"And he said, 'With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.'"

If you want proof that God doesn't need big numbers to change the world, look at who Jesus commissioned when He stood on that hillside and declared, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." He was not speaking to thousands, He was speaking to eleven. ELEVEN! Eleven imperfect, doubting, recently scattered men and He entrusted the restoration of His Father's original design to them.

That is incredible, because it means multiplication doesn't require a massive church or a famous platform. It requires a faithful disciple. Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is first sown on the ground is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. It doesn't seem like much compared to everything around it. Yet when it grows up, it becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out branches so large that birds come and nest in its shade.

And notice... Jesus wasn't talking about a church when He said this. He was talking about a Kingdom. That matters because when we hear "kingdom of God" we often think "church." But we should hear "church" and think "kingdom of God." The Kingdom, when it is sown into the ground, becomes greater than all the other things around it. Not because of its size at the beginning, but because of what it becomes through faithful multiplication.

So this is not about building something bigger. It's about being obedient with what has already been given. We don't need to be big, we need to be obedient; we don't need to add, we need to multiply. As I said Sunday...it's not about seating capacity, it's about sending capacity.

And here's the risk of growing by addition instead of multiplication.

Addition dilutes your identity.
Multiplication intensifies it.

Addition says, "I reached one, now let me reach another," and that's exhausting because it puts the weight on one person in a cycle that never ends. Multiplication says, "I reached one who reached another who reached another," and that's the Kingdom because it puts the weight on the Spirit of God working through every willing disciple.

Right now some of you may feel like you don't know where to start or what this looks like. But just think about it this way. Discipleship is like raising a child. Nobody has time to raise a kid, but that never stopped anybody from having one. You make time for what matters. You make time to raise children because the investment carries eternal weight. Discipleship is no different. When we don't disciple, we don't exercise dominion. And when we don't exercise dominion, we live beneath what Christ restored for us.

So the question has never been, "Can we grow?" The question is, "Will we multiply?" And the answer starts with you... one faithful step, one relationship, one act of obedience.
Because the same God who entrusted the Great Commission to eleven imperfect men is now entrusting it to us.

Is your faith something you're holding on to, or something you're passing on?

Before the week ends, reach out to one person... a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, a family member... and begin a spiritual conversation. It doesn't have to be formal. Just share what God has been doing in your life and invite them into the journey.