1. Welcome to
Triad Christian Fellowship

2. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

3. From the rising of the sun ‘Til the sun goes down
Let the name of the Lord be praised
Used by permission
CCLI License #
Words & Music Paul Baloche & Matt Redman (© 2006 Integrity’s Hosanna Music and Thankyou Music)

4. We’ve gathered to worship
Becoming a choir to sing Your praise
Lifting our voices
Joining our hearts in this house today

5. People of God In the power of God For the Kingdom of God We sing

6. Chorus:
From the rising of the sun
‘Til the sun goes down
Let the name of the Lord be praised

7. Chorus (cont.):
From the sky, to the depths
From the east to the west
We give You praise

8. We’re gathered to go out
To cities and towns we’ll take Your Name
Into the nations
Shining Your light in the darkest place

9. People of God In the power of God For the Kingdom of God We live

10. Chorus:
From the rising of the sun
‘Til the sun goes down
Let the name of the Lord be praised

11. Chorus (cont.):
From the sky, to the depths
From the east to the west
We give You praise
INSTRUMENTAL

12. Chorus:
From the rising of the sun
‘Til the sun goes down
Let the name of the Lord be praised

13. Chorus (cont.): From the sky, to the depths From the east to the west

14. Chorus:
From the rising of the sun
‘Til the sun goes down
Let the name of the Lord be praised

15. Chorus (cont.):
From the sky, to the depths
From the east to the west
We give You praise
Lord, we give You praise

16. Chorus (cont.):
From the rising of the sun
‘Til the sun goes down
Let the name of the Lord be praised

17. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

18. It’s the song of the redeemed rising from the African plain
HE REIGNS
It’s the song of the redeemed rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven drowning out the Amazon rain
Used by permission
CCLI License #
Words & Music Peter Furler & Steve Taylor (© 2003 Ariose Music/Soylent Tunes)

19. The song of Asian believers filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, ev’ry tongue, ev’ry nation; a love song born of grateful choir

20. Chorus:
It’s all God’s children singing,
“Glory, glory, hallelujah!
He reigns, He reigns!”

21. Let it rise above the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals to the faithful gathered underground

22. Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation, some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples, none rings truer than this:

23. Chorus:
It’s all God’s children singing,
“Glory, glory, hallelujah!
He reigns, He reigns!”

24. Bridge:
And all the powers of darkness tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness can’t drown out a single word

25. Chorus:
It’s all God’s children singing,
“Glory, glory, hallelujah!
He reigns, He reigns!”

26. Chorus:
It’s all God’s children singing,
“Glory, glory, hallelujah!
He reigns, He reigns!”

27. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

28. Everyone needs compassion Love that’s never failing
MIGHTY TO SAVE
Everyone needs compassion
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Used by permission
CCLI License #
Words & Music Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding (© 2006 Hillsong Publishing/Integrity’s Hosanna Music)

29. Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

30. So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

31. Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

32. Bridge:
Shine Your light and
Let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the Glory of the risen King
(Jesus)

33. Bridge (cont.):
Shine Your light and
Let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the Glory of the risen King

34. Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

35. Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

36. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

37. COME THOU FOUNT, COME THOU KING Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Words by Robert Robinson & Music from John Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (© Public Domain); Additional lyrics and Music Thomas Miller © Integrity Music
Used by permission
CCLI License #

38. Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

39. I was lost in utter darkness
‘Til You came and rescued me
I was bound by all my sin when
Your love came and set me free

40. Now my soul can sing a new song
Now my heart has found a home
Now Your grace is always with me
And I’ll never be alone

41. Chorus:
Come Thou Fount , come Thou King
Come Thou precious Prince of Peace
Hear Your bride, to You we sing
Come Thou Fount of our blessing

42. Chorus (cont.):
Come Thou Fount , come Thou King
Come Thou precious Prince of Peace
Hear Your bride, to You we sing
Come Thou Fount of our blessing

