Greater Growth (On Any Given Sunday)

Introduction- John Lennon & Jesus

Two books on John Lennon claim the ex-Beatle experienced a brief period as a born-again Christian during the 1970s. While living the life of a virtual recluse in New York’s Dakota Building, Lennon became an avid viewer and reader of American TV evangelists and, at some point during 1977, declared that he had been saved.

Robert Rosen in Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon cites Billy Graham as the main influence, whereas Geoffrey Giuliano in Lennon in America mentions both Graham and Pat Robertson. Both agree that the period, during which Lennon peppered his everyday conversation with “Praise the Lord” and “Thank you, Jesus,” was brief. Giuliano says it lasted for “a matter of months.” Rosen suggest it was “about two weeks.”

"One day Lennon had an epiphany- he allowed himself to be touched by the love of Jesus Christ, and it drove him to tears of joy and ecstasy,” writes Rosen. “He drew a picture of a crucifix; he was born again, and the experience was such a kick that he had to share it with Yoko Ono”

Giuliano, pinpoints the conversion to a Palm Sunday and says that Lennon was so moved by a series about Jesus broadcast on Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network that he broke down in tears. In the following weeks, he attended church services and took his son, Sean, to a Christian theater performance. Lennon even called The 700 Club help line to request prayer for his health and troubled marriage. “He prayed for forgiveness when he stepped on insects or snapped at the maid,” Giuliano writes. “He became convinced that Jesus was personally protecting Sean.”

Yoko Ono, his wife, whose first husband, Anthony Cox, became an evangelical Christian in the 1970s, was displeased with Lennon’s changed outlook. Giuliano claims Lennon began to challenge her interest in magical powers and was disappointed she wouldn’t join him in watching Billy Graham’s telecasts.

“The dramatic conversion worried Yoko,” Giuliano writes. “She feared John’s new faith would clash with her own ideas about spiritualism and threaten her iron hold over him.”

In the end Yoko Ono won. In his final years, the man best known for his lines “Imagine there’s no heaven/It’s easy if you try” was living a life dictated by astrologers, numerologists, clairvoyants, psychics, herbalists, and tarot-card readers.

The one song that Lennon wrote during his born-again period has never been released. “You Saved My Soul,” which recounts being prevented from attempting suicide while staying in a Tokyo hotel, is known only to Beatles bootleggers.

Transition To Body

Our scripture for today contains the first parable spoken by Jesus.

It is one of two parables which Jesus explicitly explained it’s meaning to His disciples (followers & students). I do not believe this is a coincidence. Proper understanding of all other parables hinges on getting this one right.

Jesus Reveals the Secret of the Kingdom of God to his true followers

Mark 4:10–13 ESV

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Outsiders hear the parables, insiders learned the secret/mystery

Can only be known if revealed by God

In the gospel of Mark everything happens “immediately”

Mark 4:3 ESV

3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

The imperative listen calls for obedience to what is taught, not mere comprehension.

Sower- a person, machine, or device that scatters seed over the earth for the purpose of growth:

The sower represents Jesus- which is important!

Mark 4:13–14 (IVPBBC NT): 4:13–14. This most basic message is the foundation for the rest: Jesus’ message must be embraced with endurance and without distraction from the world to produce its intended effect.

There is nothing wrong with the Farmer’s seed, in other words, there’s nothing wrong with God‘s word.

The Fruitfulness of the Gospel Depends on the Hearer’s Receptivity (4:13-20):

This is not with the sower but rather with the soil which is an illustration for the receptivity of the hearers’ heart

Body

Hearers With Hard Hearts (Mk. 4:4, 15)

Mark 4:4 ESV

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

Mark 4:15 ESV

15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

Hardened soil along the path causes seed to lie exposed and it is easily taken by birds.

Satan immediately comes & snatches the word before it can sink in.

This seed does not have time to germinate (profess Faith) before birds devoured it.

