WEBVTT 00:00:00.001 --> 00:00:23.840 - So if you would, turn to Matthew chapter 13, that's where we're going to be this morning 00:00:23.840 --> 00:00:24.840 together. 00:00:24.840 --> 00:00:30.520 I just want to encourage parents, if you didn't have the opportunity to get your kids connected 00:00:30.520 --> 00:00:35.380 with Kids Camp this past week, please do that next year. 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:37.860 They have a fantastic time. 00:00:37.860 --> 00:00:42.920 It's also a wonderful time of growth, spiritual growth, and so I want to encourage you to 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.240 get them plugged in to that. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:50.460 Also pray for Pastor Beau and his wife Erin. 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:55.360 They left out yesterday to get ready to receive the students and adults who will be heading 00:00:55.360 --> 00:00:58.240 to the children's home in Black Mountain. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.400 Joel, Pastor Joel, along with all the students and adults, they'll be leaving out this afternoon, 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:06.200 so pray for them all during the week. 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:09.600 We've had a partnership with the children's home there in Black Mountain for many, many 00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:10.600 years. 00:01:10.600 --> 00:01:16.000 I go up there and just kind of help get the camp ready, do a lot of upkeep and things 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.620 like that. 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:24.080 So they really work hard during this week, the adults and the students, and so just keep 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:31.780 them in prayer throughout this week as they're there serving and allowing God to use them 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:37.160 as well as working their life as they serve God. 00:01:37.160 --> 00:01:41.200 If you would, join me in prayer, and then we're going to jump into Matthew chapter 13. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:46.960 Father, we give you thanks that we're able to come to worship you this morning. 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:51.520 Father, with all the various things that may be going on in our mind and our heart and 00:01:51.520 --> 00:01:58.440 our spirit, Lord, we know that you are aware of those things and that, Lord, you're a constant 00:01:58.440 --> 00:02:00.800 in the life of the follower. 00:02:00.800 --> 00:02:06.000 And so, Lord, I pray now as we look at Matthew 13 together, Father, you would just guide 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:13.640 us to understand your word, and Lord, guide us to be obedient to your word and its application. 00:02:13.640 --> 00:02:18.160 Lord, we love you and we thank you, and we ask this prayer in your name. 00:02:18.160 --> 00:02:19.160 Amen. 00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:25.400 So in Matthew chapter 13, chapter 13 is one of those chapters of Scripture where there's 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:32.400 seven parables that we discover here in this chapter that Jesus is teaching spiritual truth 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:36.040 by using something that the people can identify with. 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:40.880 But before we jump into verse 1 of 13, I want to jump down to verse 9. 00:02:40.880 --> 00:02:44.480 So if you've got your Bible open or you're looking at it on your phone, jump down to 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:52.680 verse 9 where Jesus says, "He who has ears, let him hear." 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:57.060 He who has ears, let him hear. 00:02:57.060 --> 00:02:59.440 What did Jesus want them to hear? 00:02:59.440 --> 00:03:01.880 What does Jesus want you and I to hear? 00:03:01.880 --> 00:03:05.980 Anytime you see something like that in Scripture, it should grab your attention, it should grab 00:03:05.980 --> 00:03:11.880 my attention to really focus on what God's word is about to say. 00:03:11.880 --> 00:03:15.080 So we're going to read the first several verses together, and then we're going to come back, 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:18.320 and we're going to return to it, and we're going to start breaking it down and looking 00:03:18.320 --> 00:03:20.800 at it together. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.320 Verse 1, "That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea, and great 00:03:25.320 --> 00:03:29.740 crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:34.800 And the whole crowd stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables, saying, 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:40.720 'A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds 00:03:40.720 --> 00:03:43.320 came and devoured them. 00:03:43.320 --> 00:03:48.000 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.240 sprang up since they had no depth of soil. 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:55.160 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered 00:03:55.160 --> 00:03:56.800 away. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.680 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:05.560 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:07.040 thirty. 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:10.520 He who has ears, let him hear.' 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:15.320 Then the disciples came and said to him, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?' 00:04:15.320 --> 00:04:20.120 And he answered them, 'To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:23.920 heaven, but to them it has not been given. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:30.280 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. 00:04:30.280 --> 00:04:34.840 But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 00:04:34.840 --> 00:04:39.940 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do 00:04:39.940 --> 00:04:42.120 not hear, nor do they understand.' 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:48.340 Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, 'You will indeed hear, 00:04:48.340 --> 00:04:52.920 but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive.' 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:58.680 For this, people's hearts have grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:00.720 and their eyes they have closed. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:05.920 At least they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:10.460 their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. 