WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:05.410 This morning, this morning, you know I love seeds, 00:00:05.629 --> 00:00:10.009 right? I love to plant seeds. I love to eat seeds. 00:00:11.109 --> 00:00:13.130 And so today we're going to be talking about 00:00:13.130 --> 00:00:19.879 a parable of Jesus that concerns seeds. And so 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:22.100 you're gonna want your Bible. So if you have 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:24.460 your Bible or if you have it on your phone, I 00:00:24.460 --> 00:00:26.679 want you to pull it out. We're gonna go to Mark 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:29.980 chapter four. Today I wanna ask you what your 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:34.140 seed encounter will look like, okay? And so in 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:38.780 Mark chapter four, we have a very popular parable 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:42.140 that you may have heard, maybe not, of Jesus. 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.060 This is just a story Jesus tells to explain the 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:50.630 kingdom of God. And so we're going to be kind 00:00:50.630 --> 00:00:54.840 of walking through this. As you hear people preaching 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.799 and teaching on this parable, you will hear different 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.539 perspectives. Some people focus on the types 00:01:00.539 --> 00:01:04.000 of soil. Today, we're going to focus on the seed 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.500 encounter of the parable. And so in Mark chapter 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:09.780 four, we're going to read the first portion, 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:12.819 and then we're going to skip ahead to Jesus's 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:16.799 explanation. But starting in verse one, it says, 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:23.390 again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. If Darren 00:01:23.390 --> 00:01:25.329 had his choice, this would be where he would 00:01:25.329 --> 00:01:29.290 choose to preach from as well, by the lake. That's 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:32.829 right. The crowd that gathered around him was 00:01:32.829 --> 00:01:37.569 so large that he got into a boat and sat in it 00:01:37.569 --> 00:01:41.049 out on the lake, while all the people were along 00:01:41.049 --> 00:01:45.040 the shore at the water's edge. Now, this is also 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:48.920 a dynamic thing because water carries sound. 00:01:49.379 --> 00:01:52.340 And so this would help Jesus also to project 00:01:52.340 --> 00:01:56.340 his voice to the crowds. He taught them many 00:01:56.340 --> 00:01:59.739 things by parables. And in this teaching, here's 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:03.980 what he said. He said, listen, a farmer went 00:02:03.980 --> 00:02:08.139 out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:11.759 seed, some fell along the path and the birds 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:16.110 came and ate it up. Okay, so there's our first 00:02:16.110 --> 00:02:19.150 encounter. The seed is scattered on the path 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:23.449 and the birds ate it. The second encounter, some 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:27.110 fell on rocky places where it did not have much 00:02:27.110 --> 00:02:31.729 soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was 00:02:31.729 --> 00:02:34.569 shallow. So initially it's like, wow, look at 00:02:34.569 --> 00:02:37.830 that fruit. That's awesome. But when the sun 00:02:37.830 --> 00:02:41.129 came up, the plants were scorched and they withered 00:02:41.129 --> 00:02:45.250 because they had no roots. Other seed fell among 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:49.830 thorns, which grew up and choked the plants so 00:02:49.830 --> 00:02:53.909 that they did not bear grain. Still other seed 00:02:53.909 --> 00:02:58.949 fell on good soil. It came up, it grew, and produced 00:02:58.949 --> 00:03:03.909 a crop, some multiplying 30, some 60, some 100 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:06.969 times. Okay, so this is the story that Jesus 00:03:06.969 --> 00:03:09.330 tells them of this seed, and they're confused. 00:03:09.389 --> 00:03:11.509 What are we talking about, Jesus? What does this 00:03:11.509 --> 00:03:16.210 mean? Well, if we go down to verse 14, he explains. 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:21.210 He says the farmer sows the word. Some people 00:03:21.210 --> 00:03:24.669 are like seed along the path where the word is 00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:28.789 sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and 00:03:28.789 --> 00:03:33.710 takes away the word that was sown in them. Others 00:03:33.710 --> 00:03:37.030 like seed sown on rocky places hear the word 00:03:37.030 --> 00:03:41.800 and at once receive it with joy. But since they 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.340 have no root, they last only a short time. When 00:03:45.340 --> 00:03:48.219 trouble or persecution comes, because of the 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:52.919 word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:56.180 seeds sown among the thorns, hear the word, but 00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:59.500 the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of 00:03:59.500 --> 00:04:03.020 wealth, and the desires for other things, come 00:04:03.020 --> 00:04:06.500 in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:11.419 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:15.780 word, accept it, and produce a crop some 30, 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:21.740 60, 100 times what was sown. Now, I love to hear 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:25.980 Jesus because if you go back a chapter, Jesus 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.860 is in the synagogue, the temple, preaching. And 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:33.110 now we find that Jesus is... by a lake where 00:04:33.110 --> 00:04:35.949 a whole bunch of people have just, I love that 00:04:35.949 --> 00:04:39.430 Jesus takes the word to wherever there are people. 