The Lord has spoken many times in parables of what the kingdom of God is like, among those today we will share Luke 13:18-21.

 

Luke 13:18-21

“He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Three measures of flour are 1 Ephah, which is about 22 liters. 1 Ephah is 10 Omer, and 1 Omer is the amount of the manna as the daily bread of one Israelite man in the wilderness. The three measures of flour are the maximum amount of bread a woman can bake in a day, which is usually the amount of bread that can be eaten by 9-10 people a day.

When Abraham served the messengers of the LORD, he prepared three measures of flour, which is the same amount of flour as Gideon made an unleavened bread for the angel of the LORD with or the amount Hannah offered as a sacrifice when she entrusted Samuel to the temple.

When making bread, there is leaven put inside the dough, and it is very small. But over time, the dough slowly swells, becoming a few times bigger than it was.

It is such a small amount of leaven put inside three measures of flour.

Jesus Christ, who left the throne of heaven and came as a missionary on this earth, compares himself to leaven and a single grain of wheat.

You can't see the harvest when a seed rots. It’s just getting rotten. The Lord explains the kingdom of God as s single, dying and rotting seed of wheat. The seed must die to see the harvest.

 

John 12:24

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

The video I would love to share with you today is a video specially filmed and edited for past 2 weeks by the Samsun Protestant Church in Turkey for the SWM intercessors.

It is a joy to plant a Church of Jesus Christ in a Muslim country, but it is not that easy. Even if a Muslim heard the gospel and accepted Jesus as his Savior, the sufferings he has to go through to keep this faith are numerous and severe.

We have many Muslim members who have been married two or three times. Because when Muslims believe in Jesus, families see this as a dishonor, and kill them or kick them out of their community. You can meet a lot of those brothers and sisters who have divorced and been turned away from their children.

There is a need to rent a building when planting a church in an area. The numbers of member are more than able to be gathered at a house. Problems are arising with the Muslim neighbors around them. It is also difficult to tell the owners that we are using their building for the church. Even if the owner agrees with a good heart, you might have to leave the building under pressure from the neighbors, the police, or the local government.

The area is near the Black Sea. And if you sail north for 24 hours by a small boat from Samsun, you will arrive in Ukraine, which is now at war with Russia. For various reasons, many refugees from there came to live in Samsun. We have shared with you many times that there were many persecutions and tribulations when the Church of God was built in Samsun, the gateway to the Black Sea region.

Through God's faithful grace with the prayers and financial support of many precious intercessors, the Samsun Church grew as a gateway church. They have planted six more local churches in the Black Sea area. Hallelujah!

Over the past two weeks, the leaders of the Samsun Church have been driving 100 to 300 miles to see and film how their branch churches from Samsun built in Ordu, Synop, Chorum, Amacia, Axalai, and Erzinjan, serving refugees and doing various ministries.

They have sent some amazing news that there were more than 200 newly baptized believers who confessed and confirmed their faith through baptism in 2022, despite their safety concerns.

It used to be unsettling for the church members to be taken photos, but now they are opening the church buildings and even giving us the photos of church gathering with their faces on for our united intercessors. This kind of fellowship is not possible without deep trust, so I think the value of this video is truly a precious gift that allows us to know how the kingdom of God is expanding in the Black Sea.

I give all the glory to God, and share this gift with you, our precious partners.

When the refugees came to Turkey in 2014, many refugees came to Samsun although it is far from the Syrian border. In particular, there were many Iranian refugees and Iraqi refugees. Your B&b (Bible & bread) campaign offerings have been delivered to the Samsun Church several times, and whenever those arrived Muslim children shouted, "The church is coming!” They are happy to see us coming for them with supplies and prayers. Muslims who have experienced the service of love is waiting for the church to come to them.

Please pray for the 200 Turkish brothers and refugee brothers who have received Jesus as their Savior while experiencing God's love through the help of the Church.

There is no crown of glory without the cross of suffering.

I pray that Holy Spirit would tell us how can we bear the suffering together.

There are also a number of ministries that SWM is preparing and inviting in 2023. We are well aware that America and whole world are facing various financial difficulties in the COVID time. And there is still war going in Ukraine that begun by Russia's invasion. You and the church you serve might also be experiencing financial difficulties. We, SWM is no exception.

When we face the tribulations that come our way, we need to think about these words again.

Let's listen to Matthew 6:31-34.

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Rather than worries about what to eat or to drink, let us consider the Muslim background believers and their local churches, and also the refugees with the love of our heavenly Father.

There is no crown of glory without the cross of suffering.