Christian came and ministered to me, but it was different than every other time I had gone to church or every other time somebody told me about Jesus. Because not only did they lead me to a clear decision to accept Jesus Christ in my heart and my life, but they told me about my sin. And they told me that if I were to die in the state of my sin, I would not make heaven my home. And then they told me about the love of Jesus Christ.

    So religiously, I accepted Jesus because I respected God because I grew up going to church. So I had no real intention of changing. But the other thing about this witness that was different than every other time before was that every time I prayed with somebody in the past, they would just leave and go about their business, and I went about mine. So I didn't mind praying with God because I thought it would be the same situation that he would just leave and go about his life, and my life would continue to go the same.

    But this guy followed up on me. He would go by my house and he would knock on the door. I would be playing a little Bootsy, and I'm like, man, what's that sound? And I look out the window, and he's standing by my front door. He's like, man, how's it going?

    And every time he would go by my house, my situation would get worse. So he would come by and say, "Man, how's things going?" Now, you know, I lost my job, but it's all good. I'm gonna make it. How's things going? You know, I got kicked out of school, but it's all good. I'm gonna make it. How's things going? You know, I got locked up again. I just got out last week, but it's all good. I'm gonna make it.

    And he's like, "Every time I talk to you, your situation is getting worse." And inside, I was broken. I was desperate. I was hurting.

    One night, I looked in the mirror, and at this point, I had gold plates to the top, eight slugs, eight solid gold teeth to the top. I had small dreads. I would grow my dreadlocks out. And I remember one day I looked in the mirror, and I didn't know who I was. I looked at myself and said, "Who are you?"

    And I felt I had no destiny. I felt I had no purpose. I felt that my life didn't amount to anything. But that seed that that young man planted in my heart, planted in my life, began to produce fruit.

    And I said, "You know what? I don't know everything about God. I don't really understand religion, but what I do know, what I do believe is that God is real." And that night, it wasn't a church service. It wasn't anything like that. But in my bedroom that night, I bowed my knees and I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Amen. That was June 7, 2008. Sixteen years ago, God saved my life. My life has never been the same since. Amen.

    So this night, my wife and I, we wanted to do some special music, but I'm going to need your help singing this song, okay? I'm going to need your help. I need your—listen, y'all's song service was live. Pastor Dragoon is making it happen. You guys are lively. I need your help. Let's make it lit tonight, okay?

    So what I'm going to do, when I say "hurting," you say "used to be," all right? When I say "lurking," you say "used to be." There you go. Ramona's catching on. When I say "dirty," you say "used to be." But Christ cleaned me, and you should see.

    Wilding, yeah? Violent, yeah? Dying, yeah? But Christ cleaned me, and you should see. Right, let's go.

    Dying. I used to be. You should see. 'Cause the sin I was cut off like you pulled a tree. I dozed in like a pool living foolishly. I knew that hell was hot, but it was cool with me. Chasing money, fame, and jewelry. Yeah. I couldn't measure up. Sin was drooling me. Yeah. I was hooked. It was luring me. The way that I was doing and the things I was pursuing, it would bring me to my ruin and eventually my eulogy. Jesus rose when he pulled to me. Now I can truly see. Words say I'm with the bride of Christ. That means I'm soon to be. If you like you and blinded out to me, then you should see. He saved me from my lunacy, and now I truly see.

    In the school, I had a gas like a fuel leak. But he pursued and he made me a new of me. Now I'm kicking it with Christ like a Bruce Lee. Full of joy, call it jubilee. Come on, hurt me. I used to be. Lurking. I used to be. Dirty. I used to be.

    Try to clean. Be seated, you guys are awesome. See, listen, how many know when you are in Christ, what you used to be, you no longer are?

    And there's a powerful truth about that because the Bible talks about the church. And how many know the church is not just the temporary building that's about 85 degrees tonight? How many know that the church is not the building that's downstairs that's being reconstructed? Amen.

    And I resonate with what Pastor Dragoon said, that many times we have to go through periods of discomfort in order to see what God wants to do. And that's not only true in the church, but that's true in our personal lives. Amen.

    So I want to minister a sermon this evening. If you could turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 13, verse 33.

