David Miller

What would it look like for us to be known for forgiveness?
We have been forgiven of so much … At thElement Midweek we look at the Parable of The Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18.

This video is impressive … take it from a new dog owner whose dog wont do anything they say.

One of the major issues that we see families facing on a daily basis is communicating with their students. In an effort to help bridge that gap, Discovery Church will be hosting well know speaker Darryl Smith September 22 as part of Parent Connect.

Darryl is the National Director for Student Venture with Campus Crusade who speaks to adults across the country.

Darryl has great insight and a unique view of what it means to be a parent of a teenager and how to communicate to students.

Whether this is for you or a parent you know, we would love for you to join us for this FREE EVENT at the Central Campus of Discovery Church September 22, 7-8pm.

I connect with God through music.
From time to time I’ll feature bands and worship leaders, both well known and those flying under the radar, who are drawing The Church to the feet of Jesus.

This week: Josh Garrels. Josh has an incredible honesty in his music. If you haven’t heard him that should change today!

A well-told story is extremely powerful!

The Bible says that Jesus was and incredible story teller. In Matthew we see that people came from all around to hear Him teach because he spoke with such authority. Jesus used parables to help  people understand  heavenly things.

One of my absolute favorites (The Parable of the Mustard Seed):

Mark 4:30-32
³⁰Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. ³²Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

This is one of my favorite Parables for many reasons. One of the major reasons is because I think this parable BOMBED! In order to understand why I think it bombed we need to look back … The Jewish people had been oppressed for generations. They had been hearing prophecies of a kingdom to come, “the Kingdom of God.” In other words, the Israelites believed that God was going to make things right.

After hearing this story for years and years and seeing no change in their quality of life, I can imagine the Israelites were becoming impatient.

Before we dive in, we need to recognize that farming was vital to the livelihood of each person listening that day, and farming practices something they would all be familiar with. We also must note that mustard just so happens to be a weed.

It’s believed that mustard may have been growing wild around where Jesus was speaking at that moment and knowing…
-      How small it starts
-      How strong it grows
-      How it can take over an entire field if farmers don’t fight to keep it out of their crop.

So picture this… You’re listening to this man named Jesus compare the revolution you’ve been waiting for to a weed that you hate!

People. Were. Ticked.

The issue is that God said His revolution was coming but He never said what it would look like.
So Jesus describes a mustard seed.

You see, Jesus knew exactly what He was saying. Mustard is more than just something we put on our hotdogs!

Story of Alexander The Great
Darius the king of the Persians sent a bag of sesame seeds to taunt Alexander the great and to indicate the amount of solders he had.

Alexander sent back a small bag of mustard seeds with a message, “you may be many but we are powerful and we can handle you”.

Jesus says the kingdom of God … us … we are like a mustard seed.

And in our schools, families, and with our friends, we are to live a contagious and powerful life that overtakes the land.

And we will be a place for the birds … that word means (fouls) the undesirables to find rest.

Video Credit: Michael Dalton
Created For: Discovery Church