WEBVTT 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:06.780 Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew, 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:14.759 chapter 13, verses 1 to 9, and 18 to 23. That 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:17.739 same day Jesus went out of the house and sat 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:21.679 by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.719 him that he got into a boat and sat in it while 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:28.399 all the people stood on the shore. Then he told 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:32.259 the many things in parables, saying, A farmer 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:35.840 went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.219 the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds 00:00:39.219 --> 00:00:43.380 came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:47.219 where it did not have much soil. It sprang up 00:00:47.219 --> 00:00:50.439 quickly because the soil was shallow. But when 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:53.399 the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:57.229 they withered because they had no root. Other 00:00:57.229 --> 00:01:00.070 seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked 00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:03.750 the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:07.790 where it produced a crop, a hundred, sixty, or 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:11.510 thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:17.189 let them hear. Listen then to what the parable 00:01:17.189 --> 00:01:21.170 of the sower means. When anyone hears the message 00:01:21.170 --> 00:01:23.609 about the kingdom and does not understand it, 00:01:23.709 --> 00:01:27.370 the evil one comes, and snatches away what was 00:01:27.370 --> 00:01:30.689 sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along 00:01:30.689 --> 00:01:34.909 the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers 00:01:34.909 --> 00:01:37.670 to someone who hears the word and at once receives 00:01:37.670 --> 00:01:41.510 it with joy. But since they have no root, they 00:01:41.510 --> 00:01:45.370 last only a short time. When trouble or persecution 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:48.650 comes because of the word, they quickly fall 00:01:48.650 --> 00:01:52.549 away. The seed falling among the thorns refers 00:01:52.549 --> 00:01:55.549 to someone who hears the word, But the worries 00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:58.230 of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth 00:01:58.230 --> 00:02:02.890 choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the 00:02:02.890 --> 00:02:05.870 seed falling on good soil refers to someone who 00:02:05.870 --> 00:02:09.569 hears the word and understands it. This is the 00:02:09.569 --> 00:02:13.710 one who produces a crop, yielding 100, 60, or 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:17.750 30 times what was sown. The word of the Lord. 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:20.439 That was my dad. Actually, that's my mom and 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:22.860 my dad, two of the nicest people you'll ever 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.680 want to meet. And there are my two older sisters, 00:02:25.860 --> 00:02:28.479 Elaine and Kate, and my younger brother, John. 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:34.900 So that is the family I grew up in. But this 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:38.870 is the farm that I grew up on. on. And while 00:02:38.870 --> 00:02:42.469 my parents surely raised me, this farm impacted 00:02:42.469 --> 00:02:45.129 me in all sorts of ways as well. It's a dairy 00:02:45.129 --> 00:02:47.409 farm. It's sitting on a couple hundred acres 00:02:47.409 --> 00:02:51.310 on Concession 6 in Fisherville, Ontario. And 00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:53.949 for our family, our whole life kind of revolved 00:02:53.949 --> 00:02:57.569 around the rhythms and responsibilities of that 00:02:57.569 --> 00:03:00.330 farm, right? So there was the cows, the crops, 00:03:00.449 --> 00:03:03.550 the barns, the fields. I loved it. I hated it. 00:03:03.650 --> 00:03:06.729 It was a great way to grow up, but it was also 00:03:06.729 --> 00:03:09.550 a a whole lot of work. And looking back now, 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:12.990 I realize that that farm and farming gave me 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:15.409 a bit of an experience that not a lot of people 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:18.710 get to experience these days. So for example, 00:03:18.909 --> 00:03:22.669 this is for example, did you ever go out to the 00:03:22.669 --> 00:03:25.669 front field on a spring morning, still wearing 00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:29.530 your pajamas with your brothers and sisters to 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:35.439 sit in the grass with a newly born calf? Probably 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:38.659 not. Probably not, right? So farming is interesting. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:43.280 It gives you this very unique way of seeing the 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.199 world, soil and seasons, weather and work and 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.740 life, and of course, death. But also, it gives 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:54.400 you a unique perspective on faith. And so what 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.639 we're going to do for the next 10 weeks is that 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:57.960 we are going to, it's going to be something a 00:03:57.960 --> 00:03:59.419 little unusual. I don't think you've ever done 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:00.800 this before, but we're going to go back to the 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:02.919 farm. We're going to go back to the farm in this 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:05.199 teaching series and we're calling it growing 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.840 season. Now you're probably thinking, oh my gosh, 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:12.439 10 weeks of a farming series. Why on earth would 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.259 we do something like this? I have never milked 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:18.720 a cow. I get my milk in a carton and I've never 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.720 collected eggs from a chicken coop. I get them 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:24.639 at no frills. I get it. But here's the thing. 