    Matthew chapter 13, verse 33. July 2nd, 1865, the Christian mission, which was later known as the Salvation Army, was founded to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to see souls saved and to help people.

    But the Salvation Army has faced critiques because of mission drift. They've drifted from their original mission. And the organization has become more focused on social services, administrative functions, at the expense of their evangelical mission.

    This organization has grown exponentially since it was founded. But what started as an army of salvation that was all about preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to see souls saved has been reduced to receiving donations through fundraising and doing social work and having a place to go to and get some cheap products, right?

    Listen, God is all about growth, but he wants us and his church to grow the right way and not to lose focus of the mission that he's called us to. Amen.

    This is what our text says. Can you hand me that water, please?

    The Bible says, Matthew chapter 13, verse 33, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leaven."

    Let's pray. God, we come in the name of Jesus, Lord. We thank you, God, for this congregation. We thank you for this people. God, we thank you for this church, all that you're doing. And God, we know that it's your will to enlarge us. It's your will that your church would grow and that your people would grow. And God, help us to understand how you desire us to grow, that we can accomplish your will for our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

    I want to minister a sermon this evening called "The Kingdom of Heaven is Like Leaven." The powerful illustration that Jesus gave us.

    Can you put that picture of leaven up on the screen, please?

    Okay, so right here, what you see is on the left, you see the leaven. And then on the right, you see this picture of bread. I know you guys on that side probably can't see it too much. But there's a picture of leaven in a jar and there's a picture of bread.

    And what happens is, in order for the bread to rise, you have to mix the leaven in it. And then, you know, they roll the dough and they do all these different things. But that is what causes the bread to rise. And then here's a picture of bread that is leavened. You see, it has risen like bread that we buy from the store. But then you have the picture of the unleavened bread that is flattened because there was no leaven in it.

    So I want to look first at what is leaven. And I want you to lock in with me because I'm going to be using quite a bit of scripture tonight. But we're going to go somewhere, so I want you to lock in with me.

    What is leaven? Leaven is yeast or fermented dough that causes bread to rise. The first mention of leaven in the Bible is when God instructed the Israelites regarding the Passover feast of unleavened bread.

    Exodus 12:15, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel."

    So what he's saying is that leaven represented the need to move quickly because when you put leaven in bread, it's going to rise. And you don't have time to—when you put leaven in bread, you have a certain amount of time to use it.

    So when they used leaven, they were not as flexible to do what God wanted them to do. So whenever God wanted them to move, he said, "Don't leaven your bread." He said, "Take unleavened bread with you." When they had to leave Israel, they did not have time for bread to rise.

    The same way when God tells you and I to do something, we don't always have time to process it. We don't always have time to think about the decision. How many know there's times when God tells you to do something and you just have to do it?

    And the second thing that it meant is getting rid of the leaven also represented purity. Because leaven is typically a sign of sin and corruption in the Bible because leaven spreads and it affects the whole. Usually, when the Bible mentions leaven, it is an example of something bad. Usually, leaven is not a good thing.

    Leviticus 2:11, "No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire."

    Offerings were not to have leaven, meaning they were not to be corrupt because it's a picture of sin. Leaven also was referred to as false teaching and hypocrisy.

    Matthew 16:6, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.'"

    Matthew 16:12, "Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread but the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."

    So he's saying that leaven is false doctrine. How many know it's a lot of people that think that they're preaching truth, but it's false doctrine?

    I remember I was a young convert on outreach, and I saw these people. They had red shirts that said "Jesus is Lord" on their back. And kind of like I said this morning, I didn't have discernment, so I started embracing these people. "Yeah, that's right, Jesus is Lord," and I started talking to them about Jesus.

    And I said, "What church do you go to?" And they said, "We go to the Kingdom Hall." They were Jehovah's Witnesses. They were people that preached false doctrine, and the Bible says that is leaven because false doctrine, if it gets into your lives, it will spread and it would cause corruption, and that's true for the church as well.

    Luke 12:1, "He began to say this to his disciples: 'First of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.'"

    Even Paul in Corinthians and Galatians mentions that sin is leaven that will corrupt the entire church.

    Galatians 5:9, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump."