Matthew 13:19 ESV

19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

Why? So that they may not believe & be saved

Luke 8:12 ESV

12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

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Hearer’s With Hard Hearts

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Hearers With Shallow Hearts (Mk. 4:5-6, 16-17)

( need the Holy Spirit)

Mark 4:5–6 ESV

5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

Mark 4:16–17 ESV

16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

Luke 8:13 ESV

13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

Much of the soil in the Holy Land is rocky… interesting…

No Moisture

Luke 8:6 ESV

6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

How Plant Roots Absorb Water

Water is an essential nutrient for plants and comprises up to 95% of a plant’s tissue. It is required for a seed to sprout, and as the plant grows, water carries nutrients throughout the plant. Water is responsible for several important functions within plant tissues.

Water is necessary for photosynthesis, which is how plants use energy from the sun to create their own food. During this process, plants use carbon dioxide from the air and hydrogen from the water absorbed through their roots and release oxygen as a byproduct. This exchange occurs through pore-like stoma on the leaves.

Water is evaporated (the process of turning from liquid into vapor) on the leaves, as well, in a process called transpiration (the exhalation of water vapor - ), which keeps plants from overheating. Warm temperatures, wind and dry air increase the rate of transpiration. As water evaporates through the leaves, more water is pulled up through the roots of the plant.

"plants lose more than 90 percent of their water through transpiration"

Nutrients and sugars from photosynthesis are dissolved in water and move from areas of high concentration, like the roots, to areas of lower concentration, such as the blooms, stem and leaves, for growth and reproduction.

Water is responsible for cell structural support in many plants, creating a constant pressure on cell walls called turgor, which makes the plant flexible yet strong and allows it to bend in the wind or move leaves toward the sun to maximize photosynthesis.

Low moisture will cause browning of plant tissues and leaf curling, eventually leading to plant death. 

When watering garden plants, it’s important to provide a thorough, deep watering rather than frequent, light watering to encourage deeper root growth.

John 4:13–15 ESV

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit is our Water!

Mark 1:8 ESV

8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Early evidence of faith

Grew up quick since soil wasn’t deep i.e. lasting growth will time and there are no quick fixes here

Withers away when the sun scorches it.

Why does the sun not scorch plants with deep roots?

Immediately receive word with joy when heard

They are short lived because they lack root

Immediately fall away when distress or persecution comes because of the word

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Hearer’s With Hard Hearts

Hearers With Shallow Hearts

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Hearers With Distracted Hearts (Mk. 4:7, 18-19)

Mark 4:7 ESV

7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

Mark 4:18–19 ESV

18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Worries stunt/short circuit growth

Among thorns - thorn in my side?

Thorns came up

Thorns choked seed

Seed didn’t produce fruit

Hear the word but

Worries of this age

Deceitfulness of wealth

Desires of other things

Choke the word

And it becomes unfruitful

Jeremiah 4:3 ESV

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

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Hearer’s With Hard Hearts

Hearers With Shallow Hearts

Hearers With Distracted Hearts

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Hearers With Fruitful Hearts (Mk. 4:8, 20)

Mark 4:8 ESV

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Productive soil

Mark 4:8 (IVPBBC NT): Thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold are tremendously good harvests from Galilean soil. The fertile Jordan Valley normally yielded between ten- and a hundredfold, so a hundredfold need not be a miraculous harvest, as some have thought; but for much of Palestine, the average yield was tenfold (meaning that ten seeds were harvested for every seed sown), and all the figures Jesus reports here are very good yields. The yield is worth the sown seed that was wasted (cf. Eccles 11:1–6).

Ecclesiastes 11:1–6 ESV

1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Mark 4:18–20 (IVPBBC NT): 4:18–20. The fruitful “seeds” presumably spread the word and multiply disciples (as well-trained disciples of rabbis were supposed to do when they became teachers in their own right; part of the goal was to increase obedience to the law).

Mark 4:8 ESV

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Producing grain

Growing up

Increasing- impact?

Yielding- despite losses?

Mark 4:20 ESV

20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Matthew 13:23 ESV

23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Hear & Understands the word

Accept/Welcome the word

Bear/Produce fruit

Not Expected to Produce At the Same Level

Matthew 25:14–15 ESV

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Hear the voice of Jesus!