00:04:24.899 --> 00:04:30.860 You do not need to have grown up on a farm in 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:35.360 order to understand farming. And I want to share 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:39.060 four reasons, actually, why this is so important 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:41.459 for you and for me, whether you're a farmer or 00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:43.160 you've ever lived on a farm or not. And here 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:48.500 is the first reason. You actually you are God's 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.939 field. The Bible says that your life and your 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:55.959 heart and your soil is a field, if you will, 00:04:56.060 --> 00:05:00.620 and God is the farmer of that field. So when 00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:03.560 the Bible talks about planting and pruning and 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:07.000 bearing fruit, it's not describing necessarily, 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:10.480 you know, ancient agricultural practices. It's 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.920 describing how God's spirit is working in you. 00:05:15.689 --> 00:05:20.509 The soul of your soil, right? God is the farmer. 00:05:20.649 --> 00:05:23.509 And even now, I want to tell you, even this morning, 00:05:23.629 --> 00:05:27.319 he is at work in your life. In that soil, he 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:30.540 is breaking it. He is planting it. He is tending 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:34.779 it. He is growing something in you. That is the 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:37.920 premise of this whole series. It's not Rob saying, 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.819 hey, let me take you on a trip down memory lane. 00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:42.920 Let me show you pictures of my childhood. No, 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.819 the point of this is, is God is the farmer. You 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:51.120 are his field. And this life of yours is your 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:57.860 growing season. That's the why. And if you came 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:00.480 through the front doors today, you will have 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.079 also noticed that you walked by four brand new 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:05.680 raised garden beds. I want to say a big thank 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.420 you to John Wallace, who built these for us. 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:11.379 Why are we doing this? Yeah, let's hear it for 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:16.529 John. Yeah. The reason we're doing that is because 00:06:16.529 --> 00:06:18.769 every week when you walk into this place, we 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:22.069 want you walking past some soil, something green, 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:25.149 something pushing itself up out of the ground, 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:28.449 just to remind you and give you a picture of 00:06:28.449 --> 00:06:31.170 what God is doing in all of us all the time. 00:06:31.230 --> 00:06:33.649 And I do mean all of us. There are some of you 00:06:33.649 --> 00:06:36.589 here today where faith is very familiar ground. 00:06:36.750 --> 00:06:40.149 It has been worked a thousand times in your life. 00:06:40.310 --> 00:06:43.230 And there are others here today who the seed 00:06:43.230 --> 00:06:45.870 of faith hasn't even begun to germinate in your 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:49.670 life. It doesn't matter. We are all God's field. 00:06:49.769 --> 00:06:51.970 So that is the first reason why we're doing this 00:06:51.970 --> 00:06:54.509 series. The second reason we're doing this, though, 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:58.509 is because the Bible itself is a deeply agricultural 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:02.529 book. If you open scripture almost anywhere, 00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:05.329 you're going to find seeds and soils and vineyards 00:07:05.329 --> 00:07:07.850 and harvests and sheep and shepherds and wheat 00:07:07.850 --> 00:07:10.410 and rain and drought and fruit and so on and 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:13.410 so on and so on. Jesus himself was always pointing 00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:16.430 to things like the earth or to a barn or to a 00:07:16.430 --> 00:07:20.370 farmer or to a flock as a way of teaching people. 