    So he's talking about how sin can creep into our lives and not only affect us, but it can affect the church. That's true for immorality, that's true for hypocrisy, that's true for false doctrine, and many other areas in our lives.

    But in this text that we read this morning, Matthew 13—or this evening, excuse me—Matthew 13:33, Jesus speaks of leaven in a completely different sense.

    So we have to lock in right here. He actually speaks of leaven in a positive manner. He's not speaking of leaven in a negative manner, as sin or corruption, something that we need to avoid. He's saying this is something that we need to embrace.

    He's saying that the church is supposed to expand and enlarge, that the church is designed to spread. You know, you can't make everybody happy. I've met some people, they don't like our church because it's too small. Now many other people, they love our church, like, "Yeah, 'cause I don't like the big churches." I'm like, "Well, what happens if our church gets big?"

    Right? But if we have any revelation, any understanding of the church, we would understand that God desires his church to grow. This is the imagery of expanding tents, tent stakes in the Bible.

    Isaiah 54:2 & 3, "He says, 'Enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lifting your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited.'"

    So he's saying enlarge your tent stakes. So in other words, God desires for you to grow. Enlargement represents preparing for God's blessings. It refers to making room for increased influence, blessings, but also with responsibility.

    How many know you get more stuff, that's more responsibility, right? You get a bigger house, that's more house to clean, that's more mortgage to pay, more rent, right? You get a nicer car, you know, you get a bigger car, that's more gas mileage. There's more responsibility that comes with the blessing. That is God's will for your life, and that is also God's will for the church—enlargement.

    How many believe that the church is not just the building, but the church is God's people? That we are the church? Amen.

    I didn't like that. How many believe that we are the church? Okay, okay, I'm gonna make sure I'm preaching to somebody.

    So God does not just want his building to grow. We thank God for what God has done with you guys, this church, with what God is doing with the building. But God wants you. God wants his people to grow.

    Our text says, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven." The local church, as in the people, the body of Christ, is the physical manifestation of a kingdom that is spiritual. That's why Jesus told Peter that your revelation of Jesus Christ that people can't see is what God is going to build his church that people can see.

    That's why Jesus told Peter that the revelation that you have that Jesus Christ is Lord is what God is going to build his church off of because it's your understanding that Jesus Christ is God that is what God builds the church.

    How many know the church will have no power if everybody is, "Well, you know, I just like the church, but I hold the Jesus thing."

    But no, it's because we collectively believe and agree together that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that is what makes us the church.

    Matthew 16:18, "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

    The kingdom, the church, is established on truth—people that have embraced the revelation that Jesus Christ is Lord. And he said, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven."

    So he wants his kingdom, his church, his people to be enlarged, or in other words, he wants more people to come into the church that are going to believe upon Jesus Christ. Amen.

    So there are three aspects of the kingdom that directly relate to the church.

    Number one, the kingdom is God's country. Philippians 3:20 says, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

    The second thing is that the kingdom is God's company. Luke 2:49, "He said to them, 'Why do you seek me? Do you not know that I must be about my Father's business?'"

    Listen, God's business is not about making money. I mean, no, the church needs money. We need money, and the church needs money, but it's not just about the money, the dollars and the cents. God's business is about saving people from sin and getting them to heaven.

    And then the third aspect is that the kingdom is God's constitution. Isaiah 33:22, "For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He will save us."

    I want to talk secondly about the problem with church growth. So we've established that God wants the church to grow. We've established that God wants us to grow because we are the church.

    But how many know there are a lot of people that go to church, they're not even Christians? There's a lot of people that go to church, but whether they're going to heaven is questionable. There are members of churches, but they're not saved. There are leaders in the church, and they're not saved either.

    Or there's leaders in the church, and they're okay with the people in their church not being genuine Christians as long as they're giving money, right? As long as they look good.

    But the whole focus of the church can be bigger numbers, which means more people. But the church is not just a gathering.

    People say this word often, and I get what people mean, but we have to be careful with this. People say, "Well, you know, it's all about community."

    But I want to declare to you this evening that the church is far more than community. The church is the church.

