READING:  Matthew 13:31-33
STORY :  "Yeast and Mustard Seed"

Rev. Richard J. Fairchild
a-or17su 842000
                  
   The following is a children's story for Ordinary 17, Year A.
   It is based on the first part of the longer version of the Gospel 
   Lesson for this Sunday - the parables of the yeast and the mustard
   seed.  Our intention is to leave the small jars of yeast and of
   seed on the Communion Table - one on each side of the Christ 
   Candle as a reminder of the promise of God that the Kingdom will
   grow in our midst from the smallest of beginnings.

   
A READING FROM MATTHEW 13:31-33
     (NRSV) Jesus put before them another parable: "The kingdom
     of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed
     in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when
     it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a
     tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in
     its branches."  He told them another parable: "The kingdom
     of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with
     three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

L    This is the gospel of our Risen Lord.
P    Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.


CHILDREN'S TIME: Mustard Seeds and Yeast
Theme:    God Grows Great Things From Little Beginnings
Object:   Mustard Seed and Yeast
Source:   Self

Good morning....  Today I brought with me two little bottles with
some stuff in each one.  Can anyone identify what is in this
bottle???   And this one???   Yes - we have here some mustard
seed and some yeast.

Can anyone think of some things in common this mustard seed and
this yeast share in common....  (brown, small, in bottles, round,
mentioned by Jesus today)    The two most important things today
about this mustard seed and this yeast is that they are both used
by Jesus to describe to us what God's Kingdom is like - that
kingdom to which we all belong - and they are both very small.

Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that
someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all
the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and
becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests
in its branches."  Now the kind of mustard this is doesn't quite
do that - but, from my time spent on farms in Ontario and
Saskatchewan, I can tell you  that from one of these seeds can
come a great crop - that it grows and drops more seeds, and
spreads, and becomes just like a weed - it takes over fields -
and can be found growing along the roadside - and even in cracks
in the pavement.  The kingdom of God is like that - if we - small
as unimportant as we are - embrace it - it spreads everywhere.

And this yeast - do you know what happens when you mix it water
and flour and a little salt and sugar?  It spreads and grows all
through that mixture and gives us big loaves of bread - with
softness and a wonderful taste - that the flour and water and
sugar and salt just can't achieve by itself.   The  yeast has an
affect on everything - just from a few tiny particles of it.  
Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman
took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it
was leavened."  Can any of thing of what he meant by that???? 
(That when it is embraced, it grows and affects everything).

I want you all to think about mustard seed and how it grows and
about yeast and how it changes plain old flour and water into
something special today.  When you go home maybe you can get some
out and look at it.  Think about how by loving God - by taking
his seed, his yeast, into our lives - everything can be
changed.....

          
PRAYER AND THE LORD'S PRAYER
     Dear Lord God   we thank you for mustard seed   and for
     the wonders of yeast   and for how these things   teach
     us about your love.  Lord - plant your seed into our
     lives   help us work your yeast into our hearts   that
     wonderful things may happen.... we ask it in Jesus'
     name.   Amen.

And in the word's Jesus taught us, let us pray:

     Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy
     kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in
     heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive
     us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass
     against us; and lead us not into temptation, but
     deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, the
     power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen


HYMN:  "For The Beauty of The Earth"                     - VU 226


copyright - Rev. Richard J. Fairchild - Spirit Networks,  2002 - 2006
            please acknowledge the appropriate author if citing these sermons.