00:07:20.850 --> 00:07:25.089 Now this, I admit, is a very hard world for most 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:28.129 of us to get our heads into today. Today, only 00:07:28.129 --> 00:07:32.560 2 % people in north america live on a farm but 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:38.019 in jesus's day 90 of people were farmers this 00:07:38.019 --> 00:07:41.439 was their world this was their world and so if 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.600 you want to understand the bible if you really 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.779 want to understand where it's coming from it 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:48.620 means you've got to start reading that bible 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:52.800 through an agricultural lens so that's the second 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:55.079 reason why we're doing this the bible is an agricultural 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:58.490 book the third reason we're doing this is because 00:07:58.490 --> 00:08:04.449 summer is a growing season in many churches summer 00:08:04.449 --> 00:08:07.610 is the spiritual off season even someone this 00:08:07.610 --> 00:08:09.350 morning said to me well we're almost at the end 00:08:09.350 --> 00:08:12.519 of june when things kind of shut down Things 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:16.579 slow down, people kind of drift away, which is 00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:19.759 always so weird. Because if you look at the natural 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:23.120 world, just outside our doors, summer is the 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:25.240 time of the year when everything comes alive, 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:27.920 and everything grows, and everything greens up. 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.279 And farmers know this too. Farmers know that 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:34.080 summer is not the season of dormancy. Winter 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:36.259 is. You guys can take a break in winter. But 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:41.139 no, summer is the season of growth. No farmer. 00:08:41.289 --> 00:08:43.909 in Haldeman County looks at his calendar for 00:08:43.909 --> 00:08:46.490 July and August and says, oh, well, you know, 00:08:46.509 --> 00:08:50.710 it's time to ease off. No, you make hay while 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:55.029 the sun is shining. And so this summer, we're 00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:58.190 trying to impress this upon all of us that instead 00:08:58.190 --> 00:09:01.850 of slowing down here at Trinity, let's follow 00:09:01.850 --> 00:09:04.450 the rhythm of the farmer. Let's follow the rhythm 00:09:04.450 --> 00:09:08.009 of nature. And let's make this summer season 00:09:08.009 --> 00:09:13.639 a real season of growth for everyone, okay? The 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:16.840 fourth reason that we're doing this series is 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:19.139 that I truly believe that God is planting something 00:09:19.139 --> 00:09:21.679 new here at Trinity Streetsville. I don't know 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:23.980 how many times people have told me since I've 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:26.820 been here, they say, oh Rob, when I first came 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.799 to Trinity, all of this around here was just 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:34.120 farmer's fields. And it reminds me actually that 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:38.019 Trinity itself is kind of planted on farmland. 00:09:38.490 --> 00:09:41.549 And as we discussed last week, God is growing 00:09:41.549 --> 00:09:44.289 something in us too. There's new vision. There's 00:09:44.289 --> 00:09:46.990 a new strategic plan. There's new people coming 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:49.450 through our doors all the time. There's new opportunities 00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:53.210 for ministry. So if you put all this together, 00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:56.690 what do you get? You are God's field. The Bible 00:09:56.690 --> 00:10:00.049 is an agricultural book. Summer is the growing 00:10:00.049 --> 00:10:04.590 season. And God is planting and growing something 00:10:04.590 --> 00:10:07.190 here at Trinity. And so for all of these reasons. 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:12.419 We are going back to the farm this summer. But 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:16.659 before you grow anything, you have to plant it. 00:10:17.460 --> 00:10:20.320 And so we're going to begin with one of the most 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:25.009 famous. parables that Jesus ever spoke, and it 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:29.610 is a lesson all about planting. A crowd gathers 00:10:29.610 --> 00:10:31.629 around Jesus. They're hungry for some more of 00:10:31.629 --> 00:10:34.929 his teaching. They all sit down, and Jesus tells 00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:36.929 them a story that begins with these words, a 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:42.669 farmer went out to sow his seed. And we need 00:10:42.669 --> 00:10:44.929 to actually start this whole series right here. 00:10:45.009 --> 00:10:48.190 Why? Because this parable is really telling us 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:54.289 how God's life gets into us, how God grows people, 00:10:54.529 --> 00:10:57.470 how God's love and how God's power and how God's 00:10:57.470 --> 00:11:00.250 hope gets into a human life. That's what this 00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:03.570 story is about. This is actually telling us how 00:11:03.570 --> 00:11:08.129 the kingdom of God kind of grows as well. You 00:11:08.129 --> 00:11:12.990 know, Jesus says it all starts with a seed that 00:11:12.990 --> 00:11:17.690 is planted in the soil of the human heart. I 00:11:17.690 --> 00:11:19.929 just find it so fascinating that when Jesus wanted 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:21.870 to talk about one of the most important things, 00:11:21.970 --> 00:11:25.169 the kingdom of God, he started by saying, let 00:11:25.169 --> 00:11:29.250 me tell you a story about a farmer, which is 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:32.970 actually surprising because every other kingdom 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:37.409 in history has spread through power and force 00:11:37.409 --> 00:11:42.120 and might. When Alexander the Great came to town 00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:45.899 with his kingdom, man, you knew it, right? Armies 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:48.279 arrived. There were banners that were flying. 