00:04:39.709 --> 00:04:43.310 Being in the church or on a lake somewhere outside 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:47.750 of the church, Jesus will go where people need 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:52.050 to hear his words of truth. And so today here 00:04:52.050 --> 00:04:57.470 you are and Jesus is coming to you to share his 00:04:57.470 --> 00:05:01.980 word with you where you're at. in your life and 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:04.980 in your journey. He cares and he comes to where 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:09.060 you are because he sees you. And so he will go 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:12.480 wherever people are. And Mark, if we go back 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:15.519 a couple chapters, we have a beautiful encounter 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:19.740 that Jesus has with a man named Levi. And I'm 00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:21.839 gonna just read it to you because I want you 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:26.420 to see this Jesus who is sharing this story. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:31.319 And so in Mark chapter 2 verse 13, it says that 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:36.560 once again, Jesus went out beside the lake. A 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:38.980 large crowd came to him and he began to teach 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:42.500 them. As he walked along, he saw Levi, son of 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:45.699 Alpheus, sitting at the tax collector's booth. 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:51.279 Follow me, Jesus told him. So Levi got up and 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.879 followed him while Jesus was having dinner at 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.779 Levi's house. Many tax collectors and sinners 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:01.620 were eating with him and his disciples, for there 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:04.920 were many who followed him. When the teachers 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:09.540 of the law, the religious leaders, when they 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:13.420 saw him eating with the sinners and the tax collectors, 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:17.779 they asked his disciples, hey guys, why is he 00:06:17.779 --> 00:06:20.339 eating with the tax collectors and the sinners? 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:26.480 Why is he hanging out with them? On hearing this, 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:29.660 Jesus said to them, it is not the healthy who 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:35.139 need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:40.959 to call the righteous, but sinners. We all have 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.540 needed to hear the call of Jesus. It says he 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:51.360 is calling, come, follow me. Without him, we 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:56.410 all carry spiritual sickness. Not one of us can 00:06:56.410 --> 00:07:03.089 be alive and thrive without Jesus, without carrying 00:07:03.089 --> 00:07:08.670 and heeding his call. We carry the sickness that 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:12.670 sin produces. Who is he hanging out with? The 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:15.509 tax collectors and the sinners. As I was working 00:07:15.509 --> 00:07:18.310 on this yesterday, I was looking around my living 00:07:18.310 --> 00:07:22.269 room at all of my plants. And I thought, oh, 00:07:22.310 --> 00:07:26.110 because you see, without oxygen, Without water, 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:30.209 without food, we quickly fade and grow sickly, 00:07:30.250 --> 00:07:33.430 don't we? And so in that moment, I thought maybe 00:07:33.430 --> 00:07:36.290 I should do a plant check. Because you know, 00:07:36.290 --> 00:07:39.509 I tend to forget to water my plants. I love plants, 00:07:39.509 --> 00:07:42.430 but I get busy. And all of a sudden, I look up, 00:07:42.529 --> 00:07:45.930 I'm like, oh, they look sickly. They don't have 00:07:45.930 --> 00:07:54.089 water. Without oxygen, without water, without 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:59.040 food, we grow sickly, we are cut off from the 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.899 source of life. And when we're cut off from the 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:07.939 source of life, we become sickly, we become weakened. 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:13.899 Without Jesus, this is our spiritual state. And 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:18.040 yet Jesus says, I've come not to help those that 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.339 are already healthy, I've come to help the sick. 00:08:22.930 --> 00:08:26.730 And so, Jesus hangs out with tax collectors. 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:31.170 He does things like hang out with sinners. You 00:08:31.170 --> 00:08:33.009 say, well, what's so bad about tax collectors? 00:08:33.049 --> 00:08:36.529 I work for the IRS. Let me just say, back in 00:08:36.529 --> 00:08:39.629 Jesus' time, they were notorious for stealing. 00:08:41.669 --> 00:08:44.570 And so, they were, nobody wanted to hang out 00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:50.389 with the tax collectors. You say, well, what 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:55.139 is a sinner? It's very simple. One that has missed 00:08:55.139 --> 00:09:00.399 the mark of God. One that God has set the standard. 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:02.980 Why does he get to set the standard? Well, he 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:05.799 created everything. So I think that gives him 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:10.100 a say in the standard. And so he sets the standard, 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:14.159 and we all have missed the mark. In Romans, it 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.200 says we all have fallen short of the glory of 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.279 God. That's what sin is. And we all have done 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:25.740 it. We all have been that, right? We all have 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:30.419 been born into this thing called sin. And the 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:34.179 beautiful thing is that Jesus is not afraid of 00:09:34.179 --> 00:09:38.360 that. Jesus comes in and takes care of the problem. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.799 And so we see Jesus eating with the tax collectors. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:45.419 You see this little picture up here. This is 00:09:45.419 --> 00:09:50.220 while you all were at your faith groups on Wednesday, 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:53.679 This was the faith group that was happening here 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.659 at the church Wednesday night. And so if you 00:09:56.659 --> 00:09:59.820 were to ask Jack and Kyrie, you can see they're 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:03.059 working on a paper there. And what were they 00:10:03.059 --> 00:10:06.980 learning about Wednesday night? They were learning 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:13.460 about Adam and Eve disobeying God. Disobeying 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:19.220 God. This is what sin is it's when we have disobeyed 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:25.559 God's standard and the the result of it is sickness 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:31.720 and death and So today in this parable Jesus 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:37.200 He calls to us Christ calls to us and how will 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:44.019 we answer? How will we answer? Well, we're gonna 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:49.000 look at here Jesus's example in this parable 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:54.159 and so The farmer that is sowing the seed that 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:58.360 would be God God is the farmer. He sows the seed 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:01.460 and in this case we are talking specifically 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:06.960 about the seed that is the Word of God Jesus 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:12.679 the gift of salvation that we all have to answer 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:17.179 to. And so here, if we look at this passage and 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:21.200 we see that the seed is being sown on all of 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.059 these different places, you know, what is God 00:11:24.059 --> 00:11:26.519 trying to do? He's trying to just get the seed 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:29.580 anywhere that man will be. And it looks like, 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:32.659 God, you're not a very good sower of seed. I 00:11:32.659 --> 00:11:35.320 wouldn't waste my seed here. I wouldn't waste 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:41.600 my seed there. God is after all man. He's after 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.419 anybody defines the seed of salvation. And so 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:50.740 in John chapter one is what tells us that Jesus 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:54.759 is the word. And so in John chapter one, it says, 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.919 in the beginning was the word, and the word was 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:02.720 with God, and the word was God. Jesus was there, 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:07.929 the creation at the very beginning. when we needed 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:11.230 this plan of salvation because we disobeyed God. 00:12:11.389 --> 00:12:17.330 It says in verse 14, the word became flesh in 00:12:17.330 --> 00:12:20.889 the form of Jesus and he made his dwelling among 00:12:20.889 --> 00:12:25.029 us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the 00:12:25.029 --> 00:12:28.970 one and only son who came from the father, full 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:33.190 of grace and truth. And so what is the seed? 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:38.039 The seed is the living word, Jesus. Okay? And 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:42.919 so, here we are. Four. Four encounters with seed. 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:47.100 How will you handle your encounter with seed? 00:12:48.179 --> 00:12:52.799 The first one is the seed along the path. This 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.740 is the one that Jesus said, Satan comes and he 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:02.370 does what? He steals it away. I understand this 00:13:02.370 --> 00:13:05.610 pain because I work hard in the years that I'm 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:10.809 gardening to buy seed. It costs me something. 00:13:11.470 --> 00:13:14.029 I have to sit down when I place my seed order 00:13:14.029 --> 00:13:15.909 and be like, okay, this is a week's worth of 00:13:15.909 --> 00:13:18.330 groceries. That's all this is. You plant this 00:13:18.330 --> 00:13:20.129 and you're gonna have a whole summer full of 00:13:20.129 --> 00:13:24.600 food. But it cost me something that seed does. 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:28.139 It cost me something in time and effort to put 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:30.879 that seed in the ground. And then I watched these 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:34.360 little God -given made creatures called birds 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:38.419 and rabbits and squirrels steal my seed. I know 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:41.080 what those robins they made going for the worms, 00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:44.980 but I know they get some of my seed too. I understand 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:51.379 this pain. Listen, you have an enemy. And the 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:54.860 word says that he is out to steal, kill, and 00:13:54.860 --> 00:14:00.580 destroy you. He's out to steal, kill, and destroy 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:04.360 the seed that has been given to you in the gospel 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:10.240 of Jesus Christ. And so what happens is you receive 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.659 the word of salvation, and then the enemy, he 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:18.620 never stops talking. He will not stop talking 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:21.820 to you. He will not stop whispering in your ear. 