The International Sunday School Lesson February 1, 2026
Hi, I’m Donnie Bryson. Welcome to another edition of the International Sunday School lesson. Today’s lesson is for February 1, 2026. The title of today’s lesson is, “The Christian Church”. It’s taken from Mark 4:26-32 and Ephesians 4:4-6 and Ephesians 4:11-18. Today, we’ll be talking about how God blesses the church and how it grows.
1. Seeds Sprouting Silently
These two parables talk about how it’s God that brings the increase.
Mark 4:26–29 “And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.””
Here we see the description of the work of God. The growth in the ministry isn’t because of our skills. It’s because God brings the increase. Our only job is to be obedient to what God calls us to do. This parable can be viewed from two separate angles. One angle is growth in a ministry or a church. It’s true that God brings the increase. The other angle is the growth in our individual life. Yes, we have to be receptive but it’s the work of God that brings that change in our life. Fight the pride and give all glory to God for both blessings.
2. Small Things, Significant Growth
The mustard seed is very tiny. It takes 725-760 seeds to weigh only a gram. But, the mustard plant can grow 10-12 feet tall in just a few weeks.
Mark 4:30–32 “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.””
It’s a miracle when God starts to work in our churches, our lives, our families, and our community. He can take such a small thing and bring about such a mighty miracle.
3. Sevenfold Spiritual Singularity
We should press toward unity. Unity doesn’t mean we are mere duplicates of each other. We don’t have to look the same or sound the same. It’s unity of purpose.
Ephesians 4:4–6 “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
We must be unified. We need to understand what we mean by unified though. Unified does not mean we have the same type of music in our church. Unified doesn’t mean we vote the same way. Unified doesn’t mean we work the same type of job. Unified means we all believe in Jesus and study the word of God. Unified means we show love every chance we get as individuals and as a group. Unified means we share the gospel of the Lord Jesus every chance we get.
4. Gifts Given for Growth
Let’s talk about the gift of workers that God gives the church.
Ephesians 4:11–14 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
The way I read these verses is that God gives these people to the church to bless the church. I don’t read this as someone praying for God to give them the gift of being an apostle. I read it as God called the apostles and gave them to the church to bless the church. While I’m talking about this section of scripture, let me be crystal clear about a few things. First, I believe in spiritual gifting. I believe God continues to give the gift of prophecy and words of knowledge. There’ve been a few times in my life that I have experienced those gifts in both in myself and in others. I’ve also watched late night TV and seen so-called prophets trying to pull one over on folks. Friends, if it sounds like a money-making scheme, it almost always is. I’m just saying, be careful who you follow and who you write those 1,000 seed-faith checks to.
5. Truthful Talking Toward Maturity
Two characteristics of proper teaching. Speak the truth. Say it in love.
Ephesians 4:15–18 “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”
We need to focus on growing. Not on numbers or finances. Not even in just knowledge. We need to grow in truth and love. It isn’t enough to be only technically correct. Our words must be centered in love. Correct in the hands of hate does as much damage as a lie held in hands of tenderness. Truth and love must be hand-in-hand.
Concluding Thoughts
Friends, a couple of concluding thoughts. Give all glory to God for your growth and your church’s growth. One waters and another sows but God gives the increase. Grow in love and truth. Well friends, good Lord willing, I’ll be back with you next weekend.
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