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:51.899 Any resistance was just crushed. Kingdoms come 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:54.580 this way. They come through soldiers. But Jesus 00:11:54.580 --> 00:11:57.159 says, not my kingdom. My kingdom comes through 00:11:57.159 --> 00:12:00.960 a farmer. The power of God gets into you not 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:04.659 through a sword, but through a seed. Not by conquering, 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:07.899 but by hearing. Not through a militia, but by 00:12:07.899 --> 00:12:11.019 a message. Not by hammering its way into you, 00:12:11.059 --> 00:12:16.340 but by taking root inside of you. God's kingdom 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:21.120 comes like a seed, not like a soldier. And you 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.700 might say, well, how on earth can that be true, 00:12:23.820 --> 00:12:25.960 right? A seed is so small, it seems so weak. 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:28.019 You can hold a thousand of them in the palm of 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.860 your hand. Yet, what happens if you bury one 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:34.090 of these seeds? dark and deep down, and you give 00:12:34.090 --> 00:12:36.409 it time, it will do things that armies could 00:12:36.409 --> 00:12:40.330 never do. It can split a rock. It could break 00:12:40.330 --> 00:12:43.090 through pavement. It could turn barren fields 00:12:43.090 --> 00:12:47.490 into waving golden fields of wheat. It could 00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:50.750 turn empty hillsides into a forest. Given enough 00:12:50.750 --> 00:12:53.110 time, it could feed a family. It could feed a 00:12:53.110 --> 00:12:57.789 village. It could feed a nation. A soldier tries 00:12:57.789 --> 00:13:01.269 to change things by force from the outside, but 00:13:01.269 --> 00:13:05.210 a seed changes things by life. On the inside. 00:13:05.210 --> 00:13:07.850 And that, Jesus says, is how the kingdom of God 00:13:07.850 --> 00:13:11.009 works. It comes as a word to you. It comes small. 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:14.110 It's a message. It's quiet. It's easy to miss. 00:13:14.330 --> 00:13:17.350 But when that message gets deep down into the 00:13:17.350 --> 00:13:20.629 soil of the human heart, it begins to grow. It 00:13:20.629 --> 00:13:24.470 begins to grow. And something that was so tiny 00:13:24.470 --> 00:13:27.070 now can eventually transform everything. God's 00:13:27.070 --> 00:13:30.500 message has... From your life. I hope you hear 00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:34.899 that it can transform your family's life God's 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:37.039 message when it's planted down can transform 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:41.039 a church it can actually Transform the world 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.580 and it all happens like through the power of 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:47.490 a seed Now, I know some of you are going to say, 00:13:47.490 --> 00:13:51.389 oh, come on, Rob. If a seed is so powerful, why 00:13:51.389 --> 00:13:54.090 don't we see more transformation happening in 00:13:54.090 --> 00:13:56.330 the world? I mean, you know, why is it that someone 00:13:56.330 --> 00:13:58.490 might hear your sermon this morning, might hear 00:13:58.490 --> 00:14:00.649 the seed of God's word, and they might go away 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:03.429 totally changed, but another person will go away 00:14:03.429 --> 00:14:06.970 completely untouched, right? Why do two people 00:14:06.970 --> 00:14:08.889 hear the same message and go away completely 00:14:08.889 --> 00:14:11.210 differently? That is a really good question. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:17.039 is what this parable is about. Because it's actually 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:21.159 not really about the seed, if you think about 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:25.500 it. It's about the soil. The question is not, 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:27.899 does the seed have life in it? Of course the 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:29.879 seed has life in it. It's the word of God. It's 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:32.519 got life. The question is, what happens when 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:34.840 that seed lands? What's happening right now as 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:39.179 you hear the seed land this morning? Is the soil 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:43.259 ready to receive it? You know, Jesus would often 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:45.519 say these words. He would say, whoever has ears, 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.820 let them hear. In other words, lives are changed, 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:54.940 not just by what God speaks, but by how we listen. 00:14:55.059 --> 00:15:00.100 You can scatter the same seed. The only thing 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:02.220 that's different is the type of soil that it 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:06.470 lands on, how it's heard. And so Jesus... tells 00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:08.570 us today about four different kinds of soil. 00:15:08.649 --> 00:15:10.889 It's really just four different ways that people 00:15:10.889 --> 00:15:15.409 hear or do not hear God's word. And I want to 00:15:15.409 --> 00:15:19.129 look at the first type first. Jesus begins by 00:15:19.129 --> 00:15:21.750 saying, As the farmer was scattering the seed, 00:15:21.970 --> 00:15:25.169 some fell along the path, and the birds came 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:28.889 and ate it up. See, in Jesus' day, A farmer's 00:15:28.889 --> 00:15:31.710 fields were full of footpaths that crisscrossed 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:33.750 through those fields. That's how people got around. 