43. O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let They goodness like a fetter
Bind my wand’ring heart to Thee

44. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

45. Chorus:
Come Thou Fount , come Thou King
Come Thou precious Prince of Peace
Hear Your bride, to You we sing
Come Thou Fount of our blessing

46. Chorus (cont.):
Come Thou Fount , come Thou King
Come Thou precious Prince of Peace
Hear Your bride, to You we sing
Come Thou Fount of our blessing

47. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

48. You dance over me while I am unaware
AMAZED
You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound
Used by permission
CCLI License #
Words & Music Jared Anderson (© 2003 Vertical Worship Music c/o Integrity Media)

49. Chorus: Lord I'm amazed by You And how You love me

50. You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind
My hope will always stand
For You hold me in Your hand

51. Chorus: Lord I'm amazed by You And how You love me

52. Bridge: How wide How deep How great is Your love for me

53. Chorus: Lord I'm amazed by You And how You love me

54. Chorus: Lord I'm amazed by You And how You love me

55. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

56. REDEEMER, SAVIOR, FRIEND I know You had me on Your mind
When You climbed up on that hill
For You saw me with eternal eyes
While I was yet in sin
Redeemer, Savior, Friend
Used by permission
CCLI License #
Words & Music Darrell Evans & Chris Springer (© 1999 Integrity’s Hosanna Music)

57. Every stripe upon Your battered back
Every thorn that pierced Your brow
Every nail drove deep through guiltless hands
Said that Your love knows no end
Redeemer, Savior, Friend

58. Chorus:
Redeemer redeem my heart again
Savior come and shelter me from sin
You're familiar with my weakness
Devoted to the end
Redeemer, Savior, Friend

59. So the grace You pour upon my life
Will return to You in praise
And I'll gladly lay down all my crowns
For the name of which I am saved
Redeemer, Savior, Friend

60. Chorus:
Redeemer redeem my heart again
Savior come and shelter me from sin
You're familiar with my weakness
Devoted to the end
Redeemer, Savior, Friend

61. Chorus:
Redeemer redeem my heart again
Savior come and shelter me from sin
You're familiar with my weakness
Devoted to the end
Redeemer, Savior, Friend

62. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

63. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain Holy, holy is He
REVELATION SONG
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain Holy, holy is He
Sing a new song to Him who sits on Heaven's Mercy Seat
Used by permission
CCLI License #
Words & Music Jennie Lee Riddle (© 2004 Gateway Create Publishing/Integrity’s Praise Music)

64. Chorus:
Holy, Holy, Holy is The Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing, "Praise to The King of Kings
You are my everything. And I will adore You"

65. Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightening, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
To You, the only wise King

66. Chorus:
Holy, Holy, Holy is The Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing, "Praise to The King of Kings
You are my everything. And I will adore You"

67. Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your Name
Jesus, Your Name is power, breath and living water
Such a marvelous mystery

68. Chorus:
Holy, Holy, Holy is The Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing, "Praise to The King of Kings
You are my everything. And I will adore You"

69. Chorus:
Holy, Holy, Holy is The Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing, "Praise to The King of Kings
You are my everything. And I will adore You"

70. L2R
Loving God
Loving Others
Reaching The World

71. What the Kingdom is Like
Matthew 13:24-43 71

72. Why Parables? Parables “are designed to Capture the listener
make him a participant,
overturning his world view and
leading him to call in question his most basic values”
D.A. Carson citing A. C. Thiselton’s work 72

73. The Kingdom of Heaven 5 Phases (Wm. MacDonald)
Jesus’ Earthly
“At Hand” in
Ministry
Present
Day
Prophesied
in OT
Interim Phase
Millennial
Kingdom
Everlasting Kingdom
Read 13:24 Kingdom = reign
How does it differ from the kingdom of God or Christ?
The term is used interchangeably in the synoptic gospels (e.g. Matt 19:23-24 cf. Mark 10:23-25) 1 2 3 4 5 73