00:05:10.460 --> 00:05:15.360 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:20.460 For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see, 00:05:20.460 --> 00:05:26.360 and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:31.920 The beautiful part of this parable is Jesus shares the parable, but now you and I get 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:35.980 to see Jesus explain the parable. 00:05:35.980 --> 00:05:39.040 Verse 18, 'Hear then the parable of the sower. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.600 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:48.320 and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:50.820 This is what was sown along the path. 00:05:50.820 --> 00:05:54.560 As for what was sown on the rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:57.120 receives it with joy. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:01.000 Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:06.120 And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:07.600 away. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:11.600 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:17.720 of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:22.640 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands 00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:23.640 it. 00:06:23.640 --> 00:06:30.720 He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold and another sixty and another 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.640 thirty.'" 00:06:33.640 --> 00:06:38.920 Here you and I get to see the teaching of Jesus, and we get to understand how God's 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:43.000 Word works in an individual's life. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:47.560 The seed that the Scripture is talking about, that Jesus is talking about, is the gospel, 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:52.520 is the truth, is the truth of a relationship of God, is the truth of salvation that is 00:06:52.520 --> 00:06:54.960 only found in God. 00:06:54.960 --> 00:06:57.380 It points to the kingdom of God. 00:06:57.380 --> 00:07:00.360 The soil is your heart, the soil is my heart. 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:03.960 The soil is the person sitting next to you. 00:07:03.960 --> 00:07:07.920 The soil is the heart of the person that's your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend, 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.920 your classmate, person on the other side of the world. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:17.520 The soil that Jesus talks about is the individual's heart and the receptivity of that heart. 00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:25.880 The outcome of that is based on your decision and my decision. 00:07:25.880 --> 00:07:30.760 The outcome is based on the hearers that Jesus is talking to in the crowd. 00:07:30.760 --> 00:07:34.120 So let's look together, starting back at verse 1. 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:41.800 It says, "That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea." 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:45.720 This has a lot of nuggets for you and I, just in this verse alone. 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:51.440 See previously in chapter 12, the Pharisees once again have been trying to trap Jesus. 00:07:51.440 --> 00:07:54.040 You know their ultimate goal is to get him to the cross, right? 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:55.400 They want to crucify him. 00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:56.480 They want to get rid of him. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:57.600 That's their goal. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.680 God had already had the plan set forth, right? 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:05.200 That Jesus would die on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin and my sin. 00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:09.180 They didn't realize they were in a part of that, but they're chasing after him. 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:11.360 They're trying to get to him. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.480 So Jesus at this point, he's pretty spent. 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:17.760 Have you had those weeks where you feel like you're spent, your mind just can't take on 00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:21.680 anything else, your emotions can't take on anything else? 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:28.640 It says here, "That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea." 00:08:28.640 --> 00:08:34.480 Now I know some of you in this room, your quiet place, your best place is to go to the 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:36.000 ocean. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.440 Dig your toes in the sand. 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:43.440 Some of you, your best place is to go to the mountains and enjoy the fresh air of the mountains. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.040 And the breeze of the trees. 00:08:46.040 --> 00:08:49.920 Jesus went and sat beside the sea. 00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:54.480 The one that you and I are to model our life after, right? 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.960 Pushes away from a crowd of people, pushes away from all the noise and things that he 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:02.960 experiences, and he finds the sea of Galilee and he sits there. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:08.320 It's just something for you and I to think about in our life where sometimes we've got 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:11.240 to call a time out. 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:14.680 We've got to get off to ourself. 00:09:14.680 --> 00:09:19.480 And then in verse two, it's all over, "And great crowds gathered around him. 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:21.400 He couldn't shake them very long. 00:09:21.400 --> 00:09:23.480 They found him. 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:26.360 So they got into a boat and he sat down. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:34.080 And the whole crowd stood on the beach and he told them many things in parables, saying." 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.360 So Jesus was going to tell them stories. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.880 But in those stories, he wants them to hear the spiritual truth. 00:09:40.880 --> 00:09:44.960 He wants them to hear what he's really trying to get at. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:50.160 The stories were to make a connection with them on a spiritual level, not just to be 00:09:50.160 --> 00:09:53.320 a story. 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:57.920 The last part of verse three says, "A sower went out to sow. 00:09:57.920 --> 00:10:01.440 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.920 And the birds came and devoured them." 00:10:05.920 --> 00:10:11.960 I remember as a kid, I was out in the yard with my dad and every so often he would go 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:17.320 to the store and buy some seed just to fill up those dead spots in the yard, right? 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:21.200 And we'd go out there and we would throw seed all over the place, not really knowing what 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:22.760 the seed is. 00:10:22.760 --> 00:10:26.760 Later in life, my dad and I would have these conversations about what seed you should plant 00:10:26.760 --> 00:10:28.000 and what seed you shouldn't plant. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.160 But I remember him saying when I was little then, he says, "You know, you've got to cover 00:10:31.160 --> 00:10:32.160 up these seeds. 00:10:32.160 --> 00:10:34.000 You've got to work them into the soil. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.520 You've got to cover them up with straw because if you don't, the birds are going to come 00:10:37.520 --> 00:10:41.040 along and they're going to take the seed." 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:42.880 And here Jesus is using that. 00:10:42.880 --> 00:10:45.520 Jesus says that because Jesus knows. 00:10:45.520 --> 00:10:48.160 And he knows the people would identify this. 00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:52.360 But he says there, it's a very interesting word, he says, "But the birds came and devoured." 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:57.400 Devoured is a very strong word, isn't it? 00:10:57.400 --> 00:11:01.280 I get the picture of devoured, that it's getting up everything. 00:11:01.280 --> 00:11:04.840 There's not going to be anything left. 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:11.400 Now skip with me down to verses 18 and 19 as Jesus then begins to explain to his disciples 00:11:11.400 --> 00:11:13.800 what this part of the parable means. 00:11:13.800 --> 00:11:18.280 He says, "Hear then the parable of the sower. 00:11:18.280 --> 00:11:25.720 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, when anyone, you and I, them, hear the words 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:30.560 of God, the words of the kingdom, the truth of God's word. 00:11:30.560 --> 00:11:32.760 For them it was the Old Testament readings. 00:11:32.760 --> 00:11:35.940 For you and I it's Old Testament, New Testament. 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:39.100 Everything that we have in God's word. 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:45.240 Anyone who hears the words of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:51.160 and snatches away what has been sown in his heart." 00:11:51.160 --> 00:11:57.480 So anyone hears the word of God, it is actually sown in the heart, even though Satan comes 00:11:57.480 --> 00:11:59.120 and snatches it. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:01.280 So let's look at some things together. 00:12:01.280 --> 00:12:09.400 One, don't be afraid or hesitate to ask someone for understanding of the Bible. 00:12:09.400 --> 00:12:11.760 Ask for clarity. 00:12:11.760 --> 00:12:12.840 Ask for insight. 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:14.360 Ask for the answer. 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:18.040 You and I don't know everything there is to know about God's word. 00:12:18.040 --> 00:12:21.800 The great scholars that we look to to give understanding of the scriptures to be able 00:12:21.800 --> 00:12:26.980 to teach and preach, they don't know everything there is to know about God's word. 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:29.420 You and I have to ask questions. 00:12:29.420 --> 00:12:31.500 We have to seek out. 00:12:31.500 --> 00:12:38.300 In Acts chapter 8, we get to look in on the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. 00:12:38.300 --> 00:12:42.900 In verse 26 of Acts 8 it says, "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Rise and go towards 00:12:42.900 --> 00:12:47.140 the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 00:12:47.140 --> 00:12:48.940 This is a desert place.' 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:53.900 And he rose and he went, and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, 00:12:53.900 --> 00:12:57.580 queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:02.740 He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:05.340 reading the prophet Isaiah. 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:08.540 And the spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and join this chariot.' 00:13:08.540 --> 00:13:15.740 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:19.140 what you are reading?'" 00:13:19.140 --> 00:13:20.700 What a great question. 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:25.660 If you're ever in an area and you see somebody reading the Bible, that might be a good way 00:13:25.660 --> 00:13:30.180 to kind of go talk to them and find out what's going on and say, "Do you understand what 00:13:30.180 --> 00:13:33.060 you're reading?" 00:13:33.060 --> 00:13:42.220 And the Ethiopian eunuch said this, "How can I unless someone guides me? 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:45.780 How can I unless someone guides me?" 00:13:45.780 --> 00:13:51.180 See, anybody has the opportunity to gain understanding of God's Word. 00:13:51.180 --> 00:13:56.780 You and I simply have to ask the question, "Help me understand." 00:13:56.780 --> 00:14:03.220 How many times do you and I go through life not understanding something and we fear to 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:05.720 ask the question? 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:10.260 We fear to go up to somebody and say, "Will you give me some clarity on that?" 00:14:10.260 --> 00:14:11.260 Why? 00:14:11.260 --> 00:14:12.940 Why is there fear in that? 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:14.820 It shouldn't be. 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:18.660 You and I should be able to go and ask and look for clarity. 00:14:18.660 --> 00:14:23.580 Look for someone, someone that you can trust, someone that can give you guidance in God's 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:28.260 Word, someone that you know because you have observed their walk with the Lord and know 00:14:28.260 --> 00:14:31.420 that if I go to them, they will give me some understanding. 