00:15:33.929 --> 00:15:36.429 And as people walked over these paths day after 00:15:36.429 --> 00:15:38.289 day and day after day and year after year and 00:15:38.289 --> 00:15:40.429 year after year, eventually they got packed down 00:15:40.429 --> 00:15:42.990 and real hard. And of course, if a seed were 00:15:42.990 --> 00:15:45.470 to land on those paths, it would just kind of 00:15:45.470 --> 00:15:47.710 stay on the surface. It wouldn't get into the 00:15:47.710 --> 00:15:50.509 soil and a bird could come and take it away. 00:15:51.190 --> 00:15:55.529 This is the first way that people hear God's 00:15:55.529 --> 00:15:59.080 word, Jesus says. It's actually not that they 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:01.019 didn't hear the message. Look, he says, when 00:16:01.019 --> 00:16:04.440 anyone hears the message of the kingdom, it's 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:08.980 actually that they didn't understand it. It never 00:16:08.980 --> 00:16:12.600 got beneath the surface. And the Greek word here 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.059 for understanding is not cognitively, did you 00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:18.620 understand and grasp the depth and the definitions 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:20.519 of everything that you were hearing? No, it's 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.629 actually a personal understanding. The problem 00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:27.190 here is the seed never penetrated the soil so 00:16:27.190 --> 00:16:30.070 that the understanding sounded like this. Oh, 00:16:30.210 --> 00:16:35.110 this is about me. Oh, this matters to me. This 00:16:35.110 --> 00:16:38.450 is speaking to me. That's the kind of understanding, 00:16:38.909 --> 00:16:43.149 right? But for the hard path hearer, the hard 00:16:43.149 --> 00:16:46.200 path hearer, this never happens. The message 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:49.679 is always theoretical. It's never personal. They 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:51.379 have heard all the Christian stories. They have 00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:53.860 read their Bible 10 times in their life. They 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:56.799 agree with all sorts of Christian doctrine. They 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.460 could even explain the gospel to someone who 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:03.000 has never heard it before. But it never became 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:07.099 personal for them. They know about Jesus, but 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:11.130 they don't personally know Jesus. Real hearing, 00:17:11.269 --> 00:17:15.029 Jesus says, happens when you say, oh my gosh, 00:17:15.210 --> 00:17:20.829 this is about me. God is speaking to me. I need 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:22.750 this. This isn't something intellectual. This 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:26.910 now changes my life. But for a hard path hearer, 00:17:26.910 --> 00:17:29.170 they have never had that moment. It just stayed 00:17:29.170 --> 00:17:33.589 on the surface and it never sunk in. And here 00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:36.230 is the scary part. Guys, what creates a hard 00:17:36.230 --> 00:17:39.819 path? A path. Becomes hard because it's been 00:17:39.819 --> 00:17:42.539 walked over and over and over again, which means 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:45.339 the people who are most at risk of becoming hard 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:48.759 ground are the people who have been around the 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:51.359 longest, right? And they have been coming to 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:54.400 church the longest. They're the ones who know 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.759 all the songs. They're the ones who know what 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:58.759 the pastor is going to say before the pastor 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:01.660 even says it. You can become so familiar with 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:04.119 the message that it doesn't surprise you anymore. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.240 It doesn't challenge you. It doesn't change you. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.500 Familiar ground and familiar ground is the hardest 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:15.559 ground of all. So that's the first soil. And 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.059 we might just ponder and say, hmm, does that 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:21.440 describe me at all? But let's move on to the 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.180 second soil because it's different. And at first, 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.920 this soil looks way better than the hard path 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.400 soil, right? The seed doesn't just... sit on 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.599 the surface it actually gets in and it springs 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.660 up quickly there's green shoots right away and 00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:37.660 if you had walked past this field you probably 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:39.839 would have said like my dad said oh this is a 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.660 great crop this is really really good soil but 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:46.680 then the sun comes out and by the end of the 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.599 day all those bright fast -growing plants are 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:53.720 now scorched and withered and why is that It's 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.099 because under that thin layer