74. The X-Factor
Greek letter for X is pronounced “Ki” and is spelled “Chi”
Chiastic structure
has parallel
or symmetrical qualities
Notice the REFLECTION of the Castle in the lake.
Chiastic structure (also called chiastic pattern or ring structure) is a literary structure used in the Torah, the Bible, as well as in other (older) texts. Concepts or ideas are placed in a special symmetric order or pattern in a chiastic structure to emphasize them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiastic_structure
Note the mirror image (like the ppt background image) in structure that emerges
Just like the letter x reflects itself above or below middle 74

75. The X-Factor in Matthew 13
1st parable to crowd & Exploration with disciples (3-23)
3 more parables to crowd (24-33)
Explanation to Disciples
(34-43)
What beauty! This also shows the literary skill of Matthew who was writing to Jews. Jews would appreciate the Chiastic structure.
3 more parables to disciples (44-50)
Exploration with disciples & last parable to disciples (51-52)
David Wenham’s idea discussed by D.A. Carson 75

76. “The kingdom of heaven is like…”
4 Parables Taught to Each
To the Crowd
To the Disciples
Four Soils (3-23)
Wheat & Tares (24-30)
Mustard Seed (31-32)
Yeasted Dough (33)
Hidden Treasure (44)
Greatest Pearl (45-46)
Drag Net (47-50)
Steward Treasures (52)
Matthew 13 76

77. “The kingdom of heaven is like…”
Key Truths are Caught in Each
For the Crowd
For the Disciples
Jesus is Sower
We are active
Transformational
Fruitfulness
Time is implicit
Do you catch these? Interested = disciple (learner or follower). Disinterested = deaf listener or earless spectator
Active: WE must respond. WE are fruitful and influential.
TRANSFORMATIONAL: Each parable shows fundamental change occurs that cannot be un-made. Good soil, seed and yeast all transform and are different than in the beginning. JESUS changes me.
FRUITFULNESS: Each change makes a contribution. The farmer receives a harvest and the field is better for it.
TIME: None of this is instant. God is patient. He will wait for the harvest in the individual life and in His kingdom. 77

78. “The kingdom of heaven is like…”
Key Truths are Caught in Each
For the Crowd
For the Disciples
Jesus is Sower
We are active
Transformational
Fruitfulness
Time is implicit
Jesus is Savior
We are acted upon
Relational
Preciousness
Value is implicit
All the parables to the disciples are intimate. They show the other side of this work of salvation: HIS great sacrifice and how precious we are.
SAVIOR: It’s all about His sacrificial effort on our behalf.
RECIPIENTS of GRACE: We are the good seed by His grace. He’s paid everything to have this relationship with us.
RELATIONAL: He seeks to have us for His own. Whether hidden treasure, pearl, catch, or household treasure, we are HIS.
PRECIOUSNESS: Incredible value is placed on us—Christ’s death
VALUE: Each story conveys the inherent worth of our souls & His prize in us. 78

79. 4 Parables & Key Questions
Parables for the Crowd
4 Parables & Key Questions
Parable
Question
Four Soils (3-23)
Wheat & Tares (24-30)
Mustard Seed (31-32)
Yeasted Dough (33)
How do you respond?
Whose son are you?
Are you seed or bird?
Are you part of God’s influence?
Matthew 13 79

80. WHEAT TARES Read 13:24-30, then expound.
25: They did nothing wrong. This is not about their sleeping, but about the enemy’s stealth.
26-27 God is ONLY good (James 1:13. No evil comes from Him. Bad seed comes from another.
28 Our ideas of what would be best are not His ideas. He truly knows best.
29 God knows what harm would be done to his crop, his planting, were he to act in haste. Are you not glad he is patient with your process? He wants to see you into fruitfulness! He will wait till all has come to fruition, and then the harvest and judgment will come.
30 First the judgment, then the reward. First bound the tares and burned them. None was loose or lost to this judgment of fire.
Afterwards, all that’s left is what is good and God’s planting.
WHEAT
TARES 80