    Because there's countless organizations in the world that you can go to if you just want community. How many know you can join a gym if you just want community? You can join a country club? There's countless organizations that you can be involved in if all you want is community.

    But the church is far more than community. It's far more than just a gathering of people. People misquote Matthew 18:20. It says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them."

    So people use this scripture to claim that, you know, us just sitting around smoking weed talking about Jesus, we having church right now.

    But church is not just a gathering of people. There is no shortage of secular organizations that offer community.

    Jesus says the church is the body of Christ.

    So again, number one, the church represents God's country. The church provides standards, borders, and boundaries so the people can have safety, protection, and provision.

    Pastor Dragoon is a shepherd. He's not just saying, "Hey, you coming to church tonight?" Because he just wants more numbers. No, he knows that in the church, there's safety. There's freedom.

    The church is God's company. The church is designed to fulfill the mission that God has called its people to. So if we are a part of the church, meaning God's business, God's company, how many know we should be involved in reaching more people? Come on.

    And number three, the church is God's constitution. The church upholds the law. The church is the world's reference point for right and wrong.

    You know, we can point to the world, "Man, this world is so crazy." But, you know, it's really a reflection of the church because the church is responsible for holding God's laws, God's standards.

    So the world should be looking to us believers and saying, "You know what? I know that's wrong because they're not doing it, and I know that's right because they are." We are the ones that should be upholding the law of God.

    The church belongs to Jesus. John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

    The problem is when the church is focused on growing but not focused on Jesus.

    And when that happens, the method of growing is by proselytizing.

    What proselytizing means, or what a proselyte is, is someone who is converted from another religion, belief, or church. Now, this can happen naturally through salvation. I mean, Muslims can get saved, Catholics can get saved, Hindus can get saved, atheists can get saved. It doesn't matter.

    Or fake Christians, like I was when I was growing up, can get saved as well. So it doesn't matter your religion, your doctrine, nor belief. God can touch your life.

    But the problem is when the goal is to pull on people who already profess to be Christians, and they're already members of other churches.

    So for many churches, this is the mission. The mission is not to reach the lost. The mission is to reach other church people.

    So you have these mega churches, they get planted, and then they're not trying to evangelize the gospel of Jesus Christ and to reach lost souls. They're just trying to get Christians from other churches.

    But that's not the mission of the church. The mission is not to evangelize and to save the lost in that situation. It's to be more attractive and more competing than other churches so people will leave their church and go to what they believe is a better church.

    These type of converts are superficial and harmful to the church. And if sinners do get saved in that process, it's like a bonus.

    They're like, "You know what? Well, we got some people saved." So what happens is it's almost like this false confirmation that they're doing something right because somebody got saved.

    But the problem is when the whole mission behind the church growing is skewed and it does not align with God's method of evangelism and discipleship, you now produce a culture of vain religion and you breed off-based, non-biblical Christians.

    Matthew 23:15, Jesus says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." Here it is again. When he says this word, "hypocrites," we need to pay attention.

    And he's talking to these scribes and Pharisees again. He says, "Listen, this is crucial because this is what we're looking at in this day and age that we live in. If someone is claiming to be a mature Christian going to a new church and the leaders of that church accept them with no questions asked, that is a red flag."

    A true pastor, a true shepherd is going to say, "Oh, you come from another church, right? Well, when did you get saved? What brought you here?"

    If there's a red flag, I probably should communicate with your pastor, see what's going on. But if you're a mature Christian and you start going to another church and they just embrace you with no care or concern from where you came from, who your pastor is, that's a red flag.

    The alarm should be blaring when people come into the church like that. And I'm not saying that God can't draw people who come from other churches or other backgrounds, but what I'm saying is that the goal of church growth is to evangelize the lost.

    The goal of church growth is that those who are not saved, sinners outside of the church walls, would get saved and be converted. Amen.

    The problem when the church seeks growth but strays from the mission is that there is no discipleship. If the church does happen to have genuine Christians, they will produce uneducated, untrained, and spiritually immature Christians.

    How many know Harvard University was established with the primary aim of training clergy and promoting Christian education, but it's now one of the most anti-Christ institutions in all of academia?