of soil, there 00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:00.359 was rock. And though the plant had height, it 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.380 did not have depth. And though it had growth, 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:08.039 it had no roots. And the first heat of the day 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:13.220 exposed all that. Jesus says that is the person 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:17.230 who hears the gospel. Or let's say, you know, 00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:19.750 that's the person who maybe goes to church. And 00:19:19.750 --> 00:19:22.650 when they go to that concert or they go to that 00:19:22.650 --> 00:19:25.390 event, they are genuinely excited. They are super 00:19:25.390 --> 00:19:27.309 pumped up. They come home and they're like, oh 00:19:27.309 --> 00:19:30.369 my gosh, I feel hope that I never felt. I feel 00:19:30.369 --> 00:19:33.230 peace and joy. And Jesus says, it's real. They 00:19:33.230 --> 00:19:34.970 have real joy. They have real hope. They have 00:19:34.970 --> 00:19:38.329 real peace. They really feel alive. But then 00:19:38.329 --> 00:19:42.069 trouble comes. Some disappointment and suddenly... 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:46.220 That faith that sprang up so quickly just begins 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.819 to wither. And maybe you've met someone like 00:19:48.819 --> 00:19:50.839 this, or maybe you even had a friend who went 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:52.640 away to some concert or conference, and they 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.880 came back so fired up, so energized, they wanted 00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:58.859 to tell everybody about their newfound faith, 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:01.799 but then it passed. And you were like, well, 00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:04.779 what was that? Was that just like a phase? No, 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:10.000 they were shallow -rooted hearers. And what they 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.420 were really hoping for from God was that God 00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:17.579 would be a blesser, not a savior. They were looking 00:20:17.579 --> 00:20:19.880 for a God to give them comfort, a God to give 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:22.400 them encouragement, a God to give them answers 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.000 to all their prayers, a God to give them blessings. 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:27.740 And when everything was sunny like that, and 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:30.359 when life was easy, oh my goodness, they seemed 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:34.440 so, so alive. But when the weather changed, and 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.019 when life got hard, And when that medical diagnosis 00:20:38.019 --> 00:20:42.079 came and when that prayer went unanswered and 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.599 when your friends actually started uninviting 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:46.500 you to get together because of your Christian 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:49.680 faith, when following Jesus actually started 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:54.480 costing you something, man, oh man, that is when 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:59.099 you need deep roots to sustain you because excitement 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:02.279 and emotion are good, but they are not the same 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:06.960 as depth. and maturity and faith that depends 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:11.599 entirely on good feelings won't survive the hard 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.740 seasons. Maybe again, think of yourself. Was 00:21:14.740 --> 00:21:16.480 there a time in your life where your faith just 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:20.579 sprung up fast and green, but yeah, it's been 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:24.640 withering in the heat of life. Maybe the word 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:28.079 has not gotten down deep enough beneath that 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.539 excitement because depth is something that you'll 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:35.920 need. When the hot days come. Jesus continues. 00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:38.019 Remember there's four types of soil. He says 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:42.140 other seed fell among thorns. Which grew up and 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:45.940 choked the plants. Third soil. Thorny ground. 00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:48.779 The good news again is something is actually 00:21:48.779 --> 00:21:51.640 growing here. The seed gets in. Takes root. Plant 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:56.500 comes up. But it's not growing alone. Other stuff. 00:21:57.099 --> 00:21:59.759 It's growing in the very same soil. And that's 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:03.059 the problem with thorny ground. Not that, you 00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:05.660 know, nothing grows, but actually that too much 00:22:05.660 --> 00:22:09.599 grows. A thorn doesn't kill a plant overnight. 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:11.839 They just crowd it. They block out the light. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.599 They suck up the moisture. They steal the nutrients. 