81. WHEAT TARES Whose son are you? Tares are called darnel or false wheat.
Their heads do not bow-- Life without Jesus may have a head, but it’s one of pride.
When full they become black, not golden.
NOXIOUS & INTOXICATING, making one sick—poison of self-reliance will delude one into thinking they don’t need Jesus
ALARMINGLY PLENTIFUL in Lebanon and other parts of Palestine
WHEAT
TARES 81

82. “Country of Ill-Will”
Sowing this wild grass deliberately (as in our Lord's parable), was a not unusual practice. The following is a quotation from an old newspaper:
'The Country of Ill-Will is the by-name of a district hard by St. Arnaud, in the north of France. There tenants, when ejected by a landlord, or when they have ended their tenancy on uncomfortable terms, have been in the habit of spoiling the crop to come by vindictively sowing tares, and other coarse strangling weeds, among the wheat, whence has been derived the sinister name of the district. 82

83. MUSTARD SEED PLANT
Read The primary thrust: the insignificant beginning to the kingdom would nevertheless become a large presence. Don’t despise the day of small things. Also the change would be dramatic. The plant looks nothing like its seed. It was easy to overlook Jesus as a rabble rouser and flash in the pan. Many treated him that way (John 10:20—“He has a demon and is insane; why listen to him?!”). Yet the resurrection sprouted forth from the ground and up grew Christianity!
A secondary thrust may have to do with whose you are. Notice this theme is flowing in these first three parables: Good soil fruit producing, Wheat producing good seed, and God’s planted mustard seed. If you ARE the plant, you remain the plant. 83

84. MUSTARD SEED PLANT Are you seed or bird?
Birds take it or leave it. In 1st: bird just consumes seed. In #3, birds nest. In neither parable does a bird transform
Christians = God’s plant, an expanding life at work within.
Nesting in Christianity doesn’t make one a genuine Christian any more than sitting on a couch makes me a sofa. Don’t let your comfortable perch in Christianity deceive you into thinking you ARE a Christian. Here are 4 different “birds” that nest among Christians:
Cults deny Jesus’ divinity (JWs, Mormons, Christian Scientists)
Religious rituals add to Jesus finished work for salvation (Rosaries, penitential acts)
Humanistic ideas deny the Holy Spirit’s role making him part of spirituality, and elevating man’s own spirit
Worldly notions compromise God as Father into Father of All or Mother Earth emphasizing inclusiveness & humanitarian efforts. Disregard the Word of God as final authority, making it equal or inferior to human experience or other so called “sacred” books. 84

85. LEAVENED BREAD Are you part of God’s influence?
Read 33. Just like the lion can have mixed uses for the devil AND Christ, so too leaven.
It is pervasive.
It is subtle or not readily seen, but very effective.
There’s no stopping it!
The kingdom of heaven has advanced through fierce persecution and tender revivals.
It has touched lives in urban centers and remote jungle villages.
It spans 2 millennia and shows no lack of strength.
It began in the hearts of a few Jewish disciples in Jerusalem and has gone viral into Gentile hearts from sub-Saharan Africa to the frigid Artic circle. 85

86. He who has ears, let him hear
Read 13:34-43
Matt 13:35 is from LXX of Psalm 78:2
“Fulfilled”, remember from the Sermon on the Mount, means to point toward and come to completion. This phrase in the psalm pointed toward Jesus! It was also fulfilled or completed in Jesus in that He uttered mysteries about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Do you have ears to hear? Judgment will come and all evil will be punished and all found in Christ will be gathered and will SHINE!
Judas was there but had no spiritual ears!
Those who are followers, the good soil & seed, the influenced & influencing will SHINE. May the Lord comfort us with these truths. 86