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:25.159 Did you really receive the gift of salvation? 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:29.500 Did really Jesus come and save you of your sins? 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:33.000 Did he take your punishment? Did he really? Do 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.559 you know where else he did that? It was in the 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:39.659 garden. Did God really say to you, Eve, don't 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:43.860 eat this? He's always whispering in your ear. 00:14:44.590 --> 00:14:49.529 And so how will you handle this seed encounter? 00:14:50.809 --> 00:14:54.590 You got to learn how to say no to that voice. 00:14:55.210 --> 00:14:58.610 You gotta know how to resist the devil and he 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:02.190 will flee from you. To say, no, you can't have 00:15:02.190 --> 00:15:06.889 my seed. I have received this seed. I have received 00:15:06.889 --> 00:15:10.309 the good news of Jesus and his salvation and 00:15:10.309 --> 00:15:13.470 you cannot have it. How will you handle this 00:15:13.470 --> 00:15:16.669 seed encounter? Because I don't care who you 00:15:16.669 --> 00:15:19.929 are, every last one of us that receives the seed 00:15:19.929 --> 00:15:22.990 of the gospel, the enemy will seek to steal, 00:15:23.110 --> 00:15:25.809 kill, and destroy it. How will you handle it 00:15:25.809 --> 00:15:29.830 when it happens? How will you handle this encounter? 00:15:32.250 --> 00:15:36.250 The second encounter is the seed sown on rocky 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:42.129 places. You've heard the good news on Sunday 00:15:42.129 --> 00:15:46.580 morning, yes! Jesus has come to give me life. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:52.539 He's come to bring health to me. You receive 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:58.580 it with great joy, but then you ignore it. And 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:02.019 you have roots that might grow quickly, but because 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:08.559 you ignore it, it withers and dies. I have this 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:12.159 problem myself. In fact, because I've had such 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.480 great intentions in the last two years at a garden 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:17.039 and it's failed every time, I haven't had time. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:21.000 But I just keep buying plants anyway. Oh, look 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.019 at those tomato plants, they're on clearance 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:27.519 for $2. And I buy them because I'm shopping and 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:31.159 I have time in that moment to buy them. And they 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:33.820 have roots and I receive those tomato plants 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:37.500 with great joy, envisioning all these tomatoes 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:42.529 in my kitchen. And then I pull them out of my 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:47.850 car and I sit them in my yard with every intention 00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:50.950 to take care of that and to plant them so they 00:16:50.950 --> 00:16:54.529 can grow deeper roots. And do you know what happens? 00:16:56.110 --> 00:17:00.309 I get busy. and I ignore it and I forget about 00:17:00.309 --> 00:17:02.870 it. Every once in a while, I might throw a little 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:06.130 water on it to try to keep it alive. And then 00:17:06.130 --> 00:17:08.369 there comes the day where I walked by, I was 00:17:08.369 --> 00:17:10.490 like, well, it was nice having you while I had 00:17:10.490 --> 00:17:15.529 you. I received it with great joy, but I did 00:17:15.529 --> 00:17:19.490 not allow for the roots to grow. They had some 00:17:19.490 --> 00:17:22.769 roots, but it wasn't enough to sustain. Tomato 00:17:22.769 --> 00:17:25.609 plants like deep roots. They like to be planted 00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:32.210 deep. For those where you you hear it and you 00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:35.829 receive it with a joy. Here's what happens Troubles 00:17:35.829 --> 00:17:40.910 hit and that's it Everybody say troubles hit 00:17:40.910 --> 00:17:47.069 and that's it. I Know in my family some people 00:17:47.069 --> 00:17:49.529 that have not my interview. I'm not talking about 00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:54.130 my girls here, but I've known people that in 00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:57.910 their effort to become healthy, like, I'm gonna 00:17:57.910 --> 00:18:01.450 try this supplement. I'm gonna try not eating 00:18:01.450 --> 00:18:05.450 sugar. I'm gonna try eating this way. And do 00:18:05.450 --> 00:18:09.950 you know what happens? They give it up. When 00:18:09.950 --> 00:18:13.849 they don't, within a week, see something from 00:18:13.849 --> 00:18:17.230 it, they give it up. And do you know how many 00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:20.930 people receive the seed of salvation? I'm going 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:24.970 to try Jesus out, but if he doesn't fix everything 00:18:24.970 --> 00:18:28.970 in my life, I'm done for. When troubles hit, 00:18:29.069 --> 00:18:35.650 that's it. How will you handle trouble? How will 00:18:35.650 --> 00:18:38.470 you protect the seed that you've been given? 