00:14:31.420 --> 00:14:33.580 They will give me some context. 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:38.900 It's what we see with the Ethiopian eunuch and with God sending Philip over there. 00:14:38.900 --> 00:14:43.700 And it goes on to say, "And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:48.300 Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with the Scripture." 00:14:48.300 --> 00:14:53.060 Not beginning with Philip had a great story to tell the Ethiopian, but it says that Philip 00:14:53.060 --> 00:14:55.340 began with the Scripture. 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:58.460 That's the best place to start. 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:02.780 When somebody comes to you and wants guidance, you begin with the Scripture. 00:15:02.780 --> 00:15:07.140 He told him the good news about Jesus and as they were going along the road, they came 00:15:07.140 --> 00:15:10.300 to some water and the eunuch said, "See, here is water. 00:15:10.300 --> 00:15:13.100 What prevents me from being baptized?" 00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:16.580 And he commanded the chariot to stop and they both went down into the water, Philip and 00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:19.820 the eunuch, and he baptized him. 00:15:19.820 --> 00:15:26.940 See, what we understand and we see here that there is such a thing as a person with a hard 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:35.660 heart, a person that's not receptive to the truths and the words of God. 00:15:35.660 --> 00:15:40.380 And so for whatever in their mechanism, in their mind, and in their spirit, they put 00:15:40.380 --> 00:15:47.660 up walls, they put up barriers, and they don't want to hear anything from God. 00:15:47.660 --> 00:15:55.260 This past June, Trisha and I, my wife, our youngest son, Brennan, got to go spend three 00:15:55.260 --> 00:15:59.140 weeks in New York City with Campus Crusade for Christ. 00:15:59.140 --> 00:16:03.820 Their sole goal was to go on college campuses and go into parks to simply share the gospel. 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:05.940 That was the goal, and that's what they did. 00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:10.460 And one of the things he shared with us when he got back, he said, "One of the hardest 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:16.540 thing and most disappointing thing was when they spoke to so many people that already 00:16:16.540 --> 00:16:21.380 have answers for why they don't want to know the Lord." 00:16:21.380 --> 00:16:26.820 They already have their defense mechanism, their defense questions, they kind of engage 00:16:26.820 --> 00:16:30.220 more in an argument instead of a conversation. 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:33.580 You see, there's folks that are like that. 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:37.220 Their heart is hard, and Jesus is pointing to the crowd, he says, and he's pointing it 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:43.500 out because there's some in that crowd that have a hard heart towards the things of God. 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:49.180 But what Jesus also points out in that passage of Scripture is that Satan is there to snatch 00:16:49.180 --> 00:16:50.180 it. 00:16:50.180 --> 00:16:56.100 And you and I have to realize that Satan is real, he's a real deal. 00:16:56.100 --> 00:16:59.780 And he's not there for our good. 00:16:59.780 --> 00:17:05.780 He desires more than anything for you not to be in a relationship with God. 00:17:05.780 --> 00:17:11.580 He desires more than anything to confuse you, to get your mind off the things of God and 00:17:11.580 --> 00:17:13.940 get it on anything other than God. 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:16.180 That is who he is. 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:18.900 That is his tactics. 00:17:18.900 --> 00:17:24.700 Jesus said over in John 10:10, he says, "The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and destroy." 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:28.300 That's not pleasant words. 00:17:28.300 --> 00:17:34.860 Satan desires to crush, to kill, steal, and destroy any possible word from God to your 00:17:34.860 --> 00:17:37.580 life. 00:17:37.580 --> 00:17:42.340 And Jesus says there to the crowd, to the disciples, "That's what's happening here when 00:17:42.340 --> 00:17:45.780 the seed falls on hard ground. 00:17:45.780 --> 00:17:49.860 Satan comes and snatches it away." 00:17:49.860 --> 00:17:54.780 And then in verse 5, Jesus goes on to the second individual he's talking about, he says, 00:17:54.780 --> 00:18:00.700 "Their seed falls on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:06.140 sprang up since they had no depth of soil." 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:11.100 Interesting there in verse 5 where it says, "No depth of soil." 00:18:11.100 --> 00:18:17.380 When I read that, I begin to ask myself the question for myself and for all of us is, 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:20.820 how deep is our soil to receive the word of God? 00:18:20.820 --> 00:18:27.060 How deep is our soil to allow the things of God to grow in our life? 00:18:27.060 --> 00:18:31.460 Is it shallow like we read here, or is there depth? 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.740 Verse 6 says, "But when the sun rose, they were scorched." 00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:39.620 The seed begins to grow even though the soil is shallow. 00:18:39.620 --> 00:18:44.660 But when the sun comes up, it scorches, it burns. 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:48.340 You and I have witnessed that over the last several weeks, haven't we? 00:18:48.340 --> 00:18:52.200 You've probably got a garden that looks like it's about to go. 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.940 You've got a yard that, man, you know it's burned up. 00:18:54.940 --> 00:19:01.060 I mean, how many times can you look in your yard in the summertime and see oak leaves, 00:19:01.060 --> 00:19:06.940 if you have oak trees, laying in your yard because it's so hot? 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:14.780 The sun comes and it scorches, and it says, "And since they had no root, they withered 00:19:14.780 --> 00:19:15.780 away." 00:19:15.780 --> 00:19:18.300 So important there, root. 00:19:18.300 --> 00:19:21.380 Since they had no root, they withered away. 00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:23.260 Root in what? 00:19:23.260 --> 00:19:28.260 For you and I, when we see the word root in Scripture, we see two different things in 00:19:28.260 --> 00:19:29.260 the Scripture. 