00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:18.640 Until slowly, that plant just doesn't have the 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.529 room it needs to bear any meaningful fruit. And 00:22:21.529 --> 00:22:24.230 Jesus tells us exactly what these thorns are. 00:22:24.450 --> 00:22:29.029 They are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness 00:22:29.029 --> 00:22:34.809 of wealth. Anxiety, ambition, money, possessions, 00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:40.069 schedules, responsibilities, deadlines, notifications, 00:22:40.170 --> 00:22:43.170 all these things that just fill up a modern life 00:22:43.170 --> 00:22:46.210 right to the very edge of the field. And slowly 00:22:46.210 --> 00:22:51.109 and quietly, they crowd out the faith. that God 00:22:51.109 --> 00:22:53.390 is growing and it doesn't happen all at once. 00:22:53.390 --> 00:22:55.789 Of course, it's not dramatic. It is simply keeps 00:22:55.789 --> 00:22:57.990 taking up more and more and more room in your 00:22:57.990 --> 00:23:00.390 life until there's no space left for God. That 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:05.490 is the crowded heart here. The word is alive. 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:08.940 It's alive in there, but it's crowded. And I 00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:10.700 just wonder again, have you ever sensed this 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:14.420 happening in your own life? Jesus has to share 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:17.400 the soil of your life with so many things, your 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:19.839 money, your career, your calendar, your phone, 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:23.220 and sharing it with a thousand competing loves 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:25.680 and loyalties, most of which are actually not 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:29.259 bad in and of themselves, but together they just 00:23:29.259 --> 00:23:34.359 fill the ground so completely that the... power 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:37.839 of God in your life is choked out. And year after 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:40.759 year, there's really no fruit to be seen. You're 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.680 just surviving, just trying to stay green, just 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:48.500 maintaining your life. But that brings us to 00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:51.839 the fourth soil, the good soil. The seed falls, 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:55.559 it gets in, it goes down deep, it doesn't get 00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:59.579 choked. The message is personal. It's not theoretical. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:04.960 It's rooted. It's not shallow. And Jesus is central 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:08.980 and has lots of space to operate. He's not crowded 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:12.380 out. And over time, we are told that when the 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:16.059 seed... encounters ears and hearts like that, 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:20.420 that it bears so much fruit, 30, 60, even 100 00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:24.079 times what was sown. You know, I even asked my 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:27.180 dad, I said, is that a good yield, you know? 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:30.980 And he says, actually, yeah, even 100 -fold these 00:24:30.980 --> 00:24:34.000 days is a pretty average yield. But to ancient 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.599 farmers who had no chemicals and no genetically 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:42.559 modified seeds or no machinery, That wasn't just 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.839 a good harvest. That was an astonishing abundance, 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:48.519 right? More than you expected, more than you 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:51.220 ever could have done on your own. And that is 00:24:51.220 --> 00:24:54.799 exactly what the kingdom of God is like. When 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:59.259 God's word finds good soil, it produces more 00:24:59.259 --> 00:25:04.019 in you than anyone could have predicted. As I 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:07.119 end today, though, I want to say three final 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:09.839 things about the soil of our heart. And they're 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:13.440 quite important. The first is this. You might 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:17.180 be tempted right now to start sorting people. 00:25:17.380 --> 00:25:20.299 To say, okay, the hard path, that's my brother 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:23.480 -in -law. The rocky ground, oh, that's that friend 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:25.299 who used to come to church but doesn't come anymore. 00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:27.559 And the thorny soil, that is definitely somebody 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:31.240 I know. But Jesus is not giving us these categories 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:36.140 so that we can diagnose everyone else. It's so 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:39.240 that we can examine our own hearts. And the truth 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:46.109 is, One heart can contain all four soils, right? 00:25:46.210 --> 00:25:50.829 I have been the hard path at times, hearing God's 00:25:50.829 --> 00:25:53.829 word, but not really letting it sink in. I have 00:25:53.829 --> 00:25:56.549 been the shallow soil, getting really excited, 00:25:56.670 --> 00:25:59.589 but actually not being that deeply rooted. I 00:25:59.589 --> 00:26:02.910 have been the thorny ground, you know, saying 00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:05.950 yes to God, but my life is just so crowded with 00:26:05.950 --> 00:26:07.849 other things that there's really no fruit that 00:26:07.849 --> 00:26:11.019 comes of it. And by grace, yeah, there have been 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:14.640 seasons of my life when there has been good soil 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:20.079 and growth. But the same heart can move between 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:23.700 these soils all the time. Over the course of 00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:27.759 a life, even over the course of a week. So the 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:31.740 question to ask is not simply, which soil are 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:35.200 they? It's not even to ask, which soil am I? 