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:43.849 What will your encounter with the seed of salvation 00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:50.259 be? We have to protect the roots. We have to 00:18:50.259 --> 00:18:53.579 protect the roots. We have to move our seed from 00:18:53.579 --> 00:18:57.160 the rocky places and get it into the soil, or 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:03.720 it's going to quickly wither and die. The third 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:07.259 area. And see, I'm watching the time, because 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:11.500 a chicken will be here in 15 minutes. But I've 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:17.079 got you today. The third encounter with seed. 00:19:17.309 --> 00:19:22.829 is the seed sown among thorns. I feel like for 00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:27.170 us in the Western church, this might be the most 00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:31.450 significant. Because it is in this place, it 00:19:31.450 --> 00:19:35.990 says, that Jesus says, you hear the word, but 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:39.430 the worries of this life and the deceitfulness 00:19:39.430 --> 00:19:43.470 of wealth and the desire for other things, choke 00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:50.440 it. When you receive salvation, when you decide, 00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:55.480 yes, Christ has called to come and follow Him, 00:19:55.480 --> 00:20:02.400 and I am saying yes. And it starts out good on 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.700 that path of following Him. But then, oh, wait 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:09.420 a minute, this thing of the world, I really don't 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:12.859 want to give that up. I had a conversation with 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:17.180 one of you this week about this. Am I gonna have 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:20.980 to give up some of my friends? Is it gonna affect 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:25.000 some of my friendships following Jesus? Well, 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:27.599 yes, the truth is it had already started affecting 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:32.799 some of her relationships. And it's in these 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:37.079 moments that we make the decision, am I really 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:41.059 gonna be a Christ follower? When it begins to 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:43.730 affect... how I spend my money, when it begins 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:47.170 to affect how I spend my time, when it begins 00:20:47.170 --> 00:20:55.009 to affect what my relationships are. If we don't 00:20:55.009 --> 00:20:58.970 make the decision ahead of time, then we're gonna 00:20:58.970 --> 00:21:03.289 have trouble following Christ. I was listening 00:21:03.289 --> 00:21:10.599 to, oh, the Bethel guy. Bill Johnson. And he 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:14.039 was sharing about a story he had heard about 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:19.160 a handball champion, a man that when he was seven 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:22.740 had been in a railroad accident and lost an arm 00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:26.220 and had been very athletic. And so he wanted 00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:29.799 to continue to be athletic. And so he figured 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.619 out he could do handball. I've never played handball, 00:21:33.619 --> 00:21:37.259 but most of them use both hands to play handball. 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:40.690 And so he learned to do it and he became went 00:21:40.690 --> 00:21:44.430 on. He's now in the Hall of Fame for handball. 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:50.809 And and so they were asking him what his cause 00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:55.789 for success was. And this is what he said. When 00:21:55.789 --> 00:22:01.150 the ball comes off of the wall. He said, I don't 00:22:01.150 --> 00:22:10.319 have to decide which hand to use. That was his 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:14.779 cause for success. The choice had been removed 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:19.519 from him. And so mentally, in that quickness 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:23.519 of movement, the ball is coming toward him. And 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.339 if you look up handball, there are techniques 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:29.720 to know which hand to use. But for him, there 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:33.900 was no decision -making process. He had one hand. 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:39.630 And often, we have too many choices. This world 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:43.849 offers so many lures to us. It calls to us in 00:22:43.849 --> 00:22:47.329 so many ways, so many options to give to us. 00:22:48.630 --> 00:22:51.930 There's one option we must commit to when we 00:22:51.930 --> 00:22:55.910 are receiving the seed of salvation. I will follow 00:22:55.910 --> 00:23:00.609 Jesus. I will not get sidetracked. I remove all 00:23:00.609 --> 00:23:05.130 other options. And you will have to make choices. 00:23:05.609 --> 00:23:10.000 You will have to make choices. When my family 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.039 had received the gift of the seed of salvation, 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.599 it affected my parents. They had to make the 00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:21.440 choice they were going to actually live together 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:24.859 in marriage and not, they were headed to divorce. 00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:29.539 When we accepted this seed of salvation, it meant 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:33.539 that we had to eventually bring a bit of schism 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:36.200 in our family and leave the Catholic Church. 00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:40.000 When we received the gift of salvation in junior 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.380 high, I did lose friends. I remember my closest 00:23:44.380 --> 00:23:49.339 friend. It affected us. When we accepted the 00:23:49.339 --> 00:23:53.859 gift of salvation, it affected our time. No longer 00:23:53.859 --> 00:23:57.000 was my dad playing in the bars in the weekends. 00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:00.299 We now were traveling a half hour to church. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.180 Every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every 00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:07.519 Wednesday night, and everything in between, we 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:16.099 were all in. It affected us. And so when we receive 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:21.299 this gift of salvation, this seed of salvation, 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:25.279 suddenly how we view the things of this life 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:28.079 and this world have a different perspective. 00:24:29.549 --> 00:24:33.150 Suddenly they're not our priority, but the priority 00:24:33.150 --> 00:24:37.349 is following Christ. Heeding the call come. I 00:24:37.349 --> 00:24:40.829 love Levi didn't even sit there and question 00:24:40.829 --> 00:24:43.250 Jesus. Well, Jesus, what will that look like? 00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:48.049 What will that cost me? Because he left his current 00:24:48.049 --> 00:24:52.910 job. Levi was making good money collecting taxes. 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:57.089 He didn't ask Jesus, am I gonna be reimbursed? 00:24:57.309 --> 00:25:01.049 For the money I lose if I follow you, I was listening 00:25:01.049 --> 00:25:05.509 to a book, an audio book, and he tells the story 00:25:05.509 --> 00:25:11.829 of a man that worked for Microsoft. And he had, 00:25:12.670 --> 00:25:17.190 as part of his job, received 16 shares in Microsoft. 00:25:17.650 --> 00:25:20.589 Each share worth multiple millions of dollars. 00:25:21.150 --> 00:25:26.190 And he had 16 of them. As he's working for Microsoft, 00:25:26.289 --> 00:25:32.910 he hears the call of God to plant a church. And 00:25:32.910 --> 00:25:37.450 so he quits his job at Microsoft. Microsoft is 00:25:37.450 --> 00:25:40.450 asking, what can we do to get you to stay here? 00:25:41.369 --> 00:25:44.529 He had heard the call. He had heard the call 00:25:44.529 --> 00:25:48.930 of Christ and he said he resigned. And in the 00:25:48.930 --> 00:25:55.450 resigning, he lost all 16 shares. to take a pastoral 00:25:55.450 --> 00:25:59.230 job of 26, I believe it was, thousand a year. 00:26:00.890 --> 00:26:05.869 And he said to God, he said, God, for every dollar 00:26:05.869 --> 00:26:11.369 that I gave up, I want a soul. His church is 00:26:11.369 --> 00:26:15.529 currently running 6 ,000 people. It's one of 00:26:15.529 --> 00:26:20.049 the fastest growing churches. What did he do? 00:26:20.329 --> 00:26:24.630 He heard the call and he said no to the things 00:26:24.630 --> 00:26:27.549 of the world that would try to lure him in. Because 00:26:27.549 --> 00:26:30.230 you know how we think, we think things like, 00:26:30.250 --> 00:26:33.250 well God, what I could do with 16 shares for 00:26:33.250 --> 00:26:36.930 the kingdom. All those millions of dollars, what 00:26:36.930 --> 00:26:39.869 I could do for the kingdom, you know how our 00:26:39.869 --> 00:26:43.029 minds work and how we justify. And he's like, 00:26:43.190 --> 00:26:47.250 nope. Christ called to me to come and to follow, 00:26:47.509 --> 00:26:50.690 and I say yes, I say no to those things that 00:26:50.690 --> 00:26:54.650 would lure me, and I say yes, and 6 ,000 souls 00:26:54.650 --> 00:27:00.109 later. And he's still, I mean, he has not finished 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:02.730 his race, who knows where he'll end up, right? 00:27:02.849 --> 00:27:06.430 And who knows how many souls of those 6 ,000 00:27:06.430 --> 00:27:09.549 are going to win, right? This is how multiplication 00:27:09.549 --> 00:27:15.140 works in the kingdom of God. But we have to say 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:18.119 yes, we can't let this world and the worry and 00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:25.220 the things choke out This gift of salvation There 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:29.019 was a rich young man that came to Jesus and and 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:33.559 he said good teacher What must I do? to inherit 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:38.000 life eternal life and I love it says Jesus looked 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:46.019 at him and loved him But then Jesus said, because 00:27:46.019 --> 00:27:51.599 the man said, I follow all these laws, all the 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:55.220 laws of God. But see, Jesus looked at him and 00:27:55.220 --> 00:27:58.180 saw the lacking thing, and he said, here's what 00:27:58.180 --> 00:28:00.779 you lack. Go sell everything you have and give 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:04.000 it to the poor, and you will have treasure in 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:10.019 heaven. Then come follow me, Jesus said. The 00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:12.880 man's face fell and he went away sad. It says, 00:28:13.180 --> 00:28:17.079 because he had great wealth. Listen, I don't 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:19.839 care what your thing is. This was his thing. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:25.579 We all have a thing that we have to say no to, 00:28:25.579 --> 00:28:34.259 to heed the call, to embrace the seed. The fourth 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:39.460 seed encounter. This is the one that we want 00:28:39.460 --> 00:28:42.920 to attain to. This is the encounter with the 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:47.720 good soil. This is the seed that hears the word, 00:28:48.099 --> 00:28:52.839 that accepts it and produces a crop. In ancient 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:58.319 biblical times, a crop that was a crop of 10 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:01.619 times the seed would have been good. But what 00:29:01.619 --> 00:29:05.619 does God say? I'll give you one of 30 and 60 00:29:05.619 --> 00:29:09.349 of 100. This is the kind of crop I'll give to 00:29:09.349 --> 00:29:13.170 you. If you will accept, if you will hear the 00:29:13.170 --> 00:29:20.650 word, accept it, it'll produce a crop. Zacchaeus, 00:29:20.890 --> 00:29:24.529 how many of you know him? If you grew up in the 00:29:24.529 --> 00:29:27.630 church, you knew the song. Zacchaeus was a wee 00:29:27.630 --> 00:29:31.170 little man. Wee little man was he. Yeah, you 00:29:31.170 --> 00:29:33.369 all know that? Yes, you're all sitting there 00:29:33.369 --> 00:29:35.009 singing it. It's now gonna be stuck in your head 00:29:35.009 --> 00:29:39.690 all day. You're welcome. I love this encounter 00:29:39.690 --> 00:29:44.150 because Zacchaeus has an encounter with the seed 00:29:44.150 --> 00:29:49.190 Jesus in Luke 19. And it says that Jesus is entering 00:29:49.190 --> 00:29:54.089 Jericho and he's passing through. And a man was 00:29:54.089 --> 00:29:59.670 there by the name of... Interestingly enough, 00:30:00.549 --> 00:30:04.670 in good company with Levi, he was chief tax collector 00:30:04.670 --> 00:30:11.599 and very wealthy. It says he wanted to see Jesus. 