    They started off as a Christian college to train up Christian leaders, but now what they produce is so anti-Christ. Where they have to rely on now is other areas in excelling, and now they try to excel in academia and make that their main focus because they lost the mission.

    And just because a person is not saved, how many know people aren't stupid nowadays? I mean, just because people aren't saved, you got doctors, lawyers, engineers. There are intelligent people in the world.

    So people have common sense. They might not know God or the Bible, but people can look around the church, and they can know that something's not right.

    So this forces churches to attract people with beautiful buildings, smoking lights, doing worship service, various programs to draw people, but they will refuse to talk about sin. They'll refuse to talk about hell. They'll refuse to have biblical standards and to hold people accountable.

    And what happens is people come into these churches, and again, they might not be religious, they might not know a lot about God in the Bible, but they'll look around and say, "I thought this was a church." I'm like, "It looks good outwardly, but the people don't act like Christians."

    But how many know when people come into our church, they should find, "You know what? These people love them some Jesus. These people, man, they might not have it all together, but one thing is for sure, they love them some Jesus."

    I remember hearing the story about toxic buildings. I met a guy who was in landscape architecture and engineering, things of that nature, and he told this story about how his son had to go to the doctor's office, and they had reconstructed their parking lot.

    So he was driving this big Ford Expedition. He has a bunch of kids, but in front of him, he saw this 25-passenger van. And as it was pulling into the doctor's office, it was going to go around this roundabout, and he's looking, he's like, "This van is way too big to get around that little roundabout."

    So he looked before the van, and he saw that the concrete was all torn up, and there were divots all in the grass from people going over the curb and going into the crack in the grass because the parking lot was just a mess, the way it was constructed, the way it was engineered.

    And he said he saw that van, that 25-passenger van, jump the curb and make the ditch pretty much in the grass even worse. And he's like, "This is insane."

    And he said he went out to the doctor's office, and everybody was so upset because it was so frustrating with how difficult it was to find parking in the parking lot.

    And he said, "This is a picture of what you would call a toxic building."

    That because the building is toxic, people are frustrated, and people are mad when they get inside.

    But the problem is that when the church doesn't have Jesus, we have to rely on our buildings being perfect.

    And we have to rely on all the outward things being right because what's inside the church is not.

    But what I thank God about our churches and our fellowship, we don't rely on having the best buildings. We don't rely on having everything perfect on the outside. What we rely on is that we have Jesus.

    That you might come in frustrated, but you're going to leave full of joy. You might come in with problems and attitudes, but you're going to leave full of the Holy Spirit.

    I have a video from the founder of our fellowship, Pastor Wayman Mitchell. Could you play it, please?

    I don't see it yet.

    All right. You can turn it up, please. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

    Our hope is that we don't have to rely on doing everything right. We don't rely on having the nicest building or social media presence. And I'm not saying those things are wrong because we should seek to have a nice building and do things right.

    But we're not trying to make our worship service go viral. We're not trying to be—we rely on God being who he says he is.

    And you using people like us to build his church. Amen.

    I want to close talking about the leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven.

    How is the church supposed to grow? Number one is evangelism in the local church. Amen.

    This is how the church is supposed to grow, not just mailing church invitations, not by marketing and advertising, social media engagement, not even by feeding the poor.

    It's by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. How many know every single one of us are called to be preachers?

    And that's how the church is supposed to grow, by us going and preaching the gospel.

    Mark 16:15-16, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.'"

    A true sign of leaven in the kingdom is conversion. When people are being converted, when people are being saved and converted from their sin, that's a true sign of growth in the church.

    Acts 2:40-41, "With many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation.' Then those who gladly received his word were baptized."

    See what conversion does is it lays the foundation for discipleship. You can't even begin with the process of discipleship until there is conversion.

    And how many know God calls us to be disciples? Amen.

    Acts 2:42, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayer."

    So they continued in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, or in other words, they were being discipled. Why? Because they first got saved and converted.

    They were not pulling on Christians from other churches. They preached the gospel to the lost, and when souls were saved and converted, they continued to teach them the way of truth.

    Discipleship in the local church is what sustains growth. This is what is profound about the founder of our fellowship, Pastor Wayman Mitchell, and where he established...in our fellowship, most of the church world and people who claim to be Christians don't understand discipleship.