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:39.190 But really, this morning. What is the condition 00:26:39.190 --> 00:26:44.170 of your heart, the soil of your heart right now? 00:26:45.490 --> 00:26:50.910 Okay, where are you right now? Second, that leads 00:26:50.910 --> 00:26:53.670 us to one of the most freeing things I think 00:26:53.670 --> 00:26:55.970 about the whole parable is that, guess what? 00:26:55.990 --> 00:26:58.859 God is the farmer. Not you, right? You're the 00:26:58.859 --> 00:27:01.980 soil. And the soil's job is not to reach down 00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:04.680 and pull out its own rocks. It's not to bend 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.420 over and clear away its own thorns. A soil can't 00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:10.759 plow itself open. That's not the soil's work. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:13.980 That's the farmer's work. And so if you're sitting 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:15.660 here this morning and you're saying, yes, these 00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:18.319 things are true. I am hard ground. And yes, there 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:20.779 are rocks under the surface. And yes, I have 00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:23.200 filled my life with too many things. And I've 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:25.839 got no idea how to fix all this. Then just hear 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.079 me on this. You're never meant to fix it all 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:34.559 yourself, okay? Your part is to receive the seed, 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:41.500 to hear, to stay open, and to remain under God's 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:45.220 care and his word. And then to turn to the farmer 00:27:45.220 --> 00:27:49.779 and say, Lord, please work this ground. Lord, 00:27:49.819 --> 00:27:53.400 break. Open what needs to be broken. You know, 00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:55.920 clear away what needs to be cleared and grow 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.160 in me what only you can grow. God is a farmer, 00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:03.799 not you. But here is perhaps the most important 00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:07.599 thing to remember this morning. In this parable, 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:10.299 who is the sower? I mean, I think it has to be 00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:13.079 Jesus. He's speaking about himself. He's the 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:15.579 one who's going out, even at that moment, scattering 00:28:15.579 --> 00:28:18.920 the seed, the message of God's kingdom, the word 00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:23.079 of God. And that same word, as Al read it to 00:28:23.079 --> 00:28:25.119 us this morning, and as I've tried to preach 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:27.279 it this morning, is being scattered out over 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.220 you this morning. Whether you're hard ground, 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:31.259 shallow ground, crowded ground, good soil, whatever. 00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:34.599 God is sowing his word into your life right now. 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:38.980 Jesus is. But Jesus is also the seed itself. 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:43.059 You see, the night before Jesus died, he said 00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:46.079 this. Very truly, I tell you. Unless a kernel 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:48.380 of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:51.779 only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:56.839 many seeds. He was talking about himself. He 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:01.420 is the seed who went down into the ground. He 00:29:01.420 --> 00:29:08.180 was dead and buried, hidden in the dark. Jesus 00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:12.400 was that seed. If you think you feel the thorns 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:17.500 choking you, Remember, Jesus wore those thorns 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.900 on his own head. And if you feel the rocks beneath 00:29:21.900 --> 00:29:23.640 the surface of your life, remember, they rolled 00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:27.319 a ginormous rock across the mouth of his grave. 00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:31.740 And if you feel like your ground is hard this 00:29:31.740 --> 00:29:34.440 morning, just remember, Jesus went into the hardest 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:39.079 ground that there is, death itself, and he broke 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:43.690 it open from the inside. rose from the dead so 00:29:43.690 --> 00:29:47.690 that your ground can be broken open to by the 00:29:47.690 --> 00:29:53.170 power of his resurrection. So let those who have 00:29:53.170 --> 00:29:57.930 ears hear. What's the condition of your soil 00:29:57.930 --> 00:30:03.130 this morning? Hard, shallow, choked. Open yourself 00:30:03.130 --> 00:30:07.910 up to God's message. Receive what he has to say 00:30:07.910 --> 00:30:11.819 because this. is your growing season. The seed 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:15.299 has gone out. The farmer is here. Bring him the 00:30:15.299 --> 00:30:17.720 soil of your heart today.