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:15.099 He wanted to see who Jesus was. He couldn't look 00:30:15.099 --> 00:30:17.720 him up on the internet. He had never seen him. 00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:21.140 He wanted to know who Jesus was. But because 00:30:21.140 --> 00:30:24.039 he was short, he could not see over the crowd. 00:30:25.460 --> 00:30:30.220 I have had that happen to me. All the short people 00:30:30.220 --> 00:30:38.700 are laughing. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore 00:30:38.700 --> 00:30:43.200 fig tree to see Jesus, since Jesus was coming 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:47.940 that way. When Jesus reached the spot, I love 00:30:47.940 --> 00:30:50.640 this, he reaches the spot, and you know, there's 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:53.839 all kinds of people crowding him, but somehow 00:30:53.839 --> 00:31:00.259 Jesus knows to stop and to look up. And he looks 00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:03.960 up and he says to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.839 I must stay at your house today. All these crowds 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:10.900 of people. And I don't know, I'm kind of thinking 00:31:10.900 --> 00:31:12.819 he looks up and he's like, there's a guy in the 00:31:12.819 --> 00:31:15.259 tree. I feel like he's the guy I want to go stay 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:18.200 with. I know there's a crowd of people, but he's 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:21.440 in a tree. And so I think I want to stay with 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:25.160 him. I feel like there's just, he can sense this 00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:27.700 guy's so desperate to see me, he's climbing a 00:31:27.700 --> 00:31:33.259 tree. That's the one I want to go to. So he came 00:31:33.259 --> 00:31:37.259 down at once, and it says that he welcomed him. 00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:40.299 If we know the song, we know he served him tea, 00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:47.259 right? I'm coming to your house for tea. We don't 00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:53.099 get that from scripture, but. All the people 00:31:53.099 --> 00:31:56.660 saw this and began to mutter. Again, he has gone 00:31:56.660 --> 00:32:01.500 to a house of a sinner. Jesus liked to be there. 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:06.480 But Zacchaeus stood up and he said to the Lord, 00:32:07.019 --> 00:32:11.349 look, Lord. Here and now I give half of my possessions 00:32:11.349 --> 00:32:14.670 to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:17.269 of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. 00:32:17.569 --> 00:32:21.269 And Jesus says to him, today salvation has come 00:32:21.269 --> 00:32:24.769 to this house, because this man too is a son 00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:28.609 of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and 00:32:28.609 --> 00:32:34.130 to save the lost. I love this heart of Zacchaeus. 00:32:34.289 --> 00:32:38.240 He was good soil. He had a soil that was ready 00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:44.599 to receive the seed of Jesus and begin to immediately 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:50.240 bear fruit, immediately. Unlike the rich young 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:52.480 man who said, what do I need to do to get saved? 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:56.440 This guy, he just needed Jesus to come into his 00:32:56.440 --> 00:33:00.140 house and there's this immediate response of, 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:05.720 I am compelled. I am compelled to give what I've 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:10.160 had. I am compelled. I am compelled to pay back 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:13.859 what I have cheated. What was he? He was a man 00:33:13.859 --> 00:33:20.019 that was truly repentive of his sin. He had an 00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:24.019 encounter with Jesus and his immediate response 00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:27.740 was, I have to make things right. He had good 00:33:27.740 --> 00:33:33.430 soil to receive the seed of Jesus. And so this 00:33:33.430 --> 00:33:40.170 morning, it's very simple. But sometimes you 00:33:40.170 --> 00:33:46.309 have to go back to the simple. Sometimes you 00:33:46.309 --> 00:33:51.269 have to be reminded of how you've answered this 00:33:51.269 --> 00:33:54.470 call that Christ has given. Christ is calling 00:33:54.470 --> 00:34:00.640 to us today. How will we answer? How will we 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:04.700 handle this seed that has been sown in our lives? 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:09.239 Because the truth is is that you all are sitting 00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:13.280 here you Nobody's forced any of you to come well, 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:19.539 maybe the kids But you all today have heard there 00:34:19.539 --> 00:34:25.139 is a gift of seed of salvation That Jesus wants 00:34:25.139 --> 00:34:30.579 to give to you And the truth is that in these 00:34:30.579 --> 00:34:33.780 four encounters, in these four seed encounters, 00:34:35.219 --> 00:34:43.250 the choice is yours. is yours if you are going 00:34:43.250 --> 00:34:46.929 to be a seed that is allowed to just you hear 00:34:46.929 --> 00:34:49.650 the gospel and you allow the enemy to take it 00:34:49.650 --> 00:34:53.809 or you have received the gospel and you ignore 00:34:53.809 --> 00:34:57.309 the roots and they quickly die off or if you 00:34:57.309 --> 00:35:00.030 are going to be one that yeah i want to follow 00:35:00.030 --> 00:35:03.190 jesus but i don't know i i don't want to disturb 00:35:03.190 --> 00:35:06.090 my family i don't want to disrupt because suddenly 00:35:06.090 --> 00:35:08.750 i have ethics in my workplace and some might 00:35:08.750 --> 00:35:14.039 not like that Or are you gonna be one that you 00:35:14.039 --> 00:35:17.760 have the choice to say, I'm gonna create good 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:23.019 soil. I'm gonna nurture the seed that I've received 00:35:23.019 --> 00:35:27.920 today. The choice is always ours. Free will that 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:32.880 God gives. He says, I have given the seed. I 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:37.340 have given my son Jesus. What will you do with 00:35:37.340 --> 00:35:40.920 it? And that's the question for each of us today. 