00:19:29.260 --> 00:19:35.220 One, root, which we're referring to spiritual growth in our life, or root, where it's being 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:38.420 cut to die. 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:43.780 And Jesus pointed out that in this individual, the seed has been cast, and because the soil 00:19:43.780 --> 00:19:49.020 is so shallow, there is no root, and it will wither away. 00:19:49.020 --> 00:19:54.500 Jump down in verse 20 and 21, where Jesus begins to explain this one. 00:19:54.500 --> 00:20:00.540 He says, "For what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word of God." 00:20:00.540 --> 00:20:04.500 So again, once again, the individual is hearing. 00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:07.500 These people aren't deaf to what God is saying. 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:10.140 You and I aren't deaf to what God is saying. 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:12.620 We hear it. 00:20:12.620 --> 00:20:16.500 Hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:18.060 So this person's a little bit different. 00:20:18.060 --> 00:20:20.340 They've received the word of God. 00:20:20.340 --> 00:20:23.620 They've received what Jesus is saying with joy. 00:20:23.620 --> 00:20:25.260 It brings excitement to them. 00:20:25.260 --> 00:20:28.540 Then verse 21, "Yet he has no root in himself." 00:20:28.540 --> 00:20:32.700 Jesus said, "There's no root there." 00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:36.060 He doesn't have a root that is giving strength. 00:20:36.060 --> 00:20:39.460 He has no root that is allowing him for spiritual growth. 00:20:39.460 --> 00:20:48.980 He says, "But endures for a while, and when tribulation and persecution arise." 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:54.900 Not if persecution and tribulation will arise, but when it arise. 00:20:54.900 --> 00:20:59.660 Then he says, "The reason for it, on account of the word." 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:04.760 So the reason that this individual will receive persecution and tribulation is because they're 00:21:04.760 --> 00:21:06.900 trying to live out the word of God. 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:11.580 The word of God is in their life, and all of a sudden now they're being persecuted for 00:21:11.580 --> 00:21:14.260 being a Christian. 00:21:14.260 --> 00:21:19.180 And Jesus says, "In this person's case, immediately he falls away." 00:21:19.180 --> 00:21:21.180 The fire gets too hot. 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:22.580 The persecution is too much. 00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:24.700 The tribulation is too much. 00:21:24.700 --> 00:21:30.980 And in this case, Jesus says, "This person falls away." 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:34.920 Many times in ministry you see this happen in people's lives. 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.220 They come to a worship service. 00:21:37.220 --> 00:21:43.180 They come to a retreat or a conference, and they get all pumped up and excited for God. 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:44.380 Their life's been challenged. 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:47.140 The Holy Spirit's worked in them. 00:21:47.140 --> 00:21:50.120 God's dealing with them on something. 00:21:50.120 --> 00:21:54.100 But then when they get out of the context of that worship experience, or out of the 00:21:54.100 --> 00:21:59.340 context of that retreat, or that conference, or that seminar, then they get back to the 00:21:59.340 --> 00:22:02.220 reality of life. 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:07.500 And if they've not clinged on to God and clinged on to His word and that relationship they 00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:13.940 have, what they were experiencing with the Holy Spirit, it gets lost. 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:20.060 Whereas Jesus says here, "There's no root that takes." 00:22:20.060 --> 00:22:23.860 Listen to these verses of Scripture that talks about the root. 00:22:23.860 --> 00:22:31.820 In Proverbs 12, verse 3, we read this, "Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have 00:22:31.820 --> 00:22:34.260 deep roots." 00:22:34.260 --> 00:22:42.140 The godly, the individual who walks with God, who talks with God, who listens to God, the 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:43.500 godly have deep roots. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:53.460 Jeremiah 17, 8, "He is like a tree planted by water that sends out his roots by the stream, 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:59.020 and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in 00:22:59.020 --> 00:23:03.220 the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." 00:23:03.220 --> 00:23:04.220 Why? 00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:11.660 "Because those roots are extended out to the life source, the living water of a relationship 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:13.020 with God." 00:23:13.020 --> 00:23:16.700 That's why this individual can take the heat. 00:23:16.700 --> 00:23:22.100 That's why this individual can continue to grow when there's drought. 00:23:22.100 --> 00:23:28.860 And in Colossians 2, 7, "Let your roots grow down into him." 00:23:28.860 --> 00:23:30.660 Down into God, down into Christ. 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:37.380 Let your roots, your life, your way of being grow down into Jesus. 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:40.640 And let your lives be built on him. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:45.940 Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:48.700 thankfulness. 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:54.260 Maybe many of you have had that question yourself, "Why aren't I growing in my relationship 00:23:54.260 --> 00:23:55.260 with God?" 00:23:55.260 --> 00:23:56.820 Have you ever asked that question? 00:23:56.820 --> 00:23:59.100 Have you ever faced that question? 00:23:59.100 --> 00:24:00.380 Why am I stagnant? 00:24:00.380 --> 00:24:02.440 Why do I not see growth? 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:08.160 Maybe because your roots aren't where they need to be planted. 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:15.340 You're not connected to the source, being God, being Christ. 00:24:15.340 --> 00:24:18.220 Jesus goes on and gives us a third example. 00:24:18.220 --> 00:24:23.060 Now again, these first three, this is bad news, right? 00:24:23.060 --> 00:24:29.820 There's nothing to celebrate about these three other than they hear the truth of God's Word. 00:24:29.820 --> 00:24:37.300 In verse 7, "Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them." 00:24:37.300 --> 00:24:45.380 We've been living now in our house here in Columbia for about 23, 24 years. 