Leave The Leaven Alone | Pastor Jose

·42 min·4 clips

Pastor Jose asks the congregation about baking to reveal how yeast, called leaven in the Bible, is essential for bread to rise.

Pastor Jose begins the sermon by engaging the congregation with a question about baking, introducing yeast as leaven, an essential ingredient for bread to rise. He connects this to the biblical Feast of Unleavened Bread, which commemorates the Israelites' hurried exodus from Egypt. Pastor Jose explains that leaven is often used in the Bible as an illustration, starting with positive aspects: Jesus compares the kingdom of God to yeast that a woman mixes into 60 pounds of flour, showing how a small amount can influence a large quantity. He emphasizes that individual influence, like yeast, can impact many people, using the example of foster care youth who succeed because one caring adult believed in them. The sermon then shifts to negative leaven, citing Galatians 5:9 that a little yeast leavens the whole lump, applied to negativity like gossip or rude comments. Pastor Jose warns against negative influences within personal circles and the church, referencing Proverbs about avoiding angry or foolish companions. He delves into the Old Testament story from Numbers 13, where ten spies give a negative report about the Promised Land, causing fear and leading Israel to wander in the desert for 40 years, while only Caleb and Joshua maintained faith. Pastor Jose highlights that God was angered by this lack of faith and that negative leaven can ruin destinies, even for believers. He lists specific scriptures identifying negative leaven characteristics: boasting in 1 Corinthians 5:6, malice and wickedness in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, hypocrisy in Luke 12:1, and the teachings of the Pharisees and Herod in Mark 8:15 and Matthew 16:11. The sermon concludes with a call to let love, particularly the love of Christ, be the positive leaven in one's life, avoiding negative influences. Throughout, Pastor Jose uses practical examples, biblical references, and personal anecdotes to reinforce the message about the power of influence.

As heard by us

Yeast, love, and everyday negativity frame a practical sermon about spiritual influence.

Bread gives this single-episode review a simple, memorable frame for a sermon about influence. The message moves from yeast lifting dough to love shaping a church, then turns the same image toward gossip, rude comments, harmful looks, and the kind of negativity that can spread…

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Why you'd press play

You may never hear yeast, gossip, or a rude look quite the same way again.

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