    If you ask most people who claim to be a Christian if they are a disciple, they will say, "Yes, yes." They'll even make the ugly face. You know, when you're trying to convince somebody that you believe, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a disciple."

    But if you ask them what a disciple is, they'll give you the wrong answer. I'll just flat out tell you, "Well, I'm not really sure, but I know I am one."

    A disciple is not just a Christian or a believer. Discipleship and Christianity are different, even though they are intertwined.

    A disciple is someone who is committed to follow Christ by way of submitting their lives to the pastor that God has placed over them.

    I repeat that. A disciple is someone who is committed to follow Christ by way of submitting their lives to the pastor that God has placed over them.

    Matthew 28:19, "He says, 'Go therefore and make disciples.'"

    The thing about disciples is that they are not born; they are made. He says, "Go make disciples."

    And the process of discipleship happens in the local church. It doesn't happen by just watching live stream or watching your favorite YouTube preacher.

    Discipleship happens in the local church. That is the enlargement.

    Again, we thank God for what God is doing with you guys as a church building. But God wants you. God wants you to be involved in discipleship.

    And that is why the idea that you don't have to go to church to be a Christian is ridiculous.

    Because you may not have to go to church to become a Christian, just like I got saved in my bedroom that night. But you do have to go to church to be a disciple. That's what the church is for.

    Ephesians 4:12, "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

    2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

    In other words, God is saying if we are going to be a part of church growth, we've got to be faithful. We have to be committed.

    The goal of discipleship is that from within the local church, those disciples will be sent out to start new churches.

    And Pastor David Smell said, "Amen." Amen.

    And that those who are sent out will accomplish the same goal of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting.

    And kingdom growth must be sustainable.

    So what I'm trying to say is that the leaven of the kingdom of heaven, as Pastor Greg Mitchell laid out clearly in the Memorial Stone series, I don't know if your church has watched it, but what Pastor Greg Mitchell laid out clearly, evangelism from within the local church, discipleship, church planting, and world evangelism.

    See, again, toxic buildings. Our hope is that not that we have the most immaculate building, the latest and greatest technology, modern programs.

    Our hope is that we have Jesus Christ in our building. Amen.

    Our church back home in St. Mary's, Georgia, our sanctuary is smaller than this. Smaller than this.

    But one thing that is undeniable is that God moves in our church. Amen.

    We, we, we—I can officially say we would have what the world would consider a toxic building. Most of the world, they would look at our building and say, "Psst, what is this? What is this? What is this?"

    My church would eat your church. But our confidence is that Jesus is in our church.

    Matthew 16:18, again, Jesus says, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Amen.

    I heard evangelist Ernie Toppin quote this, and I'm going to quote him. He says, "You can build a church in the desert if you love people."

    That's what church growth is all about. Now, it's about the people of God that love Jesus, loving other people and saying, "You know what? The same way God saved me, he can save you."

    And then when those people get saved, they come into the church, the same way God helped me, he can help you.

    And that's church growth. That's what we are all about—reaching people with the love of Jesus and believing that God can save them and help them just like he helped us.

    The kingdom of heaven is like leaven.

    Can I have every head bowed, every eye closed?

    Listen, this evening, church growth and even personal growth doesn't start until their salvation.

    I remember before I got saved, I wanted so much more in life. I was chasing all the wrong things. I was chasing money. I was chasing the street scene, trying to live this fast life. I was involved in rap music. I was trying to either play sports or be this famous rapper, chasing all the wrong things because I wanted to have this certain lifestyle.

    But the problem is, I was not saved. I was not right with God.

    And real growth in your life starts with being born again, being saved, making Jesus Lord of your life.

    And if you're in this place this evening, you're not a Christian. Maybe you are like me, chasing all the wrong things, involved in sin and wickedness, not saved, not right with God.

    But you want to give your life to Jesus. Listen, God can save you. He can help.

Keep an eye on our Facebook Page for Daily Devotionals based on this message over the next five days.

Written with Love by Pastor Adam Dragoon

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Adam Dragoon
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What Happens in the Upper Room Won’t Stay in the Upper Room [Acts 1 & 2]