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:50.340 When we moved in, in our backyard, it goes to our neighbor's backyard, and along the 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:56.100 fence they had put out muscadines I don't know how long ago. 00:24:56.100 --> 00:24:59.820 Beautiful muscadine vines all along the fence. 00:24:59.820 --> 00:25:03.860 They said to us when we moved in, "Help yourself." 00:25:03.860 --> 00:25:07.580 Wish they would have said something to the squirrels about not helping themselves. 00:25:07.580 --> 00:25:13.460 But anyways, these last two years, because they're up in age, I would usually go and 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:16.380 try to take care by getting rid of the thorns. 00:25:16.380 --> 00:25:19.700 In the last two years, I didn't do a very good job. 00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:24.980 And I was back there on that fence looking at the plants and seeing the little bitty 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:30.380 muscadines start to form, and it's overtaken by thorns. 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:36.120 You know the big long ones that have like big thick thorns, I mean they're nasty. 00:25:36.120 --> 00:25:40.660 But the ones that are just as nasty are those little bitty ones that got thorn every centimeter 00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:45.060 it seems like, and those things will rip through you. 00:25:45.060 --> 00:25:48.740 But it's just a picture of what Jesus says here. 00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:53.060 Those vines, those thorns grow up and they choke out an incredible plant, a plant that 00:25:53.060 --> 00:25:59.260 produces fruit, a plant that has a fruit that's juicy and enjoyable. 00:25:59.260 --> 00:26:05.620 Jesus says, listen, when the seed gets among the thorns, it gets choked out. 00:26:05.620 --> 00:26:08.100 There's no life that can happen. 00:26:08.100 --> 00:26:14.740 Jesus explains in verse 22, as for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who 00:26:14.740 --> 00:26:16.380 hears the word. 00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:21.860 Once again, there it is, Jesus says, every one of these has heard the word of God. 00:26:21.860 --> 00:26:30.020 But get this, Jesus says, but the cares of the world, the cares of the world, you and 00:26:30.020 --> 00:26:38.340 I battle that on a constant basis, I bet, where the things of this world we want. 00:26:38.340 --> 00:26:42.980 There's certain things about this world that we want, the cares of this world, we get wrapped 00:26:42.980 --> 00:26:46.980 up in them. 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:49.940 Then Jesus also says, and the deceitfulness of riches. 00:26:49.940 --> 00:26:56.660 Now again, he's not saying riches are bad, riches are wrong, but he says the deceitfulness 00:26:56.660 --> 00:26:58.660 of riches. 00:26:58.660 --> 00:27:00.700 Right? 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:04.540 The idea that riches are going to do something for you and riches are going to do something 00:27:04.540 --> 00:27:08.820 for me, there's times I'd like to try. 00:27:08.820 --> 00:27:12.480 But the reality is that yes, they do. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:19.240 When you get to a certain point and you have a lot of riches, sometimes your mind depends 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:23.780 on that and not the things of God. 00:27:23.780 --> 00:27:27.580 I remember quite often, Trish and I would say in our early years of marriage, you know 00:27:27.580 --> 00:27:34.220 how it is, those who are married in the crowd, and when you're married and young and the 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:37.940 love part blinds your eyes and you're like, "All right, what are we going to eat this 00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:40.620 week?" 00:27:40.620 --> 00:27:45.780 Then you go back and say, "You know, that really was a simpler life, a more enjoyable." 00:27:45.780 --> 00:27:46.780 Why? 00:27:46.780 --> 00:27:51.860 Because you didn't have to rely on certain things that you become to rely on. 00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:56.100 You see, Jesus just pinpoints that and he hits that. 00:27:56.100 --> 00:28:00.820 "The cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word." 00:28:00.820 --> 00:28:06.020 It's where those things become more important to you and I and the things of God become 00:28:06.020 --> 00:28:07.020 less important. 00:28:07.020 --> 00:28:10.540 God says, "We've got to reverse that." 00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:16.020 Jesus says, "The things of me, the things of God, got to be more important than the 00:28:16.020 --> 00:28:18.220 things of this world. 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:23.140 Don't get sucked up into the things of this world because they're going to leave you empty. 00:28:23.140 --> 00:28:25.900 They really will. 00:28:25.900 --> 00:28:30.820 You may think that you want that new boat, that new camper, that new whatever, and you 00:28:30.820 --> 00:28:31.820 may give it. 00:28:31.820 --> 00:28:34.940 What the amazing thing is, you can go on Facebook right now and get some pretty good deals on 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:35.940 RVs. 00:28:35.940 --> 00:28:40.260 There was a time everybody thought it was great to have them and then it was like, "Man, 00:28:40.260 --> 00:28:41.260 this is the pits. 00:28:41.260 --> 00:28:45.500 I got to keep up with this thing now." 00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:46.500 There's other things in life. 00:28:46.500 --> 00:28:50.980 You're like, "I tried to tell my son, my oldest son, 'Dude, you need to get rid of some of 00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:51.980 them golf clubs. 00:28:51.980 --> 00:28:52.980 You don't need that many. 00:28:52.980 --> 00:28:55.260 You can only take one putter on a green. 00:28:55.260 --> 00:28:57.660 You can't take ten.'" 00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:03.300 The things that we get caught up in, the things that we get wrapped up in, Jesus says, "It 00:29:03.300 --> 00:29:06.780 chokes the Word and it proves unfruitful." 00:29:06.780 --> 00:29:17.020 Then in verse 8, the only thing of goodness that we see in this parable, Jesus gets to 00:29:17.020 --> 00:29:24.700 it and he finally says, "Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:28.300 Some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." 00:29:28.300 --> 00:29:34.180 Then he explained to the disciples in verse 23, "As for what was sown on the good soil, 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:37.300 this is the one who hears the Word of God." 00:29:37.300 --> 00:29:41.880 Every one of them is hearing the Word of God, but here's the difference. 