Mark 4:9 ESV

9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Planting & Watering

1 Corinthians 3:6–11 ESV

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Working Out Our Salvation

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Transition To Close

THE STORY is told of a father who had five children. The first child was an obedient child who loved his father. The four remaining children were to varying degrees rebellious. One of the instructions of the father was not to go near the river because it had such a traumatic torrent. It was very dangerous. But the last four children decided not to listen to their dad. So they all went down by the river and played in the water only to be sucked up by its current and pulled downstream. No matter how hard they tried, they could not get out of the water. They were pulled downstream for miles and miles, until many miles later and almost dead, they were washed ashore a long way from home.

They had enough survival skills about them to build a fire, and around that fire they longed for home, but they didn’t know how to get home and they didn’t have a way back to home. They remembered their father with fondness. They remembered how joyful things were back home and lamented over how things might have gone differently for them if only they would have obeyed.

After a while one child said, “I’m going to build a hut. I’m going to make the best of things I can right here. I’m going to call this home.” The second child went over to the ridge to watch the first child build his hut, and she said, “I’m going to stay here and watch what you do because I’m going to tell on you when we get back home. I’m going to tell Daddy that you forgot about him, and I’m going to tell him that you forgot your real home.” The third child said, “Well, I’m going back home. I don’t know my way but I’ll just follow the bank and go back the way we came from.”

Now, the obedient child had been sent by his father to look for his siblings. He ran into the fourth child first. He told her that their father had sent him to find his siblings and bring them home. Now that he’d located one of his siblings, he wanted to know where the other three were. She showed him where their sibling number one had built his hut. They knocked on the door. The obedient brother said, “Time to go home!”

But the first sibling said, “This is home now. I’ve been away from Daddy’s house too long. I’ve got new friends now and a new way of life. Thanks a lot, but I’m okay where I am.”

They went to the second sibling who was sitting down, evaluating the her brother. The obedient brother said, “Let’s go home.”

Sibling number two said, “I can’t leave here. I’m going to keep my eye on my sibling number one. If I leave, then there will be nobody to watch what he is doing. There will be no one to critique or judge him.”

They went to the third sibling, who was busy making his way upstream. The obedient brother said, “You don’t have to struggle to find your way home. I’ve got a boat with a motor to take us upstream.”

Sibling number three said, “No, I’ve got to do this myself because then I can get home to Daddy and show him how much I love him by how hard I’ve worked to get back to him.”

The father sent the son to bring everybody back home, but only one sibling went home. Only one child was willing to go home God’s way. The first child had gotten so comfortable where he lived that he was not willing to leave what he knew for the uncertainties of the trip back home. The second child was so focused on somebody else that she forgot it was her sin that got her in the water in the first place. She didn’t have to spend all of her time looking at her brother’s sin. If she’d just look at herself, she could go home. The third child was a “do-it-yourselfer.” He felt if he tried hard enough, he could be free and climb home himself. Only the fourth child understood that the only way to get out of the mess she had gotten herself into was to follow the son who knew how to take her back to the father so she would be home again.

So I only have one question. Which child are you? For God the Father has sent Jesus the Son to locate His brothers and sisters. If you are tired of the hut that you’ve made your home, if you are tired of being so focused on everybody else that you’ve not yet gotten around to your sin, if you are so tired of trying to work your own way back from the place you’re in, God has sent the bigger brother, and Jesus is willing to take you home.

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Hearer’s With Hard Hearts

Hearers With Shallow Hearts

Hearers With Distracted Hearts

Hearers With Fruitful Hearts

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Romans 8:29–30 ESV

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Life and life more abundantly:

John 10:10–14 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

Psalm 119:11–12 ESV

11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!

Psalm 119:105 ESV

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Every time we preach, we sow the seed of the word

Jeremiah 15:16 ESV

16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

Ezekiel 3:1–5 ESV

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. 4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel—

Revelation 10:9–11 ESV

9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

Close- The other seed

John 12:23–32 ESV

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Imperishable Seed

1 Corinthians 15:42–49 ESV

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

In The Beginning Was The Word

John 1:1–5 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 15:4–5 ESV

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.