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:44.440 What will you do with it? And so I'm gonna ask 00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:47.320 if the team will come back this morning. For 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:50.679 some of you, you might already say, I've been 00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:57.119 following Christ for a number of years. Can I 00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:00.239 say to you that, I don't know, I still have to 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:02.719 continually daily answer the call of Christ in 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:08.440 my life. And sometimes the Lord pinpoints something 00:36:08.440 --> 00:36:11.750 in my life. It says you need to You need to give 00:36:11.750 --> 00:36:13.809 that to me. You need to let go of that in order 00:36:13.809 --> 00:36:19.750 to follow me better. Always I'm having to choose 00:36:19.750 --> 00:36:24.190 to nurture my soil, to feed my soil, to create 00:36:24.190 --> 00:36:29.250 good soil for this gift of salvation. And there 00:36:29.250 --> 00:36:31.929 are some of you here today that you're saying, 00:36:32.250 --> 00:36:38.789 I have never ever received this seed. This is 00:36:38.789 --> 00:36:42.489 the first time I've heard that this gift of Jesus, 00:36:43.110 --> 00:36:46.150 this call of Christ to come and to follow me. 00:36:46.489 --> 00:36:49.449 I have never heard the call before, but I hear 00:36:49.449 --> 00:36:55.349 it today. Today is your day. I am forever grateful 00:36:55.349 --> 00:36:58.449 for the day that I heard Christ calling to me 00:36:58.449 --> 00:37:02.769 saying, Cami, come and follow me. At the age 00:37:02.769 --> 00:37:07.230 of 10, And now 40 years later, it is still my 00:37:07.230 --> 00:37:11.670 joy to keep answering the call to follow Christ. 00:37:12.329 --> 00:37:14.670 It has been the best thing I've ever done in 00:37:14.670 --> 00:37:17.329 my life and I'm so thankful for the grace and 00:37:17.329 --> 00:37:21.010 mercy of Jesus that enabled me to hear it. And 00:37:21.010 --> 00:37:26.849 that call is given to you today. The fruit of 00:37:26.849 --> 00:37:31.780 peace, the fruit of abundant life. Will you still 00:37:31.780 --> 00:37:34.559 have trials and tribulations? You sure will. 00:37:35.699 --> 00:37:41.480 You sure will. But this surpassing greatness 00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:46.320 of following Christ, it produces peace in the 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:49.320 midst of it. It produces life, abundant life 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:54.360 in the midst of it. And the day that we stand 00:37:54.360 --> 00:37:59.230 before Him, The day that we stand before him, 00:37:59.349 --> 00:38:01.789 I guarantee you it'll be worth every yes that 00:38:01.789 --> 00:38:06.929 you give to him. It'll be worth every yes. And 00:38:06.929 --> 00:38:09.170 so I'm going to ask this morning, if we'll all 00:38:09.170 --> 00:38:11.190 stand, we're going to in a moment just have a 00:38:11.190 --> 00:38:16.130 moment of worship. But listen, Christ is calling 00:38:16.130 --> 00:38:20.929 to you today. And today is the day for you to 00:38:20.929 --> 00:38:24.989 give your yes. What did Levi and Zacchaeus have 00:38:24.989 --> 00:38:28.119 to do? They had to actually get up and leave 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:33.239 and move to where Jesus was to follow him. And 00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:36.780 I, in our Western culture, sometimes we like 00:38:36.780 --> 00:38:40.900 to make it really easy for you to say yes to 00:38:40.900 --> 00:38:44.840 answering that call. But friend, Jesus was raised 00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:48.869 up publicly on a cross. He bore our sins. and 00:38:48.869 --> 00:38:52.130 our shame before all the world to see, he was 00:38:52.130 --> 00:38:55.269 beaten and naked before all the world to see 00:38:55.269 --> 00:38:58.969 in order to give us this gift of salvation. And 00:38:58.969 --> 00:39:02.130 so very simply this morning is the call, will 00:39:02.130 --> 00:39:06.829 you say yes to Christ calling to you today to 00:39:06.829 --> 00:39:11.230 come and to follow me, to come and to follow 00:39:11.230 --> 00:39:14.190 me. And so this morning, here's what I'm gonna 00:39:14.190 --> 00:39:16.570 do. I'm gonna ask if our elders will come on 00:39:16.570 --> 00:39:19.179 up, I don't want to make it too hard. I want 00:39:19.179 --> 00:39:21.280 to make it a little easy for you. Our elders 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:23.599 are going to go ahead and come down to the altar. 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:26.659 And as we begin to worship, if you need to say 00:39:26.659 --> 00:39:31.139 yes to the call of Christ, today is the day to 00:39:31.139 --> 00:39:35.159 do it. There is no better moment for you to say 00:39:35.159 --> 00:39:38.920 yes to the call of Christ. And so as the team 00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:43.480 begins to lead us, you need to say yes. and give 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:46.300 your yes and let the elders pray with you this 00:39:46.300 --> 00:39:50.920 morning, amen? And so everybody's eyes are open 00:39:50.920 --> 00:39:53.719 right now. If you are not responding, I want 00:39:53.719 --> 00:39:56.679 you just to begin to worship Jesus. I want you 00:39:56.679 --> 00:39:59.639 just to begin to give thanks that you were able 00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:03.340 to say yes to the call in your life and be reminded 00:40:03.340 --> 00:40:06.480 of that. And so come on up. Team's gonna lead, 00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:09.420 but you begin to move even now and give your 00:40:09.420 --> 00:40:13.219 yes to Jesus. Come on, give your yes to Jesus. 00:40:13.659 --> 00:40:14.420 Thank you, Lord.