00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:45.520 This individual understands it. 00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:49.320 This individual doesn't let anything else come into their life to prevent them from 00:29:49.320 --> 00:29:54.060 not only hearing the Word of God and receiving the Word of God and applying the Word of God 00:29:54.060 --> 00:29:57.020 and being obedient to it. 00:29:57.020 --> 00:29:59.580 This person hears it and understands it. 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:05.060 Jesus says, "He indeed bears fruit and yields." 00:30:05.060 --> 00:30:09.620 In one case a hundredfold, another sixty and another thirty. 00:30:09.620 --> 00:30:13.900 When you and I hear the Word of God, we understand the Word of God, we're obedient to the Word, 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:21.100 we apply the Word, God shows us that we grow. 00:30:21.100 --> 00:30:26.500 God shows us that we produce the characteristics and the qualities that we read in God's Word 00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:32.020 about what it is to be a godly man and woman of God. 00:30:32.020 --> 00:30:36.180 It is produced in you and in me. 00:30:36.180 --> 00:30:40.940 We bear the fruits that Galatians talk about, kindness, gentleness, self-control, the list 00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:41.940 goes on. 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:50.380 Jesus says, "That's the kind of soil, the good soil that my Word can grow in, the good 00:30:50.380 --> 00:30:55.420 soil that will produce the things in you that I want to produce." 00:30:55.420 --> 00:31:00.380 What does it take to hear the Word and understand the Word? 00:31:00.380 --> 00:31:08.780 It takes an intentional and consistent time spent with God throughout your life. 00:31:08.780 --> 00:31:13.660 Whether you're a believer at seven or eight years old or you're a believer at eighty-eight 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.300 years old, it never stops. 00:31:17.300 --> 00:31:22.420 You and I have to be a student of God's Word, you and I have to be a researcher of God's 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:28.980 Word to understand what it is that God's Word desires to teach you and to teach me on a 00:31:28.980 --> 00:31:32.020 regular basis. 00:31:32.020 --> 00:31:36.860 At times in life, it's from the exact same scripture that you may have read twenty times 00:31:36.860 --> 00:31:39.460 already. 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:47.500 You see, all through your walk and my walk, the things that we discover in our lives and 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:52.860 the things that we grow through in our lives, anytime God's Word hits that point of our 00:31:52.860 --> 00:31:57.020 life there's something new to be discovered. 00:31:57.020 --> 00:32:02.060 If I just said, "Okay, I've read from Genesis and Revelation, I'm good." 00:32:02.060 --> 00:32:04.860 No, I'm not. 00:32:04.860 --> 00:32:07.420 I'm dead. 00:32:07.420 --> 00:32:11.020 Dying like a vine that gets cut from the source. 00:32:11.020 --> 00:32:15.300 You and I have to realize it's got to be constant, it's got to be intentional in our lives to 00:32:15.300 --> 00:32:19.180 be in God's Word on a daily and regular basis. 00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:23.420 Once you say yes to God, you've got to continue on that journey. 00:32:23.420 --> 00:32:27.860 God's not going to give you what you're not ready to receive. 00:32:27.860 --> 00:32:32.260 God doesn't try to pound His Word into your mind, into your heart, into your spirit. 00:32:32.260 --> 00:32:35.740 He doesn't work like that, He never has. 00:32:35.740 --> 00:32:40.820 God desires for you and I to go to His Word, to read His Word, to discover His Word, and 00:32:40.820 --> 00:32:45.700 when we don't understand it to search out what it means, whether it be grab a commentary, 00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:51.020 a study Bible, or go to a person that you know and trust and say, "I don't understand 00:32:51.020 --> 00:32:53.980 what I just read, will you tell me?" 00:32:53.980 --> 00:32:58.100 That's the beauty of being in a small group, that's the beauty of being in a discipleship 00:32:58.100 --> 00:32:59.460 relationship. 00:32:59.460 --> 00:33:04.380 You have somebody that you can go to and you can ask the questions that you discover in 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:09.820 God's Word and together you can journey in your understanding and your knowledge of God's 00:33:09.820 --> 00:33:10.820 Word. 00:33:10.820 --> 00:33:14.420 That's the beauty that God gives you and I. 00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:20.900 Listen again to what it says in Colossians 2 verse 7, "Let your roots grow down into 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:29.700 Him and let your lives be built on Him, then your faith will grow strong in the truth you 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:35.820 were taught and will overflow with thankfulness." 00:33:35.820 --> 00:33:43.300 And Jesus says in verse 9, "He who has ears, let him hear." 00:33:43.300 --> 00:33:50.500 Don't just hear the words, but Jesus is saying even more, "Listen to what I'm saying." 00:33:50.500 --> 00:33:57.140 Mom and dad, have you ever looked at your child and got their attention and said, "Listen 00:33:57.140 --> 00:33:59.460 to what I'm saying." 00:33:59.460 --> 00:34:02.300 Don't just hear me and let it rattle around. 00:34:02.300 --> 00:34:05.500 I know I was that kid. 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:07.500 Listen to what I'm saying. 00:34:07.500 --> 00:34:11.780 There's meaning there, there's truth and that's what Jesus is saying to you and I. 00:34:11.780 --> 00:34:18.220 He's saying to those who gathered on the beach to hear Him, "Do more than just hear the words, 00:34:18.220 --> 00:34:23.340 listen to the spiritual truth that I'm saying." 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:31.900 Each one of them heard the seed of truth that Jesus was talking about, but each one of them 00:34:31.900 --> 00:34:36.140 had to make a decision what to do with that truth. 00:34:36.140 --> 00:34:42.160 "See the word of the kingdom of God is God's holy word. 00:34:42.160 --> 00:34:49.980 The heart soil," that's you and I, "is either hard, shallow, choked out, or it's ready to 00:34:49.980 --> 00:34:54.540 receive what God has to offer you and I." 00:34:54.540 --> 00:34:58.540 The result of our response is either going to be this, we're going to allow Satan to 00:34:58.540 --> 00:35:04.580 snatch it away from us, or like Jesus said, it's going to fall away because we're not 00:35:04.580 --> 00:35:09.660 going to do anything with it, or we're going to allow it to get choked out by the things 00:35:09.660 --> 00:35:17.620 of this world, or we're going to take the truth for God's word as it is and receive 00:35:17.620 --> 00:35:21.620 it and understand it. 00:35:21.620 --> 00:35:24.380 Here's some things I'd ask for you to think about. 00:35:24.380 --> 00:35:28.580 Think about if you've got a relationship with God, if you don't have a relationship with 00:35:28.580 --> 00:35:29.580 God. 00:35:29.580 --> 00:35:34.900 If you don't have a relationship with God, this parable is speaking directly to you in 00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:41.820 a powerful way because you are in one of those four individuals' places that Jesus is talking 00:35:41.820 --> 00:35:43.820 about. 00:35:43.820 --> 00:35:51.340 God said he loves you, he has a plan for you, but because of your sin, you have to 00:35:51.340 --> 00:35:56.940 ask him for forgiveness of that sin, to receive his forgiveness because he loves you that 00:35:56.940 --> 00:36:02.940 much and died for you, so that you can begin anew a relationship with him that will blow 00:36:02.940 --> 00:36:07.300 anything that you could ever imagine or think about. 00:36:07.300 --> 00:36:11.600 After being and walking with the Lord for up to 10 years, I can honestly stand before 00:36:11.600 --> 00:36:16.980 you and say there is not a greater relationship than a relationship with the Lord. 00:36:16.980 --> 00:36:20.020 I don't say that just because I'm a pastor. 00:36:20.020 --> 00:36:25.660 I say that because I've walked with the Lord in the fun times and the not so fun times. 00:36:25.660 --> 00:36:28.300 God has never turned his back on me. 00:36:28.300 --> 00:36:32.540 God has never said, "I don't know you." 00:36:32.540 --> 00:36:38.660 God has never done any of those things that would say, "This is not a good deal." 00:36:38.660 --> 00:36:42.620 Like his word, it has always been faithful and true. 00:36:42.620 --> 00:36:46.800 If you're sitting here this morning, you don't have a relationship with God, what's keeping 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.100 you from that? 00:36:49.100 --> 00:36:53.580 I guarantee you there's not a single excuse that you can come up with that's valid. 00:36:53.580 --> 00:36:55.940 Sure you can come up with it. 00:36:55.940 --> 00:36:59.420 Sure you can come up with reasons why not to have a relationship with the Lord. 00:36:59.420 --> 00:37:01.340 I know that. 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:13.460 But I guarantee you God's love for you overcomes any reasons that we try to throw back at him. 00:37:13.460 --> 00:37:15.020 Think about this. 00:37:15.020 --> 00:37:18.880 The seeds of God's word are spoken all around you. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:22.260 Are you listening to them? 00:37:22.260 --> 00:37:24.820 What's the soil condition of your heart? 00:37:24.820 --> 00:37:30.580 Hard, shallow, strangled, good? 00:37:30.580 --> 00:37:33.260 What's being planted in the soil of your heart? 00:37:33.260 --> 00:37:39.580 The things of God and his kingdom or the things of the world? 00:37:39.580 --> 00:37:45.420 What are you doing to understand the words of God? 00:37:45.420 --> 00:37:51.380 How are you strengthening the roots of your faith? 00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:55.980 Are you sowing the things of God in the hearts of those you come in contact with? 00:37:55.980 --> 00:38:00.420 Do you bring God's name up in your conversations? 00:38:00.420 --> 00:38:06.020 Do you speak God's truth in your encounters? 00:38:06.020 --> 00:38:10.260 Or are you sowing the things of this world? 00:38:10.260 --> 00:38:15.580 Why is it important for you and I to keep sowing the things of God? 00:38:15.580 --> 00:38:18.980 Never stop casting seed. 00:38:18.980 --> 00:38:22.980 People are on the journey of life and you never know when the seed that you sow hits 00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:28.860 them at the right point or they're ready to receive it. 00:38:28.860 --> 00:38:32.660 There's a guy I'm in a small group with on Tuesday morning. 00:38:32.660 --> 00:38:35.020 He was sharing. 00:38:35.020 --> 00:38:40.380 There's a friend of his and for years he asked this friend, "Man, come to church with me. 00:38:40.380 --> 00:38:41.380 Come to church with me. 00:38:41.380 --> 00:38:42.380 Come to church." 00:38:42.380 --> 00:38:46.980 Five years, he said, he asked that person to come to church with him. 00:38:46.980 --> 00:38:51.460 And finally that person comes up to him and says, "Man, I want to go to church." 00:38:51.460 --> 00:38:55.940 And the incredible rest of the story is after five years that individual came to church 00:38:55.940 --> 00:38:59.260 and it's God continued to work on his life. 00:38:59.260 --> 00:39:02.860 And the encounter that he has had with God has been incredible as well. 00:39:02.860 --> 00:39:09.700 You see, you and I never know the seeds that we cast when they're going to stick. 00:39:09.700 --> 00:39:16.020 So you and I, if we're the sower and we are to be the sower, we shouldn't give up. 00:39:16.020 --> 00:39:20.180 We should look for ways in which we can sow the word of God. 00:39:20.180 --> 00:39:26.140 We also got to always continue to realize we got to cultivate our soil. 00:39:26.140 --> 00:39:28.340 We got to maintain our soil. 00:39:28.340 --> 00:39:32.780 We got to do the things that God calls us to do as followers of him to be the godly 00:39:32.780 --> 00:39:35.700 men and women that God desires for us to be. 00:39:35.700 --> 00:39:38.600 And it all starts with this. 00:39:38.600 --> 00:39:42.060 It goes with this and it always ends with this. 00:39:42.060 --> 00:39:47.860 There's not a substitute for God's word as you and I walk with God on a daily and regular 00:39:47.860 --> 00:39:48.860 basis. 00:39:48.860 --> 00:39:53.100 Will you pray with me? 00:39:53.100 --> 00:40:00.300 Lord, thank you so much for the privilege of reading your word. 00:40:00.300 --> 00:40:02.500 Thank you for the privilege of sharing your word. 00:40:02.500 --> 00:40:12.060 And Lord, thank you for the love that you have for us to have given us your word, to 00:40:12.060 --> 00:40:19.140 learn how to have a relationship with you, but also Lord, to learn what it means to walk 00:40:19.140 --> 00:40:27.420 in relationship with others and to be the example that you call us to be. 00:40:27.420 --> 00:40:31.740 Lord, we love you and we thank you. 00:40:31.740 --> 00:40:36.940 And that's this prayer in your name. 00:40:36.940 --> 00:40:37.940 Amen. 00:40:37.940 --> 00:40:42.700 Thanks again for listening and be sure to check back next week for another episode. 00:40:42.700 --> 00:40:48.380 In the meantime, you can visit us at willowridgechurch.org or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on 00